Christmas and New Year Food Calories - Tips for preventing weight gain during the holidays
Takeaways
Knowing the various calorie counts of common Christmas and New Year foods could help you strategize your food intake during the holidays—so you don’t blow your “calorie budget” (too badly).
Cut down on your food intake during holiday gatherings without counting calories by consuming vegetables and lean proteins first, leaving carbs and desserts last. Other tips you could try include drinking lots of water and skipping the calorie-dense sauces and creams.
Stick to a regular exercise routine instead of attempting to burn as many calories as possible in a single workout to compensate for excess calories consumed.
Avoid approaching holiday feasts with an all-or-nothing mentality. As important as it is to watch your calorie intake, it shouldn’t come at the expense of your happiness. Ultimately, just try your best to eat in moderation—and most of all, enjoy yourself!
The festive season is here! With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, some of us may find ourselves having to attend more smaller gatherings over this period. This means more delicious food, but unfortunately more calories.
If you want to shed the weight from all the delicious holiday treats, this article will be useful to you.
We will be covering:
Calorie counts of common Christmas and New Year foods.
This is a handy guide for you to keep track of what you are eating, and how much calories you are taking in.
Use it to plan your food intake when deciding what to put into your plate, and also to keep track of what you have consumed after a gathering so you can plan that post-meal workout the next day.
Christmas and New Year Food Calories List
It goes without saying that energy-dense foods like those with cream, butter, or carbs are going to have higher calories than meat and leafy vegetable dishes.
| category | Food item and quantity | Calories estimate (kcal) |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | Turkey roast with skin, 1 palm size | 169 |
| Meat | Turkey roast without skin, 1 palm size | 139 |
| Meat | Roasted/ grilled beef, 2 slices (11cm x 6cm x 0.5cm each) | 134 |
| Meat | Roasted/ grilled pork, 2 slices (11cm x 6cm x 0.5cm each) | 206 |
| Meat | Ham, 2 slices (11cm x 6cm x 0.5cm each) | 125 |
| Meat | Pork sausages, 1 piece (regular bun size) | 244 |
| Meat | Chicken/ turkey sausages, 1 piece (regular bun size) | 149 |
| Meat | Rotisserie chicken with skin, 1 palm size | 175 |
| Meat | Rotisserie chicken without skin, 1 palm size | 144 |
| Meat | Fried chicken wings, 1 piece | 158 |
| Meat | BBQ chicken wings, 1 piece | 131 |
| Meat | Salmon (grilled/ oven baked), 1 palm size | 189 |
| Vegetable | Roasted vegetables, 2 cupped handfuls | 53 |
| Vegetable | Salad without dressing, 2 cupped handfuls | 18 |
| Soup and sauce | Caesar dressing for salad, 1 tablespoon | 80 |
| Carbs | Pasta (non creamy, i.e. aglio olio), 1 plate | 486 |
| Carbs | Pasta (cream based), 1 plate | 655 |
| Carbs | Pasta (tomato based), 1 plate | 587 |
| Carbs | Rice, 1 bowl | 252 |
| Carbs | Pizza (thin crust), 1 slice | 296 |
| Carbs | Pizza (thick crust), 1 slice | 341 |
| Carbs | Fries, 20 fries | 224 |
| Carbs | Shepherd’s pie, 2 palm size | 265 |
| Soup and sauce | Cream soup (e.g. clam chowder, creamy chicken), 1 bowl | 315 |
Christmas and New Year Desserts and Snacks Calories List
Not all calories are processed the same way in your body. Refined sugars and simple carbs also have an impact on your body’s insulin response, among other things such as your gut microbiome.
As with alcoholic beverages, you should enjoy sugary treats responsibly.
| Food item and quantity | Calories estimate (kcal) |
|---|---|
| Log cake, 1 slice | 356 |
| Cookies (e.g. danish butter cookies), 3 pieces | 242 |
| Cookies (e.g. large chocolate chip cookies), 1 piece | 217 |
| Glazed doughnut, 1 regular piece | 192 |
| Doughnut with chocolate filling, 1 regular piece | 310 |
| Ice cream, 1 scoop | 259 |
| Potato chips, 1 small bag 25g | 137 |
| Plain yogurt, 1 cup | 125 |
Christmas and New Year Drinks Calories List
| Food item and quantity | Calories estimate (kcal) |
|---|---|
| Soft drinks (e.g. coke/ sprite), 1 can | 162 |
| Sweetened drinks (e.g. green tea/ ice lemon tea/ lemon barley), 1 packet | 120 |
| Bubble tea >50% sugar with pearls, 1 medium size cup | 364 |
| Bubble tea >50% sugar without pearls,1 medium size cup | 282 |
| Low fat milk, 200ml cup | 100 |
| Eggnog, 1 cup | 225 |
| Spirits (whiskey/ gin/ vodka etc.), 1 shot | 70 |
| Beer, 1 can | 155 |
| Wine (red/ white), 1 glass | 140 |
| Champagne, 1 glass | 97 |
Exercises to Burn Off Holiday Feasts
So it’s the day after the feast, you’ve had a little more than you planned to, and you’re carrying the weight of last night’s food coma with you.
Here’s a handy guide to plan a workout to burn off what you ate the day before. Choose the food item in the calculator below to find out how much exercise it takes to burn off the calories.
Mix it up a little, try different exercises so you keep it interesting, helping you to stay motivated to burn off the extra calories.
Remember, consistency is key! It is better to exercise regularly, than to try and burn as much calories as possible in a single workout to compensate for a week’s worth of feasting.
Regular workouts help to keep your appetite down so you tend to overeat less, and you also run a lower risk of injury.
Exercise calculator
What is your weight in kg?
Choose food item
Quantity
Total calories: 144 kcal
Amount of exercise required to burn 144 calories:
| Exercise | Duration required to burn calories (minutes) |
|---|---|
| Home chores (general cleaning) | 55 |
| Walking (casual speed) | 40 |
| Jogging (6km/ hr) | 23 |
| Swimming (moderate effort) | 24 |
| Cycling (leisurely pace) | 35 |
| Casual sports (basketball/ soccer/ tennis/ badminton) | 21 |
| Golf | 29 |
| Resistance training/ lifting weights (moderate intensity) | 40 |
| Aerobic/ cardio exercises (moderate intensity) | 32 |
| Yoga (moderate intensity) | 46 |
9 Simple tips to prevent weight gain during holiday season
As the saying goes, prevention is always better than cure. But counting calories and keeping track of what you eat can be a chore.
Here are 9 simple tips you can use to guide you in deciding what to put onto your plate at a holiday gathering.
A healthy plate is ½ vegetables, ¼ meat, and ¼ carbs.
As you can see from the list of foods above, carbohydrates based food tend to be higher in calories. Vegetables, on the other hand, are amazingly low in calories (18 calories for 2 cupped handfuls of salad without dressing) and they contain vitamins and minerals that are great for your health.
Vegetables first, and lean proteins next, and carbs and desserts last.
Going for the leafy vegetables like salads first with prevent you from over-eating. You will feel fuller, faster and help you maintain the right ratio of nutrients for a health plate. This order of eating will help make sure that you eat more veg and protein than carbs. For those with high blood sugar, this is also great as it helps to reduce the spike in blood glucose levels after the meal.
Finish a glass of water with each plate of food.
If you still feel hungry after eating 1 plate of food, first try to drink 1 glass of water before you go for seconds. Drinking water will help you to feel fuller, allowing you to better pace yourself throughout the gathering.
Skip the sauces and creams!
These are high in calories and easy to over consume. Take as little as you can and go easy on the salad dressing.
Choose 1 dessert type only.
Sweet drinks, alcoholic beverages, snacks, and desserts. All of these can add to your calorie count very quickly, so choose just one type to stick with! For instance, if you are going to have sweet drinks, then avoid the others for that meal. If you want to have a beer, then skip the carbs like the roast potatoes. This will help you reserve your calorie budget for the things that you really want to enjoy
Eat clean before and after your gatherings.
Rules are almost always made to be broken. You are most likely going to consume a lot more than you plan for, so go for lighter, low carb meals such as salads (without dressing) and fruits when you are not having a gathering!
Don’t go hungry to a feast.
Don’t try to compensate for the caloric intake at gatherings by going on an empty stomach. This only encourages overeating at meals. Instead, go to a gathering already somewhat full of clean meals earlier in the day like salads or fruit.
Choose low calorie mixers for liquor.
If you are consuming hard liquor, have it on the rocks, or mix it with water or low-calorie soft drinks. Drink a cup of water before having a second drink. This will help you reduce the amount of alcohol consumed.
Do some exercise before and after your gatherings!
Even if it’s just a 30 minute walk, getting some exercise in will help you burn some of those extra calories. A great idea would be to organise a walk with your loved ones in the morning before the celebration.
Don’t stress over it.
At NOVI, we believe that while it is important to be healthy, it should not come at the expense of happiness.
It has been a rough year for all of us, so you can live a little during your gatherings and spend more time connecting with your loved ones! Isn’t that what this season is really about?
Remember some of these basic principles as handy guides, and you wont need to stress over trying to weigh every plate you eat. Eating healthier is more important than eating less, and consistency is key in exercise.
Try your best to eat in moderation, and know that there will be time to lose weight next year ;)
