Eat This, Not That! The Thanksgiving Edition by AgeWait

Kick off your healthy Thanksgiving dinner by choosing your appetizers wisely. An ounce of hummus with vegetable sticks has 70 calories and 5 grams of fat while an equal amount of spinach & artichoke dip has 150 calories and 11 grams of fat. Add pita chips to the latter and you’re looking at a diet disaster.

Hummus photo by Olya Sanakoev. Spinach & artichoke dip photo by Mike Saechang.

What to drink? Ask for or offer to bring soda water to make a delicious wine spritzer, which halves your wine intake. A 5 ounce spritzer has 50 calories compared to a regular glass of red or white which has 105 calories.

Wine spritzer photo by Pseph. Wine glasses photo by Ken Hawkins.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise: White meat is a smarter choice than dark meat. A 2- to 3-ounce serving has 115 calories and 7 grams of fat. In comparison, dark meat has 160 calories and 11 grams of fat.

Turkey white meat photo by Braden Kowitz. Turkey dark meat photo by Alexandra Moss.

Surprise: Gravy has less calories than jellied cranberries. A ¼ cup drizzle has 30 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. The sugar in jellied cranberries packs a ¼ cup serving with 110 calories and 0 grams of fat.

Gravy photo by The Bitten Word. Jellied cranberries photo by adaenn.

When it comes to sides, opt for a dinner roll with a pat of butter over traditional sausage stuffing. A ¾ cup serving of this hearty dish clocks in at 371 calories and 19 grams of fat, compared to a bread roll’s 140 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Your waistline will thank you.

Dinner roll photo by Hamburger Helper. Sausage stuffing photo by Derek Lo.

Given a choice, you are better off with green bean casserole than sweet potato casserole. The first has 161 calories and 9 grams of fat for a ¾ cup serving. The second has a whopping 285 calories and 5 grams of fat for an equal amount.

Green bean casserole photo by Merri. Sweet potato casserole photo by Freckled Past.

What’s Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes? Swap the traditional full-fat variety with Greek yogurt mashed potatoes – taste-wise, you can’t tell the difference. A serving contains 145 calories and 7.2 grams of fat, compared to regular mashed potatoes’ 237 calories and 9 grams of fat.

Greek yogurt mashed potatoes photo courtesy of Shape. Mashed potatoes photo by Quinn Dombrowski.

Surprise again: Pumpkin pie beats apple pie when it comes to nutritional content. A slice of pumpkin pie (1/8 of a 9-inch pie) has 316 calories and 14 grams of fat compared to apple pie’s 411 calories and 19 grams of fat per serving. It must be that double crust.

Pumpkin pie photo by RebeccaVC1. Apple pie photo by Katie.

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