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I recently received a great question from a client that asked:

Q: I saw a commercial that said the average Thanksgiving meal would take 20 miles of running to burn off the calories. Is this true? How could it be?

A: Fantastic question, which starts off our Holiday Survival Guide this week. And I hate to disappoint you and everyone else, but to be honest, an "average" Thanksgiving meal would actually be more like 40 miles of running...just to break even!!

Yes, it's true. It is suggested that on average, Americans consume approximately 4000 calories at the Thanksgiving table - between appetizers, dinner, dessert, alcohol, seconds, thirds, etc! You burn approximately 100 calories per mile when running (variables include pace and size of the runner), so that means 1 1/2 marathons later, you'll be at square one. See what we mean when we say you can easily "out eat your exercise?"

First, here's how to take Thanksgiving on head first. First, PLAN AHEAD! Remember, Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday in November, so don't tell us it "just snuck up on you" like I so often hear.

Planning ahead means getting some exercise in that morning! Plan to participate in the annual Thanksgiving Day Race (you can run or walk or even a combination of both) before the big meal!

Click here to learn more about the 101th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race

Next, think of a plan of attack. If you're cooking, check out some healthier recipes. Eating Well (http://www.eatingwell.com/) and Clean Eating (http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/) both have great Thanksgiving menus to try - without sacrificing taste. And I'm not suggesting you have to eat Tofurky (well, unless you want that). Or you can try the recipe below for a healthier way to make a traditional dish (I'll share several options below to allow you to build a complete and healthy meal).

Now there are two schools of thought on Holiday eating. I've followed both approaches in my 20 years of striving to eat quality food consistently.

Healthy School of Thought 1: Simply understand that there are some holidays and special occasions where you're going to "indulge" in the traditions and enjoy some food that you know isn't the healthiest in the world. That's okay! Provided you're consistently exercising AND consistently eating quality foods, you can't get fat in a day! Heck, you've earned the right to indulge at Thanksgiving!! I tend to favor this school of thought at this stage of my life. Click here to read "Calories and Weight Loss".

Healthy School of Thought 2: Just simply modify your holiday meals by making them better choices. And if you decide to make these modifications, below is our first recipe for Thanksgiving dinner.

It's common for a lot of people to make Candied Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows - but the recipe below saves over 100 calories per serving when compared to "traditional" candied sweet potatoes, and if you also use it in place of the mashed potatoes, meaning you kill two birds with one stone, all in all, you just saved about 400 calories and 15-20 grams of fat. Not bad, huh? See, Thanksgiving CAN taste great and actually be pretty healthy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each), peeled and cut into a large dice
1/4 cup buttermilk, warmed slightly
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, optional

Directions
Steam the potatoes in a large covered pan fitted with a steamer basket until they are tender, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl mash the potatoes with the buttermilk and orange juice. Stir in the zest, salt, and nutmeg. Serve the potatoes topped with the butter, if desired.

Up next, great tasting, low fat gravy!

Alcohol itself has some unique health properties. And there is actually lots of data suggesting that women should drink 1 alcoholic drink per day (men, 2) for the heart benefits, reduction in diabetes risk, lowering of blood pressure, and more. Now, the recommendation is also "if you don't drink, don't start -- if you do, do so in moderation."

The thing to remember with alcohol is that the calories do add up, particularly with mixed drinks. The other concern is that we lower our inhibition when drinking, so the food choices usually aren't the best when drinking. Therefore, drink wisely!

Last but not least, seven drinks on a Saturday night doesn't make up no drinking during the week and also doesn't give you added benefit (not that I'm suggesting those are YOUR habits).

As for the cheese that often accompanies wine and crackers, this one can be a little tricky. The concern with cheese, though, is it's a very concentrated source of calories -- meaning you get a lot of calories for just a little bit. One serving of cheese (1 oz) is equivalent to about 2 dice - not much at all, meaning it's very easy to overeat. Yeah, yeah, it's a decent source of calcium, but that rationalization is about as solid as saying you eat ice cream for the calcium as well.

As a general rule of thumb, soft cheeses have more fat than hard cheeses (when compared gram for gram). Hard cheeses also usually provide more flavor, so hopefully you would use less of them. For example, parmesan cheese (the real stuff you grate, not the jarred, over processed variety) has a great flavor when added to foods, so you don't need to use as much. This is good.

Also, keep in mind that if it comes out of a can (e.g. Cheeze Whiz) or jar (Velveeta) it's FAR from cheese. And if it advertises "NOW made with real cheese" leave it on the shelf too. Honestly, there is a cheese product that says "NOW made with real cheese" -- I want to know what it was made with before!

Crackers -- they seem harmless, but think about how you want to consume your calories that day. Crackers aren't a unique food; you can get them whenever you want. Instead, focus on traditional foods that you may only get once each year. Veggies and dip? Veggies are great and will help fill you a bit, but skip (or minimize) the dip that's usually a mayonnaise or sour cream base.

In fact, think about the entire day as your nutrition bank account. Let's say you have 2000 calories in your account.

Every time you eat a food, it's like making a withdrawal.

When you exercise, you make a deposit.

Just like a bank account, you can't take out more than you have, so if you keep that in mind, and add up the calories you're eating as you go, it will make things easier to remember.

For example, you do the 6 mile Thanksgiving Day Run/Walk in the AM that I mentioned. That's like making a 600-700 calorie deposit into your account. You now have 2700 calories to "play with."

You have a glass of wine for dinner. That's 150 calories or so. You now have 2550 to work with. 1 roll with butter. That's another 200 or so calories, so you're now down to around 2350.

Continue thinking about things like that to simplify it.

I also encourage a walk post dinner -- slow, steady, to help you get rid of that disgusted feeling that is all too common with Thanksgiving. And, well, it will help use some of those calories too!

Alright, back to building a healthy Thanksgiving meal. So we've covered appetizers a bit, included a couple side dishes throughout the week, so today we're on to the turkey....and on Monday, I'll cover dessert.

Before the healthy turkey preparation, I want to answer one question I get EVERY SINGLE YEAR...how many calories and fat grams are in deep fried turkey?

First, since when did we take a food that is SO healthy and decide that we should throw it in a vat of oil? Proponents of this method say it makes the turkey SO moist. So does roasting it properly and not overcooking it!

BUT, fortunately (or unfortunately), the bird itself doesn't absorb a ton of that oil, believe it or not. The key is to peel off the skin, where a lot of the fat and calories are anyhow (and even more when it's fried).

Instead, try this scrumptious turkey recipe:

Citrus Rosemary Salt:

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup coarse salt

Roasted Turkeys:

1 (16-20 pound) whole turkey (depending on the size of your group). IDEALLY, you can order these from a local farm or Farmer's Markets.
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 lemons, halved

Directions:

For the Citrus Rosemary Salt: In food processor, process all the ingredients. Pulse until well blended. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

For the Roasted Turkeys: Remove necks and giblets and put into a large saucepan.

Wash the turkeys, inside and out, and dry well. Coat each turkey, inside and out, with 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Season each turkey on the outside with a tablespoon or two of the Citrus Rosemary Salt, pressing it in to adhere. Place 4 rosemary sprigs and 2 lemon halves inside the cavity of each turkey. Drizzle turkeys with remaining olive oil.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer (inserted deep into the thigh but away from the bone) reads 165 degrees F and juices in the thigh run clear when pierced with a fork -- time depends on the size of the bird.

Remove from the pan and let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices for gravy we discussed earlier in the week.