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American Morning

Holiday Dieting

Aired November 26, 2003 - 08:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk turkey right now. Sanjay is off today. Our medical segment, a holiday twist, how you can feast on a low carb, low calorie Thanksgiving dinner. Sounds great. Sounds healthy. Elizabeth Cohen tells us why.
Good morning there. Healthy tips now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

There's actually some good news this holiday season, which is that people used to think that you would gain each holiday season between five and 10 pounds, but actually it turns out that the best new data says that you only gain one to two pounds each holiday season. So that's not as bad as had been previously thought. But take one or two pounds every holiday season, year after year, add it up over 10 years, you can do the math. That's a lot of weight.

Let's go over what a typical Thanksgiving dinner looks like from a fat and calorie point of view, and then later we'll talk about some other options. We have brought a holiday meal with us. It is actually quite lovely. Let's go through, starting with what would be the least number of calories, cranberry sauce, 86 calories and zero grams of fat. Then when we move on to the stuffing, 178 calories, 8.6 grams of fat. Of course that's going to vary depending upon what you do with your stuffing. And then for the turkey here, we have 157 calories, and 3.2 grams of fat. That's for white meat. Dark meat has about another five grams of fat added onto that. And then the mashed potatoes, maybe with milk and butter, because that's what makes them yummy we have 222 calories and then 9 grams of fat.

And then let's move on to the mother of all desserts, there we go, ta-da, that would be pecan pie. Doesn't that look yummy? One slice has 502 calories, 27 grams of fat. You can see much more than any of the food that was on the plate. This piece actually probably has more calories and more grams of fat because it's bigger and it's got that little dollop of whipped cream there.

So we were talking earlier about Soledad mentioned before the break that she says forget the diet, let's just eat. And in a way, that's not such a bad idea. It's a special day. You don't often have a meal like this. But it's good to think about these numbers, to know what you're eating, and then that way maybe you'll only have half a slice of pecan pie, and that will cut way down on your fat and calories.

O'BRIEN: Let's get to the good advice, best options right now if you want to watch your calories, first off, advice is what? COHEN: Yes, we have several pieces of advice if you are calorie watching. Here's some best bets if you're a calorie watcher, turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes with skim milk and maybe a little bit of butter, fruit pies with one crust. It's the crust that adds all the calories, so take off one of the crusts, and sweet potatoes plain; forget all the marshmallows and all of that stuff.

O'BRIEN: I love marshmallows.

COHEN: I know, that's what makes it good. But if you're counting calories, that's what you have to get rid of. Another tip is don't fast until the meal. Let's say you're eating Thanksgiving dinner at 4:00 in the afternoon. Many people say I just won't eat until the big meal. That's not a good idea, because you're going to sit and really chow down. Have a little something to eat throughout the day before you sit down at the holiday table.

O'BRIEN: You know what we got get to before we get out of here, if you're watching carbs, you're on a low carb diet, what's your advice there?

COHEN: Right. So many people are these days. Here's some best bets if you're on a low carb, high protein diet: turkey, nuts, gravy, deviled eggs, and low carb cheese cake. That's a special cheese cake. The Atkins site has the recipe for that. So there are several things that you can do if you're on a low carb diet.

O'BRIEN: Low carb cheese cake. Are we buying that?

COHEN: I am.

O'BRIEN: I know you are.

COHEN: The recipe looks pretty good.

O'BRIEN: No question about it. Thanks. Have a great holiday, all right.

COHEN: You, too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 26, 2003 - 08:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk turkey right now. Sanjay is off today. Our medical segment, a holiday twist, how you can feast on a low carb, low calorie Thanksgiving dinner. Sounds great. Sounds healthy. Elizabeth Cohen tells us why.
Good morning there. Healthy tips now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

There's actually some good news this holiday season, which is that people used to think that you would gain each holiday season between five and 10 pounds, but actually it turns out that the best new data says that you only gain one to two pounds each holiday season. So that's not as bad as had been previously thought. But take one or two pounds every holiday season, year after year, add it up over 10 years, you can do the math. That's a lot of weight.

Let's go over what a typical Thanksgiving dinner looks like from a fat and calorie point of view, and then later we'll talk about some other options. We have brought a holiday meal with us. It is actually quite lovely. Let's go through, starting with what would be the least number of calories, cranberry sauce, 86 calories and zero grams of fat. Then when we move on to the stuffing, 178 calories, 8.6 grams of fat. Of course that's going to vary depending upon what you do with your stuffing. And then for the turkey here, we have 157 calories, and 3.2 grams of fat. That's for white meat. Dark meat has about another five grams of fat added onto that. And then the mashed potatoes, maybe with milk and butter, because that's what makes them yummy we have 222 calories and then 9 grams of fat.

And then let's move on to the mother of all desserts, there we go, ta-da, that would be pecan pie. Doesn't that look yummy? One slice has 502 calories, 27 grams of fat. You can see much more than any of the food that was on the plate. This piece actually probably has more calories and more grams of fat because it's bigger and it's got that little dollop of whipped cream there.

So we were talking earlier about Soledad mentioned before the break that she says forget the diet, let's just eat. And in a way, that's not such a bad idea. It's a special day. You don't often have a meal like this. But it's good to think about these numbers, to know what you're eating, and then that way maybe you'll only have half a slice of pecan pie, and that will cut way down on your fat and calories.

O'BRIEN: Let's get to the good advice, best options right now if you want to watch your calories, first off, advice is what? COHEN: Yes, we have several pieces of advice if you are calorie watching. Here's some best bets if you're a calorie watcher, turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes with skim milk and maybe a little bit of butter, fruit pies with one crust. It's the crust that adds all the calories, so take off one of the crusts, and sweet potatoes plain; forget all the marshmallows and all of that stuff.

O'BRIEN: I love marshmallows.

COHEN: I know, that's what makes it good. But if you're counting calories, that's what you have to get rid of. Another tip is don't fast until the meal. Let's say you're eating Thanksgiving dinner at 4:00 in the afternoon. Many people say I just won't eat until the big meal. That's not a good idea, because you're going to sit and really chow down. Have a little something to eat throughout the day before you sit down at the holiday table.

O'BRIEN: You know what we got get to before we get out of here, if you're watching carbs, you're on a low carb diet, what's your advice there?

COHEN: Right. So many people are these days. Here's some best bets if you're on a low carb, high protein diet: turkey, nuts, gravy, deviled eggs, and low carb cheese cake. That's a special cheese cake. The Atkins site has the recipe for that. So there are several things that you can do if you're on a low carb diet.

O'BRIEN: Low carb cheese cake. Are we buying that?

COHEN: I am.

O'BRIEN: I know you are.

COHEN: The recipe looks pretty good.

O'BRIEN: No question about it. Thanks. Have a great holiday, all right.

COHEN: You, too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com