With Christmas right around the corner I thought it might be interesting to examine the nutrition facts of many our of favorite holiday dishes, to try and take a better look at exactly what we put into our bodies over the holidays. There are plenty of temptations out this time of the year, especially with all the home made cookies and tasty treats right there for the taking, the big family meals, not to mention the many Christmas parties that you might attend. Now I do think it is a good thing to occasionally indulge and enjoy that home cooking and the fresh baked cookies, but in moderation. You work so hard in the gym and if you knew exactly what you were putting into your body over the holidays, fat content, calories, cholesterol you might be more inclined to tone it down a bit. So lets take a look at our holidays favorites:

3 oz’s of Honey baked Ham has- 170 calories, 9 grams of fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 45 mg of cholesterol, 820 mg of sodium(which is 60% of your daily value), carbs 9 grams, suger 8 grams, and 14 grams of protein. In moderation honey baked ham can be very enjoyable, just try not to have too much.

One slice of Turkey has- 58 calories, 2.7 gram of fat, .8 grams of saturated fat, 23 mg cholesterol, 278 mg of sodium, 0 carbs, and 8 grams of protein. Turkey is a good choice for a holiday dinner, not too fatting or high in cholesterol.

One Cookie has- 200 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15mg of cholesterol, 310mg of sodium, 29 carbs, 14 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. You might want to take it easy this year on the Christmas cookies just a few of these will leave you with almost 30 grams of fat!

One cup of Eggnog has- 343 calories, 19 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat (WOW), 150mg of cholesterol (WOW), 137mg of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein. I know it might be tempting to have a couple glasses of this seasonal drink but with that fat content and high cholesterol in just one glass it is hard to justify it. Think twice before indulging in the eggnog this year!

One cup of Pistachios has- 702 calories, 57 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 12 mg of sodium, 34 grams of carbs, 10 grams of sugars, and 26 grams of protein. You might want to avoid too many handfuls of pistachios this year, in moderation they aren’t bad but they do have a high amount of fat and calories.

There is a few of the common holiday favorites. Hopefully now you can be better prepared to control yourself with all the temptations that are around over the holidays. If you do indulge, just try not to over due it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!