CHRISTMAS IS COMING at us fast — but not as fast as the box of USA biscuits or a glass of mulled wine.
So before you dive in head-first into each, just take a moment to learn how many calories are in each…. then proceed as you were.
Here’s a sample of 11 things everyone (or the majority) is gonna eat and drink this Christmas…
A mince pie
An average-sized mince pie contains 220kcal and 18g of sugar.
An Irish coffee
Working from the International Bartenders Association official cocktail recipe, a small cup with only 1 serving of whiskey, 1 sugar and only 30g of cream will be around 80kcals and 5g of sugar.
However, when we start being more generous with the servings the calories start climbing.
A glass of mulled wine
Average mug of mulled wine will have around 170kcals and around 30g of sugars, again this depends on how it’s prepared and how generous people are with the sugar!
A turkey sandwich with stuffing
Two slices wholemeal bread, some real butter, a good slice of turkey, some cranberry sauce and a sprinkle of pepper will be around 600kcals and 12g of sugar!
A Christmas dinner with all the trimmings
So dinner in my house is traditionally roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, some veg, usually Brussels sprouts and carrots and some gravy to finish things off!
That totals up to 920kcals and 21g of sugar. Add in a few glasses of mulled wine or Irish coffee, your prawn cocktail starter, Christmas pudding desert and just a few Roses and the calories and sugar won’t be long becoming figures you’d rather not think about!
I just hope Santa brought you new runners for the New Year!
A second helping of roast potatoes
That extra helping of roast potatoes will be around 300kcals and 1.4g of sugar.
A slice of Christmas pudding
340 kcals and 45g of sugar.
A prawn cocktail
Average bowl (6 prawns) is around 300kcals and 8g of sugar
A bottle of Miller
140kcals.
A can of Heineken
220kcals.
A fist of Roses
This depends on how big your hand is! However, regardless of that we’re all a little inclined to reach back to the box for that extra helping.
Every sweet is around 50kcals and 5g of sugar so a fist of 6 is 300kcals and 30g of sugar.
So, adding all those calories up we are left with a grand total of 3,590.
The Recommended Daily Allowance of an Irish adult male is around 2,500 but that’s nothing a three-hour jog won’t solve.
Information provided by Fiachrá Duffy who is a Registered Dietitian with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (@trust_indi) and Operations Officer at www.lifebites.ie. You can also contact him @fiachra_duffy.