The Calories from Your Thanksgiving Dinner Could Take 46,000+ Steps to Burn Off

Soon we’ll be gathering around the table with friends or family, reminding ourselves once again what we’re most grateful for. And if we’re lucky, we may also get to enjoy an extra delectable meal full of the harvest season’s most tasty offerings—and perhaps an extra big one.

It’s safe to say many of us *ahem* not-so-slightly exceed our bodies caloric needs on Thanksgiving Day. But just how many calories do we typically consume during Thanksgiving Dinner? And how many steps does it take to burn it off?

At KURU, we love the health benefits of walking, so we wanted to find out. We rounded up the most popular Thanksgiving dishes and discovered that the average American could consume 3,348 calories this Thanksgiving dinner alone—over 165% more than the recommended daily intake! 

So just how many steps would it take to burn off your favorite dishes? Let’s find out.

Calories in Popular Thanksgiving Dishes

Food for Thought

Let’s remember: calories often get a bad rap, but they are a needed, good thing for our bodies to operate in a healthy manner! They are a neutral metric that simply measures energy expenditure.

That said, we all have optimum amounts to maintain our body’s composition. While the calories you need to sustain a healthy lifestyle will vary based on your dietary needs and activity level, the general recommendation is 2,000 calories/day.

It’s absolutely OK to indulge on occasion, and truly embrace the holidays! Healthy lifestyles are less about always avoiding eating “too much”—they are more about a balanced approach and a product of what we most consistently do.

So from a mindset of balance—just how many steps would you need to take to burn an equal number of calories as Thanksgiving Dinner, or “burn it off”?

If you were to “walk off” the excess 1,348 calories from Thanksgiving Dinner, it would take the average American 30,223 steps.

View our chart below to find out America’s favorite Thanksgiving foods in 2023! How do they compare to last year’s list? New to the top dishes in 2023: deviled eggs and turkey gravy. The two foods that got knocked off? Green olives and giblet gravy.

Snacks, Appetizers, and Extras

Side Dishes and Main Course

Dessert

Tips for a Healthy and Wholesome Thanksgiving

1. Know it’s Ok… to indulge! A healthy lifestyle is more about what we consistently do than a one-time meal. Enjoy your time with loved ones and let yourself have some fun.
2. Moderation is Key. If you’d like to be conscious of what you consume, start with smaller-than-you-think portions and wait 20 minutes before getting more. You may find you get fuller more quickly than you think!
3. Get a Post-Meal Walk In. A post-meal walk can do wonders for our blood sugar levels and digestion! Strap on a pair of ultra-supportive KURU shoes for some extra spring in your step and even healthier heels.

Methodology

KURU Footwear used Google Trends to determine the most popular Thanksgiving dishes in 2022, and paired that information with serving size and calorie estimates from the Calorie Control Council.

We then used Omni Calculator’s Steps to Calories tool to determine how many steps it would take to “burn” the calories for each dish. To make these calculations, we used average body measurements as reported by the CDC.

Sourcing

1. Calorie Control Council – Calories & Fat in Popular Holiday Dishes
2. CDC – FastStats – Body Measurements
3. Omni Calculator – Steps to Calories Calculator

About Us

At KURU, we’re on a mission to help you Heel Better™ with footwear technology designed to relieve foot pain, so you can live a life you love. Since launching our innovative technology in 2008, we’ve received more than 31,000 five-star reviews from thousands of customers who tell us their KURU shoes helped them with conditions (such as plantar fasciitis) and got them back to doing what they love. Explore our comparison guide to find the best shoes for plantar fasciitis for you.

Please direct all media inquiries to pr@kurufootwear.com.