So just how much running are you going to need to burn off your favorite Thanksgiving food? Generally, a 150-pound person running at an average pace will burn about 100 calories a mile. Here’s a breakdown of typical foods found on holiday menus and how long you’d have to run to burn them off.

Turkey – 6oz for 350 calories = 3.5 miles
Mashed Potatoes – ½ cup for 150 calories = 1.5 miles
Stuffing – ½ cup for 180 calories = 1.8 miles
Gravy – ½ cup for 180 calories = 1.8 miles
Cranberry Sauce – ½ cup for 190 calories = 1.9 miles
Rolls – 1 roll for 155 calories = 1.55 miles
Pumpkin Pie – 1 slice for 180 calories = 1.8 miles

You’ll need to run slightly more than a half marathon after Thanksgiving to burn off a standard meal, or 13.8 miles! In other words… yes, the workout is that important. If the stats are true that the average meal has us eating well above 3,000 calories, you’ll have to run further than a marathon to eat guilt free on Thursday.

This holiday is the biggest calorie bomb of the year, as Thanksgiving meals are known to be anywhere from 3,000 to 4,500 calories. While eating that much at one time is not recommended, it’s pretty much a given that there will be some over indulgence this Thursday. But, you don’t have to take these facts lying down, you could put on your running shoes and burn some serious calories and maybe some guilt, too.
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According to the National Center For Health Statistics, Heart Disease was the leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2004. If you want to avoid being a statistic, it’s time to think about a heart healthy diet.

A study run by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School ranked daily meal plans and food recommendations of eight popular weight-loss programs. With 70 as a perfect score, here’s how they ranked:

• Ornish, 64.6.
• Weight Watchers high-carbohydrate, 57.4.
• New Glucose Revolution, 57.2.
• South Beach Phase 2, 50.7.
• Zone, 49.8.
• MyPyramid, 48.7.
• Weight Watchers high protein, 47.3.
• Atkins 100-g carbohydrate, 46.
• South Beach Phase 3, 45.6.
• Atkins 45-g carbohydrate, 42.3.

“We were most surprised by the fact that the MyPyramid wasn’t even in the top three. We figured that this would be a model diet because it is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary recommendations,” said the study’s author clinical psychologist Sherry Pagoto.She went on to assure the public that these rankings aren’t an indication of the general healthfulness of any particular diet. All of the diets are potentially healthy and have been shown in a variety of studies to result in weight loss, which is important to improving heart health.

One important thing to consider is your personal food preference. Because no matter how healthy a diet is, if you aren’t going to stick to it, what good is it to you in the long run? For example, if you really like carbohydrates, you’re better off with Weight Watchers than Atkins. But, people with a family history of heart disease should consider using this study as a guide when choosing a diet plan, Pagoto said.