Guide October 2026 · 8 min read

The standard plate

Every row is one USDA record and a portion you can picture. Where the record gives a household measure (a cup, 3 oz), we used it. Where a dish is a recipe, such as roast potatoes or glazed carrots, the row shows what went into it.

The plate also carries about 2,900 mg of sodium. Almost half of it comes from the ham: cured meat is salty even before the glaze. The rest is mostly stuffing and gravy. That's well above the WHO limit of 2 g of sodium for a whole day. If the scale is up the next morning, it's mostly water from the salt, not fat. How much salt per day →

Christmas pudding and mince pies aren't in the table. USDA has no record for either, and recipes vary too much to pick one number. Log them by photo or by their ingredients.

Ham, turkey or prime rib

The roast is where Christmas differs most from one table to the next, and it moves the total more than any side.

Ham and white-meat turkey are a tie on calories. Turkey has more protein and about an eighth of the sodium. Prime rib is the outlier: 365 kcal per 100 g against 177 for ham and turkey, because of the fat marbled through the meat. With prime rib instead of glazed ham, the same plate comes to about 1,465 kcal.

Dessert and eggnog

Dinner plus a slice of pecan pie with whipped cream and a cup of eggnog: 1,162 + 450 + 39 + 225 = 1,876 kcal. Add two sugar cookies from the tray later in the evening and it passes 2,000.

Eggnog is easy to treat as a drink and forget. A cup is 225 kcal, close to a slice of pumpkin pie at 265. Spiked eggnog, mulled wine and other drinks come on top; the numbers are in calories in alcohol.

What to pick

The numbers point to a few choices that matter and a few that don't.

• The roast is the biggest choice. Prime rib instead of ham or turkey adds about 320 kcal for the same 6 oz. If prime rib is the tradition, a 4 oz slice instead of 6 oz saves about 205.
• Ham or turkey barely differ on calories. Pick by taste. If you watch salt, turkey has about 1,200 mg less sodium per portion.
• Pumpkin pie over pecan saves 185 kcal per slice of the same size. A piece of fruitcake is 140 kcal, less than a third of a pecan slice.
• Half a cup of eggnog instead of a full cup saves about 113 kcal. A small glass is enough to taste it.
• Roast potatoes take their oil seriously. Half a tablespoon of olive oil on 150 g of potatoes adds 60 kcal; the same potatoes baked without oil are about 140.
• Brussels sprouts and carrots are cheap. Even with butter and a sugar glaze they stay under 80 kcal per half cup. Take more of them and less stuffing: a second half cup of stuffing adds 195.

One big dinner won't undo weeks of steady eating. Even the 2,000-kcal version is a single day above your usual intake, and the next-morning jump is mostly salt and water that fades within a few days. Calorie deficit for weight loss →

How to log Christmas dinner

Christmas is hard to log for the same reason Thanksgiving is: eight dishes on one plate, food all evening, and nobody weighing anything at the table.

• Log the plate, not every dish. In CalMePlease you can take a short video of the plate. The AI identifies each dish, and each one lands as a separate entry with its estimated weight in grams. If the ham looks heavier than the app thinks, correct the grams in one tap.
• Say it when the table is busy. A voice note like "six ounces of ham, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, half a cup of stuffing and a roll" takes a few seconds. Voice food logging →
• Log the drinks and the cookie tray as they happen. Eggnog and cookies are spread over hours and are the easiest part to forget.
• Forgot? Add the meal to that day later from the calendar. A rough log on December 26 beats a blank day.

FAQ

How many calories are in a Christmas dinner? About 1,160 kcal for one standard plate: 6 oz of glazed ham, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots, ½ cup of stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and a buttered roll. With a slice of pecan pie, whipped cream and a cup of eggnog it's about 1,880.

How many calories are in Christmas ham? 6 oz (170 g) of roasted bone-in ham, lean and fat, is about 300 kcal and 41 g of protein, or 177 kcal per 100 g. A teaspoon of brown-sugar glaze adds about 17 kcal. The same portion carries about 1,400 mg of sodium.

Is turkey or ham lower in calories? They're about equal: 6 oz of roasted light-meat turkey with skin is about 300 kcal, the same as ham. Dark meat with skin is about 350. Turkey has more protein and far less sodium.

How many calories are in prime rib? About 620 kcal for 6 oz (170 g) of roasted prime rib, lean and fat. That's 365 kcal per 100 g, roughly twice ham or turkey.

How many calories are in a cup of eggnog? About 225 kcal and 11.6 g of protein for a cup (254 g) of non-alcoholic eggnog. Half a cup is about 112. Alcohol adds more on top.

Will one Christmas dinner make me gain weight? Not much fat. 1,500–2,000 kcal is one high day, not a trend. A jump on the scale the next morning is mostly water from the salt and carbs and usually fades within a few days once you're back to your usual meals.

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Data: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (NDB numbers): pork, cured, ham, rump, bone-in, lean and fat, heated, roasted (10929); turkey from whole, light meat, meat and skin, roasted (05182); turkey, dark meat from whole, meat and skin, roasted (05184); beef, rib, whole (ribs 6–12), lean and fat, 1/8" fat, choice, roasted (13829); sugars, brown (19334); potatoes, baked, flesh and skin, without salt (11674); oil, olive (04053); Brussels sprouts, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt (11099); carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt (11125); butter, salted (01001); bread stuffing, bread, dry mix, prepared (18082); gravy, turkey, canned, ready-to-serve (06125); cranberry sauce, canned, sweetened (09081); rolls, dinner, plain, commercially prepared (18342); pie, pecan, commercially prepared (18324); pie, pumpkin, commercially prepared (18326); cream, whipped, cream topping, pressurized (01054); cake, fruitcake, commercially prepared (18110); cookies, sugar, commercially prepared (18204); cookies, gingersnaps (18172); eggnog (01057). Portion weights from the same records; pie slices are a fixed 110 g, and roast potato, glaze and butter amounts are our recipe. Sodium limit: WHO guideline on sodium intake (2012). Values checked October 2026.

Related: Thanksgiving dinner calories · Calories in alcohol · How much salt per day

CalMePlease logs a whole holiday plate from a short video, with each dish as its own entry and a weight in grams you can correct. Free on the App Store.