The holidays are a time to get together with family and friends. However, the focus of our holidays usually revolves mainly around the food we are serving. And, with the average Thanksgiving meal (turkey, stuffing, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie) totaling more than 2,500 calories, it is no wonder why the average American will gain between 9-11 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years. This year, I have some easy Thanksgiving swaps that will save you hundreds of calories.

1. Easy Pan Gravy:

This pan gravy removes the fat from the pan juices, saving you over 100 calories per 1/4 cup traditional gravy. Combine in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 2 Tablespoons flour. Whisk constantly until the flour mixture turns golden brown, about two minutes. Next, add 1 cup of fat-free chicken stock and 1 cup pan juices (that have been skimmed of the fat). Continue stirring until gravy comes to a full boil and thickens.

2. Sweet Potato Souffle:

I save calories from the traditional sweet potato souffle by using egg beaters and a small tin of crushed pineapple for sweetness instead of sugar. I also top it with a high fiber cereal, such as Kellogg's All-Bran Buds mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a packet of Splenda for a crunchy topping.

3. Spruced Up Stuffing:

I give your regular stuffing recipe a boost by using Thomas' English Muffins Light Multigrain instead of bread. Each muffin has only 100 calories and provides you with 8g of fiber. I add egg beaters, low calorie butter spread and lots of vegetables for a crunch factor (water chestnuts, mushrooms, celery, shredded carrot).

4. Cranberry Sauce:

You are going to love this cranberry sauce, it is easy to prepare and so delicious! You save nearly 300 calories by using whole cranberries, Splenda and frozen berries. Once you try this recipe, you will never go back to canned cranberry sauce!

Christmas is a notoriously unhealthy time of year -- rich dishes and sugar galore ensures that it's almost impossible to lose weight this time of year. But over at the Daily Mail, they have some simple swaps you can make to cut calories and hopefully inches too. Here are a few ideas:

• Champagne instead of mulled wine saves 131 calories
• Chicken satay skewers instead of mini cocktail wieners saves 83 calories
• Boiled potatoes instead of roast potatoes saves 131 calories
• Vegetarian stuffing instead of meat stuffing saves 70 calories per tablespoon
• Packaged gravy instead of homemade gravy saves 65 calories
• Fruit salad with cream instead of fruit trifle saves 216 calories

Do all of the above swaps and you're saving yourself 696 calories. No bad for a few easy substitutions, eh? Click here for more simple swaps.

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Ah Thanksgiving. Is there anything better than a day dedicated to food, family, friends and fabulous slothfulness? It's all great, but one of our favourite aspects of the day is the food.

So last week, I asked you what your favourite Thanksgiving Day dish is. Here's what you had to say:

• 32 percent of you love the stuffing.
  
• 22 percent of you love potatoes -- either mashed or sweet.
  
• 20 percent of you love turkey the best.
  
• 16 percent of you hold out for dessert -- it's your favourite part of the meal.
  
• 8 percent of you love the veggies.
  
• 2 percent of you are crazy about cranberry sauce.
  

Thanks for sharing ... though all of a sudden. I'm feeling a bit hungry.

Faith Hill celebrated her 41st birthday by appearing on the cover of Shape magazine in a bikini and a cardigan. There's no question that she looks smokin' hot. Though there is a question about why anyone would ever wear a cardigan with a bikini ... but we'll blame that on the stylist.

Hill said that she loves to exercise, and she cooks with fresh veggies from her own garden -- Mediterranean dishes are a favorite. I'm glad to hear it, because based on the recipes she says are her go-to dishes, she obviously needs the balance healthful meals and exercise give her. Hill's favorite dishes are:

• Corn bread dressing with gravy
• Coca-Cola cake
• Sausage balls

While they may be yummy, these are certainly not figure-friendly recipes. If you want to try out any of Hill's favorite recipes, be sure to follow the "Make it Healthier" instructions Shape magazine provides. And, if you want to look as sexy as Faith Hill, balance treats like this with healthier foods and plenty of exercise.

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Got Thanksgiving plans? Of course, you do. You'll get together with friends, family or both, either at their house or yours. A few people will work feverishly in the kitchen, while the others will gobble up appys and drinks. Finally, everyone will gather together in merriment, and the grand finale will happen: The serving of the prodigal meal. Most will go back for seconds, some will undo the top button on their pants, some will thank their lucky stars they wore fat pants. Then most of us will fall asleep in the living room. Sound familiar?

Thanksgiving -- 'tis the season for over-indulgence. But just how much over-indulgence are we talking here?

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Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback.

We Canadians had our Thanksgiving dinner more than a month ago, so it's with much jealousy that I remind you that Thanksgiving is coming up, you lucky jerks. If you haven't guessed, I am crazy about turkey, stuffing and all the dishes in between.

Come on, indulge me. Tell me what part of Thanksgiving dinner you're looking most forward to.

Turkey sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, and more turkey sandwiches. Unless you get a little creative, that's what you're probably going to be facing in a few days. So plan ahead and have some tasty and healthful turkey recipes on hand.

Rob Barrett from Cooking With Dads and ParentDish posted about this fun idea -- turning your leftovers into a yummy calzone. It's not strictly for Thanksgiving, but how delish would a calzone stuffed with turkey, dressing, and fresh cranberry sauce be? (Hopefully you're using whole-grain bread for your stuffing.)

The recipes calls for four cups of flour -- I'd switch half or all of that to whole-wheat flour. Other than that, the recipe is as healthful as the foods you stuff inside of it.

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Few things are tastier than thanksgiving dinner. But on a holidays that's known for being a universal day of stuffing your face, it's hard to stick to your diet. eDiets recently did an article on the most calorie-laden foods of Thanksgiving, and if you're looking to cut calories this holiday, here are the things they recommend you avoid:

• Stuffing. Stuffing can be healthy but often it's not. It can cost you 358 cals for one cup and 18 g of fat if you're not careful
• Candied Yams. Candied is just another way of saying 'sugar-laden'. A serving of these babies will cost you 369 cal and 23 g of fat.
  
• Mashed Potatoes. Proceed with caution with this one. If you do have them, avoid the butter
• Green Bean Casserole. If it's topped with fried onions, you're looking at 240 cal and 16 of fat for a serving.
• Rolls. Fresh bread roles are 90 calories a piece and that's without butter.
• Pies. This one should go without saying. But really, what's thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? Just be sure to avoid the pecan pie -- it's deadly.
  

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Just wanted to wish all of my American fitness friends a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Hopefully all of your meals are both healthy and tasty. My mother is cooking for thirty five of us, and I can't wait until 4:00pm today when the food gets placed on the table. After playing football and soccer for hours, we'll have two twenty-five pound turkeys, giant bowls of stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (made with skim milk and NO butter), asparagus, rolls, and a massive pot of black beans and rice contributed by my Cuban sister-in-law, Sandy. Hooray! I've already run three miles this morning, so I've got my day kicked off right. Maybe you can go do some sweating too!

The other thing I wish you all is a pleasant and drama-free experience with your friends and families. Holidays are not only fun, they're often stressful. So try to keep things bright, light, and pleasant.

Today I'm not only thankful for my close friends and family. I'm thankful to be able to work for millions and millions of folks like you who genuinely care about yourselves and are constantly working to improve. I'm grateful to be able to contribute in any way to your longer, fitter life.

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You know that Thanksgiving dinner is yummy. But did you also know that Thanksgiving dinner can boost your intake of important antioxidants? Yep, it's true, according to this article from eDiets. Want some examples? This Thanksgiving, stock up on these items (but in moderation, of course:)

• Stuffing. Did you know that bread crusts have antioxidants? Yeah, me neither. But since stuffing is chalk-full of crusts and hopefully a few vegetable too, so enjoy it.
• Cranberries. These little berries are also high in antioxidants. They're also good for your neurons. To reap their benefits best, make your own sauce instead of relying on sugar-laden canned stuff
• Drinks. Coffee, hot cocoa and red wine each are packed with antioxidants, so drink up!

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

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Who doesn't struggle with Thanksgiving weight gain? I don't know anybody, really, and honestly those people who don't are probably best served by keeping that detail to themselves! It's funny, though, that one of the times we're all most looking to be skinny (due to seeing family and friends and wanting to make a good impression) just happens to be right smack in the middle of one of the most fattening times of the year: the holidays.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner now is the time to make a battle plan! Attack weight gain without sacrificing your enjoyment of the big meal this Thursday with these 7 holiday dining weapons:

• Go for white meat only. This might be the single easiest thing you can do because thankfully turkey (especially the white meat) is naturally lean and low in calories (44 cals and 1g fat/0 sat fat per skinless ounce). Obviously this is assuming you bake or roast (what's the difference???) your bird instead of deep fat frying.
• Make gravy that's all about flavor, not fat. Options for this include: using low-sodium/low-fat broth, using the pan drippings from the turkey but chilling them first so you can skim a lot of the fat off, or getting totally creative with a new recipe like this fat-free Cider Gravy.
  

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For me, participating in a cookie exchange at Christmas is bad news. I always tell myself I'm joining because I want to collect a bunch of different kinds of cookies so I can freeze them and bring them out when company is over, but who am I kidding? Those suckers are gone by Christmas Eve. And really, I don't get enough company to justify 12 dozen different varieties.

Diet guru Julia Havey recently put together a list of the worst holiday diet disasters. Here are her picks:

• Egg Nog. One serving is 460 calories!
• Cheese balls. They're pretty much all fat. Ick.
  
• Pecan Pie. It's 500 calories per slice, and that's without ice cream
• Candied yams. They'll pack a sugar punch, especially if they have marshmallows.
  
• Canned Cranberry Sauce. It has 200 calories per half cup, and zero nutritional value. Make your own
• Stuffing. You can make healthy stuffing, so do it instead of relying on Stove Top

What's your holiday vice?

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Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is next. That means less talk about candy and more about the featured meat of the month: Turkey.

As you prepare for your Thanksgiving feast, don't neglect to cook your bird to the proper temperature. You'll need to invest in a food thermometer -- it's the only way to tell if your turkey has reached a temperature high enough to destroy illness-causing bacteria. And you'll need to cook that bird until it has an internal temperature of 165°F for safety, and 180°F for the best quality thigh meat. You'll want to check your temps at two spots -- the thickest part of the breast and the innermost part of the thigh. Check your stuffing too, and aim to cook it separately until it reaches 165°F internally.

For more on food safety, visit www.foodsafety.gov.

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Thanksgiving is close by, and one of my favourite parts of the turkey dinner is without a doubt the stuffing, particularly the way my mum makes it. With the exception of dessert, thanksgiving dishes are usually pretty healthy -- there's lots of vegetables and lean turkey meat, so it seems stuffing is the least healthy part of the meal. But is it? It's basically just bread, vegetables and herbs cooked inside the turkey, right? So is it healthy or not?

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