I love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday, the Big Holiday for my family, where everyone converges under one roof for a day or two of quality catch up time and lots of good food. But, of course, staying active enough to offset all the tasty T-Day treats is no small feat. So while I do my best to always get in a good sweat session the morning before the big feast, I also try to stay busy around the house cooking, helping keep things clean or whatever else might need done. (Check out our festive table from last year, courtesy of moi. ;) )

Whether you’re spending Thanksgiving with your family, traveling to his, hosting for the first time, or are close enough to both groups of loved ones that you’ll be bombarded with two entire T-Day dinners, every little bit of activity counts. (Especially if your gym time is crowded out by traffic jams and and airports, last-minute pie baking, and a little family face time.)

Here, the average calories a 135-pound woman burns doing common Turkey Day activities.
The day before, and maybe, after …

Housecleaning for 60 minutes: 218 calories

Scrubbing floors for 45 minutes: 255 calories

Stacking firewood for 15 minutes: 92 calories

Vacuuming for 30 minutes: 76 calories

Dusting for 30 minutes: 71 calories

Making beds for 10 minutes: 23 calories

Thanksgiving Day…

Preparing dinner per 60 minutes: 132 calories

Rearranging heavy furniture for 15 minutes: 101 calories

Building a fire inside for 15 minutes: 45 calories

Setting the table for 10 minutes: 28 calories

An hour of touch football in the backyard: 494 calories

Carrying around your (or his!) nieces and nephews for 60 minutes: 202 calories

Washing the dishes by hand for 60 minutes: 137 calories

Carrying all of the trash from the house in 20 minutes: 51.02 calories

A little post-Thanksgiving TV-watching for an hour: 64 calories
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