FYI: How Much Weight Can You Gain From Thanksgiving Dinner?
Preparing To Chow Down Superstock/Getty ImagesMost of the food weight and water retention disappears in time. Postprandial weight gain is all a matter of timing. In the short term-I mean the very short term-any food and drink that you put into your body will make you exactly that much heavier. Eat a pound of marshmallows, and you'll have added one pound to your mass, at least until your body starts to excrete the food or use it for energy. So until metabolic processes kick in, the amount you gain from Thanksgiving dinner depends exactly on the amount you've decided to stuff down your gullet. That increase will start to wane almost as soon as it begins. The time it takes for food to pass through our digestive tracts varies widely. In general, the "colonic transit" of a meal takes between 20 and 56 hours. Once you've metabolized and excreted your food and...