SALT LAKE CITY — The holiday season provides a plethora of delicious treats that act as the gift that keeps on giving — to your thighs.

While pumpkin pie, fudge and other tasty treats may taste delicious, The Huffington Post reported that the average person consumes twice the amount of calories than he or she normally does, putting on 4 pounds between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

To prevent this rapid weight gain, people may want to educate themselves about how many calories are squeezed into some of the most popular festive treats:

Pecan pie: 500 calories per piece

Eggnog: 228 calories per cup

Cheese ball: 123 calories per tablespoon

Mincemeat pie: 360 calories per piece

Pumpkin cheesecake: 740 calories per slice

Chocolate orange: 210 calories per five slices, or 840 for entire orange

Fruitcake: 410 calories per slice

The calories may not seem high in each snack individually, but Body Chef revealed that the average calorie intake on Christmas Day is 8,000 — four times larger than the recommended amount.

Related:

5 ways to avoid the dreaded holiday weight gain

With less than 48 hours to go until our annual food-fest, people are gearing up to stuff themselves full. While it can be somewhat of an American tradition to overeat on Thanksgiving, it can be a dieter's nightmare.

Body Chef suggests choosing the right treats to eat rather than skipping them altogether.

Here are a few recipe suggestions:

Buttermilk pralines: 65 calories per piece

Ginger-molasses cookies: 61 calories per cookie

Cinnamon streusel crisps: 87 calories per cookie

Gingerbread cookie: 79 calories per cookie

Cream cheese meltaways: 85 calories per piece

Chocolate Nutella fudge: 71 calories per piece

Deep dark chocolate biscotti: 94 calories per piece

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