Online holiday shopping may be convenient but it does not burn off calories. However, walking through the mall can be a good way to work off those excess Thanksgiving portions. When heading off to check out the holiday sales, clip on a pedometer to measure your steps and use these tips for navigating the food court.

A pedometer is a great way to measure your steps — 2,000 steps equals about one mile of walking — with the goal being 10,000 steps (or about 5 miles of walking) every day. Challenge yourself to use a pedometer daily, and to increase your steps until you reach 10,000 steps. To raise your step count while shopping, make a pass around the mall to window shop before you start your purchasing. Make a trip to the car to drop off your packages before entering another store and you will have made your walking goal before you realize it.

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T. Levette Bagwell/AJC File

Hot and sour or egg drop soup is filling at less than 100 calories per cup.

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Don’t undo all you’ve done by falling into the high-calorie traps that lurk at the food court. Here are some tips for breakfast and lunch choices that won’t undo the calorie burning you accomplished by walking.

Coffee drinks

• Ask for steamed skim milk in your latte to cut the calories — a Grande Nonfat Latte at Starbucks has only 150 calories compared to the 420 calories in the same size Dulce de Leche Frappuccino with blended cream.

• Skip the temptation to try the holiday drinks — a large white hot chocolate with whipped cream has about 640 calories. You would need to walk more than 6 miles to burn off the calories in that drink.

• A low-fat blueberry muffin is a good choice to accompany your low-fat latte. A scone, by comparison, has twice the calories as a low-fat muffin.

Lunch

• If fast food is calling, check out the Wendy’s baked potato and small chili from the dollar menu — top your potato with chili for a filling, under 500 calorie meal.

• If Chick-Fil-A is more to your liking, try a grilled chicken sandwich or the southwest chargrilled chicken salad with fat-free dressing. The chicken Cool Wraps may look tasty, but they pack about 400 calories each.

• Tempted by the samples of Chinese food handed out by staff? Start with a cup of hot and sour or egg drop soup. At less than 100 calories per serving, soup is so filling you will eat less of the main dish. Look for steamed entrées and choose steamed white or brown rice instead of fried rice. Sweet and sour is sure to be deep fried, so go for chicken or beef with vegetables — even better, share an entrée with a friend to further cut calories. The best part of a Chinese meal is the fortune cookie — with only 40 calories it is a sweet ending to the meal.