It’s a gorgeous beautiful sunshiny day today….I love fall weather! While on my run today I passed a school playground complete with a gang of kids jumping and playing. Soon they’ll be heading out for trick or treating….gathering up hordes of candy in their cute costumes.
For the adults out there, a few tips on surviving Halloween without becoming sugar-shocked. First: If you want to minimize your intake of excess calories, don’t buy candy “for the trick-or-treaters” that you like! It’s kind of a no-brainer, if you hate Twizzlers, give out Twizzlers this year and you won’t keep being tempted to grab one for yourself. After breakfast. And after lunch. And “because there are leftovers”……
If you go to a Halloween party yourself, do definitely dress up, but don’t spend
your night near the food table grazing. Mingle and enjoy the company, costumes, and fun. If the host or hostess has invited guests to bring food or drinks, bring something you can feel good about eating. Want to stick with the black and orange theme? Black bean dip and orange pepper slices. Roast pumpkin seeds and sprinkle with salt and spices for a great snack. Bring hot apple cider; it’s a lower calorie alternative to most alcoholic beverages, and you can alternate bewteeen cider and drinks. You can make any dish more festive with plastic bugs and spiders, check out the dollar store for spooky fun items. (My halloween last year had gelatinous body parts floating in the punch).
If you have children who will be candy havesting this fall, take a few steps to keep the holiday fun aside from excessive sugar consumption. Tell your kids they can’t eat their candy until they get home from trick-or-treating. This will help your kids avoid eating until they feel sick, while still trying to walk door to door and get more. Also, if they are eager to get home and break into their candy, they might settle for heading back a bit earlier, with a smaller payload.
If your child is reasonable with portion control, encourage them to eat their treats in moderation, a couple of pieces per day. If your child isn’t quite this responsible, you might want to dole out the candy yourself. Most importantly, remind your kids that candy is a treat which does not replace healthy meals. Don’t let them skip real food to eat more candy. After all, teaching your kids how to reasonably consume treats is, in my opinion, more valuable than barring them from candy entirely. It’s a skill we need our whole lives.
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