Halloween tests everyone’s resolve to stay on track with his or her healthy eating(opens in a new tab) programs. Even if you’ve been good all year, you may be tempted to snack on a few too many candy bars. Following are a few tips to enjoy some candy without regretting it later. Eat dinner right before you take the kids trick-or-treating. You and the kids will all be less tempted to sneak a few treats from goodie bags if you’re still full from dinner. If you’re the one giving the treats, remembering that you just ate may help you stay out of the treat bowl. Offer higher quality treats to those who come to your door. Instead of the typical chocolaty, sugar-heavy treats, think outside the box. Offer dark chocolate, fruit roll-ups, and snack-sized boxes of raisins and dried fruit. You may be less tempted to snack, and even if you do, you won’t be doing much damage. Eat a healthy treat and drink a glass of water before eating candy. If you’ve decided you want one of those Snickers bars, eat a handful of baby carrots or an apple and drink a glass of water before opening the candy wrapper. You’ll be less likely to eat too much candy because the healthy snack (opens in a new tab)and water will help fill you up. To make this step even more effective, distract yourself by doing something else for 20–30 minutes before eating the candy. Your stomach will have time to signal your brain that you’re not hungry, and that distraction might last longer than 30 minutes. If it does, and you decide you still want the Snickers, start over with the healthy snack and water. Keep candy out of sight. If the kids want to enjoy their candy longer than one night, ration the amount that they can keep and have them put it out of your sight. You can remove the excess from the house the next morning. Give it away. If candy is out of the house completely, you can’t eat it. Take it to work, drop it off at a food bank or church, or give it to a neighbor. If possible, gather it up and get rid of it the next morning. The sooner it’s gone, the sooner you won’t have to deal with the temptation.
The holidays coming up are hard enough to manage weight wise without adding an extra few days of eating candy at Halloween. What tips for avoiding Halloween weight gain can you add?
