Tips to not Sabotage your weight loss during Halloween...
Halloween marks the official beginning of the holiday feasting season and if your trying to watch your weight, it can be difficult to get through till the end of the year with all the back-to-back festivities and parties.
Those cute little fun-size candy bars seem harmless, and can be if you can limit yourself to only one or two. But that can be hard to do with all the highly addictive sugar. Sure, we say we'll exercise it off, but the truth is that most of us don’t exercise enough to burn off those extra calories.
There are ways to avoid packing on the extra pounds and all it takes is a little know-how. Here are some expert tips to help you to avoid the temptation of Halloween treats.
- Wait until October 31st to buy your trick-or-treat candy. Keep the bags of candy hidden until just before the trick-or-treaters arrive so you are not tempted.
- Buy candy you don’t like. It will be easier to resist snacking on it. For most of us, that means anything but chocolate. Examples are gummy-textured candies, sour candies, and hard or chewy candies that stick to your teeth. (Dots, Star Burst, Candy Corn, Bit O'Honey, Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, Milk Duds)
- Don’t give out candy. Trick-or-treaters love getting things other than candy. Try handing out mini pretzel bags, pencils, coins, plastic rings, stickers or other little fun gadgets.
- Turn trick-or-treat into a calorie-burning stroll. You can walk around the neighborhood to get some exercise while enjoying the festivities and the little goblins.
- If candy is at the office, ask your co-workers to use a colored container with a lid so you can’t see inside. Or they can keep their candy bowls inside their desks or stashed in a cabinet so you won’t be tempted every time you see it.
- If you must have it, then savor on only one piece of your favorite candy a day. But remember that sugar is highly addictive and if you eat one, you will need to fight the urge to eat another.
- Eat mints or chew gum. Peppermint, cinnamon or other gum and mint flavors can give a lot of satisfaction and keep you from reaching for those chocolate treats.
- Replace the candy with better choices. Put out a tray or bowl of colorful fruit or veggies in place of the candy. Consider fruits such as clementines, which are very sweet and have a beautiful citrusy fragrance.
- Count the empty wrappers. It's too easy to pop a few fun-size candy bars into your mouth and we lose track of how quickly those calories add up. Keep the wrappers out and it will remind you of how many you ate and hopefully inspire you to stop eating after one or two. The fun size packs average about 75-80 calories each which means a 12 minute walk per candy to make up for the calories!
- Don't be hungry. Start the day with a healthy breakfast, then plan for a few healthy snacks along with a satisfying lunch. Your preplanned meals will keep you feeling satisfied and make you less likely to desire candy.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day. You'd be surprised how full water makes you feel. It's a natural appetite-suppressant and helps you to resist the urge to eat excess calories.
- Send your extra candy to the troops. Your kids will probably have so much candy that they won’t even want to eat it all. Operation Gratitude collects candy to use to prepare care package gifts for soldiers and sailors. Learn more here.