As we all know, Halloween officially kicks off “eating season” – that time of year when you can’t seem to avoid candy, cookies, pies, cakes and treats of all sizes. I’m not sure what’s worse, the candy bowl at home waiting on the trick or treaters or the bowl sitting on my co-worker’s desk tempting me all day. Even if you can’t avoid seeing the sweet stuff, with a little preparation and conscious effort you CAN avoid adding on extra pounds during this spooky holiday.
- Chew sugarless gum. I know, it’s not a chocolate bar, but this sweet-tasting “treat” can help take your attention away from the candy jar for a bit and even stave off hunger pangs for a while.
- Brush your teeth. If you’re temptation comes after dinner (or even lunch at work) then hurry to brush those pearly whites right after eating. Think about it…who wants to eat candy or chocolate after you’ve just brushed your teeth? Yuck!
- Hide the candy dish. I don’t care if you really LOVE that pumpkin-shaped candy dish, if you’d prefer not to be pumpkin-shaped yourself – hide the candy. Out of sight really is out of mind.
- Have a single treat per day. It’s hard to remember that those cute, tiny little miniature candy bars have lots of calories and sugar – but they DO. If you’re going to treat yourself, try to stick to one a day.
- Know what 150 calories looks like. It’s easy to dip into the candy bowl while you’re handing out goodies to the kids, but try to keep it under 150 calories. Our friends at Shape.com have made a helpful list to show you what that adds up to in your favorite treats. 150 calories is approximately three mini York Peppermint Patties or two fun-size packages of milk chocolate M&Ms or six mini Musketeers or six rolls of Smarties or seven Hershey’s Kisses or 3 mini Twix or five snack-size Twizzler twists.
- Try a supplement to help with cravings. Sometimes you're not hungry, you just WANT a piece of candy. To curb those cravings you might want to try a natural appetite suppressant or a product to specifically target sugar cravings.
