An evening of Halloween fun can easily turn into a weeklong war on your waistline. It isn’t hard to overindulge when those bite-size candies seem so harmless. But I have some simple tricks to help you curb your cravings and keep Halloween from scaring you off the scale.
1. Spoil your appetite
The worst thing you can do is skimp on food all day to save room for candy—you’re just setting yourself up for a diet slipup. Before you head out trick-or-treating with your kids, fill up with a satisfying 200- to 250-calorie snack. My favorite picks are peanut butter on a slice of whole-grain bread, a veggie burger on an English muffin, or a bowl of low-sodium canned soup. The combination of complex carbs and protein will keep you from scarfing down a handful of Kit Kats.
2. Pace yourself
Once you’ve hit the streets with your costumed kids, limit yourself to just a few of your favorite treats. If you’re really craving M&Ms, it’s OK to have a few! You can enjoy a few without damaging your diet. But pace yourself and have just one piece of candy every couple of blocks.
3. Choose wisely
Think you know what to reach for when a Halloween craving hits? My diet-friendly picks might surprise you. View the slideshow.
And before you and your kids head out, be sure you’ve brushed up on your Halloween safety tips. Steer clear of Sherwood Brands’ Pirate’s Gold milk chocolate coins. Imported from China, they’ve been recalled after testing positive for the industrial chemical melamine, the substance at the center of the tainted-milk controversy.
4. Give cravings the cold shoulder
Many moms say the hardest part of Halloween comes after trick-or-treating, when you’re surrounded by pillowcases stuffed with your kids’ candy. If you’re worried about gorging on leftover Mars bars, put those pillowcases straight into the freezer. This will force you to savor each piece slowly. And in a moment of weakness, it’s not so easy to gobble down frozen treats without chipping a tooth.
Comments (2)
I love this article- The frozen trick works well- as well as remembering that they’ll be there tomorrow so there is no need to go crazy on them. Halloween “fun size” candy is the perfect little portion.
Nice article on alternate treats however all the alternatives were peanut/peanut butter based meaning that they were not alternatives for the many with peanut allergies.