Trick is to avoid eating kids’ treats
Overindulging will haunt your waistline
Halloween can be a diet disaster for even the most dedicated health-conscious folk around. Indulging in some of those bite-sized treats is nearly synonymous with the occasion.
Although, as a nutritionist, I’m not recommending you throw away your candy, you might be amazed at how quickly mindlessly consuming these little treats can get out of control.
The average 8- to 12-year-old child arrives home with approximately 3 kilograms of candy.The amount of sugar in that sack is equivalent to eating 10 cups of sugar, 475 cubes of sugar or 47 cans of pop. This total does not take into consideration the amount of fat, which also equates to five sticks of butter. Combined, that totals a whopping 14,000 calories! It’s no wonder Halloween haunts your waistline for weeks after.
Did you know that the average adult eats 15 pieces of small candy per day after Halloween? This is equivalent to 950 calories consisting of 28 sugar cubes and a third of a stick of butter daily. It only takes four days of this to pack on a pound of pure fat. It would take the average adult six hours of running to drop that same pound of weight.
It often does not feel like we are eating this much, because we tend to pick throughout the day — at work, at home and after the kids are in bed.
Chocolate and candy are comfort foods and are very hard to resist. But with a few simple strategies, we can all enjoy the festivities without expanding our waistlines.
Avoid purchasing your candy until a few days before Halloween. If it’s not in the house, you won’t eat it.
Don’t stock up on Halloween candy you love. Buy types you are not fond of. You will be less likely to overindulge.
Ensure you and your children eat dinner before the trick-or-treating begins. By approaching the evening with a full tummy, you will have much more self-control when it comes to the candy. Make a batch of chili or hearty soup in the morning and it’s ready when the kids get home from school.
Set a limit on the number of pieces you and your children can have each day and stick to it. Avoid deprivation by allowing yourself a few pieces of your favourites. Give yourself time to savour them. Eat them at a time of day when you are not starving — you are more likely to feel satisfied.
After a few days, agree to throw the rest of the candy out or donate it to a crisis shelter or charity. This is a good practice in self-control for you and your children.
Halloween doesn’t have to be a nutritional nightmare for you and your family if you approach the holiday with a plan in place. Andrea Mawson, B.Sc., RD, is a nutritionist and privatepractice registered dietitian specializing in weight loss. She collaborated with nutrition student, Adrie Barnard, on this article.