Thursday, October 30, 2008

Happy Healthy Halloween Strategies

  Is it possible to enjoy Halloween without completely derailing your diet?  Of course it is, but you might need a few strategies.  Remember, strategy always trumps willpower.  Don't try to white knuckle it through Halloween.  You might be alright for a few hours or even that day but studies show that willpower is actually in limited supply, so resist the candy today, you probably won't be able to tomorrow. 

 Here are a few of my top strategies for surviving Halloween:

Leave it to the last minute- I know that doesn't sound like me (I'm all about pre-preparing) but when it comes to Halloween candy, it is best not to buy it too soon.  If you do have to buy it early, under no circumstance should you open the bag prior to handing out the candy.  You will be asking for trouble.

Have Healthy Options- You don't have to be the crazy fitness lady handing out apples and nuts on Halloween.  Kids like candy and that is partly what the holiday is about.  However, it's going to be a long night so you might want to have some fun healthier options for you to munch on.  Try Pumpkin Pie Popcorn mix with Raisins.  Recipe at www.loveyourraisins.com
I had this recently and it is yummy!!

Not Your Favorite! -Don't buy your favorite candy, you know, the one that is always calling your name.  Choose something that is not a trigger for you.  For me, that means no Reeces Peanut Butter cups.  I could easily eat 4 (and I don't mean the mini) before I realized what I had done.  Instead, I will purchase Milky Ways and Hershey's Chocolate Bars.  I will enjoy having one snack size treat but they won't continue to taunt me from the bowl.

Get Moving- Don't forget to do an extra good workout in the morning before the festivities.  This is like fitness in the bank.  Do a little extra now so when you make a withdraw (splurge) later, you won't notice it on the scale.

The Morning After- Get all candy out of the house!  You don't need it around and frankly neither do your kids.  A friend of mine has a great strategy with her kids; they each get to pick 5 pieces of candy to keep and then when they donate the rest they get a gift card for Target or Border's.  I think it is an excellent trade-off.

  I hope you all have a very happy, healthy, fun Halloween.

Val

ps:  If you need any help getting started on your fitness program, check out my 6 week transformation system at www.redcarpetready.com.



2 comments:

SB-Gal said...

Hey Val,

The Candy Witch visits my house every Halloween night and takes the candy away. My son trades most of his candy in for a new toy (this years it's Legos). He gets what he wants, I don't have the candy laying around the house, the dental bills are lower and he's not bouncing off the ceiling.

Happy Halloween!

PS: Loving the Red Carpet Ready Club. I have had the best results in such a short amount of time. I have spent the last couple of years hanging on the the extra weight, starting and stopping program after program. In less than 42 days I have so much more confidence and my clothes fit me again. I get to work out from home (that's a huge time saver for me). I highly recommend this program :) Thanks Val!!!!!!

Mindy said...

another good option is giving out halloween colored playdough(white & black).