If your family traditionally passes out candy to neighborhood trick-or-treaters you've probably been stocking up on bags upon bags of candy in preparation of the occasion. Or maybe you've purchased a few bags just because of the fancy decorative displays in the supermarkets near the registers and couldn't avoid the temptation.
Regardless, as Halloween approaches it's extremely important to maintain some restraint especially for those of you focusing on eating healthier and losing weight. The month of October should not turn into a candy-fest with daily munching on chocolate bar after bar just because you have bags of candy in your possession. Sure enjoy a couple of pieces once in awhile, but if you find yourself devouring 10-20 mini candies every day, then restraint must be instilled as soon as possible before you find an additional 5 pounds on your body and wonder where that extra weight came from.
Here's an eye opening fact you may not have realized. A single miniature Snickers candy bar has 45 calories and 2.1 grams of fat! Eat a quick four like many do and you've just taken in 180 calories and 8.4 grams of fat. It happens that quick. Think if this mini snickers ritual occurs 3-5 times a day, you can see how quickly this cycle becomes extremely detrimental to your body.
Surprisingly enough, this happens all too frequently not only with candy during Halloween, but with snacks in general. Since these "food" items are right there at hand, it becomes simple to grab a few whenever the thought or urge arises. Unfortunately these thoughts or urges can pop up rather frequently and pretty soon after a week the entire bag, box, or container is empty. All vanished and packed away right into your belly.
In a perfect world we should be able to restrain ourselves from any type of snacking binge, limiting ourselves to just one or two bits of whatever the snack may be - preferably under 150 calories and low in fat, sugar, and carbohydrates. In the case of Halloween treats/candy, maybe every other day you have just one or two miniature candy bars and that's it. If that is just not possible for you to handle, then get a friend or neighbor to hold the candy for you until Halloween. Whatever it takes so you don't devour bag after bag of those calorie packed treats.
Our bodies generally need a bit of sustenance in the form of a snack and there's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy one. However when you are trying to eat in a more health conscious manner, you want all the foods to be healthy including drinks and snacks. If you maintain a nutritious diet, get in the habit of buying healthy snacks and keep them handy at all times. Not only will these snacks do your body good, but you will not have to beat yourself up over gorging on a whole bag of candy just because it was at hand and you couldn't stop yourself.
Gregory L. Gomez, has been teaching 5th grade in the LAUSD for 12 years and has recently embarked on a journey to lose weight, eat healthier, and finally get in shape! Follow his progress on http://HealthyChoicesInLife.com as he strives to lose 60 pounds through dedicated exercise and healthy eating. Get a monthly Healthy Choices Newsletter and a FREE 18 page weight loss guide at http://healthychoicesinlife.com/couch.
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