Halloween Reminder: Candy Can Start The Seasonal Pound-Packing

Call me a killjoy, but now is the moment to ask ourselves in advance: Do you really, truly want those Skittles? Are those mini-Mounds really worth it? Do you even really like malted milk balls and candy corn? (Well, yes, I really do. I think.)

A Massachusetts General Hospital diabetes education blog posted some helpful words of wisdom on Halloween candy last year, and just tweeted the link to it: "Candy — the Do's and Don't's". An excerpt:

Many people gain “those extra pounds” from October through December, and it all starts with that first “mini” candy bar…and then another because the first was only a bite. We say to ourselves, it couldn’t be too many calories, it was so tiny. We give ourselves permission to have another (and another).  Before you know it, you’ve eaten 4 pieces and consumed about 200 calories and 100g of carbs!  If you do that every day for the month of October that’s almost a 3 lb gain (and don’t be fooled by sugar free candy, it also contains extra calories and carbs).  Once the Halloween candy is all gone we move onto stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and holiday cookies:  more calories and carbs.

So how do you stop yourself from the downward spiral?  Don’t buy candy for the trick-or-treaters until the day of Halloween; and don’t take the first bite until there’s only one piece of Halloween candy left!  Instead, grab a piece of fruit.  Apples, pears, and many citrus fruits are in season now.

(Of course, when I was growing up, we had to worry about razor blades in apples, but maybe that was all an urban legend?)