Don’t Get “Tricked” with Halloween Candy
Halloween … you know it’s that time of the year when you see stores filled with sugary treats of all kinds. A sugar addictsworst nightmare! Halloween is associated with “treats” in your office, candy that you buy for trick or treaters or candy that your kids bring home. Read on to learn some tips on how not to get tricked into overindulging on Halloween!treats! (pic: montrends.com)
Here are a few problems I see:
1. Buying candy for trick or treaters too early. The longer it sits in your apartment, the greater the chances are that you will open the bag. Even nutritionists know how hard it can be to resist eating candy when it is in your apartment!
2. Candy everywhere in your office. Again, very difficult to resist when you are bored or stressed.
3. Candy that your children bring home. How many times have you found yourself getting into their stash? You may bethinking all that sugar isn’t healthy for them, but it isn’t good for you – or your hips - either! (pic: mampop.com)
Here are the calorie contents of some popular Halloween candies:
| Candy | Serving Size | Calories | Carbohydrate Grams | Fat Grams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Musketeers, Miniatures | .21 oz piece | 24 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 Musketeers, Fun Size | .59 oz bar | 70 | 13 | 2.5 |
| Buncha Crunch, Fun Size | .75 oz bag | 110 | 14 | 5.5 |
| Butterfinger, Fun Size | .75 oz bar | 100 | 15 | 4 |
| Candy Corn | 26 pieces | 140 | 35 | 0 |
| Crunch, Fun Size | .36 oz bar | 50 | 7 | 4 |
| Dots, Mini Boxes | .75 oz box | 80 | 20 | 0 |
| Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, Snack Size | .61 oz bar | 95 | 10 | 5.5 |
| Hot Tamales | .71 oz pkg | 75 | 18 | 0 |
| Jolly Rancher Lollipops | .61 oz pop | 60 | 16 | 0 |
| Kit Kat, Snack Size | .54 oz bar | 80 | 10 | 4 |
| M&M's Peanut, Fun Size | .75 oz pkg | 110 | 13 | 5 |
| M&M's Plain, Fun Size | .75 oz pkg | 100 | 15 | 4.5 |
| M&M's, Mini Box | .54 oz box | 73 | 10 | 3.5 |
| Milky Way, Fun Size | .71 oz bar | 90 | 14 | 3.5 |
| Milky Way, Miniatures | .31 oz piece | 38 | 6 | 1.5 |
| Reese Sticks, Snack Size | .61 oz piece | 90 | 9 | 5 |
| Skittles | .71 oz pkg | 80 | 17 | <1 |
| Smarties | 4 rolls (1oz) | 100 | 25 | 0 |
| Snickers, Miniatures | .32 oz piece | 43 | 6 | 2.5 |
| Snickers, Fun Size | .71 oz bar | 95 | 12 | 5 |
| Starburst. Fun Size | .71 oz (4 pieces) | 80 | 17 | 2 |
| Super Bubble Gum | 1 piece | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| Tootsie Roll, Midges | .71 oz (3 pieces) | 80 | 17 | 1.5 |
| Twizzlers, Snack Size | .27 oz piece | 24 | 6 | 0 |
Tips to control your intake of Halloween candy:
1. Don’t buy candy too early – try to buy it the day of Halloween or the day before.
2. Don’t buy your favorite candy. Instead, buy something you don’t love. For example, I would buy mini twizzlers instead of anything that contains chocolate (since I am a chocoholic!). You always buy something healthy like mini boxes of raisins.
3. Consider leaving the candy in a basket outside of your apartment. The less you see of it, the less you will eat.
4. Dispose of any leftover Halloween candy that you don’t give out.
5. If you have candy at work, try to limit yourself to 100 calories or so of candy a day. Check out the above chart for calorie content. If you find that you lose control once you have even one piece of candy, DON’T even start with it! Bring in a more “appropriate” snack. (pic is of my former colleague Alexis with a bag of Halloween candy)
6. Decide how you will handle your child’s Halloween candy. Perhaps allow your child 2 mini candies a day for a week. Throw the rest out if you find you can’t control yourself if it is around.
