Halloween can be a downright frightful time for the endurance athlete’s diet. Whether you are aiming to maintain your hard-earned race weight or working diligently to avoid off-season weight gain, Halloween and its ghoulish treats can truly sneak up on your waist line. If you scour the internet you’ll find no shortage of ‘eat this, not that’ or ‘which candy is better to eat’ stories. When the candy shows up at your office, screams at you from store shelves or finds its way into your child’s trick or treat bag, you probably aren’t going to spend time analyzing which snack size candy bar is more nutritious. Reality check. Candy isn’t nutritious. It is a treat! Save some time counting protein and fat grams and navigate the Halloween holiday with these six sensible strategies.
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If you are welcoming ghosts and goblins to your
home on Halloween night consider offering non-candy alternatives. Hand out
Halloween themed school supplies like mini-paper pads, pencils, erasers, rulers
or stickers. You’ll save kids one less serving of sugar and provide them
something useful and unique. Plus this
strategy will help keep left over candy from somehow finding its way into your
tummy and spoiling your power-to-weight ratio.
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Buy candy that won’t tempt your sweet tooth.
Everyone knows that it is easy to bust open the candy packages before the first
‘trick or treat’ on October 31st. Why tempt yourself? If you love
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Mr. Good Bars don’t buy a 5lb bag of those tasty
temptations. Actually don’t buy them at all. Opt for a candy that you think is
fun or nostalgic (think Tootsie Rolls or Smarties), but choices that won’t have
you sneaking around like a ninja to snag a sugary fix.
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Have a treat not the whole bag. Everything in
moderation, so the saying goes. Enjoy a few of your favorite sweets. Savor
them, soak up their non-nutritional wondrous-ness and call it a day. It is no
secret that deprivation can cause intense desire and an absolute loss of
will-power. Plan ahead, allow yourself a couple of treats and don’t look back.
(You don’t want to see what’s chasing you anyway).
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Portion Control. Over the years Halloween candy
sizes have shrunk. Gone are the days of full-size candy bars or even half-sized
versions. Today we have ‘bite-sized’ and ‘snack-sized’, perfect for enjoying a
taste (not a ton) of yummies. You can probably satisfy your own inner sugar
devil with a small sampling of a few candies; those bon bons that you cannot
resist. Be mindful of what you eat. More than a few can quickly equal a pile of
empty wrappers. Step away from the candy bowl!
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Out of sight, out of mind. Candy displayed in a
festive holiday bowl will tempt and taunt you. Avoid devouring candy before the
first goblin shows up at your doorstep by keeping it concealed in the deep, dark
recesses of your cabinets. Hide it behind yours canisters of recovery drink,
protein bars and gummy this and thats. Bring out your treats when the doorbell
rings. Cross your fingers for many ghosts and goblins to take the candy off
your hands.
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Go out on Halloween. If your will power is next
to none, don’t risk holiday candy left-overs. Don’t buy it in the first place!
Go for a run (if you dare), hit the gym or live a little and go to a Halloween
party. Remember, candy eaten while in costume still has calories. Boo-hoo!
