With Halloween around the corner many of us have been indulging in the festivities for weeks. Besides prepping for the fright howls, Halloween has become known for more of a “treat” rather than a “trick”. The large-scale bags filled with favourite assortment of mini-candy bars are enjoyed at every home, work and party gathering. After all, how can a small 60 calorie chocolate bar come between our fitness goals? Well, it turns out that this little packet of sweetness holds its own “trick – or – treat”; something that all of us need to be aware.
The human brain is a remarkably intelligent organ evolved to imprint memories of quick and easy calories. Our bodies are preprogrammed to seek out simple, easily digestible calories such as candy bars and consume them at will. Once the brain identities where the bag of Halloween sweetness is kept, it will mentally record the spot, and begin the barrage of sudden ideas and urges—pulling and pushing us towards the location of that sugary treasure. This is not a one-time occurrence, but a continuous cognitive unrest, time after time, day after day. Soon, the one small chocolate bar after dinner is followed by the cross-link urge the next day. As the second bar is quickly eaten after breakfast (hoping that our own subconscious would not recognize what just happened), another wrapper is suddenly discarded from the third candy treat during the morning drive. And following lunch, we all need a little energy boost for the dreaded second half of the work day—the fourth bar is eaten for the noble cause of performance. When we give into sweet indulgence without pre-planning, the mind is more likely to take over, kicking in evolutionary engraved instincts of survival—consuming calories and justifying the means. After all, what’s another little bar going to do, since three of them have already been eaten today. This is the line of thought we need to be aware of and avoid.
Many of these actions are impulsive, and are done almost subconsciously, because we seem to not able to escape this need for sweet. Below are our top 5 tips for keeping Halloween Eating in line and within your fitness goals, be it Stronger Leaner Faster or otherwise.
1. Treat Halloween like any other day
One of the biggest mistakes many of us make is peaking and bottoming our diet habits. The calendar is full of holidays, and part of enjoyment is to minimize the caloric “yo-yo effect” consumption. Yes, it’s Halloween but, last week it was Diwali (for Indians), week before Thanksgiving in Canada; few weeks before that – Jewish holidays of Passover and the New Year. These dates don’t include the random birthdays that suddenly pop on your smartphone calendar notification. Each cultural event, or birthday is filled with treats—enjoyed by many.
Celebrations are a beautiful part of life and we should all maximize on the joy. However, we no longer starve for calories, and hence need to control these genetic “hunter-gatherer” cravings of mass consumptions. If eating treats fits into your usual routine, then simply substitute that afternoon muffin with a halloween candy bar (just don’t add to already working routine). But, if you count, measure or limit empty calories, then simply have a plan before going to your next Halloween party, or when a co-worker opens up a bag of trick-or-treat candy.
This same philosophy works for the kids. If your children normally don’t get candy bars in their lunch boxes, don’t make exceptions during Halloween. Yes, kids maybe upset—ours remind us all the time, how Jane had Oreos as a snack and Joe gets a daily juice box. Setting up a good lines of communication with your children about nutrition is a vital strategy. At our house, we continuously discuss such topics, informing our girls about the importance of good nutrition and how it helps the body perform in school and on the playground. Kids are smart and when armed with knowledge are more inclined to follow in the right direction even when you are not around.
Bottom Line: Don’t add mini-candy bars, halloween shaped cookies or, pumpkin cupcakes in your lunch box, just because mass marketing says so.
2. Handy Treats for Kids
At Science and Strength household we are parents and have learned a thing or two about treat bags and school events. Many parents will be sending boxes of mini-chocolate bars, gummy bears, and the healthier parents granola bars. So, rest assure that the children will not be candy deprived.
Below are list of treats that keep on giving in a good way. They are fun to give and receive and as a bonus they’ll keep the kids CALM and BUSY for hours. Instead of a sweet-treat, consider the following treats for school events to hand out:
Play-doe — just as cheap as candy, you can buy a big bag from Walmart or Costco and hand-out one can to each child. Making your own play-doe is also very simple and there are number of recipes available at a click of the google search bar. Use halloween themed food colouring and bring a large bowl for the class to enjoy during school time.
Colouring — this is our treat bag this year. Last year, Dupi bought Halloween colouring at 75% off on clearance, stored it away until now. You can also wait a day or two before Halloween for up to 50%-60% off on colouring at most stores.
Pencils, Erasers and Stickers— Halloween themed ones are fantastic and everyone loves them, including the grownups!
3. Fuel-up before you Party
Trick-or-Treating is the most tempting time to just pop a little something sweet in the mouth. Children returning with their collected goodies, and we often have extra candy left over from the evening event. With so many temptations around, the brain overloads our senses, feeling hungry, desiring something sweet and tasty. These hunger masked cravings may lead us into trouble, as it’s easy to have a few treats just laying around the kitchen or dinner table.
If you’ve been reading our earlier posts, you are aware of the importance of filling up with a healthy meal BEFORE heading out to a party. Trick-or-treating is no different. If it’s before dinner then try a fibre-rich green smoothie option before the treat collection at a local neighbourhood. Also, ensure the dinner is prepared and/or planned so there are no last minute temptations or audibles for pizza take-out (unless it was pre-planned, which is acceptable).
Another good habit is to have a large water bottle on hand, keeping the belly full and cheap hot chocolate calories at bay. Planned, home-made, healthy hot coco is another story (recipe here).
4. Dump the Candy
Someone in the household has to practice some serious testicular fortitude! At our house, Victor is on top of that. The day after halloween, all leftover candy and treats go into the garbage. Out of sight, out of mind.
This takes practice and here’s how you start. Pile all candy into a large bowl, keeping entire sugary stash together. Place this bowl on the kitchen counter, at the very edge. Take one small candy bar (this is optional). As you’re chewing the treat, simultaneously open the garbage can and quickly knock the stash over into it. This happens very quickly and often the mind doesn’t fully realize what happened until it’s over.
Keeping leftover halloween candy at your house or work is the big fitness error. Calories within these candy bowls or bags will undoubtedly find themselves inside yours and your children stomachs. These empty calories are quickly absorbed and converted into hard-to-lose fat deposits.
5. Children Considerations
They’ll be just fine!
Most of us parents grew up in a time by spending most awake hours outdoors, running around, climbing trees, monkey bars, playing games—continuously burning calories. The food we ate as children was also different then the kids eat today. Most of us had, 3 square meals a day and treats reserved for special occasions (such as religious / cultural holidays or birthdays).
Kids today are nowhere as active as the earlier generations. Furthermore, they have a lot more access to empty calories from cheese and cracker lunches, juice boxes as snacks, sugar packed granola bars, pizza/hot dog/cake for birthday parties held almost every weekend. The drive-through windows are uber convenient, with full dinners ready and packed in minutes. Eating out has become a regular occurrence, with kids menus resemble bowls of empty calories, rather then a sound nutritional meals.
Children develop eating habits and accustom their taste buds to certain foods. If candy finds its way more often into children’s diets, becoming part of the norm caloric consumption. Like adults, children also set new base-levels for the need to desire more sugar to meet that need for sweet. Beside excess calories, and larger waistlines, numerous studies have shown that too much sugar leads to shorter attention spans, and imbalances in cognitive abilities at school and home.
Final Thoughts
Halloween is a wonderful time full of great fun and yummy treats. But, in order to fully enjoy this or any other festive event, begin with developing a plan of action by starting with strong foundation of food rules that you and your family are able to maintain for majority of the time. It’s okay to indulge once in a while however, have a non-negotiating plan and execute it when it comes to numerous temptations, no matter how small the size may be. This takes time and with practice transfers into habitual part of life.
Happy Halloween!
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