How To Survive Halloween Without Gaining Weight

Halloween is hands down my favorite holiday of the year.  I absolutely love making Halloween costumes, and I am blessed with three children who need to dress up!  In the Pacific Northwest, it is usually chilly on Halloween but not so much that you can’t go out and enjoy the evening in a warm winter coat.  When our children were little, we had a tradition of getting together for Halloween treats before heading out together to go trick-or treating.  In those years, I liberally sampled the candy from kids buckets, and of course in the days after Halloween.  If I am honest with myself, we would also go through a couple bags of Halloween candy before we even got to the actual Halloween day.  So how can someone who loves Halloween so much make it through this candy filled week and still stay on protocol?

To survive this holiday, as always, takes some planning and preparation.  If you are tempted by the candy, then you will need to get your thoughts about this holiday in order before it gets here.  I like to break Halloween into three categories 1) The week (month) before Halloween, 2) The actual Halloween day, and 3) The week after Halloween.

The Weeks Before Halloween

As soon as school is back in session, the stores quickly switch from back to school supplies to Halloween candy.  Every time you go to the store you are visually assaulted with delicious looking bags of fun size Reece’s peanut butter cups.  In previous years I would easily go through a couple bags of these before Halloween ever arrived.  I would tell myself I was just getting ready for Halloween, or getting them on sale.  I might even resist for a day or two before opening the bag.  Eventually though, the bag would be open, and would be gone within a few days.  Then the cycle would start again. 

Now when I walk through the stores I am no longer tempted.  I will admit this gets easier each year as I have learned how to manage my thoughts.  Before going to the store, you should have planned your meals, and have a shopping list that contains on-plan food.  Your thoughts should be centered around your goals while shopping.  For me, I focus on food as a choice I am making.  It is to fuel me and keep my body functioning.  I know that the candy will not serve my goals. 

Additionally, in the past I fell victim to the scarcity mindset.  I told myself I needed to prepare for Halloween, or that I might not have time to get to the store before Halloween night.  The truth is that there is an abundance of Halloween candy available – the stores are full of it, and are often selling it cheap the day of or the next day.  You can always get candy on Halloween.  As for time, if I plan ahead and ask myself “How can I make time to pick up some candy on Halloween?” I am sure my brain will be able to come up with an answer.  Therefore, I no longer buy Halloween candy early.

Halloween Day

For Halloween Day, the first order of business is to pick up some candy to have something to hand out to trick-or-treaters.  I do hand out candy, and I am totally ok with it.  While I do not advocate children eating tons of sugar, if their diet is managed well at home the rest of the year, my one piece of candy contribution is a small drop in the bucket.  However, it is just cruel to have your favorite candy sitting in the house as you hand it out all night.  Therefore I pick up a bag of candy that I personally do not care for, and will not feel temptation to eat.  As the evening goes on, I give out a little more to make sure I get rid of most of it, and any left overs can be thrown away.

For most of Halloween night though, I am out watching the kids trick or treating in the neighborhood.  As they run up with their favorite pieces of candy, this can be a tough situation to stay on plan.  I have a few strategies that use to get me through.  First I plan ahead for the week, and know that I will enjoy 1-2 pieces of candy as a joy eat on Halloween night.  This is planned ahead, which is the essence of a joy eat. 

It is essential that you have a good, satisfying dinner early in the afternoon before going trick or treating.  You want to make sure you have plenty of healthy fats, and that you feel satiated and satisfied before you head out.  If nothing else, even some quick scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, and spinach will do the trick.  You may also want to carry a handful of macadamia nuts in your pocket.  Feeling full while you are out will help prevent the temptation to eat off plan. 

A tradition that started years ago was to always get a hot beverage in an insulated thermos to sip on while walking around.  This is wonderful on a chilly evening.  I particularly like taking a Yeti mug of green tea out with me, and it stays warm the entire evening.  Not only is green tea extremely healthy with antioxidants, but it also has appetite suppressant qualities as well. 

Finally, you must manage your thoughts well throughout the evening.  You may want to avoid candy altogether, in which case practice your thoughts about this beforehand.  You might even write down your goals and thoughts you want to have during the evening that you can take out to remind yourself.  If you have chosen to have a joy eat, tell yourself at the end of the evening you will have one or two pieces of candy.  You may even decide ahead of time what type you really want to have.  Make sure you eat them slowly and deliberately, and really enjoy every bite.  It can be easy to inhale several pieces all at once.  By being mindful and really enjoying every taste, you will gain much more satisfaction and enjoyment from the experience. 

After Halloween

I have found that anytime you feel as though something is being restricted, or if you tell yourself you “can’t have it”, you end up wanting it much more.  This is true for children as well.  We used to restrict how much candy the kids could eat after Halloween, and we found that they were obsessed with it.  Therefore on the night of Halloween, we don’t restrict their intake at all.  They can eat whatever they want.  People may disagree with me, but it is one night only.  Weight gain, and poor eating habits are developed over a lifetime – not one night.  We decided to try this a few years ago after getting this advice from a psychologist, and it has really worked wonders.  It actually has the opposite effect, and causes them to eat less overall.  After Halloween, they go back to only picking out 1-2 pieces to have after dinner, but they don’t mind because they were totally unrestricted on Halloween night.  All of the obsession over the candy has been completely drained.  We have them put the candy somewhere out of site, so it is not visible all the time. 

During this time after Halloween, the kids’ candy is out of site, and I generally do not feel the temptation to eat it after all of the thought work on Halloween night.  I may plan to have a couple squares of dark chocolate after dinner while the kids have candy, or a nice glass of wine. 

Planning is Key

As you are learning, planning is key to staying on protocol in general, and even more important when a holiday or big event approaches.  With a little preparation and thought work though, you can definitely manage the Halloween holiday – managing to stay on protocol and continuing to lose weight.  Please feel free to share any other tips you may have, I’d love to hear them!