Blog With Gigi

How can you regulate your consumption of Halloween candies?

If your kids and yourself cannot stay away from candies, here are a few tips to help you avoid or at least reduce the sugar crush that’s coming your way! Those are different ideas, depending on how much candies you and your kids usually eat. Not every idea will apply to every families. Pick the ones that are more likely to help you out regarding your own particular situation.

BEFORE HALLOWEEN

• Avoid skipping meals during the day, children should eat healthy, to avoid sugar cravings.
  Balanced meals with good protein, whole grains and plenty of vegetables and fruits.
• Stay hydrated: many times when we are thirsty, we wrongfully feel like eating instead. So when you are craving for a halloween candy, take a glass of water first and wait at least 10 minutes.
• Offer vegetables and fruit snacks to your kids as well as nuts and dried fruits.
• Buy candies just before Halloween. Keeping them at home for days or even months will not help you from staying away from them.
• Throughout the month of October, make some healthy Halloween treats with your kids to show that there are many ways to celebrate Halloween with treats, not just candies.
• Also take your children to special fall events such as apple picking, hay rides, corn maze, and other halloween festivals.
• Do some fun fall activities at home with them: carve pumpkins, do arts and crafts, decorate your house with stationnaries and other props.
• When you buy candies for trick or treating, try to get those that you do not like. You can also put them away so no one can be tempted.
• Make Halloween candies a one-day special occasion. Talk to your children about it. Halloween candies are for Halloween celebration. If they ask you for some candies before-hand, give them a special healthy treat instead, something you have baked or even got from the store. There are many different snacks today with only a few ingredients with non-added bad ones.
• Use this time of the year to teach your children about why candies are not good for our body. Candies have empty calories, which means candies do not bring nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, minerals or vitamins that our body needs to run, play, have fun etc. Our body has a hard time to digest them. Because the only reward about candy is taste, it should be for a special occasion. And so we also can choose other good tasting food instead.
• If you are the type of families where candy is something you enjoy and have, pick a time of the day when you all can choose one candy, and then tell them “store is closed”.

ON HALLOWEEN DAY

• If you give out candy for trick or treating, try to find the “healthier” options. There are more of these kinds available on the market today. Also add some non-candy Halloween or even non-Halloween treats such as small erasers, mini play-dough, pencils etc.
• Allow your kids to only take one candy from each house. Everyone should have a chance to get some, so one is only fair.
• Allow yourself to ONLY keep your favorite ones. And eat mindfully, enjoy your candy, putting your phone away for a moment. We usually eat a candy while being busy, so taking another and another afterwards is very common. Instead take your time eating it, enjoy the taste, smell, texture.
• Trick-or-Treating is by far the most exciting moment to celebrate Halloween. One really helpful way to avoid coming back with bags full of candies is to have a small party at home. Invite a few parents and kids over, ask them to bring healthy halloween treats. Make sure everyone starts with a healthy fulfilling meal. If your kids come back from school that day, don’t give them a snack. instead, let them have a healthy dinner. Same if Halloween ends up during a day off school. With a good dinner in the stomach, the temptation for candies will not be because of hunger. After dinner, go trick or treating for a while and come back for desert. Allow kids to have candies only when you’re back home for desert. But when it is time for either a movie or show with their friends, or some special fun games, candies should be put away for next days.
• Set up some candy rules! Ahead of time, always talk about the amount of candies that will be allowed, what will be the rules about it, will you give some away, when etc.

AFTER HALLOWEEN

The parties are over, but you still have tons of candies and chocolates around that will probably linger for weeks and weeks. How can you get rid of all those sweet temptations without ruining everybody’s health?

• Candies should be for a special treat. Allow yourself and your kids to have one after a bike ride, a walk in the neighborhood. You also can use candy as a choice: screen time (if this is something used in your household) or a candy.
• Candies SHOULD NOT be stored in kids’ room to avoid temptation. I knew a little girl one time who hid her candies under her bed and would eat some at night. It took quite a while for her parents to find out that the reason she woke up in the middle of the night all hyper had quite a good reason to do with it…
• Choose an expiration date for your candies: you can either have them for a couple of days, or a week for example. I always feel longer than a week is not worth it. Tell your children that other holidays are coming up and more treats will be available as well. Our body needs to have a break and eat healthy before getting new treats.
• Ask your kids to pick a few, whatever amount you think is fair and choose a buyback program: some dentists buy candies ($1 per pound) to help children stay away from them.
• Or choose a give-away program such as Operation Gratitude (www.operationgratitude.com), sending each year to the military and first responders. candy@operationgratitude.com
• Put candies on the side to create a gingerbread house for Christmas. You can make it a kids’ party and invite some of your children’s friends to create gingerbread houses.

How can you be different this Halloween?

If you want to lead the way and change mentalities for the benefits of your family and others, you’ll have the opportunities to try special initiatives like Switch-Witch, that is litterally switching candies for little toys. Some people use this idea of switching, even for older kids, by switching candies for something useful the kid really wanted or is in need of.

You can also be part of the Teal Pumpkin Project, and paint a pumpkin blue to tell kids and parents that you offer non-food treats to prevent kids from harmful allergies and sugar crushes. You can get some Free teal project resources here., courtesy of FARE, the Food Allergy Research and Education website.

Whatever you choose this Halloween season, stay healthy!

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If you need help changing habits and setting up healthy ones for you and/or your family, contact me (call or text +310 744 5702 ) and we can work on a taylor-made plan together!

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