Best Fitness Blog

Halloween and Fitness ... by Karli Taylor

With the holiday season coming up QUICKLY and that mention of pumpkin pie, perhaps now would be a good time to start addressing the temptations, the distractions and the insanity that leads most Americans to gain 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Before we start down that road, I want everyone to make a promise to themselves that they will not become a statistic this year. I do not expect anyone to lose weight over the next 2-3 months, but let's set our goal as one of maintenance- fair enough? Why don't we all try to stay at the weight we are right now through January 1- that way when we make our New Year's Resolution weight loss goal, we don't have to add an extra 10 pounds to it!

The first holiday to come around and tempt us is Halloween.  Lots of candy corn, mini chocolate bars and sweet treats wherever you look.  Sure, the fun-size candy bars are small.  Eating one here and there won’t totally derail you, but be one or two a few times a day add up quickly.  The trick is to limit your exposure to these treats.

When you buy candy to give out, buy something that you don't like. Having something that you truly enjoy hanging around in your kitchen cabinet is torturous.  I have somewhat of an advantage- I am allergic to nuts. Why is that a good thing?  Every year I buy bags of mini Almond Joy to hand out to trick-or-treaters- There is no way I'm eating that…

What about that leftover Halloween candy?  If you don't have kids and you have leftovers from the trick or treat basket,  THROW IT OUT. If you have someone to whom you can donate it, even better. Keeping it around will only serve as a temptation. Get it out of the house.  

Halloween is a good time to start to teach your kids about portion control and having one or two treats per day as opposed to eating everything from that pumpkin before November rolls around!  Have your kids pick 2 pieces of candy each day to enjoy- one to be packed in their lunch and one for an afternoon or evening snack.  This will not only save you some money over the next few weeks, but will also prevent some serious belly-aches!