Healthier Halloween

Here are some tips to help you navigate this fun but tricky time of year in the healthiest way possible.

Pre-holiday:

• Don’t let Halloween candy sneak into your snack-routine.  If you buy your treats early – keep them in an out-of-the-way place (freezer) so it’s not a temptation every time you open the pantry. 
• Have a crunchy, sweet crave? Go with a smarter choice like a KIND bar.  With a transparent ingredient list – you know just what you’re getting and it is real food full of fiber, and satisfying chewy-crunchiness.  And just in time for fall, they’ve got a fun new flavor: Maple Pumpkin Seed. 
• Make sure your healthy habits are in place such as drinking lots of water, regular exercise etc.

Day of:

• Involve your kids in planning your Halloween dinner.  This will help them get excited about the fun or favorite food they'll be having that night.  
• Make dinner first and candy second a family rule.  If you have a hard time selling this one - remind them of past Halloweens and the pains of garbage gut, and assure them that candy or treats will happen - just in the right order.  
  
• The average trick or treater consumes 3 cups of sugar from their Halloween candy stash so it pays to thin it out. Encourage kids to keep the treats that are their favorites, and get rid of the less-appealing (you can usually cut the stash in half right off).
• Be wise in choosing the treats you'll give out.  Don't end up with a houseful of candy because you over bought.  Instead, try healthier or non-food items:

            - Honey sticks (that is our treat for trick or treaters this year - yes it has something to do with our excitement over becoming beekeepers as well).  One honey stick contains about 15 calories - that's only slightly less than 4 grams of sugar.  Fun sweet fix without a sugar overload.
             - Bubble bottles.  No one is ever too old to blow bubbles.  Period. 
             - Glow sticks.  Again - encourages healthy, safe play instead of sugar-coma.

• Get a nice walk in with your kids as they trick or treat – not only does that improve their safety, but your health as well.