Halloween is the beginning of that 'time of year' when most of us experience candy overload. The store shelves are filled and soon our homes with more candy then we know what to do with. Before the shelves are even empty they are filled with Christmas candy; which is eventually replaced with Valentine’s Day candy. So what do we do with all these sweets?
The behavior of keeping it stashed away in our house, slowly working the pile down through the days, could easily be the start of unanticipated holiday weight gain. In fact, a fun size candy bar is on average 80 calories. If you were to eat two fun size bars per day between October 31st and December 25 you will have consumed 8,960 calories, which equates to a little over 2.5 pounds of weight gain! And this is just Halloween candy, not including Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas parties/treats!
The answer? Combat it early, take a few house keeping steps to quickly get it out as fast as it came in. Here is “The Dietitian’s Way” of handling candy overload, just a few suggestions to get you started…
Buying candy for trick or treat-ers is a must do but then it sits in your house tempting you till October 31st. So here is my tips:
- Buy a candy that IS NOT your favorite, maybe even one you don’t like, then you won’t be tempted to eat it.
- Wait till Halloween day to purchase it; don’t worry the stores do not run out!
- It is quite common to pick it up early, I get it, take advantage of the sales. But when you get home, hide it, put it away; out of sight, out of mind
After the holiday is all said and done, now what? Either you have left over candy that wasn’t handed out OR your kids have accumulated a load of candy that could last them (and you) through Christmas. And we all know there are more sweets coming right around the corner. Here are a few tips to help you manage candy overload:
- Make a trail mix – Add some to dried fruit, nuts, cereal, and pretzels
- Put it in the freezer – use it for holiday baking and entertaining guests
- Share it - Bring it to work, create care packages for family members (single family members, college students, grandparents)
- Donate it to local charities - Ronald McDonald House, nursing homes, food pantries, children's hospitals, veterans' homes, homeless or women's shelters.
- Bring it to a local dentist that accepts Halloween candy donations
- Operation Gratitude - Care packages sent to Troops overseas
- Operation Shoebox - Care packages sent to Troops overseas and AT HOME in the U.S.A
- Teacher gifts - check out all the cute ideas on Pinterest
- Reuse it for Stocking Stuffers (usually the kids have so much they won’t even know it)
- Incorporate into fun activities for kids:
- Use it for counting, math games and patterns
- Science experiments
- Build a candy city - you can even build cars too!
- Candy themed arts and crafts – great cold weather indoor activity
- Use it to build a gingerbread house - Christmas is right around the corner
Sometimes it’s hard for older kids to give up their hard earned candy, so an incentive does wonders. Weigh the candy. For every pound give the kids $1 (or whatever you are comfortable with). Then AFTER the candy is donated, take them to the dollar store or toy store. They can pick out what they want with their earned candy money.
At our house, we will let my kids pick out a handful of their favorites. Probably enough for them to enjoy a piece or two per day for one week. They did work pretty hard for that stash and they are always quite proud of it! Mom and Dad usually pick out a couple of their favorites too. We did walk the streets with them right? The rest we plan to take to Park West Dental, a pediatric dentist in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
For the past 3 years Park West Dental has been collecting kid’s Halloween candy. The kids are given a special gift bag filled with fun kid stuff donated by area businesses. Their names are also put in a drawing for larger items. After all donations are collected, throughout the entire week following Halloween, they are sent to the troops overseas. How fantastic! A great experience for the kids and the tempting calorie loaded treats are out of your pantry.
If you aren't from the Green Bay area I am sure that there are dentists in your area that offer a similar program, just do a little research. Otherwise do your own collection and put together a box for Operation Gratitude or Operation Shoebox (links above).
What is your family doing for Halloween? Any new ideas? Share your ideas with us!
Happy Halloween from our family to yours!
Welcome to my Blog; THE DIETITIANS WAY. Yes, I am a Registered Dietitian with a professional education in nutrition, health and wellness. I however am also a mother, a daughter, a wife and a business owner. I’m a real person just trying to live a healthy wholesome life, just like you! My business and my blog are all about that. Making healthy living apart of your lifestyle, making it easy, affordable and do-able. The Dietitians Way is part education, part guidance, part real-life trial and error. I hope you continue to join me on this journey, find my knowledge helpful and smile from time to time. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Christine Spettel, RD, CD
Lifestyle Nutrition