7 Steps to Having a Sane Halloween - Keeping Sugar in Check

Caramel apple

  This is diabetes on a stick.  It's caramely, chocolatey yumminess is also what diabetics and dieters most love and fear- Sugar!  Sugar, to a diabetic, and actually to most of the United States, is crack!  Sugar is our drug of choice.  But to a diabetic, and eventually to all of us, sugar is as dangerous as crack.  So how does a diabetic, or a dieter, or even a reasonably sane person get through Halloween? Halloween, the one day a year in which we ritualistically devour our body weight in pure sugar; except for the part that is pure corn syrup.  How does a person navigate rivers of soda, mountains of flour and days of nutritional desert?  I, for one, need a plan.

Here are my 7 Steps to Having a Sane Halloween.  

1) Share. Do not hide from food.  Be actively involved in your food decisions. Diabetes on a stick is manageable, but only if you are proactive.  I am going to take one caramel apple, cut it into slices and share! I will allow myself a taste, but not the whole thing.  Deprivation doesn't work, and you can't hide from the world.  So have a taste, and then give the rest away.

2) Repackage.  People are going to "Boo" you, leaving yummy treats on your doorstep.  (They are probably Sharing.) Take one cookie off the top of the plate for your dessert and repackage the rest with sandwich baggies, or better yet, the little snack sized bags.  Take the baggies and throw them in the freezer.  You can have a cookie, or a brownie once in a while, but not the whole plate.  So don't let the whole plate sit in front of you.

3) Exercise.  Exercise combats a little of the sugar damage, although you can't out exercise a bad diet.  Still, a bit of exercise will make you think twice about that extra cookie.  Why would you want to undo all the good you've done.  One hour of exercise doesn't even cover the calories in a large piece of chocolate cake! So have 2 bites of cake and push it away. You've worked too hard!

4) Make it not "all about the food." Why does every Holiday have to be all about the food?  Who made that rule? Make crafts, decorate the house, spend time,  talking on the phone to a friend. (You would have spent that time baking naughty treats anyway.)  Go on a nature walk.  Make it about the fun of the holiday, not the food.  Halloween is hard, because, let's face it, it really is all about the candy, but try to think about other ways to enjoy it.

5) Don't pass out candy.  I know, I know.  This would not seem to be the correct approach for a sane person.  My mom handed out little toys, necklaces, and pencils from the dollar store one year.  I thought she was nuts and no one would want to go to her house.  Guess what? She was the most popular house on the block.  The kids were thrilled.  How weird is that?  But, if you buy candy you hate, you'll just sit and eat bad candy.  If you buy candy you like, you'll sit and eat good candy that isn't good for you.  So just don't pass out candy- pass out toys or gift certificates from McDonalds, or Krispy Kreme.

6) Choose wisely.  You know you're going to steal some candy from your kids, so be picky about what you will eat.  If you love peanut butter cups, decide ahead of time that you will have 2 and then don't bother with the other stuff.  Remind yourself that the candy doesn't all go away on November 1st, so you can have more later.  You don't need more than 1-2 pieces, you really don't.

7) Track your calories.  Or track your sugars. Or both.  Do it. Even if it's not convenient, do it.  Pay attention to what is important.  And if your sugars are high- no candy.  And if your calories are high- no cookies.  Don't allow yourself to take this day off.  Be aware of what you are putting in your mouth.

These are my strategies.  I'm sure you've noticed that I am having sugar.  I am giving myself permission to do that.  I do believe that you will be more successful if you give yourself permission to have a little treat.  You can learn moderation.  You may not lose weight at lightning speed, but you will still lose weight.  And slower weight loss is likely to be permanent weight loss, because it is about changing your lifestyle.

Good luck- it's a sugar cube jungle out there!