7 Tricks for Avoiding Scary Treats!
The first of the holiday gorge-fests begins with the scariest of all holidays -- Halloween. Ghosts, goblins, witches and zombies will be on the prowl on this unholy day, looking to cast spells, collect candy and scare the bejesus out of unsuspecting revelers. Be prepared, because that isn’t even the most blood-curdling part of All Hallows' Eve.
The most terrifying element of Halloween used to be the rumors of razor blades in apples or poison candy, but time, proper precautions and a little common sense have proven this to be an urban myth. For me, personally, it was zombies. Michael Jackson’s Thriller video used to send me hiding in my impregnable couch fort -- it was the only zombie-proof room in the house.
Neither zombies nor Michael Jackson is the creepiest part of this holiday, though. The most terrifying aspect of Halloween is the copious amounts of candy that show up everywhere: at home, at work, on grocery-store shelves and places in between. Not to mention heavily iced sugar cookies, caramel apples and other “treats” that are sure to slaughter your diet.
If you have your own little monsters, they’ll be bringing home enough candy to send you into sugar shock. If you buy candy “for trick-or-treaters,” you’ll have extra candy just sitting around, and let’s face it, if you had enough will power to walk by a bowl of your favorite candy without eating any, you wouldn’t be reading this.
Fear the unhealthy hobgoblins no more, Dr. Foodenstein (not a real medical doctor, more of a mad scientist) is here to supply you with the tools necessary to slay the diet demons on this spooky night of the undead…(insert maniacal Vincent Price laugh here).
Before you buy bag after bag of your favorite chocolate temptation or a bucket of candy corn, heed these words of wisdom from nutritionist Susan Burke, and don’t watch your diet go up in smoke. Poof!
A Nightmare on Goal Street
Stay focused on your goal! Freddy returned for a half dozen of these thrillers (much like you returning to the candy bowl), but wouldn’t it have been better if they stopped at one? Don’t throw away months of hard work to devour “fun size” candy by the bag. The truth is it’s just not worth it.
Children of the Candy Corn
When trick-or-treating is done, allow your kids to choose a few of their favorite candies to keep. Take the remainder to work, throw it away or bag it up for the local soup kitchen. Otherwise, the power of the candy will grow, it will seem to reproduce and you’ll be returning to the candy stash for days -- exorcise the demons.
