Health Others

Trick or Treat – Don’t trick yourself!

Fun size halloween candies. Not so fun for your health!

I am back from a candy shopping for Halloween, it’s not for me, it’s for the neighborhood kids. My neighborhood is a super kid friendly one, last year I had around 100 kids come over for trick or treat. I ran out of candies and had to go for a second round of candy shopping. So this time I am well prepared. Every year as I go for Halloween shopping, I am overwhelmed by the amount of candies the stores carry and the bags of candies stacked on people’s cart. Many times I’ve felt it’s the adults who are more interested in buying candies than the kids as it’s an opportunity even for them to sneak some on behalf of their kids. Apart from these, the sale sign in the stores are irresistible. I’ve overheard people saying “it’s on sale let’s get that too”.

Ever wonder the calorie amount on the fun sized candies that come in bags? These bags cost under five dollars and its easy to grab a few of them during the Halloween season as most stores have them on sale. They’re so small its easy to eat 10-15 of them in one day.
It would be hard to find an office building anywhere in the U.S that does not have a few bowls of Halloween candy lying around during the last week of October or the first week of November. Also, most people will be hosting parties or will be attending parties, and the only thing they will be eating there will be sugar, calories and fat. It’s definitely fun, but I’ve only one advice for you:

Watch out for the calories before you stuff them in to your mouth.

Calorie count for ONE(1) fun size snack or candy bar

  • Snickers – 80
  • Almond Joy – 80
  • Baby Ruth – 100
  • Hershey’s Chocolate bar – 90
  • Butterfinger – 100
  • Miky Way – 75
  • Nestle’s Crunch – 69
  • Kit Kat – 73
  • M&M’s – 90
  • Twix – 80
  • Milky Way – 75
  • 3 Musketeers – 63

Here are 5 smart tips to think about before you put your hand in to the Halloween candy bowl:

  1. Eat a balanced meal before going trick-or-treat.
  2. Workout before eating candy as your body will digest sugar a little better.
  3. Eat a piece of fruit and drink a glass of water before you eat a piece of candy. The goal is to make you feel full before you indulge in candy to avoid eating more than one.
  4. Give away excess candy (eg: share them with your co-workers and friends).
  5. How about abstaining form candies this halloween? This is a tough call. It all starts with the thought that just one candy will do no harm; and then you keep saying the same and the numbers go up. Resist the temptation!

Stay healthy and happy.

Happy Halloween!

AboutThas

Thas is the author of Cooking with Thas, a popular food blog with recipes from Indian, American and Fusion Cuisines. She has been blogging since 2009 and been featured in several magazines. Read more...