sugar

Managing Halloween candy for our children is a simple way to prevent overindulging of artificial colors, dyes, chemicals and sugar found in many treats.

Halloween marks the beginning of sugar or flu season followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter! Since Halloween will soon be upon us, let’s start with it and hope these tips will keep your children healthier long-term yet still enjoy some treats.

Many believe flu season is caused by compromised digestive and immune systems created by this excess sugar intake along with lack of hydration and sunlight.

So let’s work on preventing colds, flu and disease naturally but limiting our sugar intake and especially for our children.

8 Tips for Managing Halloween Candy

1. Buy your candy a couple of days before Halloween. Halloween treats show up in the stores in late September. Don’t fall into the marketing trap and get tempted to buy candy early, that includes the grocery line where kids will get tempted with all sorts of Halloween promotions. Buying candy too early makes it way too tempting to get into the stash before trick-or-treating even starts.

2. Set expectations early. Prepare your child the day before Halloween. Talk about how much fun it will be to go trick-or-treating but not so much fun for their body if they eat a lot of candy. It is important for kids to learn that candy is a treat that should be eaten in small doses. They can spread their candy over many days, by dividing it up. Help your child see the benefit of making Halloween treats last longer.

3. Determine a reasonable number of days to enjoy the candy. Five days is a good goal. Most children will get way more candy than needed, even when they divide it up. You don’t want to teach your child to eat candy every day, since it is a once in a while treat.

4. Agree upon when the candy treat will be eaten. This helps your child learn that candy can be an occasional part of a healthy meal plan.

5. Discuss candy-eating rules with your child before they go out trick-or-treating. Children should not eat candy until they have come home and you have inspected all the candy. This is a good rule that is part of having a safe Halloween. Look at the wrapping carefully for a tight seal and toss out anything that looks suspicious.

6. It is best to feed your child first. Feed them dinner or a healthy snack such as a peanut butter sandwich and a piece of fresh fruit before going trick-or-treating. They will be less tempted to dig into their bag before they get home.

7. Have your child actively participate in dividing up their candy. Consider making little treat bags they can enjoy, one each day. This gets the child involved in the decision-making and helps them feel ownership of the process. Keep it fun! You can take advantage of the candy by playing games. For example, have your child count all of the chocolate bars or separate the candy into groups – all the M&M’s in one pile, all the Skittles in another, and so on.

Using mini-sized bags, help your child pick and choose a couple of pieces of their favorite candy to place in each baggie. This helps them learn portion control, a very important part of healthy eating.

Store the extra baggies of candy in a cabinet out of reach. Do not store the candy in their room to tempt them. Remember, they are children and make decisions accordingly. And my favorite trick is once they forget about the candy, that’s a good time to secretly dispose of it!

8. Candy Swap or Switch Witch

At the end of the night, many parents will swap out the entire bag of candy for money, toys or maybe a special experience the child has been wanting. Discussing this with the child in advance is a good way to avoid a surprise and creates open communication.

If you have tips and strategies that have worked for you, please share them with us in the comments section.

Last week we learned about some of the ugly truths about sugar, this week we’ll look at some foods to help you with the sweet cravings and some ways to still indulge without harming yourself or worsening the sugar cravings you already have.

Curb the crave

Plant-based proteins like nuts, nut butters are great to curb the sugar cravings because they fill you up and help to stabilize blood sugar. Grab a tablespoon or two of almond butter or a small handful (1/4 c) of walnuts or almonds the next time you think of reaching for a sweet treat.

Other clean sources of plant-protein work to kill the cravings, like sunflower or pumpkin seeds. These also supply essential fatty acids which help kick the cravings and are great for you.

When you curb the sugar cravings with healthier options you’ll feel so much better and your body will be balanced instead of the high and then low crash. Plus, you’ll also be able to enjoy occasional healthier sweet treats again without the urge to devour the entire cake or box of chocolates.

Sweet Indulgence

One treat I love is Modere Chocolate Sync powder which I use to make a chocolate shake or hot drink. The reason I feel this powder is superior is because of the ingredients like 100% plant-derived fiber and has no gluten, added sugars, and is vegan.

In the winter, baked pears or apples sprinkled with cinnamon are a perfect dessert. Another of my favorites is Chocolate Mousse made with tofu. I tricked my hubby one night and served this after he told me he’d never eat tofu. Because it tastes like the most delicious chocolate mousse ever, he loved it– but he WAS quite surprised to find out he just ate tofu! This is a wonderful healthy Valentine’s Day dessert too!

Your Action Step for Week 6: Make a new healthy dessert (don’t tell them it’s healthy) to show your family some serious LOVE. Then come here and dish the details to us in the comments below!