Whether you have younger kids who are trick or treating, or you’re attending a Halloween party, Halloween is full of celebrations and activities. It may also be a time of year when healthy eating and overall good habits slip.
But what if you didn’t have to sacrifice fun for healthy choices?
We’ll share tips for you to keep you and your family healthy while still enjoying the treats Halloween has to offer.
Keep reading to learn more.
Eat before you go
Whether you’re heading to a Halloween party, or taking your kids trick or treating, eating before you head out can help you maintain your health.
How?
Giving your kids a healthy snack before they go door to door will help them stay full and keep them from eating candy out of hunger while trick or treating.
And instead of heading to a Halloween party on an empty stomach, eating a meal that fills you up will help you stay away from overindulging on treats and other sugary foods.
Try a snack or a meal rich in complex carbs. The fiber in complex carbs digests slower, providing a more steady release of glucose (energy) in the bloodstream and preventing energy crashes. It also helps you feel full for a longer period, making you (and your kids!) less likely to eat too many simple sugars like candy.
Trick or treat with a small bag
Rather than sending kids off with a large container to collect candy, try giving them a smaller bag. This will help stop them from collecting too much candy and limit the amount of treats they have to snack on—or bring home to the family to share.
Host a party with healthy foods
If you want to socialize but are concerned about overindulging in unhealthy food typically served at parties, consider hosting your own party. You can serve your own healthy recipes, offer healthy snacks, and decide how many sweets and sugary beverages to provide.
This doesn’t mean you have to avoid sweet foods altogether.
Serving chocolate? Choose dark chocolate. It contains 2 to 3 times more flavanol-rich cocoa. Flavonols help with the production of nitric oxide, which can relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, helping to lower blood pressure. It’s also rich in important minerals that support immunity, keep bones and teeth healthy, and improve sleep quality.
Another option is to use fruits and healthy Halloween recipes like roasted veggies or pumpkin hummus rather than candy and sweets.
Avoid consuming too much chocolate, candy, and sugar
Halloween is an easy time to overindulge in candy, chocolate, and sugar in general. High sugar intake can lead to inflammation, high blood pressure, weight gain, and diabetes.
While it’s best to avoid simple sugars, it’s more feasible to practice portion control. Set a daily limit for the amount of sugar, chocolate, and candy you allow yourself to consume.
Try restricting treats to after dinner, or lunch. And work together with family and friends to hold each other accountable.
Store the candy, chocolates, and sweets out of sight
By keeping the sugary snacks out of sight, you can reduce your temptation to over consume them.
It’s easy to eat chocolates when they're sitting on your kitchen counter. It’s much harder when they're completely hidden in the cupboard and you’ve forgotten all about them.
Buy candy for trick or treaters at the last minute
Instead of buying a box of treats long before Halloween—making it more likely you and your family eat them before the holiday, try buying treats at the last minute.
Then, because trick-or-treaters will be at your door soon, you’re less likely to risk eating too much candy in case you run out.
Conclusion - How to have a fun and healthy Halloween
It’s easy to start picking up bad habits and eat poorly around Halloween.
It’s also ok to enjoy some treats in moderation. But making proactive choices and adding some tricks into your routine can help you and your loved ones have fun and stay healthy all season long. Having fun is important too—and now you have some tools to help you to gain control of the foods you’re consuming.
If these tips were helpful, feel free to share this article with someone who might benefit from them.
