Seven Halloween Tricks to Avoid Weight Gain

What is scary about Halloween is that it is the kick-off season for holiday weight gain. It is no surprise… with all the free candy lying around the temptation is everywhere you look. You’ll find candy at work, the bank, every reception desk, treats sent home with your kids, friends and family. This goes on virtually all month long, not to mention into November with all the left-over candy.
Halloween candy is easily eaten mindlessly and that means weight-gain. With a big bowl of candy sitting on your kitchen counter, it is easy to grab. Even though the portions are usually small, before you know it, a tootsie roll here and a few candy-corns there… the calories begin adding up quicker than you realize. Your body’s ability to burn fat is much harder.
Here are some good tricks:
1- Write down everything you eat, when you see your “honest reporting” on paper the results may scare you! Sometimes you think you are eating in moderation until you take inventory. Remember even fat-free and/or sugar-free candy has calories. Limit yourself to one piece/serving a day or if you can’t control that, none at all.
2- Keep the candy out of sight.
3- Burn the excess calories with exercise. This should never be the end all and the be all to fat loss, (proper nutrition is a highly important component to the mix), but the more muscle you build the faster you burn the calories, and that will help you all the more if you can’t seem to part with the candy bowl.
4- Eat something healthy and include lean protein before you dip into the candy to avoid blood sugar spikes and over-eating and binging on the candy.
5- Get the healthiest treats possible such as raisin packs, trail mix bars, pop-corn, etc. or buy a candy you don’t like to avoid the temptation.
6- Buy your candy at the last minute and be very generous with the last trick-or-treaters to avoid having too much left over.
7- Don’t skip your workouts over the time between Halloween and New Years. This is the time you need to workout most of all. Get started with pumpkin workouts and you could be in the best shape of your life by January 2010 while everyone else is making New Year’s resolutions.