Halloween is over and now you are left with a bucketful of candy calling out your name. If you are trying to get rid of excess sugar from you and your family's diet, then you are probably hanging your head down in shame right now. I know you've been sneaking into the candy stash. I know because I do it too! I have found that I have zero willpower when it comes to candy, especially chocolate. So how is one to cope this time of year when candy abounds? Here are a few ideas that help me and my family:
1) You are not going to be popular for this one, but that's ok. When you are a mom, you have to be unpopular from time to time. Ration the Halloween candy. After Halloween, take your kids' candy and put it somewhere out of reach. Here's how it works in my house; on Halloween night the kids can eat as much candy as they want. No strings attached (after all it is Halloween.) Then at the end of the night all the candy (yes everyone's) goes into one really large tub. Then I ration out the candy, using it as a treat for finishing dinner, doing their chores, etc. In our house we have a ticket system for doing chores and other responsibilities so, if their dinner is finished and they have tickets they can turn them in for some candy. Pretty socialist of me, right? That's why I got a good laugh out of the cartoon pictured above.
Some people won't like this idea because a) it's a form of bribery b) their parents let them gorge themselves on their Halloween candy, it's tradition! c) rewarding with candy sets up a dangerous mentality later in life that you can use food to reward yourself for being good (that's the personal trainer in me speaking.) BUT, I LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD (and so do you.) And I have learned that as a mom sometimes you compromise the ideal for what works in an imperfect world. Compromise is the key here. You can't get rid of Halloween (unless it's against your religion, it's pretty much here to stay) and candy just comes with the territory. But it is totally reasonable to set limits and keep the gorging to the actual day and not over the period of the next coming weeks. That is just unhealthy and not really a good idea.
2) Another awesome idea that I've heard about just recently are candy exchanges. Our dentist offers to pay $1 per pound of candy and then donates the candy to a local food drive. Pretty cool, huh?
3) Give the candy away. Package up little cellophane bags with a pretty bow and give them away for birthday presents, drop them off on a doorstep of a friend, etc. Just because you have candy in the house, doesn't mean you or your kids have to eat it!
4) For the grown-ups: When it comes to candy and other treats here's the approach I recommend: follow the 90/10 rule. Keep your diet healthy and clean 90% of the time. And allow yourself to indulge 10%. It will keep you sane. I promise you that if you are truly eating healthy, nutritious food 90% of the time you will have room to have your favorite treat every now and then without suffering any negative consequences (other than heartburn, lol.)
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