Health & Fitness

Category: Health

Tips on how to handle Halloween and treats

Talk about scary: Halloween is a difficult time to stick to your healthy diet. What can you do when those 5-pound bags of candy go on sale at the grocery store or when your kids have laid out their loot on the living room floor? Weight Watchers has some helpful strategies to help you manage.

Resist the sales: "Don't fall for the coupon in the sales paper," said Weight Watchers CEO Florine Mark. "A 5-pound bag of Snickers on sale is still a 5-pound bag of Snickers."

Buy late: "The closer (to Halloween) you buy your candy for trick-or-treaters the better," Mark said. "Don't even think about opening the bag before that first trick-or-treater hits your door." Less temptation = easier to cope.

Buy candy you don't like: "If you don't like it, chances are you won't eat it," Mark said.

Go out on a full stomach: If you have to walk your kids around to trick or treat, make lunch your big meal of the day so you're not walking around hungry with bags full of candy. Carry a Thermos of something hot to sip or chew mint gum throughout the night. It'll help kill your urge to put candy in your mouth.

Freeze! Put leftover favorite candy in the freezer. If you get weak and find yourself digging into it, those little candy bars will be rock solid and it will take time to get through even one.

Ditch the sense of occasion: Remind yourself that you can buy yourself candy any time of the year. There's no need to load up on fun-size bars on Oct. 31 when you can enjoy them whenever your heart desires.

Keep things in perspective: Eating a little bit of candy on Halloween doesn't make a person overweight, it's constant overeating that can pile on the pounds. So don't assume you can't enjoy even a single treat, especially because deprivation is a dieting tactic that often backfires.

Slimming treats: Halloween means candy wherever you look and it can be difficult denying yourself outright. For those who like to have a candy bowl nearby, we searched the shelves for candy that was lower in Weight Watchers POINTS® value, but still give a bang for the buck. Miniatures are a great deal in terms of portion control, chewy candies turn out to be a big mouthful bargain and hard candies and lollipops score high for long-lasting satisfaction. Here's a sampling:

Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Twists (3 pieces): 1 WW point
Charm's Blow Pop (1 junior or regular pop): 1 point
Weight Watchers by Whitman's Mint Patties (1 piece): 1 point
Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pops (1 regular): 1 point
Weight Watchers by Whitman's Peanut butter crunch (1 piece): 1 point
Skittles Original Bite Size Candies (fun size bag): 2 points
Candy corn (1 oz): 2 points
Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats (1 bar): 2 points
Jolly Rancher Gummis (9 pieces): 2 points
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (35 pieces): 3 points
Twizzler's Cherry Bites (17 pieces): 3 points
Junior Mints (16): 3 points
Tootsie Roll Tootsie Rolls (12 small): 3 points
Weight Watchers by Whitman's Caramel drops (7 pieces) 3 points