Don’t Get Tricked by Halloween Treats

At our house, the autumn harvest includes a Halloween haul of bite-size chocolate bars, suckers, gumballs and sugar-laden goodies. It’s junk we don’t normally keep in the house so when it is around, I get the urge to splurge. A bit of research on the calorie count of Halloween candy reveals it doesn’t take much to blow your diet.

Here are the numbers for three of the most popular Halloween treats.

• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup – regular size 231.8 calories; miniature 36.1 calories
• Snickers – regular size 280.3 calories; fun size 80.8 calories
• Kit Kat – regular size 217.6 calories; fun size 51.8 calories 

More: Visit the CalorieLab for more candy calorie counts.

Candy is loaded, no only with sugar, but other artificially manufactured ingredients you body is better off without. Don Hinson even sang about it in the Halloween hit Riboflavin-flavored Non-carbonated Polyunsaturated Blood.

It’s not really a question of should I or shouldn’t I indulge but how to avoid dipping into my little ghosts and goblins’ spooky stash. My treat for you this Halloween is a list of strategies to avoid food choices that will only haunt you later.

• Stock up on “healthier” treats like dark chocolate, chocolate-covered raisins or pistachios.

• Store candy and other treats out of sight, and stash chocolate in the freezer.

• Instead of taking children trick-or-treating, host your own Halloween bash and offer fun treats such as homemade popcorn balls, trail mix and caramel apples.

• Give away surplus candy or—heaven forbid!—pitch the yucky stuff. (Does anyone really eat those taffy nuggets wrapped in black and orange?!)

• Calculate how long you’ll have to exercise to work off those Skittles or M&Ms.

More: Self.com calculates how much exercise for specific treats.

How do you say BOO! to scary temptation? Add your tip to the list!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.