A fitness writer friend of mine, Linda Melone, @FitWriter for you twitter folk, had a great suggestion in not buying the treats until the last minute. That way you’re not tempted to break into things early. After Halloween, you should also give/throw away any leftovers, otherwise you WILL eat it all (I would). Now, to back off a little bit, that’s not to say you can’t have sweets. I’m a firm believer in everything in moderation, but it needs to be in moderation.

 

That is for those of you that are doing the traditional candy Halloween. You could also choose healthier treats such as fruit bars/strips, granola bars, pre-packaged 100 calorie snacks. My personal preference is to give non-food items out on Halloween. There are some fun party favors like super balls that look like eyeballs or squishy, and sticky bats. There are Halloween pencils, stickers, bone shaped pens, etc. (If you think the kids are too old for these items, they’re probably too old for trick or treating.)

There are other ways of celebrating the holiday. For at home with your kids and parties decorate healthier options. Why not color some low/non-fat cream cheese and decorate mini bagels for example.  Make faces/scenes out of fruits and vegetables. I’m sure you could make humus look like quicksand or swamp dip. My kids make a peanut butter and raisin filled celery stick that, by adding pretzels as wings, turns out to be a healthy butterfly snack. Here’s a page of healthy “bug” snacks. Get creative and have fun.

 

So start now and put together your bag of tricks for a healthier Halloween.