Halloween Waistline Survival Guide!
It’s that time of year again; the leaves are crunchy,
the weather is cooling down, and the holidays are right around the corner.
Whether it be the decorating, the costumes, or the candy, Halloween is exciting
for everyone. Here are strategies to avoid the extra inches the holidays can
bring.
Healthy Candy Options
Sugar-filled candy may not be inherently great
for you, but sometimes there’s no avoiding that sweet tooth. And while there
may be no real “healthy” answer to Halloween, there’s no need to fear all those
delicious, tempting Halloween delights. The healthier candy options are
chocolates due to its antioxidant quotient. Try to avoid or limit your hard
candy and taffy-like candy intake. These candies have little nutritional
value and are almost entirely composed of sugar. Here are some healthy
Halloween candy options that won’t leave you disappointed:
Examples:
Dark Chocolate Crispy Quinoa Gems
Amount Per serving: 140 cal
Total Fat 8g
Saturated Fat 5g
Sodium 0mg
Total Carbohydrates 19g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 2g
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Amount Per Peanut Butter Cup: 110 cal
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 2g
Total Carbohydrates 12g
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 2.5g
Peanut M&M’s
Amount Per “fun size” pack: 90 cal
Total Fat 5g
Saturated Fat 2g
Total Carbohydrates 10.5g
Total Sugars 9g
Protein 1.5g
Candy Portion Control
- 4% of all candy consumed in the United States occurs on Halloween day. Almost 100% of children and about 50% of the adults will eat some, which compares to 24% of all adults and kids who have candy on a typical day.
- Portion control is essential with all candy.
- Divvy up the favorite candy into 100-calorie portions and keep it to that amount per day.
How to Monitor Sugar Intake
In order to monitor our sugar intake, we need
to calculate our sugar intake limit by using the “rule of 4”. To do this take
10% of your daily caloric intake (average man = 2,500 calories/average woman =
2,000), then divide this number by 4 to get the number of calorie limit from
sugar and divide again to get the limit for grams of sugar.
- Example: For 2,200 calories per day, 550 calories from added sugar, 137.5 grams of added sugar.
With this number in mind, we can now easily
monitor our sugar intake by checking the nutrition facts on each wrapper. Try
holding on to your candy wrappers to accurately track your numbers as you trick-or-treat
or enjoy an after-work treat.
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