Hope these ideas help you celebrate Halloween in a way that is still a ton of fun but honors your commitment to your healthy lifestyle post weight loss surgery.
Healthy Halloween Survival Tips
* If you must buy candy... wait to buy candy till Halloween Day. Those bars won't be calling to you from the cupboard a week beforehand.
* Buy the candy you hate. If you love Snickers buy Sweet Tarts. Don't set yourself up by having your favorite peanut butter cups taunting you every time you enter the kitchen.
* Better yet... buy a non-candy treat to giveaway to the trick or treaters. The neighborhood kids will get plenty of candy even if you don't pass it out. There are tons of great alternatives to candy:
• Pencils
• Bracelets
• Bubbles
• Playdough (I loved getting this when I was a kiddo)
• Magnets
• Maze games
• Kazoos
• Keychains
• Whistles
• Trading cards
• Stickers
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Yo-yos
• Rubber Hi-bouncing balls
• Plastic Animals and Insects
• Coins
• Glow sticks (my favorite and bonus they help kids stay safe as they wander the streets.)
* If you are heading out in the neighborhood trick-or-treating, make it a fitness challenge by having the group of friends or siblings wear pedometers or fitbits and track how many steps they take. Then donate the candy collected (see below for ideas.)
* Be sure to eat a protein-packed meal and drink plenty of water.
If you are full from a good meal you will be less apt to want to snack on those not-so-fun sized candy bars as you are walking (FYI 4 fun sized bars = approximately 320 calories.)
* Stay home and have a Halloween Party: Put on Michael Jackson's Thriller and Dance (3-4 songs = 10 minutes, 3x and you have a 30-minute workout), Read a Spooky Story, Make Tortilla Pizza "Monster Faces,"
Bob for Apples, Carve Pumpkins and Roast the Seeds, Make Deviled Egg Spiders, Make Monsters: A batch of homemade playdough with some cookie cutters, a garlic press, a rolling pin, pipe cleaners, buttons, beads, etc. and you've got your own monster making factory.
Shelly's Pumpkin Spice Playdough
3 cups Flour
1 cup Salt
2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
3 cups Boiling Water
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
Couple of drops of Red and Yellow Food Coloring
Mix all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then add boiling water. Add oil and coloring and mix. Knead when cool enough to handle until smooth dough. It smells ahhhh-mazing too.
* Trick-Or-Treat For a Cause
Use Halloween to teach your kids about helping other kids. UNICEF sponsors a "Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF" program where trick-or-treaters collect change instead of candy. The money raised goes to UNICEF's worldwide aid programs. You can download all the information, box label and fundraising ideas on the UNICEF website.
Also through its "Coins That Count Donation Program," Coinstar coin-counting machines, allow kids to contribute to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the American Red Cross. Kids can take change collected to a Coinstar machine donations can be made to participating charities when coins are deposited or you can get your cash and donate to a cause you hold near and dear. Kids might like to donate to your local animal shelter.
* Donate the Candy
Operation Gratitude collects candy for the troops overseas and many local dentists are drop-off locations for more information visit Operation Gratitude's website and donating to your local Food Banks are always an option. Speaking of local food banks... please consider joining me in this project.
Consider having the "Tooth Fairy" visit in the night and replace the candy stash with a non-candy treat.
More Eggface Halloween Healthy Treats:
Shelly's Mummy Tortilla Pizza
Shelly's Deviled Egg Spiders
Shelly's Poor Barbie Protein Shake
Shelly's Healthy Halloween Fluff Stuff
Shelly's Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Jars with Harvest Mix
Shelly's Dead of the Dead Grilled Zucchini
Find even more Spooktacular Healthy Halloween Ideas, Recipes, and Bentos on My Pinterest Halloween Page
