4 tips from a Registered Dietitian to help you have a healthy Halloween

October 31 has arrived, which means it’s Halloween!

Many people celebrate the spookiest night of the year with scary movies, haunted houses, elaborate costumes, and, most of all, trick-or-treating. Candy has become such an integral part of Halloween, especially with the November 1 candy sales, that having a healthy holiday can seem almost impossible.

However, here are a few simple tips and tricks to make sure you enjoy Halloween while maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle:

1. Stick to your healthy routine (as much as you can)

Over holidays like Halloween, it can be easy to get off track with your healthy diet, physical activity, and self-care. Sometimes overindulging in a treat can feel like such a failure that you might think “why bother having a healthy meal or going to the gym now.”

Continue to schedule in time for healthy meals and snacks, exercise, and self-care. Do not restrict your meals or snacks to ‘make up for’ the calories from Halloween candy as this can lead to an unhealthy cycle of overeating/restricting. Instead, continue with your regular meals and snacks and enjoy the Halloween treats after.

2. Be selective with your treats

Do you really want that candy bar or are you just eating it because it’s Halloween? It might be easier to check-in with yourself at the store, “is this going to be satisfying?” If the answer is no, leave it or save those treats for handing out to trick-or-treaters. Then choose a treat for yourself that you would get more satisfaction from, such as a bar of Swiss dark chocolate, a pint of ice cream from your favourite parlour, a bottle of your favourite wine, or anything that you really enjoy.

See also

• Opinion: How old is too old for trick-or-treating?
• Google releases their list of 10 spookiest street view spots in Canada
• The Weather Network releases its Halloween Forecast

3. Got kids? Let them sort their candy after Halloween for the ‘switch witch’

Half the fun of trick-or-treating as a kid is dumping out your sugary loot to count and sort it. Part of this process could be sorting the candy into two or three piles. The pile with their ‘least favourite’ candy can be placed in a special part of the house for the ‘Switch Witch.’

That night, when the little ones are sleeping, the ‘Switch Witch’ can come and replace the candy with a fun toy, book, or puzzle. Alternatively, you could have your children donate their unwanted Halloween candy – for example, to a local children’s hospital.

An extra bonus, this will eliminate 50% of the candy in your house after Halloween night.

4. Enjoy it!

Don’t be scared.

Just remember, Halloween is just a drop in the bucket when compared to all of the other days of the year when you can follow a healthy lifestyle. Even if you feel like you’ve gone a little overboard with the candy or the wine, enjoy your Halloween treats and the excitement of the holiday – soon enough you’ll be back to your normal, healthy routine.