We wrote last week that we’re coming into the scariest time of the year to diet. I think Halloween is the lead contender (with Christmas and Easter not far behind) for the “sugariest day of the year” award. If you’re like me, you’re hoping to escape it with your diet in tact. Here are some strategies for doing just that:
1 – Drink water
It’s so simple and yet ridiculously effective. When the craving for snacking on something sweet hits, douse it with a glass of water first. Most of the time when we feel a little bit hungry, drinking water can suppress our appetites and help avoid sugary diet cheats.
2 – Chew gum
Chewing gum can help keep your mouth busy and your mind off more diet-detrimental sweets. Of course, if you’re on the HCG Diet, you have to be careful about which gum you chew—it has to be a sugar-free gum (we recommend Xilo, which comes in Peppermint, Spearmint, Fruit Burst and Cinnamon flavors and is available in our HCGDiet.com store ).
3 – Buy candy to pass out to Trick-or-Treaters that you don’t like
It’s easier to resist caving to cravings when what you have on-hand isn’t your favorite treat! When you go shopping for treats this year, remember you’re buying for the kids in the neighborhood and not yourself (or even your own kids), and pick something you know won’t tempt you to take one everytime you answer the door.
4 – Buy your treats on Halloween
Another easy trick for your treats is to pick them up the day you’re going to pass them out instead of days (or even weeks) in advance. Walk past the promotional aisle at the grocery store until the day you’re expecting those little ghouls and goblins to come take it all away. Besides, most stores heavily discount Halloween candy the closer it gets to the holiday.
5 – Remove temptation
In the aftermath of Halloween, take any extra or leftover candy to work and let others eat it all. If your kids’ candy can be an issue as well, my sister has the solution to that one: Her kids have the option to put their candy on the front porch when they go to bed that night, leaving it for the Great Pumpkin, who comes and exchanges it for “something better”. I think it’s a great way to help kids avoid eating too much sugar.
Don’t let Halloween trick you into breaking your diet! If you want help, we have diet coaches who can help you develop a personalized diet program that will work for you, whether you have 20, 40 or even 60 pounds or more to lose. Call us toll-free at 1-877-485-1030 between 8am and 5pm Mountain Time for free diet help. We want you to treat yourself to achieving your weight loss goal this year!
