Have A Healthy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It's Halloween season and you know what that means... candy, candy, and MORE CANDY! For you ladies & gents out there who have a sweet tooth this is possibly one of the worst times of the year for you to try and stick to eating healthy. Or is it? The key to losing weight is burning more calories than you take in (or if you're trying to maintain your current weight, burning as much calories as you take in) and if you do that on a consistent basis you should have some wiggle room to "cheat" from time to time. I actually hate to use that word ("cheat") because it implies that you're on a diet and diets aren't meant to last forever, what I hope for you is that you are now living a new healthier lifestyle that will involve exercising and eating healthy for life, but that's a whole other discussion I'll leave for another post at another time. So anyway, you may feel the urge to "cheat" this Halloween season and snack on a little candy (in moderation, of course) and wouldn't you like to know what candies are the healthiest? Now the words "healthy candy" are a little bit of an oxymoron but I can definitely give you some info. and tips that will give you the most bang for your calorie buck! So here it goes:

Top 10 "Healthiest" Halloween Candy

#10 3 Musketeers
1/2 a bar
100 calories, 3g fat, 17.5g carbs, 15g sugar, .5g protein

 #9 Heath Bar
1/2 a bar
110 calories, 6.5g fat, 12g carbs, 12g sugar, .5g protein

 
#8 Butter Finger
1/2 a bar
115 calories, 4.5g fat, 19g carbs, 12g sugar, 1.5g protein

#7 Kit Kat
1 two-piece bar
115 calories, 6g fat, 14.5g carbs, 11g sugar, 1.5g protein

#6 Hershey Bar
1/2 a bar
115 calories, 6.5g fat, 12.5g carbs, 11g sugar, 1.5g protein

#5 Almond Joy
1/2 a bar
135 calories, 8g fat, 16g carbs, 12.5g sugar, 1g protein

#4 Snickers
1/2 a bar
140 calories, 7g fat, 17.5g carbs, 15g sugar, 3g protein

 
#3 Baby Ruth
1/2 a bar
140 calories, 6g fat, 16.5g carbs, 13.5g sugar, 2g protein

#2 Peanut M&M's
1/2 a bag
120 calories, 6g fat, 14g carbs, 11.5g sugar, 2g protein

#1 Pay Day
1/2 a bar
155 calories, 8g fat, 17.5g carbs, 15g sugar, 3g protein

Quick Candy Tips

• Divide and conquer. Often, nutrition information for candy is based on more than one mini-sized bag. For example, one serving of peanut M&Ms contains 180 calories and 9 grams of fat, and one serving of Skittles contains 160 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. But, these numbers are based on TWO bags. When you have treats, stick to one bag, even though the serving size may be two bags. Then, cut the nutrition information in half on the label to calculate how much you are consuming. 
  
  
• Craving minty? Treat yourself. Besides the fresh-breath advantage, mint candies are usually low-calorie and may chill you out. Studies have shown that just smelling peppermint reduces anxiety and fatigue.
  
  
• Portion Control Issues? One trick to keep from going overboard on bite size goodies. Choose hard candies, which you can't possibly polish off as quickly as a bag of sour gummy bears. My personal favs are Jolly Ranchers, which I actually eat off and on all year long - at 20 calories a piece with a serving size of 3 for 60 calories, you can't beat it! 

So that's all I have for you! Hope this list and tips help you stay as healthy as possible this Halloween! Have a good one!

Sources: "Top 10 'Healthiest' Halloween Candy" list comes from www.madefittv.com and "Quick Candy Tips" from "Women's Health".