How To Not Eat All The Candy This Halloween

We have a large box full of cheap decorations that my husband Randy pulls out of the attic a week or two each year before Halloween. When our two boys, Cole and Will Riley, were toddler age I loved decorating for Halloween and all of the Holidays. The extra effort was worth it when I saw the excitement in my their eyes.

But I have a confession to make. I’m no longer a fan of Halloween or its decorations. And I now know why. The decorations? For me they’re a distraction from everyday life, everyday reality. When my kids were young and I was working a job I didn’t like, they helped me escape from my heavy thoughts about my career. Holidays and their respective decorations represented a break from a path in life I thought I had to take, but didn’t want to. 

Since leaving that career and becoming an entrepreneur—a health and wellness coach—I no longer need to escape. I love what I do which may be why I struggled this year when Randy pulled out the box of Halloween decorations. 

Oh, my boys and I did try to find the perfect places to put things. 

How about here, mom? 

No, I want to keep that surface clean.

Okay how about here then, mom?

No, that doesn’t feel right either. Does it feel right to you?

Naw. 

Our house is small. Most of the things we have are functional. The few items that are “out on display” are art and plants.  

The decorations—they feel like cheap clutter to me, like living up to the Jones’s, like an obligation. And I think I might be completely done with them. 

Another thing I’m done with?

Feeling disgusted with myself.  

Last Halloween I ate a few small candy bars. And the experience did not live up to my memories. 

Before Randy and I had kids we did a lot of downhill skiing in the Colorado Rockies. On our way to the mountain resorts, we’d stop at a gas station to fill up our tank and buy Reece's peanut butter cups. Reece's became synonymous with outdoor adventures with my husband. 

What felt reminiscent of all those skiing adventures? Walking with Randy in the cold, hand-in-hand, behind our two boxes (costumes that were extremely easy and inexpensive to put together). As we went up and down the block it seemed logical to take turns quietly sneaking a few candy bars out of their pumpkin containers when they weren’t paying close attention. 

To my disappointment, the bars tasted old, really old. I ate them anyway because it was Halloween. I let myself use the holiday as the reason for my choice. 

Don’t get me wrong, even though the candy bars didn’t live up to my hopes, I still enjoyed them. 

Once we got home I sat on the couch and watched my boys organize their candy. After a few minutes, I was hit by a bad headache, indigestion, and my body swelled up so much that I couldn’t take off my wedding band. A few days later I was hit by the worst Rheumatoid Arthritis flare I’ve ever had. It started in my shoulder and moved into my collar bone. The small movement from shallow breathing was almost intolerable. 

Now you might think, wait, Heather, aren’t you a health coach? Don’t you naturally stay away from these things? Isn’t it easier for you?  

Maybe, maybe not—but knowing that sugar is 7 times as addictive as cocaine, I’m not going to tempt myself this year. I may receive a powerful reminder that these chemicals don’t do our bodies any good, but I’m still a human being with cravings.  

I’ve decided that this Halloween I’ll be staying 100% away from the candy. I’ve already made the decision so I won’t have to wonder what I’m going to do throughout the evening.

Before you wonder if I believe in extreme self-deprivation, know that I’m going to bake a delicious chocolate cake full of quality ingredients earlier in the day. And I’m going to eat a piece or three of it while the others are eating their candy. The cake allows me to say no to the candy, making it no longer a temptation. And it’s a splurge that my body will quickly and gently forgive me for. Why bake a cake? It’s an easy choice. My youngest son, Will Riley, was born on Halloween 9 years ago.  

If you’re worried about willpower and would like to have a new Halloween narrative where you don’t eat all the candy (and you don’t want to bake a healthy-ish cake), the following ideas may help you move through this holiday with more peace, grace and compassion.

1. Engage in a new way. You don’t have to buy multiple jumbo-sized bags of candy to participate. Pass out non-food items like pencils, stickers, sharks teeth, books and play-doh. Make Halloween about more than the candy—carve a pumpkin, roast some pumpkin seeds or bake a home-made pie that fills your home with the smell of creation and love.

2. Pay it forward. After walking around the neighborhood with your kids, pass out the majority of what they’ve collected to other kids knocking on your front door. This will work better with younger children, but give your older kids credit—if you empower them with knowledge about the addictive components or the negative side effects coming from candy that (at some point will) impact their physical appearance, they may pass. If they choose to pass, reward them with an experience of their choosing—they’ll have their own ideas, but if you want more, how about a family bike ride, a weekend at a water park, or a camping trip?

3. Remove the temptation. Our boys choose 5 pieces they want to eat the evening of Halloween. Later that evening I store the candy in a bag in my car to create physical distance between it and Randy, who is more susceptible to its lure. And the very next day we give the remaining candy to a friend who takes it into her office. There is power to the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” And for those of you who have older kids who’ll kick and scream at the thought of giving up the candy (addiction doesn’t care how old we are), barter with them. Make the candy part of the household economy and pay your kids to hand it over.

Halloween happens. It’s happened in one form or another for centuries. Only in recent years has its meaning become about stuffing ourselves with as much low-quality candy as possible.

Scared you might over-indulge this Halloween?

Instead of having Halloween happen to you, have it happen for you. Choose to be the hero of your story instead of the victim. If you’re trying to become healthier, ask yourself how eating a piece of candy that leads to twenty, is aligned with your vision and goals. And remind yourself that less is definitely more. Unless it’s in the form of a delicious and healthy-ish piece of chocolate cake that your body will quickly forgive you for.