taunting vassal: Halloween ? relax, it's just ONE day! ? Work Out With Di

Ok I?m going to go out on a limb here and probably say things are totally going to shock some people but we aren?t giving away candy this Halloween! Yes we?re going to be the grinches of Halloween Seriously though neither of us will get home till around 7-7:30pm and honestly the whole thing just seems like a lot of work for 30 minutes (it?s usually over by 8pm around here) of giving away of candy. So this year I?m getting home, sitting on the back porch and just blocking the noise out. Call me the halloween grinch, I don?t care.

Every Halloween for the last 11 years, I?ve been conflicted as to the whole candy giving away thing. Afterall?I?m a personal trainer and fitness instructor, health and fitness is my life, my passion. How can I give out unhealthy halloween snacks to trick or treaters? Some would say it?s simple ? it?s Halloween, but lets face it that?s just an excuse to gorge on sugar. One year we gave out Glo-sticks/bracelets?(as well as candy) which were a HUGE hit. Roll on 2 years later and the whole neighborhood is giving out glo-sticks! Now we don?t feel so special

Now if you are having a Halloween party at home, you can control things more and do some fun healthy but scary (ok not really) treats. Honestly I wish more people would do this than go trick or treating but that takes away a lot of the fun for the kids I guess Probably more of an adult thing? Just google ?healthy halloween snack? and tons of things come up, below is a little photo montage.

It?s recommended that people give out items in wrappers, rather than homemade, and I think that?s a good rule of thumb for people you don?t know or don?t know well. If you?re in a small community then perhaps you can give out homemade items however we are in a suburb with LOTS of kids, like ours, going with wrapped food is a must. A typical Halloween night for our neighborhood is around 110 kids! Yes that?s over ONE HUNDRED children knocking on my door! Trust me, I?d love to be the personal trainer that gives out the raisin boxes, or the tubs of mandarin oranges (above with the jack-o-lantern face) but guess what? Kids don?t want that healthy stuff on Halloween when they are trick or treating! They want you to ?ooh? and ?aahhh? at their costume, throw a candy bar (or two!) in their container and then run off to the next house! Sure they are going to end up with 100?s of?pieces?of candy but guess what, you don?t have to keep it all!

Make some rules for Halloween candy and let the kids know BEFORE you go trick or treating! There are so many things you can do to prevent the over-consumption of candy!

Don?t use a pillowcase!

I?ve seen little 3 year olds with pillow cases! No, not happening. Go out with a small container, when it?s full, you?re done! This will make kids more appreciative of what they get, and they?ll be more selective when choosing a treat (if they get the option). This shouldn?t be about who can collect the most, that encourages greed and selfishness. Teach kids to be mindful and respectful.

They?believe?in the tooth fairy, what about the halloween witch?

Every Halloween night at midnight the halloween witch comes and takes half your candy, and replaces it with a toy! The halloween witch is the cousin of the tooth fairy and the easter bunny. This serves two purposes:

You don?t get to keep it all

Help out the needy by giving some to the local food bank. There are organizations that send the candy to the troops overseas. Let the kids choose 10-15 pieces to eat over the next week or so and donate the rest. Remember even those fun-size bars are around 100 calories each. This is a good lesson for kids to learn ? SHARING!?There are organizations that send the candy to the troops overseas. Operation buy-back is run by dentists who have professional concerns over the sugar ?consumed at Halloween and they send the Halloween treats to troops overseas. Awesome! For those local to me, there are 3 in Simi Valley offering this service, go the website I linked and input your zip code!!!

Save it!

If you have a kids birthday post-halloween then save the candy and stuff the pinata with the candy. Save it to make party favors and add 2-3 pieces of candy to the favors. Use them for pass the parcel game at kids parties. Add to christmas presents? the list is endless. It?s ?free? candy, but you don?t want your kids eating it all. Also makes good teachers gifts!

Ice it.

Don?t let the kids eat it all now. Put it in the?refrigerator?or freeze it, then add it to lunch boxes later. If you are an adult, save it for post run snacks Take it to work, take it to school or playgroups. In the freezer you?ll be less tempted to snack on it

Pass on it altogether!

Ask for donations instead. Unicef has donation boxes you can carry for halloween instead. I?d much rather grab some loose change to put in a donation box than spend the $$ on candy! I wish more people would do this. So much?unnecessary?waste and calorie consumption.??I think this year as we?ll miss most the trick or treaters anyway and as we have decided not to give out treats, we?ll donate some $$ to charity instead. Usually we end up spending $30-40 on candy (one year Bob made an emergency trip for more!), that money could be better spent on a charity donation IMO. Maybe I?ll put a poster on the door that we?ve decided to donate to charity instead?

So have a happy Halloween ?tomorrow night! I?ll let you know if our plan to opt out this year works

Are you giving out candy this year?

Do you feel conflicted about it?

What do you do with all your kids halloween candy?