9 Tricks To Make Halloween A Treat

Today’s guest post is written by Darya Pino. I first saw this article on Darya’s highly-acclaimed blog Summer Tomato (you can find the original post here) and she was gracious enough to let me share her article with my readers.

Darya shares a LOT of the same philosophies as I do about nutrition, healthy eating & weight loss, and eating fresh, seasonal foods.  Oh, and she does allow herself some “treats”, but all in moderation and without guilt.

So please welcome Darya and you’ll love her down-to-earth and realistic advice. You’ll learn how you can enjoy halloween and enjoy some of the treats — really — without putting on the pounds and without deprivation.  Seriously.

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Halloween is finally on a Saturday again.

Woohoo!

With extra candy, alcohol and fun everywhere, there is no point in pretending health will be your top priority by the time the weekend rolls around. But that’s a good thing.

Being healthy is important, but if you don’t learn to make room in your life for fun too then what’s the point?

My challenge to you is to use this Halloween weekend as an opportunity to practice rational indulgence. That is, enjoy things you have a reason to enjoy (i.e. foods you like) in quantities that leave you satisfied, but don’t abandon your health or get too obsessive about what you should or should not eat.

This is not the same as practicing “moderation” (an overused word, in my opinion); instead I’m talking about a head change. Generally the term moderation is used to mean restraint for restraint’s sake. On Halloween this might involve consciously eating only half a cookie or counting out pieces of candy for your allowance.

Boring!

Moderation is fine for daily life, especially when you are just learning to cook and eat healthy foods. But equally important is getting in tune with the real reasons you eat: taste, pleasure and enjoyment, and using this awareness to guide your behavior and create natural boundaries.

Embrace Halloween as a special occasion for you to live and enjoy, while understanding that this is not the first nor will it be the last time you get to eat a cupcake. There is no need to go out of your way to be “good” or “bad.” Just have fun and try not to think in terms of guilt or temptation. It is thoughts like these which lead to too many drinks and eating that entire bowl of peanut butter cups on your friend’s coffee table.

But, of course, for rational indulgence to mean anything it requires a context of healthy eating. If your typical daily food intake isn’t already mostly healthy, then Halloween isn’t really an indulgence so much as an excuse.

But that doesn’t mean this advice isn’t applicable to you. No matter what your baseline, it is easier to indulge rationally if you are well-nourished and in the right state of mind.

Strive for the general goal of eating healthy, nourishing and satisfying foods and feel free to add a few Halloween treats along the way.

Here are 9 strategies to help make rational indulgence a little easier.

9 Tricks To Make Halloween A Treat

1. Leave your guilt at the door. Halloween will probably not be ideal for your health, but if you are going to indulge you may as well enjoy it.
2. Eat what you want, but not any more than that. Remember that indulgence is not a race. You don’t need to eat everything in sight just because you allow yourself a couple days off. Stop occasionally and ask yourself if you are eating for pleasure or from compulsion.
3. Do not skip meals. Halloween usually involves late night parties and candy, things that should not interfere too much with your regularly scheduled food program. Trying to eat light during the day to compensate for eating junk food later will probably just cause you to eat even more junk when you find yourself starving at 2am—not a wise strategy.
4. Have a healthy, satisfying dinner. You would be surprised how easy it is to skip the third mini-Snickers if you are not hungry or are even a little full. Better to be full of stir fry than trans fat and sugar.
5. Eat protein, vegetables and healthy fats before you go out. The main danger on Halloween is sugar. Too much sugar causes blood sugar to rise and insulin to skyrocket. Ultimately this leads to insulin resistance, weight gain and more hunger. To avoid this, slow down the digestion process by eating healthy foods first.
6. Easy on the carbs. You will probably be getting more than your fair share of sugars and starches this weekend. Minimize extraneous carbohydrates in your meals by skipping bread and rice completely. Limit carbohydrates to vegetables, fruit and legumes.
7. Keep moving. One easy way to make up ground if you are eating extra calories is to burn them off as you go. If you are out at a party, be sure to keep moving. Walk to your destination, play Halloween Twister and be the last to leave the dance floor.
8. Brush up. Toothpaste can make candy taste pretty bad, so be sure to brush and rinse with fluoride before you leave your house and as soon as you get home. Sugar is also really bad for your teeth.
9. Be safe. No matter what you do or do not eat, it is always important to make good decisions when you go out on the town. Be smart and make it home in one piece or none of this advice will do you any good.

How do you practice rational indulgence?

Darya Pino is a scientist, San Francisco foodie and advocate of local, seasonal foods.  For more healthy eating tips visit her blog Summer Tomato.  You can also connect with Darya on Twitter @summertomato and Facebook.  Darya also blogs at the Huffington Post.

A Powerful Tool to Keep You Motivated

When I start talking to people about what I do, or when I start working with clients, the first thing they think about is a number.  A number of pounds they want to lose,  a number they’d like to achieve on their bathroom scale, or a size jeans or dress they’d like to fit into.

That’s all and good, as hey, I’m all about helping people shed some extra weight!  But they’re often forgetting about the REAL results of weight loss.  And it has nothing to do with a number.

Talk to anyone who has lost weight and they’ll tell you so much more in their lives was affected, and not just a number they had in their head.

What do I mean?

Well, if you happen to watch the successful TV. show The Biggest Loser, you get an inside look into their lives.  Especially once they’ve left the camp and are back home continuing the journey of losing weight and applying what they learned.  Almost everyone (well, actually everyone) talks about how their family life has changed.  The relationship with their spouse has improved, the time they spend with their kids is more precious (one reason being is they now have the energy to play or run around with them).  They have much more confidence, and performing better at their jos….I could go on and on.

So if whether or not you watch the show, you get the idea…losing weight goes WAY BEYOND just a number.

So I ask you, what does losing weight really mean to you?  What is the REAL impact is has on your life…and the lives of those closest to you?

Here is a simple, yet powerful tool that I use with my private clients, but I’m going to share with you today.

FIRST — Think about ALL of the benefits of losing weight and how it impacts your life.  Some examples are: clothes fit better, have more energy throughout the day, no more mood swings, depression or irritability, you feel and look better, sleeping better, less stressed (and know HOW to deal with stress better), more self-confidence, etc.  You could go on and on.  So list 20 (yes, twenty!) benefits of losing weight.

SECOND — Now go a bit further and think about how it will affect other areas of your life.  Here a just a few areas that are affected, along with some possible examples:

1)   Family & Relationships. Your spouse and children are now eating healthier as you’re cooking healthier foods.  You can now play with your kids as you have the energy.  You’re spending more quality time with your family whether it be sitting down having meals together, going for a bike ride together, or just talking with them.

2)   Work. You’re more focused, less tired, asking for the promotion, going after the job you really want, attending networking events now (as you feel better about yourself)

3)   Finances & Money. You’re saving money because: you’re eating out a lot less, not buying the daily morning latte, you’re eating less(!), drinking a lot less alcohol, off some of your medications due to getting healthier, etc

4)   Social Life. You’re going out more with friends, being more social, or dating more.  You’re attending more social events because you can “handle” yourself around the food, you have more self-confidence, WANT to be around friends (as opposed to “hiding out” because of your weight), etc.

5) Now think about how all of this affects Your Future in all of those areas.  How your relationships, family, job, finances & money, social life, will be better (and worth more) in the future.

So remember it’s not just about losing pounds – it’s about changing your life.

And in order to do that you need to look and go way beyond the numbers.  That’s the real impact of losing weight.

Transforming your family, your relationships, your social life, your work, your money – in a nutshell, your life!  It’s about becoming the person you were meant to be.  I truly believe we all are here on this earth to lead happy, wonderful, fulfilling lives.  So take the time to look at the real benefits, and not just the number on the scale.  And see how your footprint on this planet will be lighter, but more powerful and leaving a lasting imprint on so many other lives.