Helpful tricks to eat right on Halloween

Happy almost Halloween!

Although Halloween can be a lot of fun it's also a temptation nightmare.

No, I'm not going to encourage you to hand out whole grain crackers or raisins nor am I going to encourage you to give out individually packaged nuts because I don't want your house to get toilet papered or egged! :) By now, I hope you appreciate the practicality of my tips.

So let's get to it:

First and foremost, let's make sure we eat a healthy breakfast shortly after we wake up. And let's not forget about having some protein with our breakfast. If we fill up on protein, we'll feel satiated for a lot longer.

Remember: If we're very hungry, it's very hard to make good decisions.

It's important that we have lunch and dinner too. The #1 cause for eating poorly on the weekends is because we're not eating regularly and we don't have healthy foods available (that's your cue, if you're running out of healthy foods --> go get some!).

Temptations will be everywhere today, and tomorrow.

So, it's important to ask yourself the question, "Is this really and truly worth it?

And because temptations will be everywhere, that means we're going to be constantly asking our self "Do I want this? Do I not want this? Do I want this? Do I not want this." ----> This is going to lead to discomfort.

Often we wind up giving in just to ease this discomfort so we can shut our damn mind up about the candy (or whatever it is) and not even because we want it so badly.

Being aware of this discomfort is very helpful.

Now that we're going to be aware of it, when we begin to face the discomfort why not laugh at it? Pretend it's someone tickling your feet. Just because it's there, doesn't mean we have to do anything with it. Let's acknowledge it and move on.

"Did I want this 5 seconds ago?"

This is another question worth asking ourselves. Seeing a commercial for certain foods can instantly trigger a craving and make us feel good - because our brain will release some dopamine.

2 problems:

One. Although sugary, salty and fatty foods can make us feel good...it's only temporary. Literally, the moment we're done eating whatever it is, the good feelings it give us go away. The extremely fleeting nature of junk - makes us want more and more and more.

Two. 5 seconds before the commercial started, we weren't thinking about xyz junk. It's important to remember that. Just like 5 seconds before we walked into the kitchen at work, the conference room, the kitchen at home, the party, the refrigerator, the pantry - wherever - we didn't want whatever is tempting us, either.

Bonus. Don't have a pity party. "Why is everyone eating candy and I'm not?!" Either we feel deprived in the short term - or we deprive ourselves of feeling as good as we can.

I'll be the first one to say, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, eating junk is a lot of fun. Lounging around is too. I love cookies and ice cream as much as anyone. BUT - I have never felt better from eating poorly and lounging around than I have from eating right and exercising. (I know you agree.)

Said another way - it's more fun to eat healthfully and exercise than the alternative.

ALL that being said, if you want the candy so badly, and it's really worth it to you, have a piece or two. But be sure to eat it slowly. It's amazing how some of us dream of certain foods all day long yet we don't even think about it when we're actually eating it.

Think about it. Savor it. Enjoy it. However, be sure you pay attention to how you feel afterward.

Sadly, we usually realize, the candy (or whatever it is) isn't as good as we imagined it would be.

Life is short. We might as well feel as good as we can right? So we might as well eat foods that make us feel good, before, during and after we eat them.

Having a game plan helps tremendously. If we can mentally rehearse what we're going to eat before we go to a party, or even at home, it's a lot easier to listen to our long term, rational mind.

Lastly, if you wind up giving in whether it's planned, or against your desires, be forgiving of yourself. Don't eat more crap to change the negative feeling you might get from eating poorly in the first place.

Ultimately, nothing tastes as good as being healthy and fit feels. And we all know it.

Just like we all know, saying "No thank you!" is very empowering.

-Adam