The True Villains of Halloween - Sugar Filled Sweets!

People tend to worry about a lot about the Thanksgiving pounds or the stress of the winter holidays but it often starts with the most evil holidays of all, Halloween. Each year the Halloween seems to get longer and longer and the shelves fill up with bags of sugar filled treats even before the day is near. Here are some tips to help you bet the sugar crush and stay on track for your health goals.

Buy Late

It may be tempting to buy bags of candy or treats ahead of time to save money or to save time later but chances are if you bring it into your house before Halloween you will be more tempted to eat it and then have to go back out anyways. This year commit to not buying your trick or treat candy until the day before or on Halloween.

Go Candy-Free

Be that house and commit your family to be candy free this year. There are a lot of options out there for giveaways that are not candy related that kids still love. Try glow sticks, erasers, pencils, stickers, pretzels or gum this year.

Enjoy your Favorites

Don’t deprive yourself! Pick out one or 2 pieces you do want to eat this year on Halloween, eat and savor them and enjoy the moment with your family. Pass up other treats that may be passed around at work or earlier in the month.

Give Away the Bounty

After Halloween don’t think you have to keep all the candy. Look for opportunities at local hospitals, dentist offices, schools or military mailing services to donate your candy to good causes.

The key to avoiding the evil snacks of Halloween is to plan early and stay committed. Challenge yourself to see how far you can go to avoid the things you don’t need in your daily nutrition plan.

Training for Runs without Carbs - My Story

A lot of people in my running group would consider me crazy but I started doing my Whole30ish/Food Trigger Detox program right at the beginning of my half marathon and marathon walk training. Last year I gained 7 pounds when I did my training because I let myself eat granola bars filled with sugar on my runs and then would eat to my heart content when I got back. This year I want to focus on doing this to make me feel good while I was training and the reason why I am focusing so much on how I fuel myself.

Because I am doing so much running/walking I am really careful about making sure I do get enough fuel and especially those carb filled vegetables that have so much of the good stuff in it. So far into week 3 of my plan I have had summer squash. Spaghetti squash, beets, sweet and white potatoes to support me.

You do have to think outside the box sometimes to make sure you are getting in the right food. This morning before my early run I had a hard boiled egg and sweet potato soup with coconut milk in it. During runs I drink HYDRATE and carry a dried fruit bar for additional fuel as needed (only on runs 6 miles or longer). After my run I had a RECOVER Protein Shake, omelet with summer squash topped with salsa and avocado and watermelon.

Week 2 I felt the effects of low energy as my body adjusted to this new way of eating but overall it hasn't effected my run times. Week 3 I feel much better. Although I haven't weighed myself since I started and I am not plannign to until after my half marathon I am feeling lighter which makes running even easier.

Interested in learning how to fuel yourself right, how to do a Food Trigger Detox program or to learn about the products I use email me at sarah@lifestyleforward.com.