Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Hayrides, bonfires, and flannel. Halloween is also the beginning of the” holiday” season that ends on New Year’s Day. It’s the time of year when most of us start gaining weight that never goes away.

A recent study at Cornell University tracked wireless weigh-ins recorded in fitness apps of nearly 3,000 people. The data revealed that most of us gain about five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. It also told us that it takes five months to lose those holiday pounds, but instead of losing five, we only lose three or four, leaving us one to two pounds heavier than the year before.

Another study found that 51% of Americans’ annual weight gain happens during the six-week winter period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. The average American gains one to two pounds per year from their mid-20s to their mid-50s. That confirms the average weight gain recorded in the Cornell study, where we gain five pounds during the holidays and only lose three to four pounds before the next holiday season rolls around. Many of us repeat this cycle every year until we are 30 to 60 pounds overweight in our mid-50s.

I’m convinced that holiday weight gain starts with Halloween. This year Americans will spend $3.5 billion on Halloween candy. That’s a lot. In fact, it’s 600 million pounds of candy. The top sellers are candy corn, Snickers, Reese’s, Kit-Kat, and M&Ms.

This time of year, we see candy everywhere. The endcaps of the grocery stores hold huge bags of it. Bowls of it are sitting around on most office counters. And a lot of Americans just put a bowl of candy on their counter at home so it’s easy to see and get. All this candy is packaged in vibrant colors that gets our attention and makes it almost irresistible.

So, what’s the best way to survive the Halloween zombie-candy invasion? It’s been our experience that one approach does not always fit all. That’s why we offer you three possible options for surviving the next few days.

1. Total Abstinence — Just pretend Halloween isn’t happening. Don’t buy any candy, don’t pass out any candy, and don’t eat any candy. Twenty-eight percent of Americans chose not to participate in Halloween. That might not sound fun for everyone, but for them, turning off the front porch light and ignoring what’s going on outside might be pure joy.

2. Healthy Participation — Instead of passing out tons of “Fun Size” or “King Size” candy bars at Halloween, buy some Simple snacks to hand out. Snack-size bags of nuts, seeds, dried fruit or trail mix are great to hand out to trick-or-treaters. Don’t be surprised if you find out your kids prefer a snack like this to their Kit-Kat bars.

If want to go with chocolate, Ghirardelli makes 86% and 92% cacao dark chocolate squares. You could literally “trick” the kids in your neighborhood into eating some serious antioxidants.

My favorite option is a line of chocolates made by Unreal. Their Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars only have 3 grams of sugar and 3 simple ingredients. They are one of my favorite healthy treats. I also recommend their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, which taste better than Reese’s Cups, are made with simple ingredients, and contain 40% less sugar than Reese’s.

3. Moderate Participation — No one gets fat because they eat too much on one day. The problem is all the candy eating before and after Halloween. Follow these Simple rules to help you enjoy some Halloween candy without becoming the Thanksgiving Turkey!

• Eat two to three servings of fruit and four or more servings of vegetables every day (even on Halloween). I can’t say this enough, fruits and vegetable are full of water and fiber. They will help you feel full and satisfied on a fraction of the calories in the average serving of candy. If you get your fruits and vegetables in, you won’t want to eat as much candy.
• Buy your Halloween candy October 30, or maybe even October 31. If it’s not in your house, you can’t eat it.
• Have a few of your favorite pieces of candy on Halloween day.
• Throw all your leftover candy away on November 1. Yep, it’s not real food, so get rid of it or sell it to a candy buy-back program.

We hope you have a Happy Halloween, no matter how you decide to celebrate. As the holiday season begins, remember we are here help you make it to New Year’s without gaining those extra couple of pounds. With our help you might even lose a few pounds over the next couple of months. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need some extra help.

Stay Strong and Healthy,

Bo Railey