I sent out a Halloween Candy Survey in the Fit Yummy Mummy newsletter last week to help me get an idea of what tips will best help you as the holidays draw near.
I had a request to post the results of this survey- so here you go! I was excited to see that over 400 completed the Halloween Candy Survey. Here are a couple surprising results….
1. How much Candy do you purchase and have on hand for Halloween.
How much as in Quantity and Money spent.
Over 60% of the entries reported a big fat ZERO!
As in no candy has even been purchased!
On the other extreme, there were a few who admitted to spending $100 to $150 on candy.
It was interesting to see that the majority who completed the survey had no interest in spending money nor keeping Halloween candy in their home.
However……
The next question revealed a different story.
While candy is not necessarily being purchased- it is STILL being eaten!
How?
Candy is sitting out at places of work, the bank, samples at grocery stores, on the counter of the Doctor’s office, your friends and family have it out and if you have children….it is coming home in their backpacks and even ending up on your doorstep!
And yes, I KNOW this for I am in the same boat as you! Not only does Tyler come home with “treats” but a couple nights ago, the doorbell rang and I found a note explaining a silly Halloween tradition the neighborhood takes part in along with a small bag of candy. The candy bag was opened by Tyler to see what was in it. I happened to notice a giant tootsie roll and walked away. So the next afternoon, I walked by this small pile of candy, picked that giant tootsie roll up and ate it without giving it a second thought.
That’s how fast it can happen!
This is actually where a lot of Mindless Candy Eating takes place!
So ~ the more important question is…
2. How much candy do you eat in one day?
I must first say THANK YOU if it was YOU who filled out the survey and was completely honest about how much you eat.
How do I know you were honest?
Your answers went something like this….
- Too much
- I eat it until it is gone
- If it’s here I eat it all day long
- I lose count
- I have no idea
Sure you may remember you eat 1-2 pieces or a handful of this or that, but when you take an honest inventory of what and how much you are really eating, it ends up being a lot more than we feel comfortable admitting.
And this uncomfortable awareness is exactly what will help you AVOID Holiday Weight Gain!
(Oh….and I do want to point out that rationalizing a little here and there is one thing and yes I absolutely believe in moderation….it’s just that many of us do not even have our nutrtion plan on track – either eating way too much or not enough and then binging….so eating 200 – 500+ extra calories a day of empty calorie candy is really going against any fat loss efforts being made)
Halloween can be one of the most difficult holidays when you trying to lose or maintain a healthy weight for temptation is everywhere.
Do not fear ~ You CAN Avoid Holiday Weight Gain and it all starts NOW!
While it’s unrealistic to not to eat sweets and treats on Halloween, there are things you can do to minimize sugar intake.
Be on the look out for more important Halloween Fat Loss tips and tricks!
Having a plan in place prevents you from looking in the mirror come November, wondering where in the heck these extra 5 pounds came from and the fear hits you as you realize all the temptations Thanksgiving brings….
Please know I am here to help!
Stay tuned for more helpful holiday fitness tips!
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Hi Holly,
Thanks for addressing this issue. I like to buy candy to give out that I DON”T like so I won’t be tempted but am definitely tempted by my kids loot they get!
Holly, thank you for sharing your Tootsie Roll experience with us. I know you are human too but it’s nice to be reminded that if you can ‘fall’ (mindless candy eating), so can we but we can be inspired by you about getting back up again so as not to deem it as a failure. Failure is such a negative term. I see the occasional ‘fall’ as a setback, which is a reminder for me to get back on track.
Yes I’m one of the ones that have already bought more than enough Halloween candy but I’m only eating these treats on my scheduled ‘cheat/treat’ meals. This way I don’t feel deprived and I can eat the treats without feeling guilty whether it’s before, during, or after Halloween.
I’m nowhere near perfect in my eating but I’m not going to stop trying to make improvements.
Thanks again Holly for all that you do!
Thanks for sharing Holly! I did fill out your survey and was completely honest….I have not bought any candy yet and have not consumed any candy. I’ll will buy some for the ghosts and ghouls who expect it and will probably indulge in a kitkat or two but nothing like in previous years…and all because of your wonderful teachings! Keep doing what you do PLEASE!!! You’re wonderful! xo
Interesting results! I agree with Stacey..I don’t buy my favorite. I would love to indulge in some good old Heath bars but I also know that if I did I would really feel crummy. Sugar and I just don’t get along that well(I found that out when I did the Sugar Busters diet several years ago) When I gave up the sugar, my aches & pains went away. I wouldn’t have bought candy this year because we don’t have trick or treaters(houses too far apart!)but we are doing a “trunk or treat” at our church. Whatever isn’t given away then will be taken to the Blue Star Mothers troop center for us to pack and send overseas. My husband is another story..he would eat it all if he knew where it was! It’s well hidden for now!
A local jerky outlet store (whohoo) had a sale of small individually wrapped packages of beef jerky. We bought that to give out as “candy” this year. That way I am not tempted and my son doesn’t label me “lame” for giving out pencils like last year!
I buy candy for others – do not eat it myself. I may buy some that is sugar free and eat some of those. I try not eat things with aspartame in them.
I totally buy my favorite candy! I wish I could say I didn’t. But I usually wait until the very last minute to pick up our Halloween candy so it’s not tempting me every day up until Halloween! Plus, I hide it from myself in our garage so it takes more work to go out in the cold, dirty garage just for a Reeses PB cup (my fave!). Not worth it to me! Love the survey Holly! Great idea!
Kari
I am so laughing right now. I didn’t fill out the survey because I hadn’t thought about buying candy yet. Guess I am not alone from the results posted. I will have to buy some, but I plan to do it on the 29th or 30th or I will eat it! We are having a safe trunk or treat in my church parking lot, so I will be handing out some candy, granola bars and pretzels. Balance and Moderation for my kids!
Thanks Holly!
I haven’t bought any candy yet, but I plan on keeping it to a minimum. We get only about 10 trick or treaters at our house so I will buy just about that number of full size chocolate bars to give out. The extras will be used for our halloween campfire with s’mores — I let myself indulge in one with extra dark chocolate as a special treat. We limit the number of houses we trick or treat at to just the 10-15 on our street. This way my son is not overloaded with goodies. He can choose one treat per day until they are gone. We put it out of sight out of mind! It’s so important to teach this moderation to our children. I must also share — I saw many gruesome goodies that were not loaded with sugar on the family fun website recently (“rotten” eggs, a carved melon brain, pretzel bones, and jack o lantern fruit salads)– very refreshing! Check it out!
My husband picked up a box of 100 mini chocolate bars a few weeks ago and I’m quite happy to report that it is still sitting there unopened – haven’t even wanted to dig in like I usually do.
Our kids like to go trick or treating for the fun of it more than the actual candy. I have 3 grocery bags full of it (been sitting in the dining room for about a month and no-one has touched it or given it a second thought except for the dog who has to go put his nose in the bags every day to see if anything’s changed!) still from the last few years which I will be quite happily throwing in the dumpster out back…if it hasn’t been eaten by now, it’s not going to be…and would probably not be very good to eat at this point anyway.
Thanks for doing this survey Holly and for showing us that you are human, too!
PS – I love tootsie rolls, too!
Candy is not my thing but I’m so depending on you to encourage me through the cookie and fudge season.
Is this a scam?
I am really not sure how holding a survey and posting the results is a scam? I tried to personally email you “Rachel” but it seems you used an invalid email address.
Holly,
Great idea! I am not tempted by candy and you know living in another county really helps get away from it. They don’t celebrate Halloween here so it is just another day for us. My children have never known the difference. But, if I were in the U.S., I don’t think I would but either. Like I said I am not tempted by it and I don’t buy candy for my children.
Hi Holly!
We don’t celebrate Halloween in Australia, so in a way, this season is not a problem for me. However, I completely identify with chocolates and lollies being available everywhere else but at home! And it’s so easy to take a handful off the staff room table at work to TAKE home – a huge temptation at the end of the day. It’s nice to know that everyone “reaches for the tootsie roll” sometimes. Thanks for all your great advice and encouragement – I really enjoy reading your articles when I get the chance. Though I don’t have children yet, I am motivated to stay fit and be a yummy mummy one day, thanks to you. Keep up the brilliant work (:
I haven’t bought Halloween candy yet either. The challenge for me is that I have three children so we get three times the candy. I don’t take the children door to door just a few people that we know like grandparents,ect. I have read that is is best to just throw the candy away after a few days but I find that very difficult to do. I don’t normally keep chocolate in the house because is is one of my weaknesses.I,ve tried putting the candy that can be frozen in the freezer,this didn’t work either. By the way frozen Snickers are very good. Any suggestions?
I haven’t bought any candy so far… if anyone ends up buying it, I’m betting it will be my husband with his gigantic sweet tooth. The good news is he likes sour patch kids, etc. – things I hate.
I have a huge aversion to spending big bucks on halloween (candy, costumes, etc.) so we usually just go to a movie the kids pick out. If they want to go to the church festival, we indulge them but they have to create a costume of things we’ve already got around the house. They get candy there, but mainly it’s about the brownies, caramel apples, and popcorn balls the women’s group has made. Their goodies are usually donated by a couple of dentists in the church, so they get those pink teeth stainers, toothbrushes, etc. I consider their option pretty lucky.
I didn’t see the survey, but I buy a ton of halloween candy and we generally have hundreds of trick or treaters. I buy the candy the day before to prevent my husband from temptation – I am only tempted if the bags are open. I have always loved Halloween and my kids get tired of trick or treating before I do. I let them eat some that night, and then I let them pick out their 10 favorite and I buy the rest from them and throw it out. No guilt in tossing it on my part – its the dressing up and running around the neighborhood with friends that’s the fun part – not the candy! My favorite is the Charleston chew – they don’t come home with many of those luckily!!
I didn’t catch the survey, but I will admitt that I have one piece a day. It may be a mini chocolate bar or a Werthers. I have learned that if I don’t do this then I buy not just one chocolate bar but two or three regular size bars when I buy groceries and have them all eaten by the time I arrive home with my load.
We have very few treaters so I buy the small packs of pencils, erasers etc to give out. If my daughter gets candy she sneeks it at school. She is in high school where kids chew gum all day so who knows what other kids of junk food she gets from her friends.
When my kids come back from trick-or-treating, they each get to pick 2 pieces of whatever they want and the rest goes into a bag that a store in the basement. I just found 2 bags of candy and chips from last Halloween in my basement. Out of sight, out of mind. My kids never even asked for it and they are 4 and 7 yrs old. I also buy only the junk i don’t like to eat so i won’t be tempted. But i don’t buy very much. Interesting survey. Thanks.
Hi Holly I can’t believe you ate you’r sons candy what a laugh that gave me – here(in the uk) we don’t have so much of a problem with that – sadly we don’t seem to celebrate it like yo do – I would love all the fun that you seem to have _ there is something that I have to ask you though if its a problem don’t worry about it but last week I had a virus on my computer and it wiped out all my downloads that I had from you when I joined I was absolutely devastated because I had lost 8 pounds and was doing well (I thought) but I have tried to remember the things that were on my downloads as well as my bonuses about healthy meals and everything else but I am not sure what all the exercises and healthy meals are – I know you are busy but is it possible for you to download them to me again I know this is a pain but if you could do this for me I would be sooooo grateful if its toooo much of a problem I really will understand – I just want to say that I love your website I love your sense of humour and if you can’t do this it really is okay lots of love Kelly xx
I was able to keep focus on my weight loss during halloween by just eating dark chocolate when i had a craving.It is less calories than other chocolates, so it took the edge off.
It is worst after with all the candy sales at the stores.