October is here and I need to level with you… this is the true start of the holiday weight-gain season.

Don’t be fooled into thinking it starts in late November. It’s now!

The way you start out the Fall sets the tone for the whole holiday season to come.

Start out with practices like I’m suggesting today and build confidence around how you will handle the entire holiday season.

Halloween is just around the corner and I’m sharing my most important Halloween weight loss tips. Make a plan and set the tone!

1. DON’T BUY CANDY EARLY! If it’s not there you won’t have to resist it. Otherwise, you will have to rely on willpower and willpower is bullsh*t! It is fleeting and has a time limit. Arrange your environment so you don’t need willpower. If the candy isn’t there, there is no succumbing to it.

2. DON’T BUY ANYTHING YOU LIKE. I stick with Smarties and Blow Pops and others that don’t “call to me”. A bowl of Snickers and Twizzlers in my house would mean a surefire BINGE! 

3. BUY YOURSELF A FULL-SIZED BAR OF CHOCOLATE INSTEAD. One of my members’ favorite tips is to go buy yourself a full-size whatever your favorite candy bar is. It is so many less calories than mindlessly picking your kids’ candy and not even enjoying it. Eating a full-sized bar allows you to fully enjoy what you choose and feel satisfied.

4. GIVE YOURSELF A NUMBER While it’s not likely reasonable to eat all the candy you’d like, it’s also not reasonable to have none. Choose ahead of time how many, say 3 of your faves, and ENJOY! Or do the full-sized candy like above.

5. THROW OUT ALL LEFTOVERS! It will go to “waste” It will go to “waste” either way. Better in the trash than on your ass! Or belly or thighs!

6. SWITCH WITCH If your kids are young, sell them on the Switch Witch. They put their leftover candy outside and this Witch will replace it with a toy or $.

It’s not the candy you eat on Halloween… It’s the candy you eat in the days and weeks following that causes weight gain.

7. OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND. Once Halloween passes, don’t keep the candy you allowed the kids to keep sitting out. If you do, you’re likely to grab a piece here and there whether or not you’re truly craving sweets. 

8. DECIDE HOW YOU WILL HANDLE YOUR CHILD’S LEFTOVER CANDY. A suggestion is to let your child pick out 10 of their favorites and ration them out over a period of time. Put them in a ziplock and label them with your child’s name. Are you gonna steal candy from a child? If your kids are old enough, tell them to keep it in their room. Check out any Halloween Candy Collection Programs sponsored by local churches, dentists, and other groups. These groups send the candy to troops overseas in care packages.

And lastly, trick-or-treating has traditionally been about candy, but times have changed. There are so many snack pack options out there now that kids love. You can still be in on the trick-or-treating fun without having candy in the house at all.

Here are a few ideas that you can pick up in regular supermarkets:

– Halloween pretzel and popcorn bags

– Juice and YooHoo boxes. (Kids get thirsty going from house to house.)

– Any of the bulk packaged items that kids can use in their lunches during the week, such as fruit roll-ups or fruit snacks.

There is plenty of time to put these tips into action and not let Halloween derail your weight loss efforts.

Start off this holiday season strong! You will be ready for all the holiday celebrations to come!

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