Halloween Candy Survival Guide

Happy Halloweeeen! We’re getting into the spirit of the season over here at Wellness Myths and that includes eating alll the Halloween candies. We know this can be a sensitive topic- some of y’all are feeling the pressure to overeat and restrict these yummy treats. How do we make peace with food in these moments!? How do we avoid binges from the workplace candy bowl + instead find joy + mindfulness in our holiday sweets? The girls of Wellness Myths got you covered!

Listen in to hear tips for emotional eating, primal hunger, + mindful eating throughout the Halloween season and beyond.

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Transcript

Emily: 0:00

Welcome to wellness. Miss the podcast where we take a hard look at the nutrition and wellness industry through a no bullshit lens. My name is, and I'm an anti-intuitive eating ed diet and yoga.

Vanessa: 0:13

And my name's Vanessa. I am also a registered dietician and I specialize in hormone. Emily. And I met back in college when we were studying to be dieticians and we basically never left each other's side. Since the moment we met and post grad, we haven't really left each other's side either we live across the country from each other, but that hasn't stopped us from being business partners and talking almost every minute of every day.

Emily: 0:40

This is all very true. And Vanessa and I decided that we wanted share some of these conversations with everyone. So with that, let's get into this week's Welcome to this week's episode of Wellness Myth, and more importantly, happy Halloween ish. We're

Vanessa: 1:05

Spooky Halloween

Emily: 1:07

I knew you were gonna make some weird, like ghost noise about that.

Vanessa: 1:11

I really wanted to say spooky Halloween like. As soon as you pressed record, I was, I was not listening to what you were saying. I was just waiting for you to stop speaking so I could say spooky Helen

Emily: 1:24

And the really, like spooky, truly spooky, truly frightening thing is the topic of Halloween candy because I feel like for so many people, this is such a huge trigger, especially for overeating. Especially for like binging. know, people really tend to kind of struggle with their relationship to abundant candy around at every store, every place of work in your house. So we just kind of wanted to check in with everybody and talk about that,

Vanessa: 1:57

Yeah, let's get into. So, Emily, how do you feel about trick or treating? Okay, so there's a reason that I brought

Emily: 2:07

Okay. I know. Yeah, yeah,

Vanessa: 2:09

that was not the question that Emily was thinking I was gonna ask her. But the reason I wanted to bring this up, and this is not health related, I just wanna get this message out there. I've had multiple friends tell me this year. That they don't wanna hand out candy. And it's related to, they like don't wanna buy candy for the kids. And you know what I just wanna say, if you have the disposable income to buy candy, you better be getting your ass out there and buying candy for these kids, cuz these kids want and need candy on Halloween. And I'm a dietician and I'm saying this, so please, for the love of God, buy candy for the kids.

Emily: 2:52

Well, and, and I think like another reason that people might kind of want to trend away from that is because they feel like they can't keep candy in the house. Like, oh, if I have extra candy, potentially, like, I'm just gonna eat it all. Or if I'm sitting there passing out candy, I'll be like uncontrollably eating it. Not able to stop myself in any way. I think that's definitely something I hear a lot from.

Vanessa: 3:14

Yeah, which is an interesting thing that, you know, people feel so outta control. With candy. Why do you think that?

Emily: 3:23

Well, I think there's a lot of different reasons for that. And this topic, For our episode really came to me because I had quite a few clients this week comment about how, you know, their ideal relationship with Candy, what that would look right. We kind of explored that. So if you're listening to this, I kind of want you to think what would my ideal relationship with candy look like? You know, do I really want to never eat candy again? I, I don't, I don't think that's the answer for most people. Would I like to be consuming less? Would I like to feel like Candy doesn't have a pull or a hold on me? And if this doesn't resonate with you with Halloween candy, it can be with any food, right? We're just doing this because it's fun and I'm obsessed with Halloween. But I think you know, examining what you want your relationship to look like with Candy first and then thinking about what it currently looks like, right? So many people, especially around this time of year are saying, Oh my gosh, there's a candy bowl at work and. Gone by every day, and I eat like eight of them. You know, some of that might be like boredom. Some of it might be habitual. Like you're just going over there. We grab one, we go back. We're mindlessly eating, right? That might be coming into play. We might just feel like we can't get satisfied no matter how much candy we have. And we might be feeling like, you know, Oh, we better get it in now because I don't keep candy at the house, so I better get it at work. Right? So all of these situations, kind of like what's in common with all of them is that there's this underlying anxiety and worry about candy. And it starts to become, Sort of obsessive at times, and that's when we start to go down a path where we're way far from that internal regulation of our candy intake or any other kinda intake.

Vanessa: 5:04

I think something else with the candy bowl at work too, is people are walking by it and they feel like they keep coming back to it. And maybe you're just actually hungry because you left the house and you didn't have breakfast and you only had coffee and now you're start starting to crash from said coffee and you're really hungry, but your blood sugar is like, please just gimme something right now. So I get back to a normal level and bam, you're in the candy.

Emily: 5:31

Totally. And I think that we could all agree that we don't really enjoy candy when we're doing that. Like when we're feeling like maybe either the blood sugar's really low because of a crash or because of primal hunger, right? Because maybe we didn't give ourselves permission to eat enough. Earlier, maybe we didn't plan properly, maybe we skipped breakfast. Maybe we had too light of a lunch. You know, so I really think that having all of this information and thinking through all of this information will give you a little more insight kind of into why you're continuously reaching for that candy.

Vanessa: 6:05

Yeah. And if you are someone who you just really love, candy, Candy is your thing. We actually have a good friend that candy is her thing. Shout out to her. I won't say her name. She probably wouldn't care if I did, but I won't say her name. You know who you are. She loves candy. And so again, for someone, if you do love candy, like Emily said, if you're just pounding it one after the other, like as you're on a meeting for work, are you even really enjoying that thing that you love? Like it's kind of like when you're driving home from work or from somewhere that you're familiar with the route and as you're going along, you kind of like come back to. and realize, oh my God, I don't remember like the last 20 Niles. Like I was completely on autopilot. Like what was I even doing? It's kind of the same thing, like you do this whole, you know, you eat all this candy or this thing that you supposedly love, but do you even remember what it tasted like, the sensations you had, like any joy that it brought you or were you just throwing it in your mouth and like hoping for the best and not even realizing?

Emily: 7:13

I love that analogy with the, you know, driving and not even remembering how you got somewhere, because I think it's so true with candy. Especially and like other like high value play foods that we might be eating. Because the goal isn't like to eat less candy. You know, I don't want people to walk away from this episode thinking like, Well, you know, these dieticians told me to eat less candy, and these are all these strategies to eat less. It's not really like that. Right. You also might be listening to this thinking, God, I never allow myself candy, like I'm not at the candy bowl. I'm like hiding from the candy bowl Right? When we want us to find some kind of middle ground in here where you're able to consume candy in a way that feels good for you, Right. Thinking again, back to that ideal relationship. With this food and also in a way that's supporting your health. You know, the way that Vanessa was describing the sort of like, you know, throwing candy and that's not really like an enjoyable experience for anybody when we're so distracted and we wanna be really present. For that experience because otherwise we eat too much. We feel sick, it's not a good scene for anybody. And then we enjoy our Halloween party or trick or treating or whatever that is less, right? So we wanna be able to strike some sort of balance. You know, we gave you kind of like the low down on what could be the causes of that. Maybe you're starting to identify your own barriers or maybe, you know, you're realizing you always eat a bunch when you're meal level hungry. Makes sense, right? We're not like little tiny chocolate bar snack hungry. We're needing like a full meal with vegetables and protein.

Vanessa: 8:42

And I think it's something that we can potentially either set us, set ourselves up for success, or set us ourselves. Or failure. So if you know that you come home from work every day, ravenously hungry, and you keep your Halloween candy bowl at your door, yeah, you're probably going to grab a handful of Halloween candy as you're walking in the door because your brain isn't really in the place to make those food decisions. At that point, you're just looking for something. So if that's frequently happening to you, stick some protein bars in your car for your way home, so. That way by the time you get home, you're not feeling like, Oh my gosh, I need, you know, a handful of candy before I cook dinner. Or maybe you just, you know, move the candy bowl somewhere else and have those protein B bars more readily accessible when you do get home. Or it doesn't have to be a protein bar, of course it can be anything, but that's just an easy example of something, you know, to give you a little bit of nutrients and get you into a better spot before you eat your whole.

Emily: 9:47

Definitely. And I think like there's just maybe other like more supportive, more enjoyable ways for us to consume candy than in that situation. Like where by no means telling you it's bad. Like, you know, we're, we're saying that in a way, like eat protein when you're hungry, not candy, right? Like, that seems pretty basic. But we're not telling you like, don't eat candy, eat protein bars. Like, that's, that's not it. And so I think that like, You know, when it comes to that, if we're in a space where we feel really good, right? Like let's say a Halloween night you had dinner with your family, partner, dog, cat, whatever, and then you're passing out candy and you're like, Okay, I'm gonna obviously eat some of this candy while I'm sitting here. At least that's obvious to me because that's what I would be doing. So, you know, as we're having that experience kind of tuning and being like, Okay, I'm physically full. I'm really accessing the taste hunger we call it, in this situation. And I wanna be really present, right? So maybe I wait for a break in the action, right? I wanna be able to like really bite into whatever this candy is and enjoy it. And knowing the fact that like, If things start to get wild and you look down, you're like, Oh my gosh, like I overate all this candy, you know, let me take a break, whatever. It's not the time for like this intense guilt and shame. It's Oh wow. Like why did that happen? Right? And then you're gonna have all these tools that you can look back on and be like, Oh yeah. Like I was really talking to my neighbor when that happened. And I wasn't paying attention. I was just eating a bunch of candy, or, Oh, I wasn't tuning in. I couldn't. Satisfaction from the candy. So of course I'm gonna keep trying to eat more. I was on autopilot, whatever that is. But knowing that the end of the day, you know, it's Halloween, like it's normal to eat candy, it's kind of normal to eat so much candy that you might even feel a little weird, right? You might not feel great the next day, whatever. This is a candy holiday. It's like literally one of like, maybe the whole point the way that we celebrate it. And I think that, you know, that unconditional permission to enjoy the holiday, it may look like overeating. You're not a perfect person. You don't have to be, This isn't attached to your morality in any ways. We're giving you tools but know that. If something does happen and we overeat, it's, it's normal. It's gonna be okay. You'll wake up, you'll eat normally, you'll drink water, you'll hydrate, you'll move your body, whatever you need to do. We're, we're not trying to overcompensate the next day and restrict food or anything like that. You know, we're, we're trying to just get back to as normal of our diet as we.

Vanessa: 12:12

One, having a little candy one day out of the year is not going to completely throw your health off the tracks. So it's, it's okay. Like Emily said, even if you way over do it and you have like that sugar high it's fine. You have. Tomorrow's a new day and you're, you know, back onto your normal eating habits. And maybe you have a little bit more candy. I mean, if you made yourself sick, you probably won't want anymore, but

Emily: 12:40

Yeah, you probably won't want it. You'll start to feel, and I think, you know, there's like, there's this perfection associated, even with intuitive eating, it's like, no, these situations are going to happen. You know, like you're going to be in a situation where, You know, you know the what the right answer is, and you still take a different path, right? You know it's time to stop eating candy, but you still eat it. And Vanessa and I are as dieticians constantly in this situation, like I'll expose us here. Both of us will talk about how sometimes we'll have coffee as an appetite suppressant if we know we can't eat for like two hours and we have. Us to food. I'm like, Oh, at least I'll feel the hunger less if I have a little coffee. Right? It doesn't go well. Like I don't like that I do that and I try not to, but it's life like it happens, and it will likely happen again,

Vanessa: 13:28

And please don't do that.

Emily: 13:31

though we don't recommend it professionally,

Vanessa: 13:34

No, professionally it's not a good technique, but yes, we, we admittedly do, do that sometimes. Okay. I have a question for you, Emily. So neither Emily or I have kids yet but I'm curious, so what are your thoughts as a dietician? Of letting your kids eat Halloween candy. Cause I know this is a concern for a lot of parents is Halloween night they get all this candy and We're worried that they're just going to gorge on candy for the rest of time.

Emily: 14:07

Yeah, this is so common and something I've really seen floating around this year is like, Oh, I don't let my kids eat conventional candy. Like I'm switching it all out for organic, like die free candies. Like I'm not allowing them to consume that. We don't normally buy those foods that's not in our house. Whatever. Okay. You can make whatever choice is right for your family. Right? There's another, I know we have a few plant based or ethically vegan listeners and myself included, some of those families will like take the candy and like switch it to vegan offerings and give it back. It's like the Switch Witch, that's what they call it. You know, everyone's kind of gonna find like their own groove. You have some sort of dietary restriction, allergy, whatever. I know people do that for allergens too. Like the Switch witch comes and gives like the peanut allergy kids not like, whatever is not Snickers. And so the case with all of that is that one night, you know, unless this is an allergy or a way of life for your family you know, if it tends to do with just the fact that you don't typically buy, like conventional candies. You buy organic ingredients, you buy non gmo, whatever. Cool, I'm down with that. But the fact remains that like one, one event of eating candy like this is not going to increase your toxic load of pesticides. It's just not going to happen. Like it. It's, it's scientifically false, right? You know, you don't need to be so worried about your children with the candy. And what really I see oftentimes in my own practice, in my personal life is the kids with the biggest restriction on sugar and candy like that end up being the biggest candy seekers. Like, even for me, growing up in my house, we did not have, like, you know, Like potato chips or something. And every time I would go to a party, it was like, Oh, I will eat all these potato chips. Right? It wasn't even really something like we had bad messaging around. It was just like, Oh, that stuff, we just don't keep it in the house. Right? You can have an apple instead. And even to this day, that's a food that like, I tends to gravitate more and it's harder for me to be mindful with. So I think as a parent, like just dropping into that and being like, Okay, eventually this small person is going to be an adults and they're gonna have to navigate candy on their. And can we start that sort of autonomy young and start that trust in our body at a young age and give our child the gift of being able to navigate that for themselves. They eat enough candy to make themselves sick. Okay. That's a lesson learned, right? That happens to us as adults too. We've been talking about that. So giving your child autonomy with that can be really helpful. This is a nuanced experience, of course. But giving your child that autonomy, at least on Halloween. To be like, Okay, this is the candy night. Do what you will, whatever. See what happens, Your child will learn. Your child will be able to regulate. And then as we continue to have the days after Halloween, it's like, okay, this is a meal that, you know, you can select pieces of candy and that those can be served at your meal. Right? It doesn't have to just be like full, You know your child's throwing up every day and you're like, Well, Emily told me to allow me as much candy as I want. No, it's not like that. It's just that don't stress yourself out about one night of your children consuming candy. It's gonna be alright. Is my main point. And my main view,

Vanessa: 17:09

Yeah, absolutely. I honestly, I was planning on adding to that, but I mean, Emily kind of said pretty much everything that there needs to be said with that. Halloween is fun. Let them eat the candy. You're pro if you're, you know, really health conscious, you're. Probably feeding them a super nutrient dense diet 365 days a year. So if you're doing that, their body should be more than capable of detoxing any little toxins that they might get from those candies. So, I mean, I really, really would not be too concerned about that. There's way more things that we should concern ourselves with that's for.

Emily: 17:54

Definitely. And I think too, you know, detaching the morality as much as we can. You know, I see a lot of, like, whether it's parents or people, it's like, Oh, like I don't really like candy. I just like vegetables. Like, okay, you're not a more vir like virtuous person because of that. You know, like that, that might be true for you. Okay, sure. But like, it's not like, Oh, you're good if you eat less candy. You're bad if you eat more. Right. You're just like a regular old person on Halloween. Trying to stay alive and enjoy yourself on this planet.

Vanessa: 18:24

Yeah. And absolutely. Like we had mentioned before, if you are someone who's finding yourself gorging on Halloween candy for whatever reason it might be Set yourself up for success. Don't come home primarily hungry with a candy bowl right in your face and think that you're going to be able to make a good decision. I'm gonna tell you something, you're not. You're just not even with the best intentions. Even if you went, were walking into your house thinking, I'm not gonna do that. I know it's not gonna make me feel good. Your hunger hormones are gonna tell you something.

Emily: 18:58

Totally. Yep. This one's all about setting yourself up for success in all the ways that you can, having grace when you inevitably stumble, because you're not always going to make the correct decision for yourself at every point in time. And that's life and that's. Perfectly fine. Your health will survive. And what's a lot healthier is having a good relationship to food that's completely devoid of restriction and anxiety and guilt over food As much as.

Vanessa: 19:28

Absolutely. And just one last note, which we could probably do a whole episode on. This as well. But you know what, If you wanna wear a sexy Halloween costume this year, do it baby

Emily: 19:42

Yes, all the body positivity for the Halloween costumes. I, I love it. I think everyone should be empowered to wear absolutely whatever they want on Halloween.

Vanessa: 19:51

What's the quote from Mean girls?

Emily: 19:54

I can't remember.

Vanessa: 19:56

So the Mean Girl quote is in the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.

Emily: 20:11

Okay, we need to have like our own motto for like the candy. Like Halloween is one of the many days per year that you are allowed to eat as much candy as you want, and no one can say anything about it.

Vanessa: 20:24

Absolutely