If you’re a mom, you may feel silly being tempted by Halloween candy. You might tell yourself you shouldn’t indulge in the brightly wrapped goodies, you’ll wreck your diet — you’ll deprive an army of ghoul and goblin trick-or-treaters their due. But the scary nutritional truth is that if you deny yourself even a handful of your favorite sugary morsels, you might turn into a candy-consuming human monster after midnight and eat far more junk than any of us healthy non-zombies should.
Good news is that depending on your age and activity level, you can safely consume 120 empty calories (or more) a day without gaining any weight. Nothing-to-fear candy suggestions after the jump.
According to CalorieCounter.com, when you give in to occasional junk food mindfully, as part of a balanced diet consisting of small meals to regulate blood sugar — complete with plenty of hydration — you prevent yourself from feeling denied and actually stay on top of your diet goals more handily.
Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien recommends these lighter candy options for your Jack’-o-lantern (o’ mom-friendly snacks):
Three Musketeers mini = 24 calories each
Fun Size Lemonheads = 50 calories/10 pieces
York Peppermint Patty = 140 calories each (full-size); 50 calories each (small size)
Peeps pumpkins = 17 calories each
Dum Dum lollipop = 20 calories each
Hershey’s kisses = 23 calories each
But I say nothing under the full moon is off limits if you stop at under 200 cals. You could devour several of the following, my fiends:
Butterfinger mini = 45 calories each
Snickers mini = 45 calories each
Milky Way mini = 38 calories each
Reese’s peanut butter cup = 105 calories each; 36 in a mini Reese’s cup
Circus Peanuts: 35 calories each
Fun Size Twix = 80 calories each
Mars mini = 81 calories each
Happy wrapper unwrapping — happy minor sugar-buzzing — happy Halloween to you, Mom!
