The Art of Eating Halloween Candy; Part 7 in the Art of Halloween Series

Now I know I promised in the next Art Of Halloween series a project and I will share it as it will be just as great for Thanksgiving too; but I came across an article of what I thought had some vital information.  You see if you are anything like me you miss going Trick Or Treating as a kid.  So you may be tempted to dress up and hunch down and brave the door to door faking the "I swear I'm a teen"..."really"...or settle for second best and eat the left over bowl of candy you doled out to the kiddies.  Maybe you are one of those who sneaks into your kids treat bag and say...well maybe just one.   Well this post comes just in time for you.  Being a big kid means that the treats you choose out of the bag goes straight to the hips, belly and god knows that booty train following behind on low steam.  I swear I have a caboose on top of that.

Consider these numbers: Three miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups fill your belly with more sugar than a glazed doughnut "Get in my Belly!"; half a pack of Skittles has more sugar than a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream Ice Cream; nine Twizzlers carry as many calories as a Wendy’s Double Stack Burger. That’s scary! Here are some after Hallows eve tips; tit for tat  which treats to choose that wont go straight to fat.  Just swap outlined here just once and you’ll see, nearly 400 calories saved would be better for thee.

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Tit Column "Don't Eat"

WORST “FUN SIZE” CANDY BAR: Butterfinger 100 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN TWO BREYERS PURE FRUIT BERRY SWIRL POPSICLES!

Many candy bars are high in sugar. Many are high in fat. But Butterfinger has magical ability to be high in both. Adding even one “fun size” Butterfinger to your food intake every day is enough to add more than 10 pounds to your body in the next year. There’s nothing fun about that.

Tat Column " If you Must..."

Eat This Instead: 3 Musketeers (that's the name btw do not actually eat 3...)

63 calories, 2 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

WORST CLASSIC FRUIT CANDY: Brach’s Airheads (3) 140 calories, 1.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 19 g sugar

MORE SUGAR AND CALORIES THAN ½ CUP OF EDY’S SLOW CHURNED MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP!

Here’s the basic formula for an Airhead: Sugar and filler carbohydrates, artificial colors and flavors, and partially hydrogenated oils—the source of trans fat. Dum Dums might not be nutritional paragons, but they do have two noteworthy advantages over Airheads:  1. No heart-wrecking oils, and 2. They’re made from hard candy. That means they dissolve slowly on your tongue, letting you enjoy the sweetness over time and preventing you from feverishly tearing through Airheads. Cool Dum Dum Halloween trick: Wrap each in a white tissue, secure with a small rubber band, and have the kids draw faces on these “ghosts” to hand out to the neighborhood trick or treaters.

WORST MINIATURE CANDY BARS: Twix Miniatures (3)

150 calories, 7 g fat, 4 g saturated, 15 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN TWO FUDGSICLE ORIGINAL FUDGE POPS!

Twix has the worst saturated fat profile of any candy in your kid’s trick-or-treat bag. Think about it like this: Each serving of these bite-sized candies carries 20 percent of the saturated fat you should consume in an entire day. Switch to Tootsie Rolls and you’ll cut your calories by more than half and trim your total fat intake by a whopping 79 percent. (Better yet, treat yourself to some quality dark chocolate. It’s one of 8 Fatty Foods That Actually Make You Skinny and the intense flavor will give you your chocolate fix in fewer calories.)

WORST CHEWY CANDY: Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels (4)

160 calories, 4.5 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 16 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN ½ CUP OF HAAGEN-DAZS CHOCOLATE SORBET!

Doesn’t Milk “Maid” sound a lot like Milk “Made”? But rest assured—they’re not the same. This candy contains a couple milk derivatives (whey and “lipolyzed butter fat”), but it hardly constitutes a dairy product. Plus, 90 percent of the fat is saturated. That’s bad news for your heart. If you enjoy the challenge of fighting chewy candy out of your teeth, switch over to Now and Laters and save more than 100 calories per serving.

WORST SEASONALLY THEMED CANDY: Reese’s Pumpkin (There goes my favorite...)

170 calories, 10 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 16 g sugar

MORE CALORIES AND SUGAR THAN FIVE NABISCO GINGER SNAPS!

This one should send your gimmick radar into the red zone. If it were flavored with pumpkin puree that would be one thing, but it’s not. It’s an oversized peanut butter cup shaped in a pumpkin-like mold. And what price do you pay for such fanciful novelty? Nearly two-thirds more calories than a regular Reese’s peanut butter cup. If you want to create a festive atmosphere, stick with Candy Corn and you’ll save yourself the calorie hangover.

WORST MINT CANDY: Junior Mints (1 fun size box)

76.5 calories, 1.35 g fat, 1.13 g saturated fat, 14.4 g sugar

 AS MUCH SUGAR AS 3 CHIPS AHOY! CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

 Junior Mints are hard to resist because they’re poppable; you feel like you’re getting a lot because you get to enjoy them over and over until the box is gone. What you’re actually getting more of, though, is calories and sugar. Stick with Charlie Brown’s ambiguously gendered girlfriend, Peppermint Pattie, and cut your calories by a third. (Thirty calories may not seem like a lot, but that’s enough to add more than 3 pounds of flab every year to your fine frame.)

WORST CRUNCHY CANDY: M&Ms Peanut (1 fun size bag)

90 calories, 5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 9 g sugar

 MORE SUGAR AND CALORIES THAN A CUP OF HONEYCOMB CEREAL!

 Wait a minute, you might be saying—aren’t peanuts good for me? Not when they’re wearing a spooky costume of fat and sugar. You can satisfy your desire for chocolately crunch, and save sugar, fat and calories, with the pretzel version. The salty-sweet combo will also make them more satisfying. (If you’re genuinely hungry, turn to one of the 50 Best Snack Foods in America rather than filling up on candy.)

WORST LOLLIPOP: Blow Pop (1 regular)

70 calories, 0 g fat, 13 g sugar

 AS MUCH SUGAR AS 5 CUPS OF KIX CEREAL!

Blow Pops are a pure rush, but not the good kind. If you’re looking for a great seasonal option to handout on Halloween, grab a box of Caramel Apple pops. The combination celebrates the season at less of a caloric cost than a Blow Pop. Plus, we all know the gum is a throw away since the flavor is gone in minutes. The caramel on the outside of these pops make them last longer, keeping you from diving into the rest of your candy stash.

WORST CHEWY FRUITY CANDY: Skittles (fun size package) 60 calories, 0.6 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 11.3 g sugar

 MORE SUGAR THAN 3 KEEBLER SANDIES SIMPLY SHORTBREAD COOKIES!

Repeat after me: If it’s your waist you want to whittle, keep your fingers off the Skittles. Sugar, corn syrup and food dye—that’s all you’re getting from a package of Skittles. Starburst cuts the sugar nearly in half by using apple juice concentrate to add extra sweetness and cut down on the corn. (Don’t get us started on food dyes. Red dye comes from one of the 9 Bugs You Don’t Know You’re Eating.)

WORST PEANUT BUTTER CANDY: Reese’s miniatures (5)

220 calories, 13 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 23 g sugar

AS MANY CALORIES AS TWO CANS OF RED BULL—AND NEARLY SIX SUGAR PACKETS WORTH OF SUGAR!

 The American Heart Association says an adult woman should have no more than 25 grams of added sugar a day. Reese’s manages to pack almost that much into one serving of these miniatures. Maybe they should be called “maxiatures”? (Why not ditch the candy altogether and treat yourself to a dessert you’ll actually savor from our list of 10 Restaurant Desserts Under 400 Calories?)

WORST JELLY CANDY: Mike & Ike (1 small box)

Eat This Instead: Spangler Dum Dum Pops (3) (Yes you can eat 3 this time...Yea!)

60 calories, 0 g fat, 11 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Tootsie Rolls (3) Yep 3 of them. And sorry I know that isn't a "Real" Tootsie roll, but dang how cute is that kid ...and...yeaaaah don't eat your kid either.

70 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 9.5 g sugar

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Eat This Instead: Now and Later (4) 4 pieces...nod.

53 calories, 0.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Brach’s Candy Corn (11)

81 calories, 0 g fat, 16 g sugar

Ok guess I skip both of these...Candy corn...Blech.

Eat This Instead: York Peppermint Pattie (1 snack size piece)

60 calories, 1 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 11 g sugar

Seriously this is almost the same thing and they taste better! This one is an easy swap!

Eat This Instead: M&Ms Pretzel (1 fun size bag)

60 calories, 2 g fat, 1.2 g saturated fat, 7 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Caramel Apple Pop (1 regular)

60 calories, 0.5 g fat, 10 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Starburst (fun size w/ 2 pieces)

40 calories, 0.8 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 6.7 g sugar

Eat This Instead:

M&Ms Peanut Butter (2 packages). Ok I am all over this one. I love these and it will cure that crave for the peanut butter cup plus you will feel like you are eating more.

190 calories, 11 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 17 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (mini pack)

35 calories, 0 g fat, 7 g sugar

These are all of course just suggestions but you will be able to see the above and recognize them at a glance. Staying healthy is hard when you have so many health issues like me.  Look at your body and mind and understand what a creative piece of fragile artwork you are.  Try to make wise choices and most important of all:  Be safe on Halloween. Wear reflective gear. Take flashlights. Use reflective tape on treat bags.  Be aware of your surroundings at all times.  Have fun!