1. Have a good dinner (including some protein and veggies) before going out trick of treating, so your child has some healthy food filling their tummy in preparation for sugar overload! If you’re in Calgary, check out Kulinary Kid’s Healthy Halloween Family Cooking Class

2. If you do go trick or treating, buy your child a small plastic pumpkin to fill, as opposed to a large bag. Once it’s full, you’re done trick or treating!

3. Trade the candy for money! There are some dental offices that do a candy “buy back” and exchange your candy for money. Try Evans Centre for Dental Health & Wellness in the NW on Nov 1 from 4:30-7:30pm or Dr Kerri Stein’s office in Midnapore on November 7th from 1-6pm.

4. Have a visit from the “Switch Witch” or “Candy Fairy” – similar to the tooth fairy. My son loved this last year at 3 years old! We put his candy out on Halloween night and the switch witch came and left him a toy in exchange. He may not be so thrilled with the option this year, as evidenced in our snack video below ☺

5. If you are preparing treats for a Halloween party, they can still be fun and healthy! Check out my video making Apple Bites and Cheese Finger Food from this great website: www.familyfun.go.com

6. Do NOT buy your give-away candy early or it won’t last until Halloween! Or give out an alternative: temporary tattoos crayons, small bouncy balls or playdough. My favorite house to visit when I was a kid was the dentist’s house. He would hand out toothbrushes!!

As for how to dole out the treats if you do collect a bunch and don’t want to buy back or switch witch…..that’s up to you. I think it’s best to let your kid choose how much to eat (which yes, will probably be a lot!). If you follow Ellyn Satter’s advice, she suggests letting your child gorge on Halloween night and then offer the candy at a meal or snack. At that designated time, they can have as much as they like. You can also choose to dole out small portions at once. Depending on your kid’s personality, they might not have a problem with this. But when it is offered in limited portions, you might find your child coveting the candy and searching for your hiding spot!

When it comes to all of those Christmas parties, it’s best to arrive with a satisfied, instead of a starving tummy. Don’t skip dinner or other meals throughout the day, so you can justify bingeing on appys and desserts later. I think we all know that moderation is not an option when you arrive starving. Anything & everything in sight will be consumed as quickly as possible! And the dinner you skipped was likely more nutritious than the party alternatives.

Party appetizers often consist of greasy, cheesy, meaty morsels. Choose your favorites and leave the rest. If you see veggies or fruit, munch on these to fill your tummy and get nutrients at the same time. Often chips & veggies taste good enough without the dips. And watch the alcohol – the calories really add up, and our body does not digest fat when the liver is already busy processing alcohol. Plus, add in the cranberry juice, pop or eggnog (gasp!) and you have a meals worth of calories in a glass. Try soda water as a mix instead.

Christmas baking is a tradition in many households. And I certainly don’t want to take your favorites away from you (it’s only once a year!). When baking desserts, you can use non-hydrogenated margarine instead of butter, to avoid lots of saturated fat. I do buy butter once a year though, for shortbread cookies – just not the same without it! You can even make some cookies with whole wheat flour (adds fibre and still tasty, I swear!). Here is a recipe for whole wheat sugar cookies: http://www.foodreference.com/html/whole-wheat.html Of course there’s always the option of gifting gift certificates, candles, soaps and lotions instead of edibles.

Given these tips, also remember that there are 21 meals in a week (plus snacks) and 52 weeks in the year. Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your food is “healthy” food that falls within a food group on Canada’s Food Guide and the other 20% can be the “extras” – chips, cookies, cakes, chocolate, alcohol, etc. That way you never feel deprived but still have an overall balanced diet. If you have a few meals in the week, or a few weeks of the year that are not optimal, you have many others to “redeem” yourself!

Happy Holiday preparations to all!