October is in full swing, candy bowls are out, and it's time to decide on costumes....it's also time to determine how you will celebrate!
It's time to set boundaries around sugar, plan for healthy traditions and find ways to celebrate the season in a nourishing (and super fun!) way.
When it comes to Halloween and every other holiday, ask yourself what do I want our family traditions to be? what isn't serving us? and how can I celebrate without sugar?
Sugar drives up glucose and insulin and increases our chances of metabolic syndrome and chronic lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension and pcos. Sugar intake impacts our ability to learn and decreases retention making our children even more vulnerable. Which means it’s important to take stock of the sugar in your pantry and plan to swap it out or remove it.
You can find all the science on blood sugar balance and nutrient density for you and your kids in my Fab 4 Courses but here are some holiday based tip to help you celebrate!
Lower Sugar: My favorite candy options have monk fruit, stevia, or allulose sugar (that doesn't impact blood sugar) or are made with less sugar and have less impact.
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Evolved Chocolate - LeVeque Staple
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The Good Chocolate Company
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Smart Sweets; are an excellent replacement for Halloween or the actual movie theaters.
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Hu Kitchen; uses coconut sugar and will impact glucose but the cleanest without emulsifiers or soy.
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Lilly's - keto alternative. I wish it didn't have the emulsifiers or soy but it’s not a deal breaker.
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Choc Zero - a delicious almond sea salt.
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Freezer fudge - the easiest way to keep out the stuff you don’t want is to make it yourself. My freezer fudge is protein rich and so delish!
Sugar Boundaries: You need to decide how often you will indulge and when to cut it off. The reality is, candy is delicious, and we will mindlessly eat it until it's gone. My advice is to have alternatives and set a phone alarm to ditch the candy!
LeVeque Plan: We bought four bags of smart sweets to share with Bash until Halloween. We have eating evolved, freezer fudge, and Hu around most of the time for weekend desserts. The smart sweets stash will be offered as an alternative to Bash if a neighbor, schoolmate, or friend has candy. After trick or treating, we plan to let him keep 5-6 small sweets to enjoy the following week, and because he is 3, I'll offer to trade him for any of the above candy to lower his intake. We will use the Switch Witch book and swap the rest of his candy for a toy on November 1st.
Nourishing Traditions: You are in control and have the opportunity to plan for and celebrate your way!
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Pumpkin Spice Everything! Here are links to my pumpkin spice smoothie, muffins, creamer and chia pudding, and a Pinterest board of Healthy Halloween fun just for you. I'll be making the pumpkin soup and pumpkin seeds!
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Food Free Entertainment: watch a scary Halloween movie or read a fun book to your kids. Room on the Broom is one of our favorites! Make homemade costumes this year or hit a pumpkin patch.
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Get moving: Implement a Halloween Hike or get moving for a cause. We love the Turkey Trot and Santa Run each year! This month we're supporting Choc kids and walking a 5k with the kids.
