Halloween Candy Cheat Sheet

With one week to go before Halloween and with an influx of interest from social media, I am going to share the Weight Watchers Halloween Candy Cheat Sheet that I have been handing out to my meetings over the past several days. Obviously it doesn't have every candy available on there, but I think I covered the most popular brands and types.

Feel free to click on the above list and print out your own copy

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Here are some of the tips to navigate the dreaded Halloween season (since we know it is more than 1 day) that my members came up with this week:

* Wait and buy candy until the day OF Halloween - limits temptations in the days prior

* If you have to buy candy in advance, keep it out of sight out of mind - say in the trunk of your car perhaps?

* Buy candy you DON'T like to reduce temptation - but I like all the candy! :P

* Buy only enough candy for the crowd you are expecting - if you get 8 kids a year, don't go out and buy 12 bags of candy "just in case" ;)

* Hand out non-candy options: Halloween pencils, pretzels, gummies, toys - just not raisins - you don't wanna get egged :P

A member of mine (thanks Kathy!!!) found these Mott's gummies (2 PP per bag) at Costco. 80 baggies came to $6.50. Now that's a deal AND it's something she won't snack on!

* Keep healthy food options on hand while you hand out candy - hello power foods!

* Hang the cheat sheet in sight while handing out the candy - highlight the values of the candy you are handing out!

* I will take a post-it note and write out the Pts for something I enjoy exponentially ... 1 is x Pts, 2 is y Pts, etc. See below.

This allows me to see how mindless snacking on kit kats can SERIOUSLY add up Pts wise.

* Delegate someone else to hand out the candy and put yourself in charge of fixing up decorations or taking pictures of the trick-or-treaters

But what do we do when those pesky nice coworkers bring the extra candy into the office on November 1??

* Keep healthy snack options in your desk

* Figure out where the candy is being kept and avoid

* Find a different route to walk around the office that doesn't bring you past the candy

* Bring a copy of the Cheat Sheet into work and keep at your desk OR next to the candy dish itself

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But as we all know, there is NOTHING off limits on Weight Watchers. SO if you are a person that can have just one, go for it. Just mark down the points and OWN it. Don't deny yourself or three weeks down the road when candy is like 75% off, you end up buying a bag and eating the entire thing.

Enjoy in moderation!

I hope this can all help you during this Halloween season! Please free to share any other tips you have for navigating the beginning of candy season...

#wwchat - Weekly Weight Watchers Chat

Do you love Weight Watchers? Do you want to learn more about what Weight Watchers is about?

Do you love Twitter?

Do you love chatting?

Do you love connecting with new friends?

Do you love me?

Woah! I went a little off base there. My bad. :P

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I have been attending Weight Watchers meetings since November 2009 and couldn't imagine my life without them. The ideas and suggestions from the group are great AND they gave me a sense of belonging. Sometimes during my life I felt like I was the only person dealing with certain problems, but joining Weight Watchers showed me that I wasn't alone - people "got" my struggles.

Thanks to Weight Watchers I have shed 64 lbs (took me 2 years and 2 months to reach goal) and I have been maintaining for about a year and a half or so.

Social media enhanced my meeting room experience. I feel like I always have people in my corner or someone to turn to when I need help. Or if I need a reminder to step away from the cupcake. ;)

Twitter and Facebook have opened my eyes to so many new Weight Watchers friends. It is amazing to connect with folks from all over the world that enjoy the WW program as much as I do. It also gave me an avenue to motivate/inspire WW members that do not get the meeting room experience - the online only members.

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In 2010, my friends Colleen and Brittany started a weekly twitter chat about Weight Watchers and I loved it. As time passed, the twitter chat disappeared and I missed it.

So I thought it was about time to resurrect it!! Who is with me?? :)

Twitter chats are fun ways to connect with other members of the Weight Watchers community and get some great support and motivation.

The game plan is to meet on Twitter each Wednesday from 8pm-9pm Eastern Time , discuss different Weight Watchers topics, pose 8 or so questions for folks to answer, hopefully find some new WW friends to follow and use the hashtag #wwchat.

Does that sound like a game plan? Are YOU in?

(Note: the first 2 #wwchat twitter chats have been a BLAST!!)

I "Get" To Eat Healthy...

Every have that one sentence or moment that changes your life? You hear it/witness it and a light switches on in your head?

Yeah that happened to me at Fitbloggin during the "Stop Keeping Up With the Joneses" session on Saturday, June 29.

My friend Kenlie from AllTheWeigh.com snuck into the room late from another session.

But, her brief time in the room got my wheels turning.

She simply reiterated how someone mentioned about feeling unhappy about "having" to eat healthy to either lose weight or for health benefits.

And she then said: "But instead we can simply say: I get to eat healthy!"

*Mind Blown*

Oh no she didn't.

Why yes she did.

She simply taught me how to reframe my thoughts though a simple sentence.

For the past few weeks with countless travel and unhappiness with some aspects of my life, I have been SLACKING - I mean seriously slacking - in the healthy eating department.

(Note: this is not about needing to drop x amount of lbs - since I haven't stepped on a scale in 3 weeks - but this is about feeling good and feeling healthy! The reasons why I lost weight!)

Too many old habits have been sneaking back into my life to mask or try to bury the unhappiness I am feeling.

So what is happening today?

Today the reframe is taking place.

Today I stop the pity party.

Today I end "Vacation Mode." (Excuse Alert!)

Today I don't HAVE to eat healthy ... I GET to eat healthy.

Why?

Because I need to remember how much better my training goes when I am eating healthy.

Because I owe it to my racing self.

Because the athlete I've become (can I say that?) deserves to be fueled the best way possible.

Because I have the ability to do it.

So how does it start?

It starts by getting #back2basics. It is a hashtag I use when I need to hit the reset button.

Yup, I have hit the reset button more times than I can count. But the important thing is I keep hitting it.

What does #back2basics mean to me?

1) Take the food scale off the top of the microwave and put it back on the counter. 2) Move the measuring cups from the back of the drawer to the front. 3) Put into effect #DrinkEnd ... which means alcoholic beverages are only allowed Friday-Sunday. (Unless there is an extenuating circumstances of course. If my friends win mega millions on a Tuesday, I'm not passing on champagne! ;)) 4) TRACKING everything that enters my body. 5) Stick to my training plans, planned workouts and gym dates that I have set with friends. 6) Continue to hit my #100ozchallenge each day, which means drinking at least 108oz of water each day! 7) Do my #plankaday each day. My core will thank me too. ;)

It seems like a lot, but really there are the basic routines that I have created since joining Weight Watchers and when I hit them I have success. So easy decision is to list them out for myself.

PLUS, I always do better with a challenge! Don't you?

So if you are looking for a little support or looking to buckle down, feel free to join me in using the #back2basics hashtag!!

Can you pass me an apple?

It's GAME TIME!