Do you love Halloween?! 😋🙋♀️
My 5 year old daughter Ellie LIVES for it! She literally spends the entire year counting down the days till Halloween.
This year she orchestrated house decorations, her costume, face paints… and even brought some spooky halloween treats for the neighborhood doggies! 🤣🤣😍
Here’s my daughter Ellie and her little sister Mia READY to hit the streets:
Me personally, I’m a bit unsure about this holiday…
After overcoming my weight struggles almost a decade ago using the Homemade Method™, I STILL can get tripped up on Halloween by… All. That. Candy.
This year I actually did great:
I followed my own advice and actually NOURISHED my body, mind and soul leading up to the event. And then found I was totally satisfied with just 2 small pieces of candy – Go figure!
But in case you’re still stuck in the dieting mindset – being ‘good’ and then blowing it (I was there for years, I understand!) – Or if you’re just getting started with Homemade Method™ and still ‘finding your way’ (aka overdoing the candy)…
Don’t worry, because my Halloween recovery plan will have you back on track in no time!
So enjoy these tips and then comment below with which one you’re doing first!
🎃🎃🎃
1. Get Rid of your Halloween Candy Haul (and other temptations…)
At the Homemade Method, we believe life is for enjoying to the fullest – so no foods are off limits – including special treats like Halloween Candy! So I was able to get into the Holiday spirit and enjoy last night ‘guilt-free’.
But after we’d filled our stomachs (and souls) with sweets & treats, there’s no need to keep going…
I always say to my Members: Your health & weight is NOT what you ate on Halloween, or at Thanksgiving or on your Birthday.
Your health & weight are the result of your COLLECTION OF HABITS – the things you do every day, over and over and over.
So the SECRET is to get back to your normal healthy eating lifestyle as quickly as possible.
And my number 1 advice to do that is to get rid of your Halloween Candy haul ASAP – Set yourself up for success & remove the temptations.
One year when I overdid it, we were walking home after trick or treating. We went past an ice cream parlor – I poured our entire candy stash on the table and told the surprised customers to enjoy! (I admittedly set aside my favorite 3 treats first… you can do this too 🙂
The next morning I woke up and was back on track straight away.
2. Drink your Fibre
Your body ALWAYS thrives on lots of fiber.
BUT after you’ve over-indulged in sugary foods, fibre is your BEST FRIEND.
Here’s why:
After you’ve eaten a lot of sugar, your body releases insulin to control your blood sugar levels AND the insulin tells your body to convert the glucose in your blood into fat if it’s not needed for energy.
When you add fibre in the mix, you slow or stop this reaction – meaning your blood sugars don’t spike as much, your body doesn’t release as much insulin, and you give your body a chance to burn up the excess energy before it’s stored as fat.
Of course, you can eat high fibre foods like beans, veggies & fruits. But to get maximum bang for your buck:
I recommend drinking a high-fibre blend in a cup of water, such as a teaspoon a psyllium husk, ground flax, or chia seeds.
As an added BONUS, the fiber helps clear out your intestinal tract, removing the heavy, bloated feeling you may have after consuming a lot of refined sugary foods (which typically contain no fiber and so can clog up your digestive tract).
I do this every time after I eat too much sugar and repeat again the morning after. You will definitely feel that it helps you with a quick recovery!
3. Eat Alkalizing Celery, Cucumber, Beets, or Parsley
Sugary foods have an acid forming effect on the body when they are digested.
This acid forming effect is linked with inflammation and also a host of chronic diseases (including hypertension, stroke, obesity, being overweight and chronic pain).
This also contributes to the ‘sugar-hangover feeling you can have after eating lots of sugar!
The ‘antidote’ is to eat an ‘alkaline diet’ – or a diet high in foods that have an alkalizing effect on the body. This includes ALL fresh fruits & vegetables – and especially veggies like celery, cucumber, beets and parsley.
So try to eat abundant quantities of these in some fresh salads today or in the form of a real vegetable juice.
4. Watch your Appetite and Nourish with Whole Foods
One of the hidden dangers of junk foods and candy is they cause your blood sugars to spike and drop – which actually makes you crave more sugary, refined foods.
In other words, your body interprets your blood sugars dropping quickly as hunger and tells you to eat more – even though you definitely don’t need more calories!
I experienced this myself in previous years when I overdid the candy. I’d actually wake up hungry in the middle of the night – even thought I’d definitely blown my calorie budget for the day in candy!
So my number 1 tip here is just to be conscious that this is going to occur and when it does, don’t deny your hunger or go hungry, but immediately nourish your body with some good, whole, natural foods.
If you do this, your body will quickly return to a healthy appetite and equilibrium.
5. Let it Go – and Enjoy Yourself!
Often the biggest damage we do to our healthy eating goals is not on Halloween or Thanksgiving – but rather all the guilt-fueled and emotional eating we do after.
Whatever you ate last night or this week is OK. Trust me when I say you are NOT going to do yourself any favors by beating yourself up over it!
In fact studies show that guilt and negative emotions around food actually CAUSE disordered eating patterns and binge eating.
So let it go!
This is such a special time of year with family, friends & colleagues, so give yourself permission to deviate from your strict healthy eating goals and enjoy it!
At the same time, listen to your body, choose quality over quantity and eat lots of nourishing foods and fibre to help balance out the extra sugar.
For more tips & support, come say hi & meet our community in our private Facebook Group!
warmly
Anna & the Homemade Team
