Halloween is a notoriously sugary time of year that tends to spark the landslide of bad eating habits that come with the end-of-year holidays.
With the world becoming increasingly aware of the toxicity of high amounts of sugar, and it’s effect on mental and physical health, everyone is looking for low-sugar options for enjoying the holidays without compromising the health.
Halloween of all holidays can seem to have the biggest emphasis on processed sugars, sweets and treats.
Does Halloween have to be all about the sugar, though? Can we find a way to implement more Healthy Halloween Habits without compromising our enjoyment of the holiday?
That’s what we’re here to brainstorm today-what are some healthy alternatives to treats that you can give away for Halloween? Or, what are some party foods that are a good balance between healthy and indulgent?
I have put together a brief list of Healthy Halloween Treats to help kickstart your ideas for indulging during the spooky season with respect for your body! If you’re looking for more specific nutrition ideas, please set up a Virtual Coffee with me!
Let’s start with treats you can make and take to a party…
Party and potluck foods that you make at home are easier to control the nutritional content of. Unfortunately, you cannot give away homemade foods to trick or treaters so these following ideas will be only for social gatherings…
- Make a delicious dip to serve with a vegetable tray. This is a great way to keep vegetables in your diet at a party-dips enhance the flavor of most vegetables.
Something like a spinach and artichoke dip, or a roasted hummus are both an indulgence (because they tend to be high carb and high calorie) but will not include toxic ingredients or preservatives!
- Prepare a sharing-sized batch of nice cream or chia pudding. Nice cream and chia seed pudding are both vegan sweet treats that are both indulgent desserts, but are also known to be healthy, nutritious and high fiber.
- Host a “Make Your Own Pizza” night. This is perfect for when you want to host your loved ones but you don’t want to cook! All you have to do is prepare pizza dough and various toppings-when your guests come over, they can take turns stretching out and dressing their own pizza to their liking. Your spread of toppings can include an assortment of cheeses and meats, along with a spread of healthy and colorful vegetables.
- Make a Halloween-themed snack table. There are SO MANY creative ideas online for taking regular healthy foods (like wraps) and adding a spooky flair to them! This is perfect for a kid’s Halloween party or just a group of festive adults. Check out this blog by Woman’s Day for a few valuable ideas.
Here are some of my best ideas for treating your trick or treaters…
Not all of these Halloween treats are edible and that’s okay!
Kid’s get excited about so many different things, and you can bet that they are collecting a profuse amount of candy from your neighbors, so you can stand to be the person on the block who gives out the healthy treats…
- Give out mini snack bags. Small bags of pretzels, juices, crackers, popcorn, dehydrated fruits and nuts are great things for kids to grab and go, and while they may not eat them as a Halloween treat, they will probably take them to school for a healthy snack the next day!
- Prepare small goodie bags with little school supplies or toys. These are actually fun because they are received like little surprise gifts where the kids get multiple things in one bag. You can put almost anything in these bags and it will still be exciting because it’s a different treat and it’s ample!
- Partner with local business to use some of their product as a treat. A lot of businesses have the ability to both custom make and prepackage foods. This would be a great way to both promote a local business, and also to offer your trick or treaters a unique treat or product that you know is safe and healthy.
- Find and offer a healthy candy alternative. There aren’t many options here but this is still an option! Brands like John’s Healthy Sweets offer low sugar and sometime vitamin integrated candies that would be great for Halloween.
Halloween has been a holiday notorious for promoting consumerism and over consumption of sugar, but some of us love Halloween for so much more than that!
So, instead of persecuting Halloween, let’s reframe the way we celebrate it so that our families and kids can learn healthier lifestyle habits without having to give up a classic favorite holiday!
Note: If, despite your best efforts, your holiday debauchery goes a little off the rails, do not worry-a little indulgence is not worth shaming yourself over! Just get back on track tomorrow-our 7 Day Kickstart is perfect to help you out with that!
This mini-article was written by Elexis Smolak CPT, CNC, founder of Adapted Fitness and Master Trainer. Learn more or schedule a virtual coffee at AdaptedToYou.com