Halloween Madness and TWO MONTHS WITH NO CHOCOLATE!

WHOA! Has it REALLY been a month since I posted? I tell you, I'm having a love-hate relationship with my new early morning workout schedule. I LOVE having my workouts done by 7 am, but my middle-of-the-day-during-naptime-and-late-at-night-blogging is sure suffering! I have about a million updates floating around in my head, however, so I'll be back to regularly scheduled posts soon...I promise!

Hopefully you all survived the craziness of Halloween. I LOVE the holiday, but CAN'T STAND the way my kids act when they have that much candy in their possession. The downward descent of unhealthy eating has officially begun. And it doesn't end until Easter!

Here's my goal. I don't know that I can commit to giving up sugar (actually I do know...I can't. I've tried it, remember?) BUT I AM going to try to give up chocolate. That's the majority of my sugar eating, anyway. HERE'S THE DEAL: NO CHOCOLATE UNTIL CHRISTMAS DAY! There, I said it. Anyone want to join? That's NO CHOCOLATE for less than TWO MONTHS (yikes! Is Christmas really that soon?)

Think it over. Let me know if you want to join me. And check this out in the meantime...my Halloween was ALL ABOUT CHOCOLATE (and blueberries...)

Halloween Survival Guide

Well, it's here. The day every year that we love and dread. The day we lose the eat-your-dinner-before-you-get-any-treats battle with our kids, because well, they've already been eating candy all. day. long.

It's also the day we beat ourselves up for eating too much dang candy. I'm totally speaking for myself here. I'm pretty sure I'll be going through my toddler's trick-or-treat bag and sneaking as many Reese's Peanut Butter Cups into my pockets as I can. Or I'll give each little goblin a nasty sucker while I jam 5 Twix Bars in my mouth.

I know myself. I have a major weakness--chocolate! Add peanut butter, and I'm like Pavlov's dogs...my mouth waters at the very thought. So guess what? I'm totally giving myself permission to indulge. And if you want it, I'm giving you permission, too. That way, we won't be beating ourselves up over every little lick of candy, bite of sugar cookie, dab of frosting. It's OK.

I've never been an official "dieter." I tried the South Beach Diet for a few weeks. It drove me crazy! I craved things I'd never even eaten before...just because I couldn't have them. So I try not to obsess over food. Especially on days where I'd be setting myself up for failure. Like Halloween, for example. I'm generally a healthy eater, but I allow for indulgences (probably more often than I should admit). Halloween is one of the occasions where I just know I'm going to eat candy.

But guess what? I haven't bought any yet. I will go to the store tomorrow AM to stock up. And probably on candy I don't like. [Well, I like it all, but am less tempted by fruity varieties.] Suckers, gum balls, life savers, etc. Like I said--chocolate is my weakness. I'm banking on my own little trick-or-treater-dressed-as-Mickey-Mouse bringing me home what I really want.

So I will have chocolate, but not all day long. And I won't eat three pieces of candy each time the doorbell rings...cuz I won't really like the kind we give out. I will work out in the morning. I will eat some of my MIL's homemade goodness that is her Chili to help stave off major cravings. But I will indulge. And it probably won't be pretty. But I'm OK with that. For tomorrow.

Other survival ideas include giving away non-food items. Tattoo stickers. Pencils. Sugar-free Gum. Why is the focus of so many celebrations on the food anyway?

What are your Halloween/holiday survival tips? You know what to do. Leave a comment!