Candy Train to Easter

I once heard someone say that Halloween is the first car of the candy train to Easter. For those of us who are following a healthy lifestyle and slimming down, this can sound terrifying. I imagine a big, bloated back train huffing out gobs of candy from its smoke stack (this is an old train!) and me gaining 5 pounds as each car goes by. Yikers!

So, I'm making a plan. I'm preparing myself and my family for the sugar rush that is the holidays and trying to think up ways to have fun, participate in all of it, yet not hate myself in the morning.
Since opting out is not an option, I'll tell you how I'm planning to enjoy the ride.

First of all, I'm going to keep temptation to a minimum. With Halloween, I didn't buy my favorite candy to had out to the kids. Too hard not to need to "sample" it. And test it. And make sure there's no razors in it. Aaaaand maybe just one more sample. Yeah.

Once the trick or treaters were done for the night, I got rid of all the leftover candy. I packed it up and told my husband to take it to work the next day. I could have taken it to my office, but I didn't even want it that close to me! So, off it went to wreak havoc on someone else's hips.

Now, we just have the 10-lb. bag of candy that my son collected to deal with. For some reason, I'm not tempted by it. I had a few pieces on Halloween, and that's it. I let him have a piece in his lunch, a piece when he gets home from school along with something healthy, and a piece after dinner. Once the candy is a few weeks old, we'll either throw what's left away or take it to Lifetime Fitness. I hear they have a box where you can donate your leftover candy and they will send it to the troops overseas.

As for the run-up to Christmas, as much as I love the smell of baking cookies, I'm just not going to go there this year. It's not worth it. I know I'll get plenty of treat temptation other places; I don't need to have it in my own kitchen.

This battle of the bulge is really aptly named. Sometimes it does feel like a war. It's amazing how much junk there is out there that can derail a perfectly good diet. Instead of the candy train, I'm taking the healthy eating and exercising train. It's not glamorous, but damn it will feel good to go bathing suit shopping come Spring!