Ah — Halloween candy! It’s pretty hard to escape because it’s everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween week accounts for about eight percent of yearly confectionery sales and 34% of seasonal candy sales (like Christmas and Valentine’s Day). Only Easter, the next largest candy holiday, comes close.

FYI: The top five candies of all time — click here for the list of the top 50 – even though you might not agree:

5. Reese’s peanut butter cups
6. Twizzlers
7. Snickers
8. Hershey’s Kiss
9. M&Ms

Can’t resist – do you invade your kid’s Trick or Treat bag — what do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty — If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

Parents invade that collection big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home.  Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy . . .

Here are the calories in some popular Halloween candy – just in case you might want to minimize the caloric damage (you didn’t read that wrong — candy has a big range of calories and fat grams) – and, just so you know — minis are small square candies while snack-size and fun-size are usually about 2 inches long:

25 calories or less:

• 3 Musketeers, Mini
• Hershey’s Kiss
• Smarties Candy Roll

30 – 50 calories each:

• Airheads, Mini Bar
• Kit Kat, Miniature
• Milky Way, Mini
• Peppermint Pattie, Fun size
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Miniature
• Snickers, Miniature
• Starburst, 2 Fun Size pieces
• Twix Caramel Cookie Bars, Mini

50 to 70 calories each:

• 3 Musketeers, Fun Size
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, snack size
• Jolly Ranchers Lollipop
• Skittles, Fun Size Bag
• Sour Patch Kids, Treat Size
• Swedish Fish, Treat Size
• Tootsie Roll Pop

70 to 85 calories each:

• Brach’s Candy Corn: 10 pieces
• Butterfinger, Fun Size
• Kit Kat, Fun size; 73 calories
• Milky Way, Fun Size
• M&Ms, Fun size bag
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Fun size
• Snickers, Fun Size
• Tootsie Rolls, 3 midgee pieces

Happy Halloween!

The post Do You Swipe Candy From Your Kid’s Halloween Haul? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Ah — Halloween candy! It’s pretty hard to escape because it’s everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween week accounts for about eight percent of yearly confectionery sales and 34% of seasonal candy sales (like Christmas and Valentine’s Day). Only Easter, the next largest candy holiday, comes close.

FYI: The top five candies of all time — click here for the list of the top 50 – even though you might not agree:

1. M&Ms
2. Hershey’s Kisses
3. Snickers
4. Twizzlers
5. Reese’s Peanut Cups

Can’t resist – do you invade your kid’s Trick or Treat bag — what do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty — If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

Parents invade that collection big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home.  Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy . . .

Here are the calories in some popular Halloween candy – just in case you might want to minimize the caloric damage (you didn’t read that wrong — candy has a big range of calories and fat grams) – and, just so you know — minis are small square candies while snack-size and fun-size are usually about 2 inches long:

25 calories or less:

• 3 Musketeers, Mini
• Hershey’s Kiss
• Smarties Candy Roll

30 – 50 calories each: 

• Airheads, Mini Bar
• Kit Kat, Miniature
• Milky Way, Mini
• Peppermint Pattie, Fun size
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Miniature
• Snickers, Miniature
• Starburst, 2 Fun Size pieces
• Twix Caramel Cookie Bars, Mini

50 to 70 calories each:

• 3 Musketeers, Fun Size
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, snack size
• Jolly Ranchers Lollipop
• Skittles, Fun Size Bag
• Sour Patch Kids, Treat Size
• Swedish Fish, Treat Size
• Tootsie Roll Pop

70 to 85 calories each:

• Brach’s Candy Corn: 10 pieces
• Butterfinger, Fun Size
• Kit Kat, Fun size; 73 calories
• Milky Way, Fun Size
• M&Ms, Fun size bag
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Fun size
• Snickers, Fun Size
• Tootsie Rolls, 3 midgee pieces

The post Do You Swipe Candy From Your Kid’s Halloween Haul? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Candy, costumes, trick or treaters, and shaving cream in roadside mailboxes (one of many suburban pranks) are all part of the ritual of Halloween. One thing for certain — there’s candy everywhere and it’s pretty hard to resist as an adult and horrifically hard to resist as a kid.

On average, each piece of Halloween sized candy contains around two teaspoons of sugar and the same number of calories as two Oreos. Do the math – if you or your child pops 10 or more pieces of Halloween candy that’s 20 teaspoons of sugar and the calories of more than half a package of Oreos (36 cookies per package).

It’s not the day of Halloween (or Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter) that presents the food challenge – it’s all the other days when the eating with abandon continues and continues …that’s when the weight piles on and poor eating choices become a habit. So enjoy the day of celebration and think about putting the brakes on making every other day a food holiday, too.

Here’s Another Way To Calibrate Halloween Candy

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the calories in various types of candy?

According to walking.com:

• 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 Fun Size M&M package – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate Them All . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… comes to 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

Happy Halloween!

The post How Far Would You Have To Walk To Burn Off Halloween Candy? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the candy calories?

According to walking.com:

• 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

• 1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… the grand total is 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

For kids — as a guideline, to burn off 7000 calories a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

Don’t Worry Too Much …

Just remember – we and our bodies have an amazing ability to compensate for occasional holiday overeating – as long as those holidays don’t turn into weeks that turn into months.

So, enjoy your trick or treating and all of the ghosts, princesses, pirates, animals, cars, trains, skeletons, witches, and any other creature that rings your doorbell shouting “trick or treat.”

Happy Halloween!

The post How Far Do You Have To Walk To Burn Off Halloween Candy? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

It might help a bit with Halloween candy mooching if you have some information about the calories in those seemingly innocent little mini bars of candy.  A lot of adults care — some don’t — and most kids could care less about calories.

One night of candy overload isn’t going to break the bank.  You won’t gain ten pounds and neither will your child(ren).  You and they might feel lousy after so much sugar, your concentration may not be the greatest, and you might be sluggish and irritable.  But, your pants will still fit and your sunny personality will see the light of day – if the candy indulgences don’t become a frequent occurrence.

A treat is only a treat if it happens once in a while.  If it’s a common occurrence it far too frequently becomes an expectation or a habit.

Calories in Halloween candy (Source: fitsugar)

The post Really, How Many Calories Are In That Piece Of Candy? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

A public heath expert estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 candy calories on Halloween night.

To burn off 7000 calories, a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

What’s In The Trick or Treat Bag?

A NYC mom wrote down what was in her daughter’s trick or treat bag after she returned home on Halloween. Then the curious mom calculated the calories.

Here’s what was in her daughter’s Trick or Treat bag:

8 Hershey’s Kisses (Peanut butter, regular, almond and caramel)

3 Hershey’s Bars

1 Starburst

1 Jolly Rancher

1 Jolly Rancher Stix

12 Peanut Butter Cups

1 Reese’s Fast Break Bar

3 Fun Size Snickers

1 M & Ms

3 Caramels

6 Jawbreakers

3 Skittles

2 Baby Ruths, Fun Size

3 Butter Fingers, Fun Size

5 Kit Kat, Fun Size

2 Peppermints

2 3 Musketeers

1 Hot Tamales

8 Hard Candies

2 SweetTarts

1 Cookie

1 Mini Dove Chocolate

14 Lollipops

2 Now and Laters

2 Super Bubbles

1 Milky Way, Mini

2 Mary Janes

Total calorie count of candy In the bag:   6653

What her daughter estimated she had already eaten from the bag:

1 Nestle Crunch

4 SweetTarts

1 Peppermint

2 Hard Candies

1 Ring Pop

2 Mini Boxes of Nerds

1 Snickers, Fun Size

1 Caramel

2 Twizzlers

Total calorie count of what had already been eaten:    585

Grand Total of calories from the Halloween candy haul:   7238

For more holiday eating tips, strategies, and information check out my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide:  How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

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