She & He Friend: JJ Virgin’s Frighteningly Fun Halloween Ideas

Simon and I have a big Halloween party every year. I just read my friend JJ Virgin’s advice for having a more waistline friendly gathering and I wanted to share her tips with you as I know all you brides out there are focused on looking your best in your wedding gowns. JJ’s 21 Day Fast Track Program is an amazing and smart way to obtain the shape you crave. Click here to read all about it. An enjoy JJ’s tips for Halloween below!

Love & bridal bliss,

Ciara

Frighteningly Fun Halloween Ideas
By JJ Virgin

Most of us get scared to death as bags full of Halloween candy call out to us from store shelves. Some of you are convinced that you get fat just looking at these harbingers of hedonism. Guess what? It doesn’t have to be that way. There are loads of alternatives out there that will thrill and delight your kids and keep waistlines (and dental bills) in check. Number one rule: Don’t buy your favorite treats – keep the enemy out of the house. Follow these rules instead:

• Leave the candy on the shelf and give trick or treaters something that NO ONE else has thought of – fun toys, stickers and tattoos, silly noses, vampire teeth, fake scars, kazoos, streamers, balloons with funny sayings… use your imagination! Kids love this stuff and it’s a great alternative to yet another gooey chocolate treat. Don’t they get enough of that already?

NOTE: If you feel you must toss some candy into the mix, then select hard candy like Jolly Ranchers and lollipops and suckers that take a long time to eat, are typically lower in calories and aren’t loaded with trans fats.

• Before your kids go trick or treating – FEED THEM! Kids don’t eat when they are full (unlike us adults….). You might even toss in an apple or some fruit as dessert just to quell their sweet tooth.
• If the enemy does show up in the house – and you know it will – throw it in the freezer. One: you won’t see or smell it so the trigger is removed. Two: you can’t pig out on it, otherwise you’ll risk breaking a tooth! Only take out what you can have to continue to earn a B+ on your program. Those little snack size candy bars are perfect for instituting the 3 bite rule. By the way, I wouldn’t advise you freeze your kids’ snacks to limit them. Instead, for them:
• Insist on inspecting all candy when the kids get home and have them get rid of the stuff they have no interest in eating. Then, let them pick out three things (small ones). Let them know they will be allowed one treat a day and HIDE the rest of it (make sure YOU take control of the booty). They will forget about it. I toss a little out each day too, and guess what… they never notice it.

If you are having a party for your kids – serve hot apple cider or hot cocoa. I make great healthy hot cocoa with xylitol as my sweetener and unsweetened cocoa. It takes longer to serve hot drinks, which slows down the consumption of junk too. How about deviled eggs decorated like eyeballs, and raw veggies with peanut butter and cheese sticks – arrange them to look like crooked fingers on a hand. Play fun, healthy games: bob for apples or guess the body part (put creepy stuff in paper bags – peeled grapes for eyeballs, spaghetti for intestines, etc.) and focus on activity rather than eating at these get-togethers. Last Halloween, I was surprised and delighted to see that Twister is making a comeback with the younger set; if you don’t remember how physical that game was… it’s time to dust it off and give it a go.

© 2009 JJ Virgin & Associates, Inc. JJ Virgin, PHD, CNS is a celebrity wellness expert, author, public speaker and media personality. She is internationally recognized as the leader of the Weight Loss Resistance Revolution™ and trains other health care professionals in her program. She is the president of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, www.nanp.org.

If you are frustrated with your body and feel like nothing you are doing is working, take her free quiz “Are You Weight Loss Resistant?” at www.jjvirgin.com and receive her monthly LEANzine loaded with insider information on fighting fat and getting lean for life!

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