I know it. You know it. Your kids really know it. You are going to slowly eat all of your children's best Halloween candy when they aren't looking.
This will go on until one day your kid will wake up to a bag of those orange and black candies, a Chick-O-Stick, and some UNICEF change. Happens every year.
So what's a health conscious, candy stealing parent to do? First let's pick out the top five Halloween candies and then make up some health benefits for the candy to make us feel better about eating them.
1. Snickers-Nougat improves backgammon performance by 74%
2. 3 Musketeers-3 times the health benefits of a single musketeer
3. Reese's peanut butter cup-Peanut butter is better for you in chocolate cup form
4. Nerds-Pure sugar, but it is hard to get them stuck in your windpipe
5. Baby Ruth-Clears everybody out of the pool for you to swim laps
Next you need to make a list of exercises to match up with the candy. For instance:
1. Snickers-50 pushups
2. 3 Musketeers-30 burpees
3. Reese's-50 squats
4. Nerds-100 jumping jacks
5. Baby Ruth-Run a half of a mile
Every time you eat one of the candies, you have to do what's on the list for that candy. The benefits will be two-fold when you do this. Not only will you be getting in shape, but it will also make you think twice about stealing so much candy. Feel free to change the exercises and candies to fit your sweet tooth preference and fitness level.
You can get your kids involved as well. They get a certain amount of candy, then they have to earn additional candy with exercise or even chores. So glad my parents never thought of this stuff.
The most effective way to help your kids to be healthy, is to be healthy yourself. Not by talking about it, but by showing them with your actions every day that exercise and proper nutrition are a priority.