Sugar rush

Because I am just so good as sucking the fun out of everything, I thought I'd post the nutritional information from some of the more popular candy items seeing as how Halloween is tomorrow.

Fun Size skittles:

Calories60
Fat 0.67g
Carbs 13.67g
Protein 0g

Calorie breakdown: 10% fat, 90% carbs, 0% protein

Fun size original M&Ms:

Calories 150
Fat 7g
Carbs 21g
Protein 1g

Calorie breakdown: 42% fat, 56% carbs, 2% protein.

Mini Snickers Bar:

Calories 170
Fat 9g
Carbs 22g
Protein 3g

Calorie breakdown: 45% fat, 49% carbs, 6% protein

Midnight Chocolate Milky Way Mini:

Calories 180
Fat 7g
Carbs 29g
Protein 1g

Calorie breakdown: 34% fat, 63% carbs, 3% protein.

Milky Way Minis-regular:

Calories 190
 Fat 7g
Carbs 30g
Protein 2g

Calorie breakdown: 33% fat, 63% carbs, 4% protein.

 Smarties:

Calories 25
Fat 0g
Carbs 6g
Protein 0g

Calorie breakdown: 0% fat, 100% carbs, 0% protein.

Mini Twix:

Calories 50
 Fat 4g
Carbs 10g
Protein 1g

Calorie breakdown: 45% fat, 50% carbs, 5% protein.

To give you a reference, I've also included the facts for a piece for cheesecake:

Calories 300
Fat 21g
Carbs 24g
Protein 4g

Calorie breakdown: 63% fat, 32% carbs, 5% protein.

Yikes!

A couple of bags/pieces of candy and your already looking at the same amount of calories in a piece of cheesecake. If you think about it, you're probably not going to be eating just one or two pieces either. Bear in mind the average American should be eating around 2,000 kcalories a day,and as little as 10 extra calories a day can lead to a pound of weight gain a year. That's not to say you can't still have fun on Halloween though. A few tips? Try these out:


For you:

• If you have kids and are planning on taking them trick-or-treating, make sure you all eat first, that way you're not hungry and munching on candy rigth when you get back. 

• This one may sound  little silly but try it anyway. Chew on a piece of sweet flavored gum while you're trick-or-treating, or right after, or both. The sweet from the gum may satisfy your urge for sweet from the candy.If you're at a party or a place where there is candy out, try the gum thing too.

• If you'll be at home entertaining or handing out candy, avoid having candy out in dishes around the house. You'd be surprised how many pieces you will mindlessly eat without even realizing it!

• Pick out 2-3 favorites and limit yourself to those for the day. Store extra candy, kids candy or other treats out of sight so it's not as accessible.

For the kids:

• I thought this was such a great idea: try paying your kids for their candy. A couple dollars for a pound of candy is well worth it if you think of all those dentist bills you won't have to pay.

• Try making the day/night more about events than just getting candy. Games, crafts, family friendly costume parties, haunted houses and harvest festivals are all fun things you can do together that don't involve a diabetic coma.

Be safe and have a great Halloween!


I got the nutrition facts from Fatsecret.com.