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#SassyApproved (Healthier) Halloween Treats

Yum

October 19, 2018 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD Leave a Comment

Somehow we are in the second half of October already. I have no idea when that happened but here we are. That means we are entering into the season where there is a holiday every month that is celebrated with candy, cookies, cake, and pie.  I get it, it’s hard to avoid, so I’m not asking you to live in a bubble. What I am asking you to do is to think about the choices you are making and maybe upgrade your treat choices this year. Halloween is no different.

Halloween Traditions

I used to love Trick or Treating as a kid. It was an excuse to get out of the house, hang out with friends, and see who could get the most free candy. I mean, a dietitian in the making, am I right?! We used to fill up our pillowcases and then barter each other for our favorites.

My favorite candies you ask?

  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
  • Kit Kat Bars
  • 3 Musketeers
  • Butterfinger
  • Twizzlers

You can see the most popular traditional Halloween candy here. But, also peep their ingredient lists and make informed decisions for me will ya!?

Honestly, the only one of those that sounds semi-appetizing anymore is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The rest remind me of stomach aches and headaches. However, we would trade each other for our favorite candy, my mom would let us have some, and then the pillowcase was confiscated. We were allowed to pack some in our lunch for the next week or so and then the rest was donated or stored way up high.

Candy is addictive and not all that satisfying, so you need more and more to compensate for the lack of nutrients and blood sugar crashes. Not ideal, but it happens. What needs to not happen is you continuing to go ham on Halloween candy, especially when grocery stores sell bags for a 2 for 1 special on November 1st…

Halloween Candy Pandamonium

I’m not here to lecture you, but let’s talk about articles like this, claiming that these candies are healthy. Look, I’m okay if you eat candy once in a while but let’s call a spade a spade and that candy is not inherently healthy. It is a food devoid of essential nutrients and we could survive without it. Frankly, we’d probably thrive as a society without it, but yet here we are.

Candy is not going anywhere anytime soon. We love to feed our emotions with candy and you can tell the workplace (and school) is a great case and point. Your favorite co-worker probably has a candy jar on his/her desk and I’m guessing it’s probably pretty hard to avoid whenever you stop by. What about Holiday celebrations? Meetings? Don’t even get me started on break rooms.

The thing is, if we stopped buying so much candy, it probably would start to fizzle out. I know, wishful thinking.  I’m going to share with you some upgraded treats, but I will completely understand if you give out cheaper options out at your house, just give them to the neighbors you don’t like ok 😉 Just kidding.

healthier halloween treats

#SassyApproved Halloween Treats

I’m not going to sit her naively thinking you are going to forgo all treats. If you find that avoiding the treats is what you need this year and what serves you then that is fine. BUT if you feel like you want to indulge a bit, I wanted to give you some treats that I have found to be lower on the sugar & crap front and higher in actual nutrient value.

  • Biena Snacks. The Thin Mint variety is tasty and reminiscent of Girl Scout cookies, no joke. (check them out here)
  • Little Duck Organics. Because people love fruit snacks, and you should be able to enjoy said snacks (check them out here)
  • Little Secrets. So many flavors, so little time. A great option to have out at Haloween parties. (check them out here)
  • Smart Sweets. Sick of all the food dyes? Yeah, me too, these are an upgrade in that department. (check them out here)
  • Theo Chocolate. I mean if you haven’t had Theo chocolate what are you waiting for? I’d reserve these for yourself, after all, they’re not cheap but definitely worth every penny. (check them out here)
  • Unreal. They may sound and taste unreal but they are definitely real (and tasty). (check them out here)
  • Wholesome. A wide variety of items, sold at places like Whole Foods. (check them out here).
  • Yum Earth. The kids will be asking for these again, sorry for everything. (check them out here).

While I’m not saying spend 5 bajillion dollars on treats, I am encouraging you to think about what foods you are putting in your bodies and the bodies of the youngins. A treat once in a while ain’t no thing BUT if you let that Halloween bag fester, chances are you might be in for some sugar meltdowns for days/months to come. Treat Yo’ Self with some healthier Halloween Treats this year and let me know when you do!

What is your favorite Halloween treat?

xoxo,

Sassy

…

Pin Now, Treat Yo’ Self Later

healthier halloween treats

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@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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