Halloween - How to Prevent Holiday Season Weight Gain

As the air turns cooler and the holiday season descends upon us starting with Halloween, so does the fear of adding to last year's holiday season weight gain. Holiday season weight gain can take the gloss off the magic of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, but with a bit of planning and forethought the holiday season need not mean extra pounds and inches in the New Year.

While the holiday season starts with Halloween on October 31, the treats associated with the Halloween appear in the stores much sooner and so, potentially, do the extra pounds associated with holiday season weight gain. It's the beginning of September and already candy corn and individually packaged chocolates grace the shelves of not only the supermarkets, but any store with a Halloween decorations or costume section.

From now until New Year's, waistlines everywhere are under attack. And our only defense is hours of extra workouts at the gym, good old fashioned will power, or using some of the techniques below to get through one holiday at a time with your waistline measurement intact.

Tips for Preventing Holiday Season Weight Gain at Halloween

Halloween starts the holiday season and as a holiday is most often associated with children. With all that candy traditionally dispensed to Trick or Treater's on October 31, it can also result in extra pounds and inches for the grown-ups.

With candy appearing in the stores as early as the beginning of September there is a trade-off to be had between buying early and running the risk of indulging before Halloween and waiting until the days leading up to Halloween and dealing with the crowds in the Halloween Candy aisle.

The following tricks, however, may help keep Halloween treats out of your mouth and get you through the first holiday of the season without weight gain:

Before Halloween:

Buy Halloween candy early and hide it. If you can't trick yourself, have your partner hide it for you. Generally, out of sight equals out of mind. The last thing you need to see is a Halloween candy stash ever time you open the pantry.

Order Halloween candy online with a delayed delivery date-the longer you have the candy in your home, the more likely you are to indulge.

Purchase only candy you don't like. If you are the only person in America that hates Hershy's chocolate, that's what you should buy. Don't particularly like nuts? Almond Joy's and Snickers for you. Most of us can resist loading up on calories that we don't actually enjoy.

After Halloween:

Don't keep the Halloween candy dish out in the open. Put it away. Again, out of sight, is hopefully, out of mind.

Take a fistful of your favorite candy and eat it-all in one sitting. Overindulgence can dampen even the most ravenous of appetites and prevent holiday weight gain.

After a number of days, give remaining Halloween candy away, knowing you have made it through the first holiday of the season, without much damage to your waistline.

Now there's just Thanksgiving, Christmas and new Year's to deal with!