The "Little" Halloween

I thought I'd share a little bit with you and our Halloween this past weekend!  Nothing fancy...to be honest, I'm not much of a "Halloween" person and have never liked dressing up.  But...it's totally for my kiddos and that's great!  I do love carving pumpkins though so we do a couple of those each year!

Living in Southern California, we really don't have much of a fall (this so deeply disappoints me, fall is my FAVORITE time of year!!), it really doesn't cool down much until we hit Halloween.  By this time I'm ready to pull out my sweaters and boots and change over my wardrobe!  Unfortunately I find myself in summerish type clothes far too much!!  But...back to Halloween...

So, being that it is so warm in October, we really have to wait to the last minute to carve our pumpkins so they don't rot before halloween.  So...nothing like REALLY waiting till the last moment.  My husband went out the night before to go get a couple to carve, only to find that every store was sold out.  Finally on the 4th store he found 2 small ones!!  When the kids were in bed that night he prepped them so they'd be ready to be carved before they went to school on Halloween morning!

It was also Crazy Hair Day at school...hence the reason Anthony's hair is all crazy!!!

Finally old enough to cut them all 100% by themselves!!

The finished product!  Looks great!!

We had a little neighborhood potluck and I decided to make a healthy dish that I found on Pinterest...turned out pretty good, but it definitely was a little more difficult than I expected!!  LOL

Healthy Halloween Side Dish!!

Plus...I decided to bring my meal along with me as I was finishing up the Ultimate Reset, so here's my healthy Halloween meal!!!

Ok...Halloween night!!  I realized I didn't get good pic of my kiddos in the hustle of everything, but here's a few!  It's tradition that we always go trick-or-treating with the cousins...so they made the hour trek up and off we went!!

Halloween 2014

Cousins and Best Buddies

Jeremy...my Chia-Pet!

So, this was really awesome...We got back a little early from Trick-or-treating because it started raining.  (Yes...the one day that it rains in probably over 100 days in Southern California is on Halloween night!)...well, we had run out of stuff to hand out at our house, so Anthony and 2 of his cousins decided to take their candy and hand it out to other kids coming to our door!!  Seriously?  That was the easiest way to get rid of candy EVER!!!  So, he handed out most all of his candy and was only left with a small zip lock baggie full!!!  Love it...train them to be healthy at a young age and this is what will happen!!!

Now, I know that the holidays are difficult with all the food and sweets but I want to invite you to join my 3-session accountability group...you can join at any session but it will help keep you on track between Halloween and New Years!!  If you're interested in having success or not being one of the statistics of gaining 5-8 lbs during this holiday season, fill out the application below!!

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Healthy TIPS: How to Survive Halloween

Halloween is only 5 days away!  F-I-V-E!  If you're anything like me, you know Halloween comes with temptation after sweet temptation!  I see the candy stacked in the stores and it makes me cringe knowing that my kids are going to be bringing that stuff home soon!  Thinking of the times when I've fallen victim to MY OWN poor choices of thinking "I'm just going to have ONE mini candy bar"...12 "mini" candy bars later.  Can you relate?  The "Candy Hangover"?  The one that keeps you in your yoga pants on November 1st instead of your skinny jeans?  The one that leaves you saying, "ugh, I don't feel too good!"

Well...it can be different this year.  You don't have to feel defeated and like a Halloween candy failure.  Here are some tips for you to take with you to Halloween, armed and ready to conquer this candy fest they call a holiday!!  It all starts NOW, your mindset will dictate your results and outcome of Halloween.  There will be candy leading up to Friday and thereafter as well!  Don't throw this week out just because you're leading up to Halloween.  Focus and change your mindset!  So...what can you do NOW to prepare for Halloween?

Here are some tips to get you thru the week!

1.  DON'T BUY YOUR FAVORITE CANDY!
I used to always think my parents were "cheap" when buying candy for Halloween.  We always got the mixed bag of stuff I hated!  Which in all reality, my mom knew that if she had the chocolate in the house, she'd eat it!!  So...lesson learned!!  You know your weaknesses, you know what your favorite candies are, so why tempt yourself buy buying what you love the most?  I know I won't be having Reese's, Kit-Kats, or anything dark chocolate in my house to give out!!! It just doesn't measure up!  If you have extra candy in the house, all of which is your favorite kind, what do you think you'll want to do?  Yep, eat it!!  So just don't go there, it's simple!  This year I'm going to opt for the mini bags of pretzels!  Kids get tons of candy so why do they need more?  Problem solved!!!

2.  OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND
There is no reason to keep a candy dish out on your coffee table just because it's that time of the year!  If it's there in front of you, you'll be so much more likely to grab it and chomp down on some candy while you're watching TV.  I don't even open our candy we give away until we are ready to walk out the door or until our first Trick-or-Treater comes to the door!  If you don't see it, you're far less tempted to reach for it!

3.  KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL
If you are really wanting to make sure you stay on track this week, commit to writing everything down that you eat.  There are great apps for this that you can download and add in your phone, or simply just a pen and paper does great!  Make note of every piece of food, candy, beverage you put into your mouth and really hold yourself accountable to what you're eating.  Most likely you'll eat less because so much of it that we do throughout the day is mindless eating anyways...especially when it comes to Halloween night!!  Before you know it you've had 10 pieces!

4.  EXERCISE
Your exercise program doesn't take a "holiday break"!  Remember that!!  If there's any really important time to make sure you don't miss a workout, it's NOW!!  Prepare in advance.  If you know you aren't going to want to workout then start talking it up in your head NOW and make it a non-negotiable.  Get up on Friday morning, get your workout in and start your day off right!  Plan out your meals for the day, your Shakeology, snacks, lunch, and DINNER!!  Don't forget to eat dinner before you go out trick-or-treating!  ***Shakeology is a great option for dinner Friday night as it will give you the sweet you're looking for instead of the chocolate candy bars!!***


5.  FIND HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES
There are so many healthy alternatives to piling in the junk and candy that Halloween and holidays bring.  Yes, you may need to be a little more creative, but it will certainly pay off in the end!
Here are some healthy treats you can try if you've just got to have that sweet tooth fulfilled!

Dark Chocolate Flourless Brownie Muffins  These are amazingly delicious...be careful, you may not be able to just eat one!

Shakeology Power Balls - Super yummy...again, gotta make sure you don't pop too many.
But...enjoy!  Try freezing them and when you need a quick treat grab just ONE!!

Flourless Blondie Cookies - Once again, DELICIOUS and a great alternative to cookies!!

Air Popped Popcorn - always a delicious treat!!

If you want to change you are going to have to give up a little to get a lot of good!  

Want an extra level of accountability?

Join my Halloween Candy Detox Challenge Group to help you get focused after halloween and make it to Thanksgiving with a whole new box of tools to use!

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