Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Although fun-size candy bars are available all year long, you can’t beat the selection at Halloween time. My favorite candy to binge on was the bite-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I still keep a bag of these in a cupboard so that I always know that I have my favorites close by. I don’t have to actually eat them to feel better. Just knowing that they are in my house is a comfort and keeps me from bingeing. These little candy bars, however, can be a double-edged sword.

They Are a Plague:

• It is easy to eat several of these candy bars in a sitting.

• They come in large packages with a total of more calories than a single candy bar.

• They come in multi-packs with several different candy bars in one package, which can cause further bingeing. When you’re sick of one type, you’re tempted move on to the next.

They Are a Godsend

• The individual bars are small, with calories between 50 and 120 apiece.

• You can have a taste of your favorite candy without risking a lot of calories.

• You can plan to have your favorite candy EVERY day with these little bars, meaning that you never have to feel deprived ever again.

One note of caution: It’s not a good idea to “stock up” during the Halloween season. I never knew this before I started eating healthy, but it’s possible for candy to go bad. After months of lying untouched in my cupboard, I decided to have a taste of my favorite only to find it gray and rotting. Before that, I had never thrown away a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They had always disappeared within hours of purchase. I discarded the bag and wrote the words “Reese’s PB Cups” on the grocery list. I felt such a strange sense of accomplishment because I had been able to keep my favorite candy in the house long enough for it to rot. It was a new first for me.