How I am Planning for Halloween

How I am planning for Halloween without sugar and flour:

For those of us living in the U.S., October 31 is a yearly struggle because Halloween is so much about giving out NMF. Stores are filled with it, parties focus on it, kids are thinking of little else.

Here’s my strategy for surviving this week without breaking my sugar-free lifestyle:

— NOT GIVING OUT CANDY FOR HALLOWEEN. I don’t want candy in my house. More than that, it doesn’t feel right to participate in our society’s encouraging sugar addiction in kids. I’m giving out things that feel fun, are inexpensive, and fit the supernatural/otherworldly fun of Halloween: fortune-telling fish, mini Magic 8 balls, glow sticks/glow bracelets
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— DOING A REALITY CHECK if there's NMF around me. When I’m somewhere where NMF is being offered (bowl on an office desk, at the bank, etc.) I reframe my thoughts, as Susan suggests. It’s not that I “can’t” have some. It’s that “yuck, why would I want to eat that?” Sugar adds NOTHING to my life. All my obsession with food has done is to add misery, weight, sluggishness, illness and low self-esteem to my life. Who wants that? There’s nothing to give up really. I am so lucky — my life is no longer ruled by this yucky stuff.

— AVOID GROCERY SHOPPING. In the days after Halloween, I avoid grocery shopping altogether. NMF is steeply discounted those days so I am stocking up on veggies, fruit, beans, eggs and everything else today. I’ll shop again next weekend when the NMF will be more off the shelves.