As you've put your Halloween decorations away, have you still been digging into your kids Halloween bag? Have you continued to partake in gobs of chocolate doused in coconut, caramel, and peanut butter, as well as sticky fruity-flavored concoctions?
Here are some facts which may keep you from reaching into that candy bowl and dragging out your Halloween Hangover.
An article on Huffingtonpost.com cautioned, “Although Halloween candy can be a nice indulgence, the sugar high (and sugar crash) from overeating these treats makes some regret opening that bag of candy.”
According to FitSugar.com, a small bag of Skittles have 80 calories and 15 grams of sugar. A small box of Mike and Ike have 50 calories and 9 grams of sugar. DOTS have 70 calories and 11 grams of sugar.
The numbers are also in for the chocoholics out there. The fun-size or snack-size is what is still hanging around the leftover Halloween bowl.
One of those Snickers bars has about 70 calories and more than 7 grams of sugar. A fun-size Peanut M&M’s has 93 calories and 9 grams of sugar, while a Milky Way bar has 75 calories and 10.5 grams of sugar. Kand keep your fingers off those Butterfingers at 85 calories and 8.5 grams of sugar.
We've also headed into Daylight Saving Time on Nov. 3, 2013 this past weekend, and we are going to need that extra hour of sleep.
According to the HuffingtonPost.com, “what we don't realize is that chocolate, besides being a sugary treat, also contains caffeine -- something that can significantly disrupt your sleep.” Caffeine is a stimulant and can keep you up at night. “Caffeine takes approximately 6 hours for just one half of the dosage to be eliminated from the body.”
With six hours to metabolize that caffeine, it is a good thing most of the country has gained an hour this weekend to preserve both you and daylight. According to the NBC affiliate in Dallas Fort Worth, “The history of organized DST dates back to 1905 when English builder William Willet observed many Londoners sleeping through a beautiful summer morning.”
So that hour is a gift to you to do something positive and work off some of that Halloween flub. Think about taking a nice fall hike and enjoy the change of seasons. A bike ride along a foliage-filled route will disperse some of that sugar-charged energy.
If you’re lucky enough to live in a warmer climate like me where, by the way, we go by Arizona time and do not change our clocks, you may still even be able to swim.
Sources:
“Can Halloween Treats Wreck Your Sleep? – HuffingtonPost.com.” The Huffington Post. Web Oct. 31 2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/caffeine-halloween-candy_n_4109350.html?ref=topbar
Halloween Survival Guide Breakdown – FitSugar.com.” Pop Sugar. Web Oct. 31. 2013.
http://www.fitsugar.com/Halloween-Survival-Guide-Candy-Breakdown-688165
“Calories – Halloween Candy Fun Size Treats – FitSugar.com.” Pop Sugar. Web Oct. 31 2013.
http://www.fitsugar.com/Calories-Halloween-Candy-Fun-Size-Treats-5452936
“Clocks Should Fall Back on Sunday – NBCDFW.com.” NBC Dallas Fort Worth.” Web Oct. 31 2013.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/TheQ-When-Do-I-Turn-My-Clock-Back-133251488.html
Joanne Sgro-Killworth is a Television Fitness Expert, Certified Personal Trainer and Sport Nutritionist and Publicist. She is Certified in Pilates, Pre-natal/Post-Partum, Yoga and Senior Fitness. She specializes in Weight Loss, Post-Rehab and Post Cancer Training.
Joanne's fitness plans, recipes and lifestyle advice are available globally on her website www.happiwoman.com/ She resides in the Phoenix, AZ area with her husband and son, where she runs her fitness and publicity business, Fitness Answer, LLC.
Reviewed November 4, 2013
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith