The wonderful thing about Halloween treats

Yes...I said wonderful!

In the world of nutrition, I find the biggest issue with consumption is portion size! Almost every food (in my opinion) can fit in a healthy diet--the trick is to find the proper portion and to enjoy these treats in moderation!

Ideally, snacks should be kept between 100-200cals. Now, of course I would rather you choose a nutritious apple & yogurt for about 120cals vs. a 100 calorie chocolate bar; however, we all have to be realistic! The closer you stick to eating what you want to be eating, the more likely you will be able to achieve success with health! The goal then, is to enjoy our "treats" to help keep us sane and on track, but keep them within reason.

Most mini-chocolate bars treats are about 70 calories--have 1 or 2 and you are well within the 100-200 calorie range for a healthy snack. Have 8 a day, and all of a sudden you are past the 500 calorie mark. Do that everyday for a week ---and you're gained 1 pound of fat.

So...the Halloween "Trick or Treat" solution....is to remember "Portion and Moderation!"

Random rant of the day

So, today on my drive home...I pass a convenience store. Outside of it was a group of kids...I guess there is no school today? What makes me sad is this group of kids...let's say 6 of the 8 kids (and by kids...I mean 15 year olds?) were visibly overweight. By no means, do I feel that weight is the only indicator of health; however, at 15 years of age, a visible amount of abdominal fat (I'm talking 20lbs?) is too much. The habits that these children are practicing at 15 years of age...will impact their future health beyond their knowledge.

Anywho..back to these kids...they were standing around munching on lovely snacks from the convenience store and two of them were smoking! I may be a bad judge of age...but even still...if you look 15 you should NOT be smoking (well really, no one should be smoking). Not to mention their choice in high fat, sugar loaded pop/chips and bags of candy.

It was just last year that there was a huge discussion in the media/health community about lowering the age kids could use cholesterol medicine from 9 to 7 years old! Aside from the rare genetic situations, children should not be using cholesterol medicine. However, if we continue letting them have diets full of saturated & trans fat, low in fruit/vegetables/fibre and exercise...what can we expect?

We are allowing our future generations to pump their bodies full of toxic substances, before they are fully able to recognize the impact their actions have on their life expectancy. The current generation of kids is expected to have a LOWER life expectancy than their parents. SCARY.

Remember...you are what you eat. Literally.