How to Avoid Heartburn at Halloween

At Halloween, it's all too easy to grab candy by the handful

If you suffer from heartburn, Halloween can present you with a problem. Here are some easy ways to help build your willpower and avoid heartburn at Halloween.

Things You'll Need

• Willpower
• Plastic food containers with covers
• Snack-sized plastic bags
• A permanent marker

Instructions

Limit Available Candy

1. The first step to avoiding heartburn at Halloween is limiting the amount of candy that you have available to you.

2. Avoid setting out a candy dish at work or on your desk. It may be a nice thing to do for your co-workers, but it could also create a temptation too tough for you to avoid. Sitting at a desk for eight hours looking at a bowl of candy could cause you to overeat.

3. Another option is to give away the Halloween candy to friends or co-workers. The less candy you have on hand, the less likely it will be that you will eat it.

4. Try not to buy too much extra Halloween candy, even when it is on sale or available at a discount. Limiting the amount of candy available to you will help you eat less. Eating less candy can help you avoid heartburn at Halloween.

5. Give away the candy you do not like. If you keep the candy you do not like, you may end up eating it when the "good stuff" runs out.

Sort and Conquer the Candy

1. The next step is to sort the candy you do have. Certain candy is more likely to cause heartburn than other candy. Sort the chocolates from the hard candies. Separate the minty candies from the other hard candies. Also, keep caramels, nuts and other chewy candies in a different pile.

2. Make smaller piles of candy, with two or three pieces from each of the piles you have already made. Keep only one piece of chocolate in each. By doing this, you can create a small treat bag for yourself. By having small treat bags available, you can avoid overeating and avoid heartburn at Halloween.

3. Store extra candy in plastic food containers. Keep it on hand but out of sight. When your snack bags run out, make more small snack bags of the Halloween candy.

Keep Track of Calories

1. Keep your Halloween candy eating in check by counting the calories.

2. On the outside of each snack bag of candy, write down the number of calories in the candy.

3. When you see the total number of calories written on each bag, you will be less likely to eat five or six of those cute little candy bars.

Watch When You Eat

1. Choosing when you eat candy can also help you avoid heartburn at Halloween.

2. Eat candy after you eat a meal, not instead of a meal.

3. Try eating any candy during the day, not at night, to help avoid heartburn at Halloween.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy Halloween candy that you do not like, in order to minimize temptation.

• Keep a mint candy in each snack bag to help reduce the chance of heartburn.

• Avoid hitting the after-Halloween sales, wherein your favorite candies may be sold at half-price.

• Do not eat Halloween candy with other heartburn "trigger foods."

Resources

• Check candy calories