I have had pretty inappropriate relationships with candy and chocolate all of my life. I have rarely just enjoyed one candy bar. In fact when I eat candy I usually binge on candy and it used to be almost every day. If candy wasn't a binge alone it was part of a binge. So, this year we did a NO CANDY Halloween. Some people might think that this is extreme but it is not. First of all, Halloween serves no purpose for me except a chance to buy and collect more candy. Second, associating holidays and other special occasions with sugary substances seems to be a problem. I am not against birthday cake on a birthday but a birthday can still be special without birthday cake. Do you get my point? I want to learn to live without expecting sugar for a celebration. I mean think about it- almost all of our major holidays and special occasions are associated with sugar:
Birthdays- cake.
Retirement- cake.
Graduations- cake.
Valentine's- chocolate, candy.
Easter- candy x 10.
Baby Showers- cake.
Office Celebrations- cake.
Halloween- candy x 1000
Thanksgiving- lavish deserts, especially pies.
Holiday Season- cookies, candies, sugary treats.
Christmas- deserts galore.
I am sure there are more.
The moral of the story is that these special days can be special without the addition of the excessive consumption of sugary treats. My husband's birthday was October 9th and we did it without cake. He still loved and cherished his birthday and didn't feel that anything was missing, except eating cake for breakfast the next morning and evening and again each meal until it was gone.
I haven't really made any firm plans to abstain from holiday/special occasion goodies- but in my heart I feel like I can pass on Halloween. In fact, I am looking forward to enjoying a piece of pie on Thanksgiving! I am trying to figure out what the difference between an excuse to get a sugar high and the moderate enjoyment of desert on special occasions is for me.
