To stop the candy obsession, teach them to regulate their sugar and eat it intuitively!
Have you heard of the Switch Witch where you trade your kids Halloween candy for money or toys?
Maybe you see people around you throwing away or hiding their kids Halloween candy. Or you have used these techniques in the past to manage your kids halloween candy and felt like you NEED to do this because they are obsessed with the candy!
What if I told you that doing those things is what is causing the obsession?
The thing about trading, hiding or throwing away your kids halloween candy is that it does 2 things:
it creates scarcity around it
and it makes it very very desirable
And scarcity + hyper desire = obsession!
You don't buy their broccoli from them, or hide the lettuce or throw away the apples.
What do I do then?
As scary as I feels, you need to let them have control over it.
If that triggers you to have deep feelings, I encourage you to explore those feelings. Why do you fear them eating lots of candy for a few days? Where did you learn this fear? What do you think will happen?
Because in the big picture, a few days of candy overload that teaches your kids important life skills AND allows them to maintain a positive relationship with sugar. Will be worth it!
And breaking the generational food rules, diet thoughts and good/bad thinking with food will be empowering for our kids!
They will eat a lot!
Now, just to prepare you for it..... they will eat a lot of candy- especially on Halloween night.
It's okay.
Try not to comment on it.
Instead, create a discussion around how their tummy is feeling, if they want to save candy for later so that they can enjoy it for longer etc.
Neutral and gentle guidance.
The more you can step back and let them figure it out, the quicker they will lose interest in it!
Did you parents give you free range of your Halloween Candy?
If so, how did you do with it? Did you devour it? Did you eventually forget about it?
For those who did have free-range and no rules around their candy- this was the case. It was for Shayna and I too.
It the friends who parents said they could only have 2 pieces a day or hid their candy that become obsessed with it. And if they came to our house, the would binge on my candy!
If you want to leanr more abou thtis topic and all the nuances that come with it, listen or watch this weeks podcast epiosde:
Let us know what feelings come up for you when you listen to this episode!
Watch the podcast episode here:
Halloween can be fun for everyone when you learn to let go of the fear around candy, sugar and treat foods!
If you feel you need help unlearning the diet messages and food rules that are keeping you stuck with food, we can help!
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