Halloween's Here, Let's do some Damage Control.....

Well, hard to believe it but Halloween is upon us once again. As they prepare to trick or treat, every year in the month of October, we spend about $55 million more on candy and sweets than the average of the other months of the year.

Meanwhile overweight/obesity rates are climbing. Is it any wonder when you consider the average person consumes almost 60 pounds of sugar per year? Not to mention that childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing and incidences of type II diabetes among children, previously almost unheard of, are now becoming more common.

Often, overeating around Halloween can be that 'slippery slope' that leads to steady weight gain which lasts through the holiday season. And while that usually makes business pretty good for us here in January, we at Lake Country Boot Camp and Peak Performance are sincere professionals who believe that 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'

With that in mind, here are 3 quick tips for controlling your weight at Halloween:

1. Eat a lean protein and complex carbohydrate before eating sweets to minimize the impact on blood sugar. Because your body needs more time to digest lean proteins and complex carbs, eating these first will slow down the absorption of the sugar. The resulting impact on blood sugar will be less, and require less of an insulin response.

Elevated insulin levels contribute to fat storage and a residual drop in energy. By getting that healthy meal in first you'll not only curb your hunger for the sweets and reduce their impact, but you'll help yourself avoid the energy 'crash' that usually comes with sugar consumption.

2. Buy your candy at the last minute to avoid eating it ahead of time. Sounds pretty simple, right? If you want to avoid candy don't keep it in the house! For most people getting in shape requires major lifestyle changes, which aren't always easy to make. So you should try to remove obstacles to success wherever you can. One way to do that is to wait until the last minute to buy your Halloween candy, and then when Halloween is over, set a deadline to get rid of any left over candy that hasn't been eaten.

3. Do a fat-blasting interval training workout. Interval training involves short intense periods of work alternated with a longer low-intensity or recovery period, such as brief stints of running alternated with walking. Doing your workout this way has been shown to burn more calories, not just when you work out, but up to 24 hours afterwards. This is due to the intense nature of the training and the calories your body requires in recovery. if you want a program to follow check out the Rapid Fat Loss Cardio program(on the left hand side of this page). It rock's and it is what I use personally!!!

You can run up a hill, then walk down, or for a low impact alternative try alternating fast and slow periods on a stationary bike.

Oh yeah, and when Halloween's over, get back into the nutrition plan and workouts right away! (That was a bonus tip)

Stay Skinny,

Ryan