Halloween may just be one night, but people usually start getting into the costume-wearing spirit days, or even weeks, before Halloween night. Parties are planned and attended, and offices begin to fill with sugary treats such as frosted cupcakes, candy corn, soft drinks, and candy bars. This can make it tough for the whole food eater to stay true to their healthy eating habits.
Check out our whole food healthy chocolate treat recipes that are decadent without the guilt.
Before we give you some proven tips for staying whole during Halloween, let’s define the term “whole food.”
The following is a simple definition for whole food:
“Whole food – a natural food and especially an unprocessed one, such as a vegetable or fruit.”
That definition comes directly from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a trusted source since 1828. But the Forks Over Knives definition of whole foods tends to give the best explanation:
“A whole food diet is plant-based and centered on unrefined, whole or minimally refined plants. It is based on vegetables, fruits, tubers, and legumes and minimizes or entirely excludes eggs and dairy products, meat, chicken and fish, and refined sugar, refined flour, and oils.”
Looking at both of those definitions, you see that candy corn, sugary treats, candy bars, carbonated beverages and other traditional Halloween foods are not listed. This is because processed sugar and flour, along with the other nutritional nightmare ingredients that are in most conventional Halloween foods, are directly related to chronic disease. And it’s more than just a grocery store!
Stay Simple … Choose 1-Ingredient Foods
This means that keeping things simple around Halloween is going to be the best way to stay healthy. Eat a lot of 1-ingredient items, such as an apple, banana, an orange, a steak from an animal that was grass-fed, a piece of wild-caught salmon or a lobster. At their most nutritious, whole foods are 1-ingredient items that have been unprocessed and minimally heated or cooked. Staying simple with your meals can help you avoid processed foods around Halloween.
Bring Your Own Whole Food Meals, Snacks, and Entrées
The pumpkin is the unofficial mascot of Halloween. Pumpkin happens to be a whole food, when it is not processed, sweetened with sugar or otherwise made unhealthy. That means whole food pumpkin casseroles, pumpkin muffins and carved out pumpkin bowls deliver an opportunity to stay whole, while still enjoying a Halloween theme.
Eat Before You Go Out:
Are you headed to a Halloween party where there will be predominantly non-whole foods? One way to keep from indulging in tempting but unhealthy Halloween favorites is to eat before you leave your home. It just makes sense that a full belly will lead to less bad-food consumption. Prepare a nice whole foods Halloween dinner and get your fill before you don your Halloween costume and hit the party train.
Keep Some Healthy Snacks on Hand:
Celery sticks, carrot sticks, apple slices, grapes, nuts and seeds, beef jerky and dried fruits all make healthy, whole food-compliant treats that are highly portable. This means you can keep some on hand, popping a handful whenever you get tempted to bombard your body with traditionally unhealthy Halloween fare.