Fitness Friday: Halloween Health

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The scariest part of Halloween isn’t the ghouls, ghosts and goblins. It’s the ever abundant candy stash.  Most people blame Thanksgiving and Christmas for their holiday weight gain, but Halloween is actually the start of the season.
WINK News Fitness Expert Mike Drumm gives us his survival plan for the scariest night of the year for your waist line.

Be Calorie Conscious
Weight management is always a challenge but more so during the holidays. The secret to success is calorie intake, which means choosing appropriate portions and remembering that extra bites add up. It takes only an additional 100 calories a day above what you need to lead to extra 10lb weight gain in a year. Don’t be fooled by words like “fun size” and “snack size.” The next thing you know, one little bite-sized candy bar has become 10. No one eats just one! But just like everything you eat counts, any exercise you do adds up too!

Work out on Halloween morning
Obviously exercise burns calories, but lifting weights can also reduce levels of blood sugar by providing energy for your workouts, instead of making your belly grow. Do something FUN! This Saturday at Fyzical we have a Zumba class at 10am and everyone loves to dress up! Trick or Treating can help you get in your 10,000 steps!

Eat Before You Trick or Treat
Eat a healthy meal before the fun begins, just like you shouldn’t go to the grocery store when you’re hungry. This way you and the kids will not be tempted to eat candy along the way. You’ll walk while trick or treating, and afterwards sort the candy and set boundaries on an amount to be eaten over a period of many days. It’s alright to indulge, just don’t forget to practice moderation.

Treats to Promote Activity
Encourage kids to be more physically active by giving small, inexpensive toys to get them up and moving such as bouncy balls, fake spider rings, glow sticks. Help kids enjoy Halloween without overindulging. This can be challenging since the goal of most children is to get as much Halloween candy as possible!

EXERCISES:
Frankenstein Walk
Add this fun and effective move to your dynamic warm-up to help increase body temperature while functionally preparing the body for the exercises to come. Beginning in a standing position, step forward with the right foot and swing the left leg out in front of the body, drawing the right hand toward the left foot. Step down with the left foot and swing the right leg out, reaching the left hand toward the right foot. Repeat this cycle of movement as you walk across the floor. Limited space? No problem! This exercise can also be done standing in place.

Spider Pushups
Starting in a high push-up position, move your left hand forward and bend the elbow while simultaneously stepping forward with the left foot, drawing the knee to the elbow. Keep the body as low to the ground as possible and repeat on the opposite side (right hand forward, right knee to right elbow). To minimize the amount of rotation in the hips and torso, continue to keep the abdominal muscles engaged throughout the entire exercise and focus on controlling your speed of movement.

Conclusion
You need to remember that Halloween is just one day, the eating behavior that is part of the holiday should last just one day as well. To get yourself back on track after the holiday start the next day off with some physical activity and a healthy breakfast. So when you turn the clocks back, get rid of the candy! Don’t let this behavior develop into a habit and let the holiday lifestyle follow & put off losing weight until the New Year’s Resolution.