Halloween Strategies

Halloween is nearly upon us.... and the beginning of what I call "Sugar Season"! This is the time between Halloween and Easter when sugar-containing foods and beverages are marketed to us almost constantly. Tune in as Marchelle and I give you some tips and strategies for getting through Halloween.... including what to give any kids who may drop by looking for treats!

Some of this weeks episode highlights are:

6:58 I want you to just start noticing and becoming aware of all of these deliberate attempts to do what my colleague, David Kessler calls, hijacking the brain. They are purposely hijacking our brains to get us to want to buy this stuff.

9:01 I want you to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem this season. So let's talk about what we can do to start with on Halloween. So do you remember me saying that animal studies show that sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine? Remember that? So let's think for a minute about what we do on Halloween, it's this tradition to pass candy out to children. And if you know that sugar is a powerfully addictive drug. Do you want to be giving this drug out to children on Halloween?

And so it does sound harsh that we're passing drugs (sugar) out to children on Halloween. But I do want us to be a least thinking twice about what we're doing, but I also don't want to take the fun out of Halloween either. So let's think about what you can do on Halloween instead of passing drugs out to children. So maybe you could give them some other sort of little treats instead of candy.

15:09 So the first thing you can feel good about is that you get ‘sugar season’ started out the right way. So you send a message to your own brain, to yourself, that you're not going to buy into this deliberate effort by the food industry to sell junk for the next six or seven months!

We're smarter than that. Second thing is you get to be on the leading edge of preventing diabetes.

--- Full Raw Transcription Below ---

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:00):

You are listening to the Keep The Weight Off podcast with Dr. Angela, episode number 38.

Introduction (00:05):

Welcome to The Keep The Weight Off podcast, where we bust all the dieting myths and discover not just how to lose weight, but more importantly, how to keep it off. We go way beyond the food and we use science and psychology to give you strategies that work. And now your host, Dr. Angela Zechmann.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:27):

All right. Hey, friends. And welcome back to the podcast and Hey Marchelle, how are you doing tonight?

Marchelle (00:34):

I'm doing great. Hi everybody.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (00:36):

We're recording this in the evening. It's a beautiful fall evening. Just a little reminder. I want everybody to, if you haven't already done it, please help us get the word out about this podcast and about what we're talking about by going to iTunes and giving us a rating and writing a review because the more ratings and reviews we have, the more likely it is that the algorithms on these podcasts are going to find help people find us, and the more people will be able to listen and get this awesome advice. So never underestimate the power of your honest review. And I want to let you know in advance. We really appreciate it. And if you've already done it, I will. Thank you. Now we really appreciate it.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (01:28):

Okay. So guess what, everyone, it's that time of year again, and I call it sugar season. So it's sugar season. So it starts with fall and all the pumpkin spice lattes. And I don't know what else they… There's so much marketing for fall, and then it's Halloween. And then, you know, during Halloween, up until last year, we were like passing sugar out to children. Right. And then there's, what's next Thanksgiving and then Christmas. And then is there anything between Christmas and Valentine's day? I can't think of anything. I feel like there's something, something sugary between Christmas and Valentine's day, but I can't think, I

Marchelle (02:16):

I think Valentine's day is next.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (02:18):

Yeah. And then, and then, oh and then I was going to say, then next is Easter, but you forget about the Irish holiday that's beer-drinking St. Patrick's day. Well, except when I was growing up, they always had these Shamrock shakes at McDonald's. So there's that. And then there's Easter and all of the Peeps and all of that stuff. And it's just like, it just it's like months and months and months and months on end of constant sugar marketing to all of us.

Marchelle (02:55):

And worse. And when it comes to like going into the grocery store, I'm not sure if, if Halloween is the worst or if Easter is the worst. I almost think that Easter is where it's really, really dangerous to go to like Fred Meyer, for me, walls of candy. Yeah. Glittery and it looks so pretty and all the beautiful packages. And so I remember growing up, I mean, I don't know these, this whole, this sugar holidays are really, really hard for me.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (03:33):

It is. Oh, it's, it's really hard for me to, and for those of you who don't know what Fred Meyer is, it is it's one of the Kroger chains that's here in the Pacific Northwest where we are. So I think they're called different, they have different names depending on what part of the country you live in, but here it's Fred Meyer. So that's what she's talking about. The Kroger chains, you know, I think for me it's Christmas that like, there's just so much stuff and, you know, people are always giving each other gifts. There's always all of the, all of the holiday cookie baking parties and it's sugar season. It just is. So we just have temptations everywhere. We have lots and lots of social cues to indulge. And, you know, I want us to be thinking ahead, always. So I want to talk about what we can do to protect ourselves from the sugar binges that are so common during this season, this, it lasts like seven or eight months. Right. And the other thing about this, I just thought of this Marchelle in the Northern hemisphere, at least it's the time when, you know, there's a lot more darkness.

Marchelle (04:48):

I was just thinking that you just took the words right out of my mouth at time when people are kind of sad that we want comfort foods. Yeah. That's when they really get us. Huh?

Dr. Angela Zechmann (05:01):

They, they just do it. Yes, they do it. So so here's what I want you to understand. The food giants love this season. Their marketing attempts are bold and obvious. So as Marchelle and I were saying, you just walk into any grocery store. And as soon as late August, they're already marketing for Halloween. And some they're marketing for Halloween right after July 4th. It's crazy. And you know, when we're recording this it's October, I've already seen, like for weeks, I've already seen Christmas stuff out at places. So, so the marketers are, are out there, always getting us to think ahead, you know, the truth be told it's, it's just, it's not even Halloween yet. And Christmas is already out there. You know, I saw eggnog at Costco the other day. Can you believe that?

Marchelle (05:56):

I saw it too. I saw it at a Walmart the other day. I was actually laughing about it.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (06:02):

What on earth? Eggnog is for December, what's going on? So this is a traditional Christmas indulgence, and yet we're just going to start it all early. So anyway, there's, there's just so much, each season has its own color. So right now it's the orange and the black, and then we're going to have the red with Christmas, and then we're going to have the pink with Valentine's day. And then going up, the green was St. Patrick's day. And then we're going to have like the spring, you know, colors, pink and blue and yellow for Easter. And, you know, I'm, I'm thinking about the filling in Oreo cookies, you know, that's what they do. They, they put the filling and they just market it with different colors in it. So, I mean, it's just, I don't know, it's just deliberate, really deliberate. So then, and there are also ads that are going to associate sugar and flour products with various pleasurable traditions, of course.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (06:58):

And so I want you to just start noticing and becoming aware of all of these deliberate attempts to do what my colleague, David Kessler calls, hijacking the brain. So we, they are purposely hijacking our brains to get us to want to buy this stuff. And, you know, it's interesting. Did you see the post in our journey beyond weight loss, community group Marchelle where this, this woman, we have a, we have a special section called Win Wednesday. And so people can post what their wins are for the week. And she wrote for her Win Wednesday that she was thrilled because she was able to go to the grocery store and armed with the knowledge of what she was learning in journey beyond weight loss. She actually was able to walk down the chip aisle and not be tempted by anything at all, because she knew she knew what the food giants were doing. And she was armed with knowledge about you know, how much sugar was actually in all of these potato chips and stuff. So she, she just felt really empowered. She said for the first time, usually I just feel like a weakling in there. Like I just don't have any willpower, whatever she, this time I felt empowered. So that's pretty cool. So that's a little bit about what we're wanting to help. All of our listeners do too, is just get empowered here. So what, what did you say, Marchelle? I didn't hear what you said.

Marchelle (08:29):

I am not sure what you're referring to because I think I just said woo-hoo. But I mean, in my head, I'll throw this in there. If you guys keep listening to Angela and I, I mean, just me listening to Angela over the last few years, I have learned who the real enemy is, and it is the American food industry. We have to be like equipped with the knowledge and the tools to be able to go into the grocery stores and not be sucked in with all of the pretty packaging, you know, all the different pretty packages.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (09:01):

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So guys, I want you to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem this season, right? So let's talk about what we can do to start with on Halloween. So do you remember me saying that animal studies show that sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine? Remember that? So let's think for a minute about what we do on Halloween, it's this tradition to pass candy out to children. Now with a pandemic, many families are going to avoid going door to door, to fetch candy from neighbors, but they're still going to be Halloween parties and costumes and Halloween treats. And if you know that sugar is a powerfully addictive drug, do you want to be giving this drug out to children on Halloween? Just asking the question. Right. I know that the idea of passing out addictive drugs actually sounds kind of harsh.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (10:06):

And I get that. And I want you to know that sugar is an addictive drug and candy can cause a lot of problems for children. You know, it's interesting because I used to be a drug Lord myself. I was a drug Lord. So think about what drug Lords do they have other people sell drugs and then they take the profit. Okay. So just imagine the cocaine Lords that are out there, all of the crazy, all of the craziness that goes on. Well, I have two daughters and I was a girl scout cookie mom. So I want you to think about what the girl Scouts are doing. They're going out door to door, usually in January and February, and they're selling drugs because there's a reason that you end up eating the whole sleeve of thin mints. That's what I did. So I get it. Like, I think we've all been pretty bamboozled by the food industry.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (11:05):

And so it does sound harsh that we're passing drugs out to children on Halloween. But I do want us to be thinking, at least thinking twice about what we're doing, but I also don't want to take the fun out of Halloween either. Right. So let's think about what you can do on Halloween instead of passing drugs out to children. So maybe you could give them some other sort of little treats instead of candy. So we'll just come up with a few examples, Marchelle and I, so here's here's some ideas bendable pencils or silly straws or stickers. Do you have any ideas, Marchelle?

Marchelle (11:46):

I think that the Play-Doh and the Glos sticks

Dr. Angela Zechmann (11:49):

Those little Play-Doh things. Yeah.

Marchelle (11:51):

Yeah. Stickers is really great. All the kids. Yeah. The first year that I was working for you and you had bought a huge bowl of all the stuff that you were discussing right now, and you had brought it into work and you were using that as an example, you know, during this or parents. And I thought that that bowl was just as enticing as the candy dish. Honestly, I was really super impressed because, you know, like when we're just talking about it, I thought, well, you know, who's going to want candy, you know, not have candy or, you know, I thought maybe it would be I didn't want to be, I didn't want to be that house handing out pennies or whatever. I don't know. You know, you don't want to be that house. I don't want my house to get egged, but I thought, I mean, I just thought it was like so cute with all the little toys and then you let me take it home. I'm using it as you know, as the the sample.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (12:59):

Right. And I live out in the country, so I didn't need it.

Marchelle (13:02):

So take it home. And the kid has absolutely loved it. Oh really? Oh yeah. Because it was so different and they, yes. And I, and I would let them pick something and they just thought that was so neat. So so then we just started doing that every year and it really, really goes over well. And honestly, it is just so much better than, you know, they're … probably - I know they're still out getting candy, cause not everybody's on board with this, but do our part to bring some awareness to it and, and make sure that you know, that we're not, we're not giving out the candy anymore now that we have the knowledge.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (13:37):

Right. Well, and it's all about the art of the display too, you know? So, so you put all of these colorful little toys in a big glass bowl and it's really cool. So there, there is a project called The Teal Pumpkin project (https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project). And this is sponsored by a group called FARE, which is an organization that advocates for children with food allergy. So I think it's food, allergy research and education or something. That's what FARE stands for. We're going to put a direct link to their website up in the show notes. And they have a big, long list of non-food treats that you can make available to children who may be coming by your home on Halloween. And the idea with, with FARE is that, you know, kids with food allergies, they can't really just go get candy. Like they have to like you can't, they might have, they might be allergic to peanuts or something. And so they would have a horrible reaction. So the idea is to be inclusive and to have other options for children. So if you do have non-food non-candy options you can download a purple pumpkin and print it out and stick it on your door or your window. And that way kids and parents know that there are safe non-food treats available. So that is one thing you can do.

Marchelle (15:05):

I think that's such a cool idea. I love that. Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (15:09):

So here's why you can feel good about letting go of these sugary treats. Okay. I want you to feel good about this. I don't want you to feel like you're going to be worried about getting your house egged. So the first thing you can feel good about is that you get sugar season started out the right way. So you send a message to your own brain, to yourself that you're not going to buy into this deliberate effort by the food industry to sell junk for the next six or seven months. Right?

Marchelle (15:42):

Now we're smarter than that. Now

Dr. Angela Zechmann (15:43):

We're smarter than that. Second thing is you get to be on the leading edge of preventing diabetes. So I don't know if you realize it, but 25% of high school students already have prediabetes or diabetes. Did you know that that's one in four!

Marchelle (16:02):

So sad to even hear you say that? Yeah,

Dr. Angela Zechmann (16:04):

I'm, I'm diagnosing diabetes in younger and younger people all the time. It's crazy. 13% of our children have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD for short - non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is the same disease that alcoholics get after years of drinking, but our kids are getting it from all the fructose. That's in our foods and beverages and fructose and alcohol are metabolized exactly the same way in the liver. And so it's like decades of drinking that the damage that's being done to our children's livers. So - another good reason not to be passing out sugary drug drug like treats on Halloween. Third is you get to make sure that your house is not filled with temptations. So I can't tell you how many times our patients have told us that they bought these Halloween treats. Usually one of the great big packages from Costco, right? And then they ended up eating it all themselves long before Halloween ever got here. And this is what the marketers want us to do.

Marchelle (17:15):

So my story in the past. Mine and Rich's story, we have always had where it's always on sale, you know, like a few weeks before, you know, if these holidays you're mostly Halloween, but just we buy the on sale box and eating it. And then we make like a mad dash down to the grocery store and buy another bag because, you know, we were, I mean, it is it's yeah, it's a problem.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (17:48):

It is a problem. So sometimes I think our, the addiction center in our brains just tells us the story. Oh yeah, you can go ahead and get it now. And it'll just be there ready for Halloween… For the knowing full well that you are going to get into it well before the kids ever get there. So it's just a, it's just a good idea to like, just don't buy into all of that. Now I do want to say that one of my friends whom I respect greatly said that she did not want to give out a bunch of junk that was made in China that would just end up in a landfill.

Marchelle (18:26):

So she's like, nNo, I'm not going to go to the dollar store and buy all of this stuff. And I get that. I really do. So I would say try to find things that are not going to end up in landfills without being thoroughly used first, at least. Okay. So like some of these silly straws or whatever, these kids will use them for months and months and months, or even like bubbles and stuff. Like those are fun things. Pla-doh kids can use over and over again. So see what you can do to find things that aren't going to end up in landfills, at least not without having a lot of use first. Does that make sense, Marchelle?

Marchelle (19:03):

Yeah, I think that's a super great idea. I, you know, when you'd first told me that too, I second, I'm just thinking back on that first year, because you know, now I've done this for a few years, so it's not fresh for me, but I just think back to like that very first year of just finding out, you know, Hey, I'm, shouldn't be doing this, you know, passing out the candy and really fighting with like my inner self.

Marchelle (19:23):

Like, wait, what, what is Halloween without passing out candy? And you know, and then you showing me the bowl and all that. And I did think that at first I'm like, I'm not going to go buy a bunch of crap at the dollar store. You know, this is going to get thrown in the garbage. But then, you know, I started rethinking all that and like I said, okay, so stickers, the stickers were a hit. I don't know why they were hit. They were the hit and stickers made out of paper. And you know, they're mostly biodegradable. So, you know, if you want to hand out stickers that to me, that's what I'm going to do this year. We're going to get stickers. And, but there's other things too, but I just feel like you don't have to buy the plasticky crop, you know, that it's going to end up in a landfill.

Marchelle (20:03):

You can buy other things. Play-Doh is a good one. Yeah. But I mean, I just remember like having to switch over from doing the traditional thing that I've always known and and, you know, come to love because it, you know, it was my favorite time of the year when I got to go get free candy door to door, everybody knows me. Everyone knows what a candy addict I've been since I was a child. Yeah. and so it was, yeah, it was like, it wasn't, it was a big change for me. But now that my husband and I are a lot more aware and we practiced it for a couple of few years now it's normal and it's fun.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (20:41):

Yeah. It's still a lot of fun. So

Marchelle (20:44):

We decorate the front of our house and we play music out the window and the lights, you know, we have like some strobe lights and stuff, so we just make it fun, you know? And then we give out the stickers and I mean, it's just really enjoyable and I feel free. And then I don't end up with a bunch of extra candy that I, you know, I tell you, tell myself I'm not going to eat, but I really am.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (21:07):

Right. Exactly. You're reading my mind. We had a neighbor when my kids were little, he would hand out dollar bills, which was a big deal back then because the late eighties, early nineties in a dollar to buy a lot more.

Marchelle (21:25):

Very cool.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (21:28):

So that's an option too, is, is a, they might just like the Moolah and that's not going to end up in a landfill. So there you go.

Marchelle (21:37):

Problem solved.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (21:41):

All right. Well, here's, here's another thing to consider. Many people have a Halloween pumpkin carving tradition, which is, you know, this is a really fun and actually really healthy tradition because you can actually take the pumpkin seeds and roast them. And that's a delicious, very nutritious snack. Right. you can take the pumpkin out and try not to make try not to make sugary treats with the pumpkin, but you can, you can do some nice things with it, pumpkin. Some people have a Halloween cookie baking tradition. So I'm wondering if, you know, what, if you were to replace the cookie baking tradition with some other craft, so painting rocks or making Halloween bows or jewelry, you know, there are lots and lots of ideas of what kinds of things that you can do to what we're, you know, what we're really wanting here is connection with our kids or grandkids, a time to play and to do fun things together. So it is possible to do all of this without risking our health and setting our kids up to be diabetic and in there as they get older. So really it is possible. So and we do have lots of grandparents in our, in our world who, you know, they'll sit down and they'll paint rocks with their grandkids and it's fun. They love it. So do you have any other ideas, Marchelle for what, what people can do?

Marchelle (23:11):

I think you covered everything. I'm just, can't wait to hear some, some of the stories from a new mom who's listening to this about, you know, their first Halloween without passing out the big bowls of candy. Yeah. And yeah, and it's just as fun. So, you know, we need to get back our health. And so this is one way of doing it. Just fighting these candy centered traditions. Yeah.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (23:37):

Go to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com/podcast28. And this is podcast number 38 and write us a note and let us know how it goes for you. If you pass out something other than candy for Halloween ideas.

Marchelle (23:54):

Yeah, exactly. Ideas so we can pass it around!

Dr. Angela Zechmann (23:58):

Exactly. Awesome. All right, guys, let's go out there and have fun on Halloween. It's coming up very quickly and we'll see you all next week. Take care, everyone. All right.

Marchelle (24:10):

Happy Halloween. Everybody stay safe.

Dr. Angela Zechmann (24:12):

Happy Halloween. Bye-Bye

Closing (24:14):

Hey, if you really want to lose weight and keep it off for good, your next step is to sign up for Dr. Angela's free weight loss course, where you're going to learn everything you need to get started on your weight loss journey, the right way. Just head over to JourneyBeyondWeightLoss.com/freecourse to sign up. Also, it would be awesome if you could take a few moments and write a review on iTunes. Thanks!

New Speaker (24:14):

New Speaker (24:39):

https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project

Dr. Angela

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