HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE--HALLOWEEN CANDY SNACKING

We normally feature crafts on Mondays, but being that this is the day after Halloween, and your kitchen is probably overflowing with the stash of candy your little goblins and goulies collected last night, I’m turning today’s column over to our health editor, Janice Kerr. Read on to learn why. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia. Show of hands. How many of you raid your kids’ trick-or-treat candy stash? Be honest. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of you do. You know you’re going to be tempted, and you know you’re going to succumb to that temptation, no matter how good your intentions are. So let’s just fess up and get that part over with.

Now, since we’ve established that you WILL sneak the candy, you should know that not all candy is created equal. As you’re pawing through those trick-or-treat bags in search of a sweet-tooth satisfier, keep the following calorie and fat counts in mind.

Treats with 100 calories or less

Peeps Pumpkins (1 peep) - 16 calories, 0 grams fat
Dum Dum lollipop - 20 calories, 0 grams fat
3 Muskateers (mini bar) - 24 calories, less than 1 gram fat
Tootsie Roll - 26 calories, .5 grams fat
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (1 miniature) - 36 calories, 7 grams fat
Kit Kat (miniature bar) - 42 calories, 10 grams fat
Lemonheads (10 pieces) - 50 calories, 0 grams fat
Tootsie Caramel Apple Pop - 60 calories, .5 grams fat
Skittles (fun-size packet) - 60 calories, 15 grams fat
Candy Corn (10 pieces) - 64 calories, 0 grams fat
Hershey’s Kiss (3 pieces) - 67 calories, 4 grams fat
Snickers (fun-size bar) - 71 calories, 15 grams fat
Twix (fun-size bar) - 80 calories, 16 grams fat
Milky Way (fun-size bar) 80 calories, 17 grams fat
Mounds (fun-size bar) - 80 calories, 17 grams fat
Almond Joy (fun-size bar) - 80 calories, 17 grams fat
Baby Ruth (fun-size bar) - 83 calories, 18 grams fat
Butterfinger (fun-size bar) - 85 calories, 18 grams fat
Strawberry Twizzlers (3 twists) - 100 calories, 29 grams fat

Thanks, Janice. How nice to know there are guilt-free candies. Now if I could only figure out where my kids hid their trick-or-treat stash! How about the rest of you? Can you resist dipping into the candy stash? Post a comment to be entered into the drawing for a book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP