The Perils of Halloween Candy

Halloween is my personal nemesis. Well, not Halloween itself, but Halloween candy.

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It's October, and October means Halloween, and Halloween means candy, and lots of it.

For those of you not in the USA, Halloween is a big money-making holiday here, and the way we celebrate it revolves less around costumes, or scary stuff, and more around handing out candy to children. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but for those of us adults who never stopped loving candy...well, there's a lot of temptation.

I've always had a sweet tooth. Early in my career as a software engineer, I was known at a couple of different companies I worked at for the fact that I always had some candy around my desk.

But all good things must come to an end, and now that I'm a middle-aged dude, eating tons of candy is not especially good for my health. It's harder at my age to keep a healthy weight, and of course, sugar isn't great for my teeth, either.

Which is why Halloween is my natural enemy. Starting in September, the shelves at the grocery stores and drugstores are loaded with Halloween candy. And I walk by it, trying not to look, but in the end, I always give in.

I love Autumn Mix, which is what's in the picture at the top of this post. It's basically two kinds of candy corn, along with pumpkins made of candy corn material (which, it turns out, is called "mellowcreme"). They only sell it around here at Halloween, so how can I resist buying a bag or three for myself?

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Of course, I also buy Halloween candy to give out to kids. I buy lots of it. Our neighborhood doesn't have a lot of kids in it, though, so my wife and I really only end up handing out candy to a few small groups of children on Halloween. We always have a lot left over, and, well, let's just say I wouldn't want it to go to waste.

In November, I'll be all about eating a good diet and taking good care of my health. But until the 31st...I'm giving in to my Halloween candy cravings.