I never eat candy so no issues with Halloween. My favorite holiday!

I find this incredibly sad but to each their own.

We do Trunk or Treat with my daughter's school (last year I made up about 200 treat bags and was out in 20 minutes so this year I'm going to have to step up my game) and then a week later, Trick or Treat. So I have to do the candy thing TWICE. We always have a party at our house for Halloween so there's also that to negotiate.

As for the candy, I make treat bags instead of having it loose. It's harder to eat if you have to bust into a little bag to get to it. Once they're bagged up, it's no problem to ignore them. My daughter's candy is also mentally off limits for me. She is pretty good about eating some on the night and having a piece in her lunch and one after school for the next week or so, then we throw out he unwanted leftovers.

The party is the bigger issue because I want to serve good food AND I WANT TO EAT IT. I'm just going to try to lighten things up where I can and save all my weekly points. I don't ever binge or eat a lot when people are around, I don't want to be the fat girl eating in public. But then everyone goes home and my daughter goes to bed and I'm cleaning up all the dips and and finger foods and party food is my FAVORITE thing ever. I'm going to make sure I have go boxes to send home with everyone. I can't promise to be sane or reasonable if left alone with cream cheese pumpkin dip.

I usually just buy a candy that I have no desire to really eat (smarties, bubble gum, etc). For me, Halloween will have to be more about controlling my indulgence. We will probably grab dinner at some point while we're out and about in the city. I would prefer it not to be Papaya Dog, but we'll see.

I plan to as usual, pretend it doesn't exsist. I buy candy the day of but I make Hubby give it out.

Last year some kids literally got into a fight with each other on our porch while Hubby was handiing out candy, they knocked over stuff but didn't break anything but that kinda sucked the joy out of it for him. He didn't answer the door for the rest of the night.

So I won't be surprised if he doesn't want to hand it out this year.

I guess we've been lucky. Halloween was a huge family and friends party when I was a child - my grandparents always had a bonfire and did hot dogs. We did trick or treat and then came back to my grandparents and hung out with family and family friends. It was SOOOOO fun. My mom continued this after my grandparents couldn't really do it anymore. Now I do it. We've moved three times since my daughter was born and all three times, it was right before Halloween so it was a great way to meet our neighbors. We've always been lucky enough to live in friendly neighborhoods where people hang out in their driveways and visit. I just love it. I love seeing my daughter bond with her cousins the way I did with mine. I hope they always have that strong connection and the shared memories.

My church did the same thing! I LOVED it. For me it was better than trick or treating most of my school friends did. I don't like strangers or being "rude" by begging for snacks but I loved dressing up and playing games. On the other hand, when I stopped attending the Harvest Party (as my church called it), my mom and I made a tradition of hiding from trick-or-treaters. It sounds awful but we loved it and we couldn't really afford all the candy. We turned off every light in the house, ate some homemade treats, and only had the glow of the tv or a pumpkin to light the house. We competed to see who could be the most quiet when the inevitable kid w/ dim-witted parent would knock on the door (seriously, all the lights are out! Why send your kid to the door!?) It was a lot of fun and I have awesome memories from those days.

Now I live in basement suite, I kind of miss hiding from trick-or-treaters!

I think I might make some low-fat sugar free baked treats to munch on and watch scary movies. I still like to treat myself sometimes! Makes the diet not so unbearable. As long as I'm on track the next day I'm fine.

I have no desire whatsoever to eat candy. My husband will give out candy to the kids.

Our neigborhood literally CRAWLS with kids... there are so many out you can't drive through the neighborhood! *if* I choose to buy candy (because its a weeknight first of all, they get PLENTY, and I don't have kids so I don't feel a need to participate) I'll just get stuff I don't like so I'm not tempted at all.

I don't worry about my plan on major holidays because it's not sustainable for me to do so. So the promise of getting to have some chocolate on Halloween if I crave it, is what will keep me away from treats leading up to the day. I plan to not pig out, but to enjoy myself and focus the next day because I know one day of going a bit over my calories isn't going to really effect my weight loss, if at all. With that said, I'm not a major candy person. So I'll probably just have a few pieces. I'm not worried about losing control or anything.

Well, luckily I hate peanut butter, so that rules out all reeses. Unfortunately though, my son does not like candy but he does like to go trick or treat, so the candy remains in the house.

I did great last year by not denying myself any of it, but making sure I stay within my calories even when I have candy. I've never really been a candy binger though - I'm more of a bread binger.

I pretty much follow Samantha18's idea. I never force myself to remain on plan for holidays, including Christmas and Thanksgiving. I do force myself to make it ONLY those single days though.

We don't do Halloween - all satanic references aside, teaching my children to beg strangers for junk food seems a bit cracked, to me.

Our church does a Reformation Night (it falls on the same day and everything, highly convenient!), celebrating the European reformers and having a cultural party (this year is Luther, so the potluck will be German courses and the games themed toward that country and pertinent history). There is candy rewarded in the games and the kids can dress up in related costumes, but it's very low key and a lot less junk than a normal Halloween party or trick or treating.

As for me, I was either going to not eat any candy at all, or allow a cookie from the potluck and ignore the rest. It's not generally too hard to do and while the kids get a bag of candy by the end of the night, it is nothing like pillowcases full of it! So my temptation remains pretty low.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Having the chance to dress up in costume, get together with friends, carve pumpkins, and take time out to appreciate the mythological, fantastic, and unknown appeals to me.

I don't have kids and am extremely unlikely to have any trick-or-treaters coming to my door, so no potential for food issues there. Parties might be an issue, but I don't usually feel comfortable drinking at such events and have done pretty well limiting my party food intake, so I feel pretty confident that I can handle myself if I do go out.

I think the non-food "treat" ideas people have put forth have been really good. There are lots of little toys or trinkets that kids would like just as well as candy. Heck, you could probably even get some funky beads or marbles and give them out as good luck charms or something. A community bonfire sounds like tremendous fun, too.

It comes down to sheer will power for me! I think what I found helpful is my rule about junk in the house....lf it is important enough to them, they will put it away, and not leave things lying around. What's left out, I will throw it away. So basically, my husband and kids have become a little bit more conscientious about what they bring in the house and what they leave lying around. Work is another story. It's especially hard to avoid the sweets there.

I managed fairly well last year, and was losing at a descent pace all through the holidays. I guess watching the scale go down or at least not up, was a helpful reminder of my progress and goals (since I weigh daily). Plus, I recall the weather cooled off enough to where I was out running several times a week. I think that probably helped. If I sampled some candy, I worked it off.

I like what Mimsy, and some others, said about celebrating Halloween all the other ways! I've got my costume ready (we always have a big party), and am hoping to go to a haunted house and a hay ride between now and then. The last time I lost weight, the holidays kind of screwed me up, so, if anything, I might just have a few pieces of sugar-free hard candy.

Whatever On Halloween I think I will be fine, my problem will be all the delicious fall/holiday Starbucks drinks and me and my boyfriend bought two cookie houses to decorate. I haven't had Starbucks in months and I've done good staying away from it but the seasonal drinks are my favorite and are here The cookie houses we bought cause we think it will make for a nice evening watching a scary movie while decorating them (frosting/candy/sprinkles) but afterwards that will be a lot of cookie to resist >.< I might suggest to give one away and share the other with our friends or family though