My Surprisingly Difficult Halloween Experiment

On the morning of Halloween I decided I would not eat any candy of any sort until the morning after. I wanted to test my will power after so many Halloweens consuming thousands of calories of candy and feeling sick afterwards. I needed to experiment and learn something about myself. What I learned is disheartening.

I had an active day, one hour at the gym and a couple hours trick or treating with the kids, so I made sure I ate enough not to feel hungry. But I had a hard time not feeling hungry. It was like every cell in my body wanted some chocolate or chips. The candy in my house was ever-present on my mind. Touching it or thinking about it produced a physiological yearning for it. I got hungry knowing it was there.

Me and my kids (I'm a ghoul)

At times I felt like an addict trying to kick a habit, perhaps a little like a smoker on his first day of quitting. At worst I felt shaky or even slightly ill, and had to do breathing exercises to relax. At its best, I felt like I had made it through the worst and I could shake the cravings by sticking to my guns.

The next morning I had some of my stash (a couple mini bars and a couple salty snacks) and I expected to keep eating. My kids got sooo much candy in such a short period of time but they had no trouble giving it up. We ran out of the candy at our place and my son was enthusiastic about giving up some of his to give out to kids after he got home. That way there wasn't much candy around the house afterwards.

Old habits are hard to break. I need to start relearning my eating patterns. I can see it taking a long time.