No matter where you live - this has been an unpleasant winter. The only bright spot at this time of year is Valentine’s Day with its cheery colors and sweet messages of love.
Oh, no Valentine’s Day! That means large heart-shaped boxes of chocolates (yum, caramels!); checkout counters displaying marshmallow treats (only 50 cents each); bakeries showing cakes with thick red and pink frosting; M&Ms in red and white; and those melt-in-your mouth little chocolate hearts wrapped in red and silver foil... STOP!
What is a dieter to do?! Especially a dieter who has a sweetheart or friends who are apt to present a two pound box of chocolates or bags of those yummy chocolate hearts wrapped in foil (okay my favorite!).
Don’t panic - have a plan! Obviously the way to cope with Valentine’s chocolates is to tell gifters in advance: “Please, no candy, I’m on a diet.” Then offer alternative suggestions: Some wonderful Hope hand soaps (hint, consider this website), a gift certificate to a spa, flowers or a dinner out.
Of course many gift givers assume that “No” means “I’m saying ‘no’ but would love some candy (and I will share it with YOU).”
If Valentine’s dawns and you have tempting candy in your home and diet glory is about to become diet dismay, you have some choices:
- Exercise will power. You can withstand those boxes of candy!
- Recognizing that first option may be hard, then plan to share - immediately. Or consider filling sandwich bags with a few of the sweets, tie in a red bow and hand them out.
- A lot of people try freezing candy (harder to eat that way). In theory that works, in fact I cracked one of my teeth eating a frozen candy bar (no more advise on that one from me!)
- And finally - sadly - toss the candy. Obviously, don’t dramatically scream “NO!” and fling it in the wastebasket. Give the candy a little time to gather dust, then give it a decent burial (the garbage disposal is a safer burial site than in a retrievable trash bag). As you toss the candy, remember that a lot of excess Halloween candy bars have similar fates.
