Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween all! I admit I am very Canadian in that I love Halloween, despite living in London where it is not a traditional holiday. Fortunately I live in the suburbs where there are plenty of children so Halloween is catching on. Ours may be the only house on the street with a Jack o’lantern on the doorstep, but it is by no means the only one in our neighbourhood with Halloween decorations. Of course Halloween also means candy and the biggest trick is to keep enough candy for the kids who are trick or treating, without eating too much before they get here. I was quite proud of myself yesterday that I kept the calorie count low despite having stocked up on mini chocolate bars the day before (and naturally we bought varieties we like, just in case there are leftovers!). Replacing the equivalent of one of my snacks with chocolate meant I was low on protein and high on fat for the day, but not excessively so.

I think only having two mini chocolate bars is a bigger accomplishment than most people acknowledge. You see, when you eat high fat, high sugar foods, it causes the levels of feel-good hormone serotonin to increase. This also lowers levels of stress hormones and can create a positive feedback loop – the more you eat the better you feel, so you eat more and feel even better. This makes it very difficult to stop after just one, especially if you are feeling a bit sad or stressed. This is particularly true for women, who naturally have lower levels of serotonin than men do, which is why women tend to go for the cake calm when stressed while men tend to hit the bottle. Research has also shown that there is a genetic connection between sugar addiction and alcoholism. In fact, a significant number of people who have obesity surgery are recovering alcoholics, who simply switched from alcohol to sugar. If alcoholism runs in the family, odds are several family members are overweight or obese.

So while I’d like to believe I can enjoy my chocolate in small serving sizes, the truth is it’s much easier said than done!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
1674.49	83.51g	198.05g	63.39g	0	21.07g
	20%	47%	34%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
08:45	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson’s Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Gluten Free fruit muesli	70g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury’s pressed apple juice	200mL
09:30	Black tea	500mL
11:00	Herbal fruit tea	250mL
12:45	John West Mackerel fillets with no added brine	50g
	with Hellmann's light mayonnaise	13g
	and Branston gherkin relish	10g
	on Genius brown bread toast	2 slices
	Raw Tomatoes	150g
	Alpro Soya Original	200mL
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill
14:00	Peppermint tea	200mL
16:30	Cashews	20g
	Pear	114g
	Mini Twirl chocolate bar	22g
	Mini Crunchie chocolate bar	18g
20:15	Home-made chicken risotto	300g
22:00	Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew	1 chew
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.