Halloween in the workplace seems to be a completely different situation than at home, so it requires different strategies.  Depending on where you are in your weight loss or maintenance process, your implementation can vary.  These strategies can also be applied any time of year when candy is abundant in the workplace.  Below are some things that you can do to enjoy some candy without losing track and suffering the consequences.

  1. Ask your coworkers to keep the candy out of the workplace.  This is one that doesn’t always work and will be very much unique to your particular work environment.  If they are not willing to keep it out of the workplace, you could politely ask that they keep it in their desks and out of eyesight.
  2. Bring in a bowl of fresh fruit to keep out on a table or desk where you can see it.  Even if you don’t eat the fruit every time you are tempted to go for the candy, it will probably work to decrease the amount of candy you eat overall by keeping you fuller and will serve as a visual deterrent.  If this strategy works for you, make sure to keep it stocked on a regular basis so it maintains its effectiveness throughout the time that candy is flowing freely at work.
  3. Set up rules for yourself.  This is a strategy you can employ ONLY if you feel as though you have enough self-control to stop after you have had the amount you have predetermined for yourself.  Some people find that a “once a week” rule works well for them.  Others gain weight on that and have to set stricter guidelines.  If you employ this strategy, set your rules well in advance of October 1 (or whenever the holiday starts) so when the first candy shows up, you know exactly how you are going to handle it.
  4. Buy a candy bar a week.  I know this might seem like a funny strategy for a fitness and health based life coach to suggest, but you can still end up better off by doing this.  If you feel as though you cannot set rules to govern the candy bowl at work (I know those the appeal of those little shiny packages can be powerful), this could work for you.  Just like the Halloween night strategy of buying your own serving of something, this serves the same purpose.  Cut it up into little pieces in a Ziploc bag, and keep it in your desk.  Limit yourself to one candy bar in a week during this time period.  Notice that I did not suggest that you buy a bag of individually packaged candies and keep 5 in your desk.  That would mean that you would have an open bag of candy at home which defeats the purpose of this tactic.
  5. Create a candy strike challenge.  This one also sounds funny, but you can really have fun with it if you have the right group of coworkers.  Have all participants pay a certain amount of money, like $5 or $10 toward the prize at the end.  Set up a white board at work with each participant’s name on it.  On the honor system, each person has to put a tally mark on the board for every piece of candy eaten at work.  You can set up your own rules or strategies for this one, but it can be a fun way to help yourself and other people and interject a lighthearted approach to getting candy out of the workplace.  The winner gets the pot of money at the end or a fun prize bought with the money.  The key here is to keep it fun!