Tis the season for unhealthy decisions! Yes, Halloween is only the start of the festive holidays planning to rob you of your healthy eating goals this late in the year. But fear not: there are healthy ways to prevent you from caving in and throwing your weight loss New Years Resolution out the window (remember those?). Whether you go to a Halloween party with your gals or still love to trick-or-treat, here are some things to remember before you throw all your efforts out the window.

1. Eat before you indulge.

If you plan to go out late, make sure you eat a good dinner beforehand. Fill it up with fiber-rich foods, like whole wheat breads, veggies, beans, and rice, which will make you feel. These foods are also a good source of carbs, which can help you feel full faster, says WebMD. One of my favorite skinny dishes packed with carbs is this guilt-free macaroni and cheese featuring spinach!

2. Bring snacks.

You don’t have to lie, sometimes you eat just because you’re bored, or because everyone else is slowly getting more fat around you. So cheat with the right fat and bring a hearty granola bar! Try and bring one that has ample fiber. My favorite are Cliff Bars! They’re protein rich, contain 5 grams of dietary fiber, and come in many sweet flavors. Of course they have more calories due to the protein, so you can just settle for a Nature Valley bar, weighing in at only 160 calories. You can get the same amount of calories in a Snickers bar—if you eat 40 percent of it.

And if you really want cool points, bring an apple. Everybody will be jealous of you and question their existence if you bring an apple.

But let’s say you just really want to let loose and break your health morals and indulge in a sugary diabetes-inducing endeavor. You swear that you can practice portion control and if that means eating five starbursts (also 100 calories) for the entire night, you will do it! Well, click here for a cheat sheet for portion control.

3. BE IN LOVE WITH THE [dark] COCO.

Think of dark chocolate as the holy grail of healthy candy. It is your knight and shining armor. It washes all your dietary sins away. Dark chocolate is loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, and is rich in FIBER! It’s also been proven that it can increase brain function. So it’s probably best to scavenge for dark chocolate when you know you’re gonna make some bad decisions at these parties.

4. Bring water.

Saved the most important for last! Bring a water bottle from home or have a scavenger hunt at the party with your friends to find the water first! Who doesn’t know the health benefits of water? It’ll help fill you up so you won’t get the urge to binge. If you have problems with drinking water, you can think of candy as alcohol. For every “shot” of candy (one bitesize piece) take two shots of water (two FULL gulps, four if you’re extremely disciplined!). This is also a useful anti-hangover tip,

Heed these tips an hour before the event. A day before the event. A week before the event. This is yet another test you have to study for, and if you discipline yourself, you will pass. Save your binging for Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

For More Information:

http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16794461

Does this look familiar? That’s because I wrote this on HerCampus! Read the original article with beautiful pictures that don’t belong to me here!