Halloween and the Curse of the Candy Calories

So its Halloween..   That means two things - Trick or Treaters and CANDY!!!!!

[caption id="attachment_1667" align="aligncenter" width="485"] Halloween 2010[/caption]

I don't think we runners (or want-to-be runners as I consider myself at the moment) are any different from any other person.  We will escort our little ghouls and goblins around the neighborhood so that they can beg for a sweet confectionary delight at each house.  After an eternity of watching them mooch, and yelling "Did you say thank you?" and "Get off the grass!" - we will return home tired and worn out.  Then my wife and I will begin the annual "Candy Inspection."   The ever important part of the evening where we make sure no one has tampered with any of the loot before handing it out.  (One amazing thing, is every year it seems that most of the Peanut Butter Cups have been tampered with.  Then, we have to set those aside in a bowl that the kids aren't allowed to touch as my wife and I test each one individually making sure they are "Safe.")

But then the next day comes... Whether it is before or after the daily run, that Twix bar sits and stares at you.  "I'm funsize" it says..  "That means I don't have many calories! If you eat me, you will SURELY burn it up on your run!  One Candy bar surely won't matter!"

But they lie... "Fun size" simply means - to small to satisfy your chocolate craving, yet big enough to make it worse.   So how far will you need to run to burn off that "Fun Size" Twix bar and other candy?

WEll, lets look at that.. Based on my quick google of how many calories are burned in a mile - ehow.com gave me numbers of 133 calories for a 175 pound man, and 95 calories for a 125 pound woman.

Funsize 3 Musketeers - 63 Calories.  This small candy bar will require our 175 pound man to run just shy of 5 minutes, and our unfortunate woman to run 6.6 minutes to burn off the calories of one funsize 3 Musketeers.

Funsize Twix: 80 calories, or .6 of a mile for our example-man, and .84 of a mile for our example-woman.  At a 6 miles per hour pace, that would mean a male needs to run for 6 minutes, and a woman for 8.5.  Is that "funsize" twix good enough to add 6/8.5 minutes on to your run?

That fun-size Almond Joy?  90 Calories! Almost 7 minutes of running for men, 8.5 for our female example!

Fun Size ButterFinger?  100 Calories! Men -7.5 minutes, Women - 10.5 minutes.

Reese's Peanutbutter Cup?  105 Calories! Men - 8 minutes, Women - 11 minutes!

Now the problem isn't one piece of candy... The issue is that who eats just one?  ITs like Lays potato chips.. you open the bag (in this case, your kid's bag of Halloween candy) and just keep reaching in!

My goal this year, is to NOT eat any Halloween candy.. I do wonder if this might be a bit lofty.. But it is, none the less what I am aiming for.