A Winter Coat Didn't Spoil Halloween. Diet Culture Did.

When I was eight, I dressed up as a fairy princess for Halloween. I’ll never forget what a bummer it was to have to wear my winter coat over my sparkly costume because it was too cold to go trick-or-treating without one. 

I got over my disappointment pretty quickly once I realized my concealed costume didn’t prevent me from collecting candy from all the houses in my neighborhood.

When I got home, I immediately tore off my tiara (made from a Burger King crown) and dumped my bag of goodies on the family room floor. 

Like past Halloweens, I spread everything out on our brown shag carpet so I could assess my glorious haul. I then got busy creating different piles, categorizing the treats by type and preference.

Once my inventory was done, my three siblings and I traded for our favorites. I happily swapped peanut butter kisses and popcorn balls for candy bars, bubble gum and jawbreakers. 

Spoiled by Diet Culture
Thankfully, my childhood Halloweens weren’t spoiled by diet culture. 

No one made me trade my candy for a toy, set rules on how many pieces I was allowed to eat each day, or tossed some of my stash while I was sleeping.

Unfortunately, as I got older, diet culture did eventually invade my Halloween and every other holiday. Worried about my weight, I welcomed all the tips and tricks regarding how to be “good” and “stay on plan.”

If you’re unsure what diet culture is, here are some examples I've encountered during the Halloween season:

• Don’t buy candy for trick-or-treaters until the day of Halloween to limit the amount of time it’s in your house. 
   

• To avoid temptation, buy candy you don’t like. Better yet, buy stickers to hand out instead.
   

• To prevent yourself from overindulging, avoid hanging out by the food table or candy bowl at celebrations. 
   

• When you take your kids trick-or-treating, get in some extra steps and burn off some candy calories by walking from house to house instead of driving.
   

• If you’re craving something sweet, reach for the fruit bowl instead of the candy bowl. 
   

• At parties, participate in activities that make holding a plate of food challenging or wear a mask that makes eating difficult.
   

• Get back on track the day after Halloween by cutting carbs and working out longer.
    

• To make up for all your Halloween “sins,” plan to start a 7-day detox the day after. 

Unnecessary Suffering
Although likely intended to be helpful, diet culture messages like these can trigger a lot of fear, guilt, shame, anxiety and stress.

They made me so afraid of blowing my diet and eating “badly,” that I often chose to play it safe by opting out altogether.

The amount of harm and unnecessary suffering diet culture causes is vast, from food fears, body mistrust and weight stigma to disordered eating and exercise.

More than anything, diet culture keeps you from focusing on more meaningful, fulfilling and fun things.

Needing to wear a winter coat over your Halloween costume is definitely a bummer. A bigger bummer, however, is having your holiday spoiled by diet culture. 

How to Make Up For All the Halloween Candy

With bowls and bags of Halloween candy scattered around the office and home, it’s understandable to eat more sugar at this time of year than perhaps you typically would, especially if you usually restrict sweets.

Thanks to diet culture, for many of us, eating episodes like this are considered a "food sin" and often lead to a punitive make-up mentality that sounds something like this:

To make up for eating all that candy, I will…

• skip breakfast and lunch tomorrow.

• cut carbs and work out extra hard all week.

• not eat sugar for the next month.

• go on a 7-day detox diet.

Perpetuates Vicious Cycle
This penance approach typically perpetuates a vicious cycle of restrict-binge-repeat.

It’s ineffective, physically and psychologically damaging, and causes a lot of unnecessary suffering.

The key to avoiding this painful cycle is to stop believing you have to make up for your eating.

Instead, when you feel like you’ve committed a “food transgression,” remind yourself that it's normal to eat a lot sometimes—especially when a food is restricted, scarce or novel (and tasty!).

Rather than feeling guilty, beating yourself up, and engaging in compensatory behaviors, simply resume your regular self-care practices.

Most importantly, listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs.

For example, after a night of enjoying lots of candy, you may wake up the next day and find your appetite is smaller than usual. So, eat a smaller breakfast. 

Or, you may find you’re hungry for your usual breakfast or something completely different. Go for whatever sounds the most nourishing and satisfying.

Don't deprive or punish yourself and your body because you feel you ate badly. Doing so always backfires. 

Instead of adhering to diet culture’s harmful rules, honor what your here-and-now body is needing and desiring. 

By avoiding a make-up mentality on Halloween and any time of the year, you’ll experience a greater sense of ease and peace with food and your body—and in your life.