Hi everyone – it’s Top 10 time again! And in honor of today being Halloween we’re counting down the Top 10 Healthiest Candies on the market…

I’ve always looked at Halloween as the “jumping off” point for most people’s downward spiral of bad eating habits throughout the holidays. It can be so hard to try and resist the temptations of all those candy treats. Lets face it, Halloween isn’t about costumes for kids, it’s about getting as much candy possible! In my youth, my friends and I used to fill up multiple pillowcases with sweet stuff and would compete to see who got The most. Nowadays, my struggle is not eating all of my kids candy and when I do, trying to pick the treats that aren’t terrible for my diet and health. You see – even The Angry Trainer gets tempted… and giving up candy 100% is neither plausible – nor much fun. You just need to be a little smarter over what you eat – and stick to the serving sizes…

So here are the Top 10 candies I look for and why. I’m not saying any of these are HEALTHY – all contain sugar and empty calories – but just that there’s a LOT worse products out there on the market…

1. TOOTISE ROLLS - I remember these mostly as a chocolate flavor but now they come in a variety of fruit flavors too! I like them because they are chewy, so they don’t disappear immediately, and they are relatively low in calories, at about 20 calories per chew – so you can eat several and not feel TOO guilty!

2. JOLLY RANCHERS – In my camp days we used to buy these in a long, slim candy design and by sucking on them we could bend the sugar into fun shapes. I’ve seen them in individually wrapped assorted bags with each piece again only clocking in at 20 calories. Green apple is my favorite.

3. TWIZZLERS – People either seem to love these, or hate them. Their long straw like shape makes them different than most other candies, and they also don’t have a tremendous amount of calories, with about 40 calories per full sized piece.

4. LIFESAVERS – My aunt used to give all her nieces and nephews rolls of Lifesavers for Christmas. They come in assorted flavors and can be found individually wrapped. 4 pieces are only 60 calories. Another good find.

5. WERTHER’S ORIGINALS - This classic hard candy has 70 calories in 3 pieces and it takes a long time to eat just one making it hard to consume many at one once.

6. BLOW POPS – Man I used to love these! This was another childhood favorite of mine, I used to crunch the lollipop just to get to the gum quickly. Now in my old age I’ve learned to enjoy my food, and that includes taking my time eating all 50 calories.

7. SWEDISH FISH – Who doesn’t like a candy that’s shaped as a fish? 50 calories for 8 pieces makes them a smart catch!

8. HERSHEY’S KISS – With around 25 calories per kiss (the plain chocolate version), these little drops of chocolate are just enough to give a kick of flavor without adding too much to your waistline.

9. SMARTIES - I love these and can’t stop making bad jokes about feeling more intelligent after eating some. With only 25 calories per roll, you’d be smart to include them too.

10. CANDY CORN – What Halloween list could be complete with this? It is a tradition to eat around this time of year. It has only 7 calories per piece making it a great treat to cheat with.

You’ll notice I didn’t include things like mini Snickers, Musketeers, Reese’s Pieces and most other chocolate based candies. My reasoning is simple – they contain at least twice, sometimes three times the amount of calories of the above choices due to added fat, from nougat, caramel, and all sorts of other additives. The candies that I have selected are much lower in calories, and are predominantly sugar. Of course any food in excess is not healthy, especially ones that contain simple sugar so I also look for candies that come  pre packed in single serving sizes instead of free in an open bowl.

Also don’t think that sugar free candies are necessarily the perfect answer, as they contain chemicals that have a laxative effect when consumed in excess. I found this out the hard way a number of years ago.

Moderation like everything else in your diet is key and these suggestions I’ve given will hopefully allow you to enjoy some treats without spoiling all of your hard work in the gym and on your diet. Happy Halloween!