Let's be honest here, unless you avoid the candy and chocolates all together, it's not necessarily going to be a Healthy Halloween.  However, I am sharing 4 helpful tips to help your Halloween be healthier!

Tip 1: DONATE
If your kids come back with buckets full of candy, or you have lots of candy that you simply won't eat (or don't want to) donate what you don't keep.  Lots of places will take your candy for you.  I've even heard of some local dentists in my town taking candy for you.  Take it to your kids' classroom treasure box.  Add it to your office's public candy dish.  Anything you can do to get it OUT OF THE HOUSE!  :)

Tip 2: HIDE IT
Ok, so you've sorted through and figured out what candy you're keeping.  It's probably still a pretty good stash.  HIDE IT.  If you're like me and just the thought of chocolate being in the pantry is too hard to handle, tell your husband or kids to hide it somewhere so you can't find it.  They can still eat on it, but you'll be more likely to avoid it if you don't know where it is.  Sounds silly, but it works!

Tip 3: MAKE YOURSELF RULES
Go ahead and make yourself some rules about the candy.  Ideas like "I'll allow myself 2 pieces on Halloween night", "I'll allow myself 1 piece a week", etc. are great ways to make yourself some rules so you're not sick to your stomach from eating so much in one sitting.

Tip 4: RE-PURPOSE
This is one of my favorites.  By using the candy for other things, you'll be less inclined to just sit and eat it all at once.  Some ideas for re-purposing the candy include: potty treats for your kids, special rewards/prizes for kids, Christmas stockings (candy has a LONG shelf life!)  One thing I do is save all the Hershey bars for our S'mores Nights as a Family.  Those little suckers are perfect for making S'mores!!  Get creative!  However you can re-use it, do it!!!

To give you a little added motivation, check out the calorie counts on 2 of the top candy choices:

Reese's - 110 calories in 1 fun size cup
Peanut M&Ms - 90 calories in 1 fun size bag

Wowzers.  Eye opening.  Listen, I want to remind you to remember all the hard work you've been doing in your health journey.  Don't negate it for some candy.  But hey, at the same time.....it's just one night.  If you go overboard, don't beat yourself up.  One night won't ruin things.  Just start the next day on the right foot. 

If you're feeling guilty about what you ate, or need a little extra motivation to watch how much candy you eat, complete this workout according to which candy you consume!

It feels really weird to go from the week we've had, to writing about my Half Marathon race and last week of training, but I don't know what else to do......and I want to make sure it's documented.....and so many of you have asked about my training/race.............and I know many of you have been following along with me the last 3+ months on this journey to my first Half Marathon.

So among all the heartache and grief and foggy feelings we're experiencing right now, I'm attempting to put to words one of my proudest physical achievements to date!  Just a warning, this last week of training and the Half Marathon all happened at the same time as Ben's Mom's passing....so this might not be the most chipper update/recap, but I'll do my best at recapping all the feelings with the training/race.

​My thoughts on this week's training:
This week was easier than others as I am starting to taper in my training plan.  It was nice to take it back some this week, in both time and distance. Last week, I really pushed myself to stay at a 10:00 AP while running (except for my 11 mile long run), but this week I didn't push.  With walk breaks, staying at 10:00 AP is pushing myself quite a bit and I just can't maintain that for longer distances.  This week, I just stayed at what was comfortable and natural, and that seems to be right around 10:15-10:30 AP.  Doesn't sound like much of a difference, but my body feels it.  My knees were pretty sore this week after the 11 miles.  My long run this week was just 5 miles and I did it solo.  My run group didn't meet because of Fall Break.  I love running with somebody on Saturdays, so I'm hoping that during the race, I'm able to zone out and take in the crowds and other runners as much as I can.  I love the community vs solo.  :)  It's a great distraction and way less of getting in your own head. 

My STATS for this week's training:
(All runs on interval: run 13 min/walk 1 min)
40 min / 3.82 miles / 10:29 AP...
50 min / 4.83 miles / 10:21 AP
30 min / 2.87 miles / 10:27 AP
Long Run: 5 miles / 51:09 / 10:13 AP

What was hard this week?
My 5 mile "long run" was probably my hardest.  Not 100% sure why.  My lungs felt heavy and thick, so maybe my eating wasn't as clean as it should've been, making my cardio fail me a bit.  I also might not have drank enough water the day before either. 

What was easy this week?
The over all "flow" of this week.  It was an "easy" training week.

Any aches or pains?
My knees and back, this week.

Funny Misc:
Not funny, but a MISC.......I made sure to stop at my favorite spot on the trail I run on Saturdays to snap a picture.  It's a bridge with a beautiful view of the water and scenery.  I always love running over it.  The first time I ran over it, was during my 7 mile run and I remember thinking how thankful I was to have such a beautiful place to run and train.  Every time I run over that bridge, I soak it up and just remind myself how thankful and blessed I am to get to run and enjoy God's creation.  I wanted to snap a picture so I can remember all those feels when I look back at it. 

Scars.  We all have them.  Emotional ones and physical ones.  Ones we can see, and ones that are hidden.  How are you allowing your scars to affect you?

When it comes to my physical scars, I was letting them hold me back or keep me from feeling comfortable in my own skin.

This half marathon training has really opened my eyes and taught me a lot about my body and my abilities.  It's even deepened my relationship with the Lord.

I'm sure I'll talk more about that later, but today, I want to talk about a moment that was pivotal for me, during this training journey.

I was in the bathtub one night (my favorite place to be with sore legs/muscles) and I was just thinking about all that my body was accomplishing.  It was the first time (outside of my 2 pregnancies) that I was really proud of what my body was doing.  I was thankful that the Lord was allowing my body to do what it is doing. 

I was looking at my C-section scar and my stretch marks and thinking about all the ways my body looks different after babies.  Instead of hating on those things and being discouraged, I was proud.  That might seem simple to you, but for me it was big.  I've been proud of my body before but I still had things I thought "but I'd still like to......." when it came to physical achievements or goals. 

In the past, I would be proud of achievements or accomplishments in my health/fitness, but it would be in spite of the scars and changes.  "Yeah, I now I did that, but I still have this ugly scar that will never go away......or these stretch marks that I wish were gone.......or the saggy places that I wish were firmer."  The difference this time is that I'm thankful and proud BECAUSE of them.

I'm a 33 year old Mom of two toddlers.  I've had 2 pregnancies and 2 C-sections.  I've breastfed two babies for a total of 2 years.  I've gained and lost a total of 40 pounds, between my two pregnancies, over a 4 year window.  Yet, here I sit running weekly mileage I NEVER thought I'd run.  Weeks out from a race that was something only the "super strong" could accomplish and something I'd secretly admired about people and desired to do, but always afraid to attempt.

I am so stinkin' proud and thankful that in the midst of all the "limitations" I feel like I can have, I'm training for a half marathon!!!!!!  I'm getting up EARLY to get my runs in, so I'm not sacrificing family time to do it.  I'm running in the mornings and still being Mom and Wife during the day.  (I might be a bit more tired and sore, but hey, I'm still winning at life)

From that Epsom salt bath forward, I've changed my outlook.  Instead of being critical and bummed about scars or physical changes, I'm PROUD. 

I'm proud because:
- My C-section scar gave me my 2 littlest blessings.

- My stretch marks and saggy areas allowed me to grow and carry our kids during 2 healthy and miraculous pregnancies.  They also allowed me to bond and provide nutrition for both my kids while they were babies.

- My legs are carrying me through my training plan, allowing me to run almost 25 miles in a week's time.

- My body has already done miraculous and amazing things, and God is allowing it to do it again.  I'm meeting amazing goals and milestones I always admired about others and I'm gaining strength (both physically and spiritually) that I so desperately needed, without even knowing it.

During my training, I've lost some of my muscle mass, but I've also gained muscles in other places, and toned up areas I had trouble toning before.  Outside of my 2 pregnancies, births, recoveries, and breastfeeding, I've never been more proud of my body or thankful.  I feel like super woman every week time after time and I simply love seeing what my body can do - pushing it and achieving BIG things.  It has boosted my self esteem immensely and I truly won't be the same after.  It's challenged my body and strength and outlook.  It's grown my relationship with the Lord and challenged me to dig deeper, relying solely on His strength many times.

It's all about how we look at it.  How we allow those scars to affect us.  How we let those limitations impact our attitude and actions.

Are you going to let your scars effect you positively or negatively? Focus not on what they've done TO you, but what they did FOR you.