Calorie Tricks in Halloween Treat Favorites

You might want to think twice about ripping open that Milky Way candy bar on Halloween. Here are some interesting equivalents that will help you weigh out your decision before reaching for a sweet Halloween treat.

• Two fun-sized Snickers bars have 160 calories and take about four bites to scarf down. Yes, they contain peanuts, but not enough to give you a solid protein slug. You can eat 160 calories in one medium-sized apple and one leveled tablespoon of peanut butter.
• One snack-sized bag of pretzels contains approximately 180 calories. Other than a trace of iron, pretzels are fairly nutritionally void. Instead, you could opt for 5 reduced-fat Triscuits and two wedges of the Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese for only 155 calories.
• One serving of candy corn (about 22 pieces) packs 140 calories. For the same amount of calories you could sip a tall Caramel Macchiato made with non-fat milk from Starbucks.
• Six Reese’s miniature Peanut Butter Cups contain 216 calories. There is nothing like the divine combination of peanut butter and chocolate, but you could also scramble one-half cup of egg beaters with one slice of reduced-fat cheddar cheese and eat it with a piece of whole-grain bread and save 26 calories.

These equivalents are not meant to dissuade you from indulging in Halloween treats, but rather meant to inform you of how your calories stack up to more nutritious options versus their empty calorie competitors.