QUIZ: Can You Spot A 'Real' Portion Of Halloween Candy?

'Tis the season for tricks and treats -- and while it's probably inevitable that you'll sample a treat or two with so much around, the real trick is making sure you don't go overboard with the calories. With a bucketful of "bite sized" candy, what feels like only a bit can actually add up to a 500-calorie candy binge.

"Put your mind to work and be mindful of what you are eating," suggests registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokesperson, Toby Smithson, founder of DiabetesEveryDay.com. She recommends keeping your Halloween treat to under 100 calories. "If you start adding an extra 100 calories/day, you can gain 10 pounds in one year."

Here are her tips for keeping Halloween night in nutritional check:

1. Don't eat straight out of the bag of candy -- portion it out onto a napkin or a snack-sized bag.
2. "Studies show we tend to choose (to eat) the first thing we see," Smithson says. Store candy out of sight on a high shelf to make it a two-step process to get more. After Halloween, try storing it in an opaque closed container or in the freezer -- you'll have to wait for it to defrost before you eat it, giving you time to consider whether you really want it.
3. "Keep your eye on the candy so you will have better control of how much you are eating," she says. "A good cue to how much you are eating is to actually keep the wrappers from the eaten candy. If the wrappers are in front of you, it is easier to do a count of how much was eaten."

But what does a real portion look like anyway? See if you can eyeball one by taking this candy quiz:

Can You Spot The 'Real' Portion Of Candy?

Let's see how you do on the next question.

To get the highest score, get all the answers right in the fastest time!
The clock will start as soon as you submit your first answer.

 

0:00

Question 1 of 11

Can you spot one serving (140 calories) of candy corn?

a. 10 pieces

b. 19 pieces

c. 30 pieces

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Comments

[William George Cheng]

10:45 PM on 10/31/2011

It's sort of how other people, including myself, cut one pizza slice into thirds.
All this portioning and eating less is all in the mind.
If you can't think of the same amount of candy but in numerous portions as "more candy", it's not going to work.

Now going back to the pizza, if you have one slice of pizza and cut it into thirds, think of it as 3 pizza slices instead of one. This will trick you into eating less. Like i said, it's all mental-thinking

[JWoode]

05:17 PM on 10/30/2011

I eat all the candy I want.. on Halloween night.. then that's it for the year.

[mcc1cam]

05:07 PM on 10/30/2011

How many calories in candy corn...how many calories in a Thanksgiving meal...how many pounds will most people gain over Christmas? Who cares? I hate when my editor gives me stories like this to write...last year, I told him to put these articles next to the obituaries and tie it all in! So, from a member of the media - when these kill joys appear, 'mute' your TV, close your eyes and don't read, and don't clink on the link! Happy Holidays!

[jacmed]

02:06 PM on 10/30/2011

Who cares how many calories are in candy corn - most certainly not those of us who love the stuff! And it doesn't matter to those who don't like the stuff because they're not eating it anyway!!! Happy Halloween!!!

[pkonk]

01:57 PM on 10/30/2011

Candy corn is GREAT candy. Invented by the PH Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia in the 1880's, it is mostly corn starch with very little sugar.

[dickn2000b]

01:28 PM on 10/30/2011

"How Many Calories In That Candy Corn?" WOW! Now we have the HUFFPOST candy corn police! Look folks, how many times during the year do you see candy corn? That's Right!...Only at Halloween. And most parents don't let their kids eat it if it was collected during trick or treat because it's usually not factory sealed. It's given away loose, so it gets tossed. Besides, how much of the stuff can you eat? It's the crappist candy out there. Even when we were kids we'd throw it away. It was right up there with NECCO Wafers...equally as gagging!

[natal plum]

03:26 PM on 10/30/2011

Love it. NECCO wafers were about the worst. There was another one a few years back called Goldenberger Peanut Chew (I might be wrong on the spelling). Peanut chocolate bar. Was so hard it would break teeth and when the stuff finally got pliable enough after couple minutes of gumming in your mouth to actually start chewing your jaws would get glued shut. It would pull fillings out of your teeth it was so gooey (like a tootsie roll x 5 or sugar daddies x 2). Black licorice anything and peppermint patties weren't too far behind.

[natal plum]

12:15 PM on 10/30/2011

Candy corn is one of those candies that once you start eating it you feel strangely unsatisfied even if you have a 10 pound bag of em sitting right there. Stuff just doesn't do the trick. Man, if I'm going to waste a bunch of calories on sweets I might as well eat some real candy. Kinda like eating the peppermint pattie. First scrumptious bite simply melts in your mouth and by the third bite you can't finish the thing, thereby triggering an "Aha" moment. Now I remember why I don't eat those things more than once a year.

[Stand Up for your Belief]

09:37 AM on 10/30/2011

7 out of 11. I think that was pretty good. The calories in some of that candy is ridiculous!

[Laura Merritt]

09:16 AM on 10/30/2011

puts me in mind for a candy corn, skillet and milk dud omelete with a side of bacon.........

[Joseph Joyal]

05:27 PM on 10/28/2011

Were they talking bags of candy corn?

[Mr Hoodoo]

12:05 PM on 10/28/2011

Please.

To us adults the word "portion" may have somehting to do with things. But to kids Halloween treats don't come in portion sizes. They come in as much as you can get. And even then it's not enough.

I say let the little buggers eat as much as they can, 'til they puke even. It's only once a year, man.

[dblueII]

03:51 PM on 10/29/2011

My thoughts exactly.

[D-blings]

11:53 AM on 10/28/2011

You got 8 out of 11 in 1:36

[frankcaprafan]

11:22 AM on 10/28/2011

Here's a nice little clip to show the kids before going out for Halloween:

http://www.nickjr.com/kids-videos/moose-i-dont-like-candy-corn.html

[Jtt]

11:20 AM on 10/28/2011

Ill save everyone some time: you can eat a lot of the gross candy. big surprise.

[Mahi Joe]

11:19 AM on 10/28/2011

Wow! I scored 100%. I got them all wrong.

[Stand Up for your Belief]

09:38 AM on 10/30/2011

lol

[Mahi Joe]

03:00 PM on 10/30/2011

I mean really, what are the odds of that happening? Guess I need to buy a ton of candy and study up more huh?

[fpwillson]

11:46 AM on 10/30/2011

No you didn't, Joe.
The writer of this article is the person who has gotten it all wrong.
Halloween is about kids having fun, trick or treating and eating candy. Too much candy, (If they want). I trick or treated in the 40's and 50's. We ate all the candy we wanted that night. Our parents were not 'spoil sports'. There have been so many articles this year about how bad candy is for you. No mention of the fun of that day.
For those who'd suggest I'm one of the fatties, I weighed 138 pounds when I graduated from High school (male). I still eat candy when I feel like it. Back off, you unimaginative parents and 'do gooders'.