Alan Sivell enjoys an afternoon at Bloomsbury Farm, but practices avoidance of the Halloween treats that lurk everywhere.

By LMQC Battle of the Bulge blogger, Alan Sivell, St. Ambrose communications professor, RAGBRAI-er, pizza lover and longtime weight watcher.

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to candy corn. I’m talking about REAL candy corn, not the chocolate-flavored or butterscotch-flavored or all the new, fancy flavors and shapes.

For years, I have snapped up bags of it at the first sighting (often in August), acting as if they were something akin to the McRib sandwich or a Disney re-release (available for a limited time only)!

And, I confess, I have continued to buy them AFTER Halloween, when drug stores have them on clearance, bags of them piled high in shopping carts near the register.

And while candy corn might not be quite as bad for you as other Halloween candy, I am the master of eating TOO MUCH (if an entire bag is too much).

Because that’s part of my obsession: once I start, I can’t stop. (And, as fellow-blogger Jeni Tackett points out, only 20 pieces will put me on the stair stepper for 25 minutes. I wonder what the whole bag would cost me.)

So I try not to buy it.

Trouble is, candy corn – or whatever your kryptonite is – is impossible to avoid this time of year. Halloween candy is one of the first items you see walking into your favorite drug or grocery store.

We all have our own obsessions when it comes to food. While some of my new ones are good – healthy breakfasts, frozen grapes, and, most recently, frozen cherries – candy corn resides on the list of seasonal food obsessions.

Pecan pie at Thanksgiving is another obsession. Half pound Hershey’s Kisses hound me on Valentine’s Day. Cadbury Eggs dog me at Easter.

For whatever reason, resisting the seasonal call seems tougher this year. But I remain resolved. I value my health – and my reduced size – too much to go back to my old Halloween habits.

So my strategy is to stay out of the candy aisle, and to try to avoid the seasonal candy displays that crop up like weeds in other parts of the store.

Because if I don’t see it, I won’t think about it. (Well, not as much. Because I’m thinking about it right now.)

There are lots of strategies for resisting the temptation, from retraining your brain to going for a walk.

They all seem to be helpful. But I sure hope nobody puts a bowl of candy corn and peanuts (double the pleasure!) in front of me any time soon.

Meet Battle of the Bulge blogger, Alan Sivell. Alan is a communications professor at St. Ambrose University and a former reporter for WQAD-TV who has exercised – and dieted – his entire life. Read Alan’s other blog posts.