The other day I tossed a few of those chewy, bite-sized yummy miniature Twizzlers on my desk as I went to work, and found myself playing with them with my daughter instead.

Do you ever find that you mindlessly eat while you work at a desk? You think the sugar is helping you to stay awake or alert but in reality, it’s just packing on more pounds. My daughter taught me that I don’t necessarily have to eat the candy, however; just by messing around with it I was able to have a laugh, keep myself awake and get back to work!

Funnily enough, it also kept her engaged, which was a blessing; these days, the only thing that really keeps her occupied while I work are pasting stickers to everything in sight, which is tedious to remove later.

We took the chunks of licorice and made a campfire, complete with logs around it; she used them to perch her miniature frog, mouse and lizard on, and started to have them tell stories. Then we made a castle, a house, a car, a raft, and a bed, among other things. By then, we’d pinched, squished and cut the candy up so badly that it really wasn’t very appetizing anymore, anyway—no use to me anymore!

While you might say that’s a waste of candy—and you’re likely right!—it’s a good strategy to use for mindless eating. If you know you’re going to waste it anyway, why bother taking it out? Many of us buy candy on an impulse and then decide we’re going to diet, with the candy still in arm’s reach away. What better way to resist temptation than to make it not as tempting?

The next time you grab a piece of candy, try one of the following…

Licorice Strings… Make a cowboy lasso, earrings, necklace, or tie. Make it miniature and your child can use it on his or her toys.

Marshmallows… Glue them on your scrap paper pad and make them into snowmen, animals, or your boss. You definitely won’t want to eat them then—because of the glue, I mean!

Snickers Bar… Put it on someone’s chair and make them think it’s animal droppings. Now you definitely don’t want to eat it, do you?

How do you get creative with your candy?

Something else I like to do with my candy is use the wrappers for arts and crafts with my daughter. I have a ton of bookmarks and collages made out of the sucker wrappers from the candy she brings home from preschool (she gets one every week).