Give the Gifts of Fitness and Wellness

Many people believe the way to a person's heart is truly through their stomach. Enjoying the company of family and friends is a great opportunity to share fresh, high quality, and nutritious foods and drinks. Given as gifts or enjoyed together, you can help support nutritious eating habits this holiday season. Eating a healthy diet can help to lower risks – of heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes, to name just a few.

• Give subscriptions to a fresh produce (fruit and vegetable) delivery service.
• Create a gift basket of beneficial teas and tea accessories, such as cups and saucers, infusers, or a small kettle or single-cup brewer. Stock it with varieties of beneficial teas – green tea (antioxidants), cranberry tea (antioxidants and urinary tract health), peppermint tea (for fresh breath and relief from nausea), and ginger tea (for digestive health).
• Give a healthy-heart gift basket: pack an attractive basket with heart-healthy goodies like dried blueberries, almonds, dark chocolate, and red wine.
• Gifts such as handy kitchen tools – a juicer, apple peelers, corers, or slicers – make healthy snacking easier.
• Enhance a loved one's healthy recipe repertoire by giving a healthy cookbook (e.g., a cookbook from the Heart and Stroke Foundation or Diabetes Canada). Cookbooks with descriptive photos or illustrations may entice hesitant cooks to get more adventurous in the kitchen. Or you could lovingly handwrite and illustrate your own favorite nutritious recipe and assemble a charming homemade cookbook.
• Home stores, garden supply stores, or natural health food stores often stock kits for creating window or potted gardens. Find one that has an assortment of herbs for cooking – a medley of savoury basil, oregano, and thyme could inspire culinary creativity.
• How about a gift certificate for a restaurant that offers healthy meal choices (ones that are low in fat and salt and rich in fruits and vegetables) for a night away from the kitchen?

All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Give-the-Gifts-of-Fitness-and-Wellness

A consistent and varied exercise routine can help you reap amazing benefits in terms of overall health and energy. If you've got a friend or family member who's expressed an interest in getting in better shape, support their exercise goals with a fitness-inspired gift.

• Pay for a pal's sign-up fees and first couple of months’ membership to a gym. If they enjoy working out at home, certain studios offer online programs and videos to liven up their home gym experience.
• Shell out for a few sessions with a personal trainer.
• Reserve a spot for you and a friend at a yoga or meditation retreat.
• Sign up a friend to try an adventurous fitness trend, such as pole dancing. To make it even more fun, sign up yourself to join them!
• Encourage a stick-with-it fitness attitude by giving fitness trackers. Wearable fitness trackers are available in a wide range of different functions and options. Pedometers count a person's steps and motivate them to walk more. Heart rate monitors help a person know when they've reached their optimal heart rate for aerobic benefits. And body mass index monitors can target a person's healthiest weight range for their height.
• Sometimes a person's only excuse for not working out is that the equipment is just too expensive. Nix that from their list by gifting them with gear. Some affordable ideas include:
• resistance bands
• various sizes of fitness balls
• a jump rope
• yoga accessories, such as mats, mat bags, props, and yoga wear
• hiking boots or running shoes

All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Give-the-Gifts-of-Fitness-and-Wellness

These may not be the kinds of gift ideas that people pine away for all year or put on their wish-lists, but they're the kinds of things that they'll appreciate having around the house.

• A water purifier pitcher for the fridge is an affordable way to encourage folks to drink more water more often. Speaking of drinking more water... eco-friendly reusable water bottles are an easy and very useful gift.
• Bring some calm energy into the homes of those on your shopping list by giving things such as natural sound or white noise machines, a scented candle, or a meditation cushion.
• A friend or loved one with muscle or back pain could benefit from a therapeutic massage belt or other self-massage tools.
• A gift certificate for a free house cleaning can help get rid of household dust and dirt (which can aggravate allergies and asthma) and also give the lucky recipient more time to relax!

All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Give-the-Gifts-of-Fitness-and-Wellness

Some health-promoting gifts can come in very small packages – for tucking into a stocking, or slipping into an envelope... Stash away these healthy little gifts for your loved ones.

• gift certificates for services such as massage or personal training
• small massage tools or massage oils
• subscription to a health magazine
• aromatherapy eye pillows
• medication reminder devices
• packets of beneficial teas
• a jump rope
• bike reflectors
• pedometers or heart rate monitors
• lip balms with sun protection
• oral health care kits with travel toothbrush, paste, and floss

All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Give-the-Gifts-of-Fitness-and-Wellness