Time for Exercise

Keeping hydrated is very important when working out. But buying plastic bottle after plastic bottle of water isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. Besides, there are some really great looking bottles you can buy that are quite convenient when you’re working out.

ReusableBags.com has a great selection of water bottles. The SIGG bottles are perhaps the most beautiful, but there are styles to suit just about any taste.

The other advantage that many reusable bottles have is that they do not leach toxins. They’re actually better for you. Not many people currently worry about whether or not harmful toxins leak from plastic bottles, but some feel we ought to. If you have a bottle that doesn’t do that anyhow, no worry about which side is right.

The SIGG bottles and other reusable water bottles can also of course be found at Amazon if you prefer. These make great gifts for the person working on keeping fit in your life.

Like most parents, I feel like my kids have far too many toys. It’s a very normal reaction, I think. Kids get toys from so many sources, and often have more than they can reasonably play with.

But I have one rule I tell people when they ask me. If it’s a toy that encourages activity, creativity or is educational, go ahead and get it. Hard to get too much of quality toys in that area.

There are a few toys that I think are really great to give to children to encourage them to be more active. Some are more for indoors (great for winter if they don’t want to go outside) while others are for playing outside.

The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle is one example. A lot of people laugh at the idea, since it is far better to encourage kids to be active outside than in playing video games, but if you’re getting a toddler a video game system, better to get one that encourages activity.

For older kids, the Wii is a decent choice. Just get some of the more physically active games to encourage the kids to get up off the couch when they play. Alternatively, Dance Revolution is popular, and you can get the dance pad for a variety of gaming systems.

NERF makes a lot of really great active toys. The big one this year is the Nerf N-Strike Disk Shot, but they have a wide range of toys that encourage kids to run all around and play. Some are good for indoors but many really do best outside.

For outdoor toys, in addition the the usual bicycles, inline skates and skateboards, consider the Ripstik Caster Board. It’s a cool twist on the usual skateboard and looks to be a lot of fun. People describe it as a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard, and the reviews on it have been excellent.

If your kids don’t have a lot of toys that encourage them to go outside, now is a great time to start changing that. If the weather is such that they don’t want to spend a lot of time outside, find variations that allow them to play more actively inside. Many of them will utterly delight the recipient.

Being too busy to work out is one of the most common reasons why people don’t exercise. Just about everyone uses it at some point. But even if you don’t have the time to break for even 15 minutes to take a walk you can sneak in a little bit of exercise.

Think about times you just stand around… brushing your teeth, cooking, that sort of thing. Leg lifts or walking in place can get you moving just a little bit more. It’s not a lot of exercise but it is something.

Put a little more effort into housecleaning. This in itself is fair exercise. Do a bit more of it and work harder at it.

Work out whenever you watch television. It may be a leisure activity, but it doesn’t have to be so sedentary. I like using a Gazelle while watching television, doing crunches, leg lifts, whatever. An exercise ball can be nice too. Fitness balls are also nice. The exercise shouldn’t be anything that makes it too hard to watch your show, or you probably won’t keep up with it. Then again, there are always commercials!

Working out at the computer is harder. This is one of the hardest areas to work out, and it may not be possible to do much about that. You can move your legs, but generally not much and not terribly effectively.

When you shop, park further out. The added walk really won’t be all that bad, and it’s generally much easier to find a spot.

Stealth exercise isn’t generally enough to get you fit, but it’s better than not trying at all.

Shopping at Christmas time is a bit of a chore for many people. Coming up with the perfect idea is hard.

Fitness gifts can be a good choice… PROVIDED the person will not be offended. If you are shopping for someone sensitive about their weight, it might be better to get something else. But if they’ve been commenting on how much they want to get fit, and seem sincere, not the type to take offense that you noticed, fitness gifts can be extremely welcome.

Most budgets won’t allow for anything fancy, such as a treadmill. However, there are a lot of things you can buy that will help with working out at home and not be expensive.

Fitness Balls

As a parent, I love my exercise ball. Not only can I work out on it, my kids love playing with it too. I just have to be careful that they don’t abuse it too much.

Yoga Gear

Yoga is a wonderful form of exercise and relaxation. Most people will enjoy both. Much of the gear is quite affordable.

There are a lot of options when you want to help someone with their home gym that are extremely affordable. For the person in your life who is genuinely interested in improving their fitness, it can be a great gift choice.