Good For You?: Stocking Stuffers
It’s that time of year again. The bells are jingling, choirs are caroling and soon Santa Claus will make his annual visit.
Since most of us do not receive wish lists sent to us each year like Santa does, it can be difficult to find the perfect presents for your loved ones. However, there is one hint that can make your gift hunt a little easier. This is to find out the hobby of the person you are buying for.
If there is someone on your list that is into health, fitness or wellness, then you are in luck, because I have my list of perfect gift ideas for the fitness fanatic or wellness warrior in your life.
A lot of people who are into fitness focus on proper nutrition. This means eating well, including getting enough protein to help build strong muscles and keeping hydrated.
Two of my favorite products for this are Quest bars and Nuun Active hydration tablets.
Quest bars pack a punch when it comes to protein. With 20 grams of protein and 180 calories per bar, you are getting a lot of nutritional bang for your buck.
Not only do the bars taste great (my personal favorites are PB and J and double chocolate chunk), but they can also be shaped into cookies and baked in the oven for a nice instead of naughty treat.
Lots of stores around the area carry the bars and they can be purchased from questnutriton.com for $2.39 per bar or $24.99 for a box of 12.
When it comes to hydration, the Nuun tablets are hands down my favorite.
They can be dropped into a bottle of water and let them dissolve before drinking.
They are not overly sweet or salty, which is something I ran into with other brands, and the grape and strawberry lemonade flavors are very tasty.
Nuun is available at sports stores and nuun.com, a tube of 12 tablets costs $7.
Personally, I am not able to exercise or run without listening to music. It helps district me from how out of shape I am.
One problem I kept on having was earbuds would fall out of my ears constantly.
This was until I discovered the brand Yurbuds and their Inspire 300 for Women earbuds.
These buds are designed to fit in smaller ears and stay put.
My only complaint is that one of the ear bud covers keeps on falling off and getting lost. The product does come with an extra set to replace them, but if you are like me you will probably lose that extra one, too. Luckily you can buy replacements from their website.
These particular earbuds are $39.99 at yurbuds.com, but there are several other types for all different price ranges and styles.
A lot of my time is spent on a treadmill. While music is nice, it can sometimes get mundane and you need that little extra push to get you through a tough workout.
For me, there is nothing more motivating than running from a pack of zombies courtesy of the app “Zombies, Run!”
This app, available for both Apple and Android devices, immerses you into the world after a zombie apocalypse. As the community is trying to figure out what happened and trying to start the civilization all over again, you are tasked to step into the role of “Runner 5” and complete different missions.
This app can be used on the treadmill as well as running or jogging anywhere in the world. When you hear the alert that signifies the zombies are behind you, you need to speed up and out run them. If they catch you, you will “drop” much needed supplies.
I love this app. The stories are intriguing and it really makes you feel like you are in an action movie.
Another great feature is the app lets you pipe in your own music while you are running the mission. The alerts will still play over the music.
For those of you with Apple watches, or will be getting one from Santa, this app is compatible.
The app costs $5.99, and more information is available at zombiesrungame.com.
Since running has become a very popular sport there are several magazines, websites, blogs and books on the topic.
Last Christmas, my parents gave me “Running Like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run” by Alexandra Heminsley.
I really enjoyed the book.
Alexandra has a style of writing that is easily relatable, especially for women who feel like they aren’t a “real runner” and helps them find their passion again. Her attitude of putting one foot in front of the other and just “going for it” is refreshing.
The book is available on Amazon.com and costs $18.24 in hardback, $12.21 in paperback and $10.99 in Kindle format.
Finally, for those runners on your list that have been extra good this year, the Garmin Forerunner 15 is perfect if they already do not own a GPS watch.
While this is an expensive purchase, it really is worth the price tag because it keeps track of your distance, pacing, calories burned and more.
You can then upload this data to the Garmin website, which helps track all of your running statistics.
Amazon has a great bundle that includes the watch and a heart monitor that straps to your chest and uploads your heart rate to the watch. This bundle costs $149.99.
If the person you are buying this for primarily sticks to the treadmill instead of the pavement, you might want to also purchase the additional foot pod since they won’t be able to use satellite to track their distance. The foot pod is also available on Amazon.com for $46.95.
These products all have various price points, which is nice because it gives a wide range of options depending on who you are buying for. Also, a lot of these make nice stocking stuffers.
Hopefully, this list will help you be a little less “Grinchy” and more jolly when you are looking for something to buy your health conscious loved one.