Jan 7, 2012

After the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays after I overindulged in food and drink, I reluctantly got on the scale and oops had gained 10 pounds…..! So my top new year’s resolutions at the beginning of this new year, was to lose those pesky 10 pounds!!  Undoubtedly, I am not the only one whose new year resolution is to lose weight and start exercising. If you have a person whose Birthday is coming up and need to find a gift for, something weight-loss related could be an ideal gift. Obviously this needs to be a gift for a person you know who has said they want to lose weight. You certainly don’t want to offend anyone here. Some practical gift ideas could include:

If the person likes to exercise, for example, then maybe a gym membership to a national establishment such as LA Fitness or All Sports Clubs would be something they would love. If a yearly membership is too costly, then maybe the down payment and the 1st month’s quota, would be the solution.

Another personalized gift idea is to order as a gift some of the popular prepared meals plans available on the market such as Nutrisystem or Jenny Craig. A couple friend of mine both tried it and they did lose the weight, The boxed pre-prepared meals include a variety of delicious frozen foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner which are shipped to you directly. These diets has been made popular by celebrities that have successfully lost weight publicly. Some notable examples include, Valerie Bertinelli, Maria Carey, Janet Jackson,and Kirstie Alley, among many others. You could give one 28 day meal plan or a partial payment of a plan to jump-start someone’s diet in the new year.

Other ideas include giving meal replacement meals. This entails replacing two meals during the day such as breakfast and lunch, for example, with a delicious shake in vanilla, strawberry or chocolate flavors and eating a sensible and healthy meal for the third meal like dinner. Popular programs include Slim Fast or Herbalife. You could give a month long supply, for example. I’ve tried this and if you like milk shakes, it’s really good. The only drawback is that you get tired of having the same shakes for breakfast and lunch every day and I can’t say I lost too much….

Some people prefer guided weight loss programs which give you more flexibility such as Weight Watchers. In this program, you count the calories of the foods you eat and keep a diary. You can either join the online Weight Watches program, or if you need support, the program which enables you to attend weekly meetings. These are monthly programs so you could pay for the program for a month,or up to 3 months, depending on how much weight they would like to lose. I personally lost 10 pounds on this program over a 1 month period so I can personally vouch for it. However, you really have to be consistent with your food journal and write what you ate for every meal every day.

Other personalized gift options include giving supplements or weight loss aids such as Sensa. Sensa is very popular food additive which involves sprinkling your food with it. It activates your hunger control and thus makes you eat less resulting in weight loss. I tried it but couldn’t remember to sprinkle it on my food everyday so I truly don’t know how effective it really is. Alli is yet another popular weight loss pill that has gained momentum. Although some people complain about some of its side effects, it is deemed to be very effective. I don’t really know anyone who has done it.

Whichever program you decide to give, the key is to find out what motivates the person you will be offering the gift to. Are they into exercise? Do they prefer to eat really well but less, or rather eat of everything but with a lower calorie count or like the flexibility of an independent program such as Weight Watchers? Once you figure that out, you can give the wonderful, personalized gift of weight loss.

Happy New Year and Happy Weight Loss!