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!

 

 

Dec 9, 2011

Although many people benefit from the spirit of giving at the holiday season, it’s also a well known fact that Christmas shopping could be a significant financial burden for a lot
of people especially in this recession. This is also true for individuals who have a sizable family or perhaps a large number of buddies who regularlyexchange Christmas gifts. Christmas shopping may also be an economic problem
for individuals who feel compelled to buy costly gifts for each individual on the list. However, you can find ways to handle the financial burden which of Christmas shopping.

One way to cope with this financial issue is to create a financial budget in advance. One other way to handle the financial pressure of Christmas shopping would be to shop throughout the year rather than all at one time. We will address the
significance of setting a financial budget for Christmas shopping in addition to how Christmas shopping may become less financially taxing by distributing the Christmas shopping throughout every season.

Individuals who’ve concerns over how much money they’ll be investing on the Christmas shopping should think about setting a financial budget for his or her Christmas shopping
before they even start their shopping. To be able to begin the entire process of setting a financial budget for Christmas shopping, you should first create a list of all of the people you want to buy gifts for these holidays. This list will include all the close buddies and family people you typically purchase gifts for in addition to any co-workers or employees you normally
purchase gifts for, your postman, your manicurist, your hairdresser or perhaps your children’s teachers. You may even desire to plan for gifts contributed to toy drives organized by charitable organizations if you are I the habit of giving to these.

After you have your gift list, you can start setting a budget. A great technique for developing a Christmas budget is to begin by identifying just how much you intend to invest on probably the most important people in your gift recipient list. This will in
all probability incorporate your nearest relatives including your spouse, and your kids. When you set dollar amounts for the nearest relatives, it’s time to divide in the remaining amount of cash inside your Christmas shopping budget. This could be either done randomly by dividing the rest of the amount inside your budget by the amount of people left in your list or continue to undergo your list choosing $ 1 amount for each individual before you achieve your financial allowance. At this time around if you will find still people remaining in your list you’ll have to either reexamine the dollar amounts you’ve already selected or consider getting rid of many people out of your
list.

Nov 1, 2011

Teens are possibly the toughest individuals to buy for this holiday season. I should know because I have three of them. Frequently it’s simpler to purchase a gift certificate or just give them money, but personally I favor putting just a little thought into things I buy and quite frequently-but not always- it  is much appreciated. Here are a few of my picks for Christmas 2011 gifts for teens and surprisingly they aren’t all electronic -:

Tablets: Possibly not just a toy, a superb little Tablet is a huge seller this Christmas for Teens. Having the ability to read books, play games, use applications, watch movies online, surf the net and play movies it is really an ideal toy/mini computer for that teen that just loves gadgets. They have recently become more affordable too.

Guitar Hero game: Now this isn’t a brand new game but based upon my kids experience who both had it -and they were girls- they loved it!,

Nerf Guns: The trusty old Nerf gun has existed for a long time but recently has seen a revival, and it has seen the evolution more effective and fun guns. The awesome factor is the fact that it’s not only a secure game for inside, but I’ll usually find my son playing around outdoors (yes doing a bit of exercise) because he and his friends form teams. It not only prevents my son and his friends from overdosing on electronics and video games but encourages team performance in addition to being a very good exercise.

Water Guns: Why on the planet would you need to purchase a summer time toy for the teen at Christmas? Well allow me to be truthful – most teens-especially boys, like my son, are frequently vindictive if this involves getting fun – there’s nothing much better than soaking your closest friend when it’s freezing out. It’s just plain fun. Another advantage is that, again, no electronics!

Music devices - There are a lot of electronic music devices out there. The most popular, of course, being the famous iPod. Nowadays, my son not only listens to music but also is able to download applications and play games.

Computers- If your teen is getting older-and is in 10th-11th, or 12th grade and is heading to college then there’s nothing much better than giving him a laptop or a Mac. My 2 daughters have Macs and they swear by them.They’ve also never had a virus. However, I personally have always had a laptop and prefer it. Laptops are also a lot less expensive and come in all shapes and sizes.

Not every teen like devices: Many teens would also be thrilled to receive a few of the following gifts:

•Board Games – you will find some excellent games, like Monopoly, Risk etc which will always be popular too. Designed games (like Harry Potter games) will be very popular as well.

•Art Supplies – the budding artist will be searching for brushes, canvas along with other important art supplies.

•Clothes – Using the latest clothing trends is frequently extremely important to teens. Whether it’s the most recent designer clothes, or even the best punk clothes, you’re certain to be a hero if you let your child choose their outfits.

•Gift Cards – possibly a very hands off and impersonal approach to take, but it’s most likely simpler to allow your child to choose their very own gift.

•Music & Movies – Not every teens copy music and films, so why wouldn’t you provide them with an iTunes card for Christmas.

•Puzzles – plenty of teens like to challenge their mind, so why wouldn’t you purchase the latest puzzle from Rubik, the traditional Rubik’s cube continues to be popular.

Not to mention, let’s remember that you will find many teens that just need family time, and possibly the opportunity to help others at Christmas!