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By Beth Donovan (~INDYGIRL)
This season is a great time to think about what giving really means. Is giving limited only to things we can wrap in elegant papers and adorn with bows? In the truest sense of the season, the gift of oneself is the highest gift one has to offer. Giving yourself the gift of fitness and good health this year can better your life in so many ways. You can provide a positive influence and be a role model to your family. You can improve your health and be around longer to spend quality time with family and friends. Your self confidence and self esteem can be discovered and lead you down the path to your dreams. You can enjoy active family time with your children. The possibilities are endless. A gift for the family that will keep on giving year round is a gym membership. Yes, they can be expensive, but some do have a sliding fee scale such as your local YMCA. You might choose a summer-only membership or just one for the winter months to save money. Find out what options are available to you in your area. Other gyms may have specials, which you can cash in on, especially around the first of the year. The new year promotions for gym memberships are usually very good. If a gym membership is too costly, consider investing in a few pieces of home equipment. A stability ball, kettle bell, hand weights, resistance band, yoga mat, or any combination of those will make a fine present for yourself or someone else. The SparkPeople Store carries a fitness starter kit that has everything you need to get going at a very reasonable price, and no membership fee required. Think of the positive influence you could provide your family by keeping good foods in the house, eating healthy and exercising. That’s a gift of a lifetime of good habits. Learning to make healthy decisions naturally will help keep your family from suffering a slew of health conditions related to unhealthy choices. Numerous health conditions can improve with regular exercise and good nutrition. In fact, complications and even some lifestyle diseases can be avoided with careful management of diet, exercise and medications in many cases. Since I started to lose weight, I've been able to lower my daily insulin intake. I have even lowered my blood pressure and cholesterol to normal levels. I hope to be around a lot longer and have more time to spend with my wonderful family and friends because of taking a proactive approach to my health. I have something else that I didn’t before, self esteem and confidence. These things came from seeing myself do things that I didn’t know I could do. Truthfully, before I found SparkPeople.com, I had lost all hope. I really didn’t believe SparkPeople could help me, but I gave it a shot with a few SparkStreaks. Seeing myself succeed made me want to succeed more. It wasn’t about a being on a diet or off of a diet any more, it was about being in control of my dreams, my destiny, and making choices on my terms. I found that sticking to my Spark People program, or close to it, gave me a sense of security and control in the midst of disarray. This newfound confidence and self esteem helped me find the courage to go back to work from disability, make it from bedridden to a wheelchair, to a walker and then a cane, and take control of many other aspects of my life. My husband loves my healthier lifestyle. He was really afraid I wasn’t going to be around much longer when I weighed 460 pounds. Now I’m 144 pounds thinner and he knows I am well on my way to being with him for a long time to come. The gift of better health benefits not only the person getting healthy, but also those around them and it is a very valuable one. Consider giving yourself the gift of health and fitness this year, and those who love you will also get a gift that keeps on giving. Last year and this year, my nephew Josh and I made home made cards for everyone. We also had a cookie baking day, but only one. We made cards for several days and had lots of fun doing it. He seemed to actually have more fun making cards than baking cookies. It definitely held his attention more. Josh and I also encourage each other to exercise and eat right. We are great influences on each other and give each other the gift of encouragement. We always spend the holidays together, but for the past couple of years, Josh and I have focused on healthier traditions. Just look at the difference a few years can make!  Us in 2005 
Josh and me this year Are you giving yourself (and your loved ones) the gift of your better health this year? |
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