Live better and longer with The Fitness Show, hosted by fitness expert, author, and TV personality Fitz Kohler. She'll tell you why diets are dumb, supplements are snake oil, and the truth about how you can earn a lean, hard, pain-free, and athletic body. Now for our favorite bossy blonde, Fitz Kohler. Well, hi, team. I'm Fitz Kohler. your very jolly fitness expert and race announcer from Fitsness.com, and welcome to the Fitsness show.
Today, you get to experience my healthy holiday gift guide in your ears. That's right. Full disclosure, I also have a healthy holiday gift guide in the blog portion of Fitsness.com, but it's going to be so excited for you to hear it from my mouth to your very sexy ears, along with some extras, right? You're going to get some bonus suggestions listening to this podcast. And I tell you what, I love doing this because it is so freaking hard to shop for people, right?
We have people on our holiday list that we love, that we care about, maybe someone we want to suck up to because we work for them or, I don't know, they coach us. But what do you get those people, right? I mean, do we just get them the same shirt over and over again? or I don't know, do you go to Walgreens and get one of those weird cookie tins?
No, that is not what you do. So we're gonna talk about some things that are health, wellness, fitness-focused gifts that you can give to people without feeling guilty that you're doing harm. Like if you bought them a pack of cigarettes for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Christmas, you might be contributing to the problem. But no, the fitness gift guide is filled with things that are actually good for you and good for the people you adore.
So I'm going to hit it from a bunch of angles, hit it in a bunch of different price ranges, but you'll get the gist. And I know that you're going to find something for the romantic partner and your siblings and your parents and your bestie and your neighbor. And I don't know, your running buddies. Let's do something nice for your running buddies. In fact, I would like to give a big Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, all the things to my Hottie Body Fitness Challenge crew.
That's my online training group. If you're not a part of it, join us. It's on Facebook. Look up Hottie Body Fitness Challenge. And there are 2000 plus of the nicest human beings on earth. And they're all trying so hard to enhance their fitness. Some are trying to lose weight or become stronger or run races or dance, all the things. And they're just so wonderful and they make every day of my years better. So thank you, hotties. Happy holidays.
Same for my fitness fiends and for all of my friends and definitely my listeners. You make my days brighter. So thank you, thank you, thank you. You're a huge part of every day and certainly my holidays. So I love you. I'll start there. Also, if you love me back, maybe share this episode with someone you like. You could listen to the gift guide and it will make shopping easier. Oh, also, you can shop online. I mean, hey, go local if you can.
But some of these things that I'm going to recommend may not be available in your hometown. So just go online, Go shop the way modern humans in the year 2024 shop. Okay, so I'm starting. I'm starting with something that makes me so happy most days of the year. It's a gift that I invested in two years ago. And what a smart decision I got. I call my backyard the Redneck Riviera, but I bought an inflatable hot tub. That's right. Redneck Riviera inflatable hot tub. It's supposed to sit six people.
I think it would fit four people that genuinely like each other, but man, this thing is wonderful. So many hot tubs. I think if you get a real deal plastic and I don't know what they're made out of wood one, they're going to cost you thousands of dollars. I got this thing on Amazon for about 600. Mine is a Coleman brand. I'm sure there's others that are just fine, but, It's great. I'm in it in the mornings. I'm in it at night. Sometimes I get in with my family.
Most of the time I'm in there alone. I've got earbuds in, listen to the podcast. Sometimes I get up in the morning and I stretch in the hot tub. So wonderful. So maybe if you're Mr. Moneybags, you just boom, buy it, throw it back there, no big thing. But perhaps if you're a couple or your family, this might be something you invest in. It's a bigger ticket item. Again, there are a few hundred to maybe even $800, but I love it. It makes me so, so happy. And I think you could put it on the grass.
You probably put it on the dirt. You just need to be able to plug it in and you do a little bit of maintenance, right? There's a couple of filter chains. Maybe you put in chlorine or whatever, but I love it. And you will love it too.
Inflatable hot tub. boom that's how we're starting off the Fitz's holiday gift guide show okay next up I'm really excited to share and I want you to see what's on my chest so there's a fitness apparel company called Leo Reve and so don't worry I didn't hear of them either until I started announcing professional pickleball tournaments and the first time I think I was in Sacramento California I I showed up to announce this pickleball tournament and there was a script.
The description was a little generic on the Leo Reve and it didn't tell me how to spell it. Just so you know, it's L-E-O-R-E-V-E-R. When you look it up, that's what you're looking for. L-E-O-R-E-V-E-R. But I didn't know how to say it. And it's got a little accent mark over the second E. And it just basically, my script said it was clothes, shirts and pants. And I thought, hmm. And then I went walking around because I normally try to get to know our vendors.
So when I plug them, I can do so with enthusiasm. I really understand what their products are and I can share how they'd be meaningful to our listeners, anyone hearing my voice. So I stopped by and all of a sudden I just think, wow, that stuff is really pretty. And I go to the owner who's, Jonathan is his name. He has apparently designed clothing lines in a variety of different spaces. But I said, how do I pronounce your company name? And he says, Leo Reve. I said, okay.
And then I look and I said, is this compression gear? And he said, yeah. And I thought, oh, my script doesn't mention that, right? And then I get to know him and get to know his products. And I fall in love. And I'm personally, I don't like things too busy. I don't wear floral patterns and stripes and polka dots and all this stuff. Mostly solids. It's got a killer logo, Leo Reve. I think it stands for Revered Lion. It's got a lion image on it. Oh, and a lot of our best pickleball players were
wearing this stuff. So again, piquing my curiosity. But he says, hey, I'd be happy to give you a pair. So he gives me a pair of tights. And I don't know if I've ever really worn compression tights before. This stuff feels so good. And if you like Spanx or Skims, or you just want something to be supportive, right? If you're worried about your body parts moving about too much, maybe your boobs or your waistline or your bum or your thighs, this stuff is going to hold you in nice.
It's not constricting. It just is supportive. And the materials are fine. And it's just so pretty. And it feels so good. And so I put them on that night. I take them and I say, oh, thank you. This is great. And really what I thought is I can make. Better announcements at this pickleball tournament. But I go back the next day and I go, have you introduced this stuff to the running community? He goes, no. I said, okay, well, listen, I make most of my bread and butter in the running community.
Running community is massive and they love compression gear because compression gear will help increase circulation. It will help decrease your recovery time. I mean, it's just, it's good, right? Doctors recommend people wear compression gear for all sorts of things. And I said, you really got to consider doing that. So he showed up at the OC marathon in May, which he, he's, he lives in Huntington beach. I believe that's these, these products are designed and created in America, which I love.
Uh, but now he's excited about the running community and I'm excited about the running community. He's actually going to be one of the sponsors on the fitness show moving forward. And I'm wearing my stuff. And I walked into the gym yesterday in my Leo Revee hoodie and instantly my girlfriend, Kelly Cruz. She's one of my ballroom dance buddies. She goes, oh my God, where did you get that? That looks so nice. I love it. Can I take a picture so I could buy it? I said, yeah, Kelly, you can.
So I want you to look at Leo Revee online. They have a men's collection and a women's collection. There are tights, ankle length, capri length. There's biker shorts. There's compression tank tops, compression long sleeve shirts, that of which I'm wearing right now. If you're watching the audio version, there's hoodies, there's t-shirts. The men's collection is monstrous. I'm sure he's probably going to do the same for the women at some point, but just go check it out.
And even if you owe compression sleeves for your arms, which are great for running in cold weather, check it out. Get yourself at least one, get yourself started or your friends started with at least one piece and go from there. But Leo Reve, I love it. Sorry, I ghosted for a while, but it's worth it. Great, great gear. So pretty and it feels so good. Also with the compression tank tops, you don't have to wear a bra, girls. It's a built-in bra and that feels nice. Okay, moving on. Next up.
Knits by Pink Lemonade. And so I think sometimes we buy candles, they're generic, they're easy, but how many times have you received a candle? I'm like, enough's enough. Let's talk about providing luxury, comfort, something that feels good. Again, this next gift is something that anybody could enjoy. Knits by Pink Lemonade. It's one of my new obsession. They're soft, textured, breathable cotton knits that just, they feel so good.
You can get baby blankets, throws, travel sets, and they're all at reasonable prices. So I have one of their throw blankets and I'm like Linus. Is it Linus, the one who roams around the Peanuts gang with a blanket? That's me. I always have a blanket when I'm at home or when I'm on a plane and the knits by Pink Lemonade is so soft. And it reminds me, someone made me, my friend Stephanie made me a knit blanket when I had cancer, right? When I was diagnosed.
And I love that one too. So this one you can actually buy at the store. You don't have to make it or have a friend who can make it. And they're so good. So Knits by Pink Lemonade, a great gift for anyone. And again, you don't have to know what size people wear or what their favorite scent is. You just give them a dang blanket. Everyone can use it. All right. Next up, I like these things. They are naked Naked oats. Naked oats are oats. I mean, what do we eat? Oats at breakfast, right?
You can also bake with oats, but they're high protein, high fiber oats, and they taste really good. They taste really good. There's blueberry cobbler, double chocolate, chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry cream. There's a whole bunch of different flavors, but high protein, high fiber, and those are the nutrients that are going to keep you full. And it's ideal to start your day with protein and fiber, and of course, healthy carbohydrates too. But Naked Oats, I really like it. Tastes great.
Grass-fed, whey, gluten-free, all the stuff. So check out Naked Oats. I think you really like it. Again, that's something you can just give a bucket to your friend and they'll enjoy. Of course, my Fixing Your Life with Fitzeness course, duh, it's on massive sale at fitzeness.com. And if you have somebody who always says, hey, I want to get fit, but I really don't know how, this five-plus-hour course, I teach them everything from start to finish, exact formula for weight loss.
I teach them how to train every muscle in their body, how to stretch every muscle in their body, how to do cardio, how to do circuit training, all the things. And. I'd go through a ton of excuse busters and how to train while traveling and so forth. So the Fixing Your Life with Fitsness course, that's something you can do on Christmas Day. If you forgot to buy for someone, you can go online. I'll send you the code and boom, they've got an instant gift of fitness. And I would like that.
Next up, Rescue Patch. Now, if you're like me and you want to sleep as much as you can, if sleep is a high priority, Rescue Patch is something I just learned about. I was sent samples a while back and I didn't really pay it much attention. And then I was struggling to get to sleep one night. And so it's a little sticky patch that you put on a hairless part of your body. So you could put it on your arm. I actually put it on near my hip by my bikini area and anywhere you want, really.
We put the patch on and it helps you fall asleep and helps you stay asleep. And this is the biggie for me because I can't take melatonin. And I can't take NyQuil because I will be groggy, not only for the next day, but for the next three days. I'm a freaking lightweight. Everything makes me tired. So I don't take anything, but I can use Rescue Patch. I just put the little sticky on, helps me pass out. And then when I wake up, I take it off and I feel good. It's been shocking.
I wake up in the morning, I think, huh, I'm not tired. That's incredible. So you buy a pouch and I think they come with like 20 in a pouch, but affordable and effective. Again, you don't have to wake up groggy. So I'm going to start bringing these things for race nights when I want to get to bed at nine o'clock for a 4 a.m. wake up call rescue patch. Check that out. OK, stays skin care. I mean, there's there's a lot of options there. Everybody's got skin, right? It's epidermis.
It's our largest largest organ in the body. Women love skincare. Men should love skincare because believe it or not, they have just as much skin as the ladies do, maybe even more if they're a larger man, right? So I've been using Stay skincare. It's rich with antioxidants and different nutrients for moisturizing and so forth, but I have their masks and masks to me are always very funny, but you pull them out. There's a liner. it looks like, I'm going to say it, it looks like a Jason mask, right?
This white mask and you put it on your face and then the sticky stuff sticks to your face. There's a hole for your mouth, a hole for your nostrils and a hole for your eyes, but then it'll just stay on your skin. You got to wash your skin first, but it'll stay on for 30 minutes. And then when you peel it off, oh my gosh, my skin feels so soft. It's a noticeable difference.
And I don't normally to get that with skincare. I feel like it's gradual, but I love something where I think, ooh, la la, that feels great. Stays. It's S-T-A-S. And there's a line over the S. That's how you know it's a long A. Stays skincare. But I have that, that repair mask and the repair bar. It's a soap you use, but that's a fun thing to give. And spa services, good for you if you want to buy them for someone, but they can be really, really expensive.
I think there's at least six masks in this pouch by Stays, and I've already used two. And look at my skin. Golly, if you're just listening, trust me, you are missing out because my skin is just glowing right now. That's why I'm excited about Stays. All right, next. We got another blankie. I love blankies, but I want you to get a personalized blankie, right?
So if you want to get one for a baby, baby Harper or baby Fitz or baby Lincoln, you know, new babies with all the cool names at affordable rate, you can get a beautiful knit blanket and all sorts of different colors. With your baby's name on it. And I'm telling you this in secret, don't share, but I actually got one for my 21 year old baby Ginger. She doesn't know it for Christmas. She's getting a, a, a customized blanket. It's a pink blanket.
Please don't tell her. I hope she's not listening. I don't think she listens to my show because she's my kid, right? Kids aren't going to invest in their parents, but she's getting one and it's hypoallergenic and it's organic cotton, just feels luxurious. So if you want a luxurious blanket, a throw or a baby blanket that's customized, go to Thread the Word. Thread the Word personalized blankets. All right, next up, of course, you can get your fitness flag running gear.
Duh, if you have people who love running and they love America, they can get tanks and t-shirts and hoodies all with my famous fitness running flag where the red stripes are made out of red running shoes and the little white stars or little white microphones, and they're adorable. And they're perfect for 4th of July and Labor Day and President's Day and New Year's Day and Memorial Day. I mean, it's never a bad day to show your patriotism and your love for running and fitness.
So yeah, fitness flag gear. It's available at fitness.com. You know what to do. Okay. Sticking with the running theme, our friends from Bibboards have come up with some new products that I think you're going to love. So bib boards, if you are not familiar, they make the little bib snaps that you attach your race bibs to your clothes without having to stick a safety pin in your nice gear and tear a hole. I would not put a safety pin in my Leo Revee compression shirt I'm wearing right now.
Just trust me on that. There's no safety pins going in this. But I would use bib boards because they just snap on, hold your bib in place, and then when you take the snaps off, everything's fine. Brian Goodell, the owner, who is just an innovator. That's who he is. He's an American inventor and boy, is he a good American, a great American, a wonderful man.
He's come up with the bib boards running belt. And so I love that it has two pouches and I forget the name of the style of pouch, but the belt looks really skinny. However, you can put a whole bunch of stuff. So I thought for certain, my cell phone would not fit into this belt pouch, the phone pouch, but it did. It has kind of a accordion style style. Structure to it. So I put my cell phone in, I've got a big old iPhone and just zipped right in.
And that's really what I needed when I ran the Boston marathon, I found an alternative, but this would have been way better because sometimes if you're putting your phone in your belt and it's so tight, it's hard to get your phone out. So it's either stuck in or stuck out, or if you take it out, it's too impossible to get it back in. You're not going to have that problem with the bibboards run belt. I love it. There's also a place for your keys for cash or credit card.
There's also a place for an entire water bottle. What? I know it's crazy. It's this collapsible little pocket that just stretches out. Oh my gosh. I don't know how he does it, but attaboy, Brian Goodell. It's, it's what runners need. And so y'all can go to bibboards.com and check that out. They also have another new product, which Brian's been working on for a while and bragging to me about. And I've, I said, it's great. It's a race pace band.
So let's say you want to run your half marathon in two hour and 30 minutes. I don't wear a watch. I do not wear a watch. I mean, someone's got to give me a great watch and pay me a lot to wear a watch. I won't do it. I just don't want all the bouncing and I don't want to deal with technology while I'm running. So the race pace band, it will tell you exactly where you are at what time.
So I'm not good at the running math, but let's say at a two and a half hour half marathon, you're running a 12 minute mile. So all you got to do is look down. And if the clock at mile two says it's 24 minutes, you know, you're on pace. It'll tell you exactly when you need to hit each mile marker to be on pace for your goal time. And so you can buy a race pace band that again, loops around your wrist for two and a half hours, 245, three hour half marathon for marathons at various times.
And so you go on and you choose a time you're trying to attain for each distance and they're affordable and simple and they're black and white and it just works. It works. So go to bibboards, check out the race pace band, get yourself a rum belt. And of course, why not some bibboard bib snaps too. While you're at it, tell Brian I said hello. Okay. What else have we got for you? I got so much stuff. Okay. High quality headphones.
I'm not going to tell you what brand to buy, but I think that's always a good choice. People love music, not only for exercise, but for lifetime. I mean, my kids, my son, I'm going to say he's never found in the house without headphones on. And of course they're noise canceling. So he can't hear mom, but I've got the little earbuds in my ears and I can enjoy my podcasts and my new shows and my music. Oh, by the way, music, if you haven't already done so, go to Spotify and look for,
the Fitzness playlist. It's for working out. And I put in many of my favorite upbeat tunes from all genres. There's rock, there's pop, there's country, there's 80s, 90s today. You'll be surprised what you hear. But if you're looking for something fun and upbeat to take with you while you run or swim or dance or whatever, Fitzness playlist on Spotify. It's free. It's free. And then anytime a new song comes up and you go, Oh, I didn't expect to hear that.
You can text me and say, I love this song. That makes me happy. In fact, since I've released that playlist, so many people are saying, Oh my God, how did you know? That's my favorite. So yay. I'm glad I could please you. Okay. So we've got headphones. I also think a journal, a fitness planner is a great idea. That's something everybody can use. So my hotties this month, they, I have assigned two challenges, a 62 mile challenge.
I figure that's two miles a day for the whole month of Christmas or Hanukkah, whatever, a holiday month, right? Two miles a day. Everybody can do that, but you got to keep track of it. So some people seem to be doing it on their phone or their watch. Good for them. But this is the thing. I want 62 miles beyond your daily. I don't want your daily steps in the office and around the house to count. I want you to do two specific miles. So you're going to have to track that somewhere.
You could use the notes section on your phone, or you can go old school and do it in a fitness journal or a fitness planner. And I think that's a great choice. I also provided a strength challenge with certain amount of lunges and pushups and crunches and supermans. And so, yeah, a nice fitness planner is a great place for people who like using pen and paper. And I'm going to add on to that. We've got the fitness journal, the healthy cancer comeback journal.
That's for our cancer patients going from sick to strong. It's a full color fun place to document all their diagnosis details or treatment plans feelings and thoughts about their faith and their family. And of course, the last third of the book is all just documenting their path from sick to strong.
If you're going to get this, you might as well get Your Healthy Cancer Comeback, Sick to Strong, which is a guidebook for cancer patients of all ages, types of cancer, fitness levels to help them navigate chemo, radiation, surgery, and more. And get back to living well and living long. That's Your Healthy Cancer Comeback. If you know a cancer patient, you love a cancer patient, you should get them my books. And of course, My Noisy Cancer Comeback. That's my memoir.
If you want to hear about my wild, crazy, difficult, but fun journey through cancer and doing all the things I did, you might enjoy My Noisy Cancer Comeback. That one's also on audiobook, but they're all hardcover paperback. You can get them wherever you get them, but if you get them at fitness.com, I sign everything ordered here. I add fun motivational stickers and I wrap it beautifully so my readers receive it with extra love.
Locky dokey. I love gift cards, but give them thoughtful gift cards. So not just a gift card to the local ice cream shop. What if we gave gift cards that encourage your favorite people to get fit, right? I think that would be a nice idea. My friend, my hottie, Christy Marriott, she says that her fitness facility offers gift certificates that can be redeemed for classes, challenges, and adventure trips.
So she's out in Northern California, but they do snowshoeing in Yosemite, bike and wine tasting in Napa Valley, fitness retreats. So perhaps your favorite person's gym offers gift cards that will benefit your friend on property and off. But then maybe just do that. Maybe give them gift cards for zip lining or whitewater rafting or lift tickets. I mean, that's not just here's an Amex gift card. Those are personal.
And if they have a gift card to go whitewater rafting, they're far more likely to go whitewater rafting. And I know it's cold right now, but you could buy gifts that will be beneficial to them in the spring and in the summer. So yeah. And a homemade gift card. Holy hell. If you're going to provide some, I don't know, walking buddy services, right?
You're going to give them seven homemade coupons so they can call you and say, let's go for a three mile walk together, or I need someone to work out with, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Okay, here's another great suggestion from one of my hotties, Robert Schultz. So I'll tell you about Robert. Robert is hardcore. He's lost, I think, close to 100 pounds from what he used to be. He uses the exact formula for weight loss and he's maintained his weight loss forever.
And he's always running and lifting and swimming. He just really, as a grownup, he's got his stuff together and he's the vision of health. However, he would like to reduce the impact running is having on him. So, I mean, he's not giving up running because running is really good for your bone density, but he'd like to do a little less. So he would love an elliptical.
Now, mind you, I don't work with elliptical at all, but it's an elliptical rider that allows you to get the benefits of running, of being outdoors, of going places, of seeing things. It's a high-priced ticket item. I'm sure you could probably get one on Facebook Marketplace or eBay or whatever. They could be very expensive or probably very affordable. But a look to go, it's just that you stand upright.
You look pretty cool going down the street with it. And this is the beauty of being outdoors where you exercise is you see stuff, right? So Sean Matlock is always taking pictures of all the flowers he sees and all the interesting architecture. And then Robert is taking pictures of the alligators he sees roaming around his hood in Florida. And right now he's stopping for selfies along his run for selfies with Christmas blowups in people's yards.
So if you're on an elliptical, you have the opportunity to enjoy the weather, take pictures of alligators and things like that. So I think that's a great suggestion as well. Babs, Babs de Girolamo, she says she loves her Namersa travel gun. So that's like the Theragun. They have tiny travel guns that are vibrational that thump you in your sore spots. That's a great gift for somebody. I think it's probably within the $40 to $60 price tag.
But yeah, you can order somebody a therapy gun and they can get on the plane. And if they go run a race or they do a swimming competition or just on vacation and they do a lot of hiking or their backpack is hurting their neck, thump, thump, thump, wherever they are while on the plane. And yes, they will get through TSA. And that's a great suggestion, Babs. Laurel Adams, our Canadian, she says she wants a handheld water bottle. Nice choice. I'm really down with the reusable stuff. So see this.
Again, if you're watching, I've got this camouflage Yeti style cup. It's not a Yeti because they're too expensive. So I bought a whole bunch of these big old cups that I have either water or decaf Diet Coke in. They have a handle. They keep everything cold or hot, depending if I'm drinking something hot. But they have the skinny bottoms. It fits in the car cup holder. So I take it wherever I go. And I have a few of these roaming around.
So I use one, Parker uses one, somebody always using one of these cups, but yeah, 20 bucks, 20 bucks. You can get them locally. You can get them at Amazon or wherever you want, but I'm really feeling better about not using foam or foam foam cups or plastic bottles. I mean, everything just becomes trash, right? And so you don't have to be a radical, freak, tree-hugging lunatic to want to not create more trash. And so a reusable cup or bottle is really smart.
She also says she wants a new Lululemon running belt in pink. However, they have a pink running belt at Bibboards, Laurel, and I think you're going to really like that. So check that out and you'll spend a lot less. You might be able to get two, one in pink, one in gray, maybe throw in a third if you need black. And then winter running socks. Ah, that's a good idea. And I didn't even know until recently that they make these really, they're wool socks.
Holy smokes. They're a game changer in cold weather. What do I know here in Florida? What do I know about cold weather gear? Not much. I'm learning, but yeah, cold weather socks, Canadian. Somebody please buy Laurel some cold weather socks. All right. And then Natalie Passmore from Oklahoma. She's one of my fitness fiends as well as Babs and... And Laurel and Robert, golly, my fiends are really great contributors to this conversation.
But Natalie loves the book. She said, The Plant-Based Athlete by Matt Frazier. I probably would like that. She said, Good Enough for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman. Unbelievably vegan cookbook by Charity Morgan. And then she wants a food processor. Great idea. Everybody could use that, especially if you have people who eat food in your life. and then a functional and practical gym bag. And I love that. You know, a gym bag shouldn't be too giant.
It shouldn't be too small. It should be able to have, to hold your shoes. Maybe there's a zipper pouch. So you could put stinky shoes in a pouch that's not gonna make your clothes stinky too. It should have a pocket for your wet stuff. Maybe you're done swimming or maybe your clothes are just soaked from sweat. Ew, but awesome. A bag with those zipper pouches is great. And then maybe a little zipper for your hair and makeup.
And a place for your snacks. Yes. A quality fitness or gym bag with lots of zipper pockets. And then I think one that can go over your back as a backpack, you know, not just the weird little duffel you have to hold by your hands. I think anything turned into a backpack makes life easier because it frees up your hands. Okay. So great suggestions, Natalie. Taryn Buckley. Oh, I love she got, she's a great weight loss story. She had weight loss surgery.
She actually was a guest on the fitness show about a year or so ago, she talked about her gastric bypass surgery and then how things are going. It's really cool. She's been running half and full marathons galore. I'm really proud of this girl, but Taryn says she had a fit to run membership. And so I'm assuming Fleet Feet or other running stores throughout the nation probably have a similar thing.
With her membership, she was able to try out the running shoes she purchased for a couple of weeks, knowing that if they didn't feel perfect, she could swap them out for a different pair without issues. So maybe a membership to a local running store. That's a really great suggestion. And I'm not sure every running store has those perks, but they might be available. And that might be the thing you give to your favorite person who loves to exercise.
And I talk about running a lot. There's a lot of runners in my community, especially based off my recent announcing work. But running shoes, walking shoes, pickleball shoes, whatever, whatever exercise you're doing, you probably need some shoes or you need a great swimsuit, right, swimmers? Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, so for adventure, things that you could buy gift cards for, zip lining, whitewater rafting, ballroom dance classes,
hi. They can you could buy a month worth of classes probably for like 40 bucks somewhere. And that means your person will dance in a group environment. And that's a lot of fun. I've been doing private ballroom lessons since I finished Dancing with the Stars. And I just enjoy it so much. It's one of the highlights of each week. And what a nice thing to give to somebody.
And that person doesn't have to have any dance background. When you go to a ballroom dance class, it's to learn and they deal with people who have no rhythm and they deal with people who have limited mobility. In fact, there's a lot of older folks who do ballroom dancing because it's gentle and it's fun. And so younger athletic people like me and then older, slower folks, maybe it's something you give to your parents.
You do a Google search and you find ballroom dance classes in their area and you just give them a gift certificate, sign them up and say, sorry, I paid for it. You got to go. Okay. You could also buy race registrations. That's right. You could just sign someone up for the Christmas run or then the New Year's. Trot or the OC marathon or the Donna national marathon to finish breast cancer. Who doesn't want to be a part of that? Or Gasparilla for crying out loud.
You could go to my schedule on fitness.com and register your favorite person for all of the fitness races. Everything I announce, you should be buying gifts, gift cards for it, especially for yourself. You could also buy a gym membership. I think long are the days where people were getting insulted by stuff like that. I can't believe you bought me a gym membership. You're calling me fat. No, no, we care about our health in this family or in this friend circle.
And I know you'll really enjoy this and you'll benefit. So here's free. I'm buying you a two week pass or if it's your kid or your spouse, maybe you invest in a whole year for them, but important stuff. Now, if we're going to talk about tools, there's some simple things, uncomplicated that anybody, everybody could use a yoga mat. Even if they don't like to do yoga, they could use a yoga mat to do pushups, to do crunches, anything where people don't want to be touching the actual ground.
A yoga mat works great for it, even for your bodybuilding friends. Resistance bands, they come in all levels of intensity, of difficulty. I love resistance bands and I travel with them. They're always in my backpack, in my luggage. They're in my car. I drive a stick shift vehicle. And so resistance bands are around the stick shift. Just get a pack. They're inexpensive. If you want to be generous for $10 or less, get some resistance bands. There's loops and then the long bands with the handles.
Both are fantastic. I highly recommend. If you're buying gifts for someone in a home that they're not going to be moving about, kettlebells, dumbbells, plyo box, medicine balls, Swiss ball. That's the big inflatable ball of Bozu. That's an awesome balance tool. What else? You can get them running shoes. If you know what size they wear, get them some running shoes. A fitness streaming subscription. You can buy them a membership to Peloton or iFit.
There's a whole bunch of different subscriptions. Maybe one that helps people track their calories or their consumables. That's a good idea. Oh, an adjustable standing desk. If you've got a person that works from home and they're always complaining about their stiff back or their flabby booty because they're sitting on it all day, maybe a stand-up desk, an adjustable, adjustable for height. And some of these even are capable of straddling a treadmill. But yeah, sitting all day, not okay.
Sitting in bed all day working, even worse. So an adjustable standing desk is a great idea. Okie dokie. What else? You can get cycling tools, hiking gear. TRX suspension trainer. That's a lot of fun. If you've not used TRX, look it up. I like suspension training. It's, it's, it adds a nice element of variety to.
Strength and mobility workouts. When it comes to food, you could get smart scales for people who like to specifically measure their food because without that, you really don't know what you're getting. Reusable meal prep bags and containers. I know a lot of y'all are preparing your healthy foods, your healthy meals in advance. That's a smart way to go about business if you don't want to get lazy and go get fast food.
So meal prep containers, you can get them in fun colors and with little stickers so you can say exactly what's in the container or you can use a Sharpie, but I love those things. Meditation app and accessories, fitness board games, what could be more fun? Very cool cooking gadgets, spiralizers, air fryers, Instapods, pineapple corers. Who doesn't need a pineapple corer? Trust me, that makes life way easier. I love pineapples.
And if you get this pineapple corer, you can get rid of that big spiky shell in a heartbeat. And quite often, if you buy a full pineapple, three bucks. But if you buy a cord pineapple, six bucks. So you save a lot of money with a corer. And then gifts of food could include fruit and veggie baskets. That's right. We don't all have to do red meats and cheese. It doesn't have to be the sausage of the month club. You know what I'm saying. You know who you are. Pepperoni all day.
You could skip out on that and actually get somebody a lovely fruit and veggie basket. What is it? Harry's? Is it Harry's that makes the pears? I don't know. I'm sure you guys are shouting the right answer at me, but there's lovely choices. Nut butter samplers. You could get a variety of nut butters or a nut sampler. So a variety of pistachios and cashews and walnuts and yummy, yummy nuts. Just make sure they're not allergic to nuts.
Let's focus on folks' hobbies, right? If somebody says, I love pickleball or I love soccer, boom, you know exactly what you could be getting. So hobby gifts, winter sports, snow sports, water sports, volleyball gifts, swim gifts, soccer gifts, weightlifting gear, rollerblades or roller skates, basketball gifts, football gifts, tennis gifts, softball, cheerleading, dance gifts. You could just buy little knickknacks, accessories, or staples for their favorite hobbies.
And then if you're going to be buying for kids, let's go with any toy that gets them moving from bikes to scooters to skates to pogo sticks, jump ropes, and, of course, Twister, right? We want to make sure Twister is part of that scenario. And we will be right back. Are you looking for the perfect gift for a loved one battling cancer? The Cancer Comeback Series by Fitz Kohler offers hope, inspiration, and practical guidance.
With Your Healthy Cancer Comeback, My Noisy Cancer Comeback, and The Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal. These books are a lifeline for all patients and survivors. Right now, you can order autographed copies at a special discount. Show your support and help a loved one go from sick to strong. Visit Fitzness.com today.
That's F-I-T-Z-N-E-S-S.com. Fitzness.com. We're back rest and recovery foam rollers massagers spa gift cards pain relief balms, should i leave them out no i won't leave out fido that's right your loved ones your animals, i'm sure you're probably getting fido and your cat named hamilton and probably your fish some gifts too so give them gifts that will help them get active too so toys and maybe leashes that make it more comfortable for you guys to go be active together.
And I'm sure those cats like those little playgrounds and your fish want something to swim through and around, something to provide mental and physical stimulation. I mean, this is the deal. You're going to buy your pet a gift. Because if Christmas morning comes around and you don't have a gift for your turtle or your bird, you're going to feel like a jerk. So, yeah, just focus on their health. In fact, we're going to do a show soon
based on healthy animals. And I got to tell you, my dog Piper is 15 and a half. And she's still so healthy and active. We do two to three miles every day. And I truly believe it's been the secret to her success. And for those of you saying, well, my little dog is going to be 18. Okay. Well, Piper is a 45 pound Labrador Greyhound mix, and she's, she's still in rockstar shape.
So you can do things to help your dog live better and longer, as well as your cat and your bird and your turtle and all those things. So we're going to talk about that another time, but yeah, shop, shop, shop, shop within your means. You know, if you have no extra money this year, I get it. the economy has been brutal over the past few years. So maybe that's where you want to go with a coupon, right?
You just want to make some handmade coupons and saying for this year, I'm going to gift you with time and we're going to go exercise together. We're going to do Pilates classes, or we're going to, we're going to come to my living room and we're going to do a yoga class together.
And I'm going to put out two yoga mats and I'm going to make us water infused with a fresh lemon or an orange, or I don't know how I'm making this up on the fly, but you don't have to give away gifts that cost you a lot of money. In fact, I think it's reckless to do that if you are short. It benefits absolutely nobody for you to go into debt or deeper into debt because of the holiday. That's not the reason for the season. The reason for this season is of course.
Religious purposes for many, and then being with friends and family and being grateful and just having quality time together. So don't break the bank. I've made a whole bunch of suggestions that do require you to reach into your bank account and pay for products. However, you don't have to. Don't feel like you have to. You can definitely give the gifts of time. And for me, you know, my kids, they say, what do you want, mom? And I say, I want something handmade or homemade, personally made.
And it's probably annoying to them. And my daughter always says, I want to buy you something, but I don't want her to buy me something. I can buy myself things. What I want is for her to write me a funny song and perform it because she's one of the funniest humans on earth. And she actually has written and performed hilarious songs at her summer camp and for school and on occasion for me at home. And it just brightens my life up so much. My son has made me incredible works of art as well.
And that really doesn't cost either of them anything. And so don't be shy to do that. don't be shy to show up and sing a song to each and every person on your shopping list. And I'm pretty confident you will generate the biggest and best smiles of the season, right? So I love you. Thank you for caring enough to prioritize not only your own health and wellness, but that of the people you're shopping for to spend this time listening to me and considering my suggestions. I'm sure I've missed some.
In fact, I cut a few out just because I wanted to giddy up and not eat up too much of your time. But yeah, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. And you know what? You know what's going to make your holiday season better? Our song of the week. Today, I am recommending you download Justin Bieber's Drummer Boy, which is. Freaking awesome. It is not the same old slow classic.
It is upbeat and really fun. And I like it. It comes on the radio and I think, oh, it should download this and listen to it more. And I'm going to listen to Justin Bieber's Drummer Boy a whole heck of a lot this year because it's damn good. So let's start there. Also, it's featuring Busta Rhymes. If you want to know how good it is up front. It's Justin Bieber and Busta Rhymes.
So download that and listen whenever you are sledding or snow skiing or doing snowball fights, all the things everybody does in winter time, especially us Floridians. That's right. We have many snowball fights here and we are going to be fighting to Justin Bieber's drummer boy. And then this is my communication tip of the season. I would like you to work ho, ho, ho into as many situations as possible, because I think it will be very, very funny if you do that.
So if somebody says something funny or does something funny, instead of your typical ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, I want you to give a ho, ho, ho, ho, that's right. I want you to ho, ho, ho it up hardcore when you're laughing. And then when somebody surprises you, you can also build it in with a ho-ho-holy cow, right?
Holy smokes. Ho-ho. Holy smokes. I think people are going to dig it. That's my contribution to society this season is to get you all out there acting as silly as humanly possible, rocking out to the drummer boy. Ho-ho-hoing everywhere you go, and of course, shopping for healthy things. I love you. I love you so much. Thanks for listening, team. If you haven't done so yet, click like, click subscribe, and of course, share. Get to work. Mwah!
Hi, this is Rudy Novotny, the voice of America's Marathons. We all love how much running has benefited every aspect of our lives, so much so that most of us only wish we'd started sooner. Wouldn't it be wonderful to gift the opportunity to children of today? Well, you can. The Morning Mile is a before-school walking and running program that gives children a chance to start each day in an active way while enjoying fun, music, and friends.
That's every child, every day. It's also supported by a wonderful system of rewards which keeps students highly motivated and frequently congratulated. Created by our favorite fitness expert, Fitz Kohler, Morning Milers across the country have run over 2 million miles and are having greater success with academics, behavior, and sports because of it.
The Morning Mile is free to the child, free to the school and is inexpensively funded by businesses or generous individuals help more kids get moving in the morning by visiting morningmile.com champion the program at your favorite school or find out more about sponsorship opportunities that's morningmile.com long may you run.