~~posted by Jen

Well it’s Black Friday weekend and everyone is rushing around like maniacs, fighting the crowds to find bargains, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, and starting the holiday frenzy of decorating and entertaining. You probably bought a few gifts yesterday, I’m guessing? But for everyone else BUT yourself, am I right?

I thought so! That’s why our first Holiday Gift Giving Top 5 is all about YOU. The Top 5 Best Holiday Gifts to Give Yourself and Your Health. That means both physical and mental well-being. If you aren’t treating yourself well, you don’t have anything left when it comes time to give of yourself to others. So you have to keep your own personal supply of “me time” in check and make sure you are taking care of YOU. That’s a hard thing for us to learn as post-op Weight Loss Surgery patients.

The majority of WLS’er that I know got to be Morbidly Obese by putting themselves after every one else on the list. I am guilty of that very thing myself. It is a hard habit to break, but we must all do our best to be our best, and that means treating our own selves as well as we treat everyone else. Here’s a good way to start, do something nice for YOU this holiday season!

In no particular order, I present you with:

 Bariatric Foodie’s Top 5 Holiday Gifts: Best Gifts For Yourself and Your Health

 #1 Go Wear Fit  If you were following Nik’s “BurnQuest” on Facebook Thanksgiving Day, this is how she knew when she got to 2800 calories burned. It is the perfect companion for keeping up with how many calories you are burning in a day, how many steps you take, plus it has awesome software so you can keep up with trends and even run reports. It tracks your activity, your sleep, and lots of other cool stuff.  For those like me who don’t do very much “planned exercise” it’s nice to see how many steps I take in a day and know I am still burning lots more calories than I take in, even without going to the gym.

Now, I am not promoting skipping the gym, but I am not gonna lie and tell y’all I go when I don’t. I’m much happier dancing around my living room like a maniac with Wii Just Dance or Wii Just Dance 2 and it burns just as many calories as being bored out of my mind on the treadmill or elliptical and I can stay in my pj’s.

#2 Xbox 360 Kinect is the latest in cool interactive home gaming technology. My friend Tony H (of getting me hooked on Raving Rabbids fame) says I will absolutely LOVE this, especially as much as I already enjoy my Wii. We’re definitely considering one of these as a “family” gift since our living room on the second floor has the Wii, we could put this one in the family room on the first floor. Yes, apparently we do need gaming systems on all 3 floors of our home, or so the boys seem to think!

The neatest thing about this in my opinion is that it’s wireless. It detects your motion and reacts accordingly, like the Wii does, but all without having to hold a controller. That alone makes it worth it to me! Nothing scarier than being the one whose wrist strap comes loose and sends the Wii controller flying straight at the 50 inch plasma tv. Yes, people, I am THAT graceful.

#3 A new laptop is definitely on my personal gift list for me this year. I have always been a PC girl, but more and more I thinking about taking a walk on the wild side and trying a MacBook. I’m still in the deciding phase, but given some of the reviews, a Mac may be in my future.

If it doesn’t come in pink, that could potentially be a deal breaker for me. Especially since my I-pod, current laptop, cell phone, and most of my other accessories are pink. Yes, it is a sickness, thanks for noticing.

#4 A Flip HD Mini Cam Corder is a great way to document your weight loss journey, along with other random funny moments in your life. When I first had surgery, I took videos of myself each week and emailed them to my parents so they could follow my progress. It was nice, because even from 1300 miles away, they felt like they were right there with me every step of the way.

This is also a neat thing to have handy if you have kids or pets, you never know when a random funny moment you want to remember will crop up, and it’s perfect to be able to save that in time. I recorded my 81 year-old father-in-law (“Pop” as I usually refer to him) telling lots of the stories from his youth and burned them to DVD so they will live on in his own words long after he is gone. I wish they’d had this when my grandparents were still with us.

#5 Ipod Touch is hands down the portable gadget that I pink puffy sparkly heart the most. It’s so convenient to surf the net, play games, check out what’s happening on FaceBook (yes, you can harvest your crops in FarmVille, thankyouverymuch), and have all your favorite tunes all right in your pocket.

I love love love LOVE, (have I mentioned LOVE?) mine and never leave home without it. Best thing ever when you’re waiting at a doctor’s office or restaurant and need something fun to do. Tons of cool free apps and games, whether your thing is Top Chef or The Real Housewives, there is an app for pretty much anything! I am learning to make sushi from an app on my Ipod!

And there you have it! Now do something nice and treat YOURSELF this holiday season! Happy Holidays!