Canadian Gift Guide

My gift suggestion for today is, admittedly, a little bit tricky. In fact I actually asked for these very items, and was the tiniest bit surprised to actually get them from my dad for Christmas last year, prompting me to ask myself if he thought I was fat or something.

That being said, if you’ve got an open dialogue with someone about their fitness goals or desires, today’s gift is sort of a no-brainer. A good friend of mine introduced me to the Biggest Loser workout DVDs about a year and a half ago, and I haven’t looked back since.

There are eight DVDs in the Biggest Loser collection, each with a slightly different format and varying themes from yoga to cardio to sculpting. Plus, TV’s toughest trainers – Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper – have their own DVDs. Jillian’s are already pretty famous, while Bob’s are being rolled out this October.

The great thing about the BL DVDs in particular is while they are pretty tough, they have contestants on the show performing the moves, which is a great motivator. If they can do it, so can you! The sheer number of DVDs makes for great variety, and they’re affordable enough (about $10 each) you can snap up a few (or some cute exercise gear) for the friend you’re gifting. Plus, all of the DVDs provide a workout that both men and women could benefit from (although Jillian only features females in her solo DVDs).

If you think the person you’d like to buy some workout DVDs for will be offended, then this is probably a gift idea to skip. For me and my friend that first turned me onto them, I would not be offended if she gave me one, nor would she be offended if I gave her one. In fact we swap DVDs all the time to try out the latest workouts to see if they’re something we want to add to our personal collections.

There are a handful of ways body talk comes up between friends that make for easy avenues to gift someone with one, or several of these DVDs. Maybe your friend suffers from gym bunny phobia and you want to introduce them to a home solution. Perhaps they’re at home on a mat leave, wanting to drop the baby weight, and would be delighted to have a quick, pulse-pounding workout option available to them. If you and someone else are doing a collective weight loss challenge / motivational partnership, reward them with new DVDs to keep the burn going. If you know someone that wants to try a specific type of workout – say, yoga or kickboxing – pick up the appropriate DVD to give them a solid intro.

There are many ways giving someone a workout DVD isn’t offensive – but make sure you don’t just blindside a friend that’s a little curvy around the edges. My best advice is to bring up your own experiences with working out (whether you’ve tried these DVDs or not), start an open conversation about health issues, and take it from there. Your body, and your friend, will thank you.