Welcome to my seven top health and fitness Christmas gift ideas.
Why seven? I have picked a variety of gift ideas to suit a range of budgets and needs all of which will help you and your loved ones as you get on board with the Elevate way of healthy eating and moving. Five out of the seven items are in my daily kit bag and the two that I do not currently use (on account of their job being done by one of the other items) I have gifted to friends and family. There are gifts here to help you in the kitchen and on the go because achieving your health and fitness goals is all about what you eat and how you move.

1. For the Kitchen –Spiralizer
One of the most helpful tools for your low carb high fat menu is a spiralizer. When you are first starting out and especially when you are getting the children on board, this tool can make all manner of pasta and noodle shapes to substitute your obvious carbs and keep Bolognese, chilli, pesto and tomato sauce firmly on the low carb menu. It works brilliantly with courgettes and carrots and creates some super salad textures with cucumber and beetroot to mention just a few.

2. For the new dieter –blender
(makes a cracking fat shake or bullet proof coffee).

I use my Kitchen Aid Blender most days especially when I’m in a tougher training period. I make my morning fat shake to supercharge my fat burn, protein shake when I’ve done heavy weight training and this little gem makes a wicked low carb high fat berry frozen yogurt. You will find the recipe for this in my soon-to-be-released eBook out January 2017. I have chosen the Kitchen Aid because it is a powerful, hard wearing model just right for regular use. Had I gone for a cheap model I probably would have had to replace it by now (I have probably used it over 500 times in two and a bit years). There are less expensive models available, but this is a work horse.

3. For the home workout – a good exercise mat

For your sit ups, press ups, planks and stretches I highly recommend a good exercise mat. The Mirafit model here closely resembles my favourite mat in price and function. This one is thicker than a yoga mat for back, elbow and knee comfort and it folds up to stack or stow away neatly rather than rolling up and standing it conspicuously in the corner.

4. For the fitness enthusiast – Fitbit Blaze

Fitbit lead the way in wearable activity trackers and their latest model Fitbit Blaze is packed with technology including GPS compatibility (it connects with the GPS on your smart phone) and it is very attractive and can be personalised with a variety of straps and bracelets. You can measure and record your heart rate during activity to stay at the right intensity during your workouts and the Fitbit software enables you to view all of your data to assess your progress. Where the previous Fitbits have been quite discreet, the Blaze is larger and clearly designed to be worn like a full on wrist watch.

For the fitness newbie – Fitbit Flex

The Flex is the basic activity tracker that is a fantastic motivator for anyone who wants to make the move from a sedentary  to a more active lifestyle. It counts your steps and even tracks your sleep activity, both of which help to keep you motivated to move more and sleep better.

For the Runner – Polar m400

The GPS sports watch market is a minefield. I took a year to research and speak to users before I landed on the Polar M400. I wanted two main things from my watch; a reliable heart rate monitor and accurate GPS that doesn’t take an age to find you. Polar are one of the original heart rate monitor companies with many decades of experience and excellence under their belt. I have never waited more than a few seconds for the watch to locate the satellites which is a must on an icy morning run. According to the majority of reviews, leading competitor Garmin can take ages to locate GPS and TomTom appears to lack durability. The Polar M400 ticks all my boxes and at around £100 it kicks the pants off watches that are twice the price.

For the cyclist – polar m450

As a fan of Polar I trusted their ability to produce a reliable bike computer and the M450 is an absolute gem. If you use the Polar M400 watch or other Polar device you will love the menus and screens because they are designed around the same clear and customisable screen with great data on offer. The M450 bike computer also has an LED head lamp which adds to rider safety which I love. The price point is around £120 and well worth it as it out performs much more expensive devices. For very serious cyclists you will be pleased to know that it is power meter enabled. There is also a more comprehensive big brother model called the Polar V650 if you want to be extra flashy.

You can shop the blog by clicking the pictures and links above. When you make a purchase via these links it helps to support the blog so I can keep bringing you great content. I hope that you found something here to make someone’s Christmas. Thank you for reading and Happy Christmas!