Wellness Wednesday: 10 Healthy-Habit Holiday Gift Ideas

With the holidays around the corner, why not give gifts that will help people succeed with their healthy lifestyle goals and aspirations?  I’ve searched the web for some innovative gadgets and tools that can help with snacking, portion control, mindful eating, and earth-friendly habits.  Here’s a few of my favorites:

1. Calorie Cuvee Wine Glass ($19.95): This hand-etched calorie counting wine glass offers a guideline for people who enjoy drinking wine but would also like to regulate their intake, whether it's for weight loss or general health. The Caloric Cuvee glass clearly marks ounces and lists calories consumed by ounces. http://www.caloriccuvee.com/


2. Jokari Healthy Steps Portion Control Ice Cream Scoop ($6.75): Over portioning ice cream is easy to do. This nifty-little ice cream scoop captures the correct portion size of ice cream in a chamber and releases the scoop into a bowl or cone with the push of a plunger-button at the base of the handle. http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-229494-Ice-Cream-Scoop/dp/B003Y3B90A


3. Healthy Steps Pasta Basket ($7.59): Portioning out pasta can be tricky. With the Healthy Steps Pasta Basket it’s easy to measure, cook, and strain one serving of pasta. Perfetto! Never again cook more pasta than you need. The Healthy Steps Portion Control Pasta Basket measures one serving of pasta and works with any type of pasta! The silicone basket provides a contained cooking space and up to four baskets fit into one pot. http://www.neatlysmart.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=75292&gclid=CMGr3Krt0LoCFYqk4AodJz4ASg


4. The HAPIfork ($99): The HAPIfork is the first item I have even seen that can help cultivate the habit of mindful eating. It’s an electronic fork that lights up and vibrates when you are eating too fast. Research shows that it takes 15-20 minutes to feel satisfied, and when we feel satisfied we naturally eat less. By simply slowing down your pace while eating, you will consume fewer calories. Pair with your smartphone or tablet over Bluetooth® to see your eating stats in real time with the HAPIfork app for iOS or Android and connect it to your device via Bluetooth® to check; (1) How long it took to eat your meal, (2) The number of "fork servings" (each time food is brought to the mouth) per minute, (3) A timer to help you pace your fork servings, (4) Actual intervals between fork servings, and (5) Your success rate and overspeed ratio.  http://www.brookstone.com/hapifork-smart-fork?bkeid=search|google|bidword|c|hapifork|exact&gclid=CILslc3v0LoCFY6Y4AodazkARg


5. Slimware Sunburst Plates ($37.50): Slimware is a unique line of casual dinnerware that provides subtle reminders about potion control within the plate design/graphic. The three sunbursts printed on the plate correspond to appropriate portion sizes for vegetables, proteins and carbs/side dishes. Each Slimware box contains four 10.5 inch melamine plates. http://www.slimware.com/Articles.asp?ID=141


6. The Kitchen Safe ($49.95): If you have a hard time controlling your snacking or eating a particular trigger food responsibly, the Kitchen Safe may be your long-awaited solution. Have your snack then simply place the snack or food item in the Kitchen Safe, close the lid, and set the timer. Once the timer is set, and the button is pressed, the safe locks and cannot be opened until the timer reaches zero. http://www.thekitchensafe.com/pages/overview


7. Measure Up Bowls ($29.99): The Classic Measure Up Bowl is great for measuring cereals, fruits, soups, chilis, pastas, rice, salads...anything you eat out of a bowl! The Classic features 1/2, 1, 1-1/2 and 2 cups premeasured portions on the interior of the bowl. The Small Measure Up Bowl is perfect for the calorie-dense, high-fat foods that have a smaller serving size. Nuts, granola and ICE CREAM, just to name a few. The Small features 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 cup premeasured portions on the interior of the bowl. The white porcelain makes them compatible with almost any dish set. Microwave/dishwasher safe. http://shopmeasureupbowl.com/main.sc


8. Healthy Steps Portion Control Dressing Cruet ($9.84): The Portion Control Dressing Cruet by Healthy Steps measures out the proper serving size of healthier, homemade salad dressings. Simply fill with flavored vinegar, olive oil and herbs or follow one of the healthy dressing recipes embossed on the bottle. Cover the top with your finger and give it a shake. The built-in emulsifier mixes the ingredients quickly. One easy squeeze of the cruet is all it takes to fill the top serving chamber with a 2 tbsp serving of salad dressing. Then pour over your fresh green salad and enjoy! The Healthy Steps Dressing Cruet holds just over a cup…that’s 8 servings of salad dressing. http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Steps-Portion-Control-Dressing/dp/B005IU5LX8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383767791&sr=8-1&keywords=portion+control+dressing+cruet


9. LunchSkins Re-useable Snack & Lunch Bags ($7.85): These stylish snack bags are great for appropriate snack portioning as well as creating a litterless lunch. Reduce your daily lunchprint by adding LunchSkins to your packed lunches. http://www.lunchskins.com/reusable-snack-bags-s/21.htm


10. Bee’s Wrap Re-Useable Food Wrap ($18): These cool wraps, made of all natural muslin, beeswax, jojoba oil and tree resin are reusable, recyclable food storage sheets perfect for picnics, school lunches, and leftovers. The warmth of your hands molds the cloth to the item you are wrapping and as it cools, the cloth stiffens, preserving your food. When the food is gone, Bee’s Wrap lives on thanks to beeswax and jojoba oil’s antibacterial qualities. Simply wash in cool water with a mild dish soap, air dry, fold, and store in a drawer. http://www.thegrommet.com/bees-wrap-set-of-three-sizes