What to Do with Your Gift Cards: Get Help Reaching Health Goals

If you were fortunate enough to get a gift card over the holidays, STOP and think twice before you use it.  Most of us fail to see the opportunity these cards present. We often think of a gift card as “mad money” – a chance to make an impulse purchase of something on which we would not have spent “our own” money.

Don’t treat gift cards like Monopoly money

It’s easy to use those gift cards for one more sweater you don’t need, a game you won’t play, a decorative tchotchke that means nothing to you or a book you won’t really read. But once the thrill of the purchase is over, are you really any happier?

How about using those gift cards to help you overcome the obstacles you’ve faced when trying to create a healthier lifestyle? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about what could make a real difference in the year ahead….

Reflect on Goals First, Spend Gift Cards Later

Money does not resolve all obstacles to a healthy lifestyle, but sometimes a little extra can help surmount a barrier that’s frustrated your efforts to live more healthfully.  What have been the biggest obstacles in the past year for you?  Maybe you want to address the obstacle that’s bothered you most. Or maybe you want to get things rolling by finally nailing down the lifestyle change that would be easiest for you to make.

Get specific about what changes you’d like to make to eat more healthfully…

Optimize Beverage Choices

Get selective about what you drink, and you can cut some significant calories and added sugar without going hungry.  Instead of sugar-laden soft drinks or sweet teas, are you trying to drink more water?

• If this is a battle for you, you might enjoy trying a fruit infusion pitcher.  These pitchers have a tube in the middle in which you can put lemon or other citrus fruit, berries or even cucumber.  You can keep refilling the pitcher, simply replacing the fruit every 7 to 10 days.  You can find an infusion pitcher for 20 to 25 dollars in bath and home stores, department stores, Amazon.com and even larger grocery stores.
• Tea is another healthy drink option, with phytochemicals that boost antioxidant protection and zero calories.  Use a lower-value gift card to stock your cabinets or office desk with a variety of teas. That way choosing tea more often need never seem boring.   My current favorite for something different, especially in the late afternoon and evening when I’m trying to avoid caffeine, is a ginger spice herbal tea. It’s not a source of the polyphenol phytochemicals found in green or black tea, but it’s a delicious zero-calorie treat I enjoy, so I keep a stash on hand.

Eat More Vegetables

Make vegetables the star of your plate as a key strategy for weight management and lower risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Contrary to common perceptions that vegetables are boring, they add enjoyment to your meals when they are prepared in ways that enhance their natural flavors.  In addition to steaming and stir-frying, I love the flavor that comes from oven roasting vegetables.  I especially enjoy the flavor roasting adds to onions, Brussels sprouts, winter squash, cauliflower and parsnips.

• Although vegetables can be oven-roasted on a cookie sheet or any baking pan after tossing with a bit of oil, I prefer to use a baking tray (sometimes labeled a cookie pan) that has a about a one-inch high lip to keep my veggies from sliding off.  And while I love the flavor olive oil adds to roasted vegetables, it’s easy to slip and pour too much.  To get the best texture and avoid excess calories from overdoing, I love the oil mister that I keep filled with my favorite olive oil, ready to spray on just the right amount of oil.
• Soups are another strategy that helps me include lots of vegetables in meals that my family and I love.  Soups are also one of my favorite ways to serve beans.  To top it off, research by Barbara Rolls, PhD, of Penn State and others shows that eating a low-calorie soup can help you eat less and feel full on fewer calories.  One of the tricks I’ve learned along the way to create a richly textured soup without turning to cream or oodles of cheese is to add some puréed cannellini or other beans.  How to do that?

A food processor or blender is my go-to for pureeing soup or some of its ingredients. Another option is an immersion blender (also called a hand blender), which allows you to blend soups in the same pot they were prepared. That means less need to transfer food back and forth — and it makes for fewer dishes to wash. Immersion blenders allow you to control the puree, leaving as much or little chunky texture as you choose. Just be sure the blender is completely off before lifting it out — otherwise the mixture will create a mess you wouldn’t believe!

Immersion blenders aren’t all the same. If you’re going to use it for beans and vegetables in soup, and perhaps some smoothies or hummus, you won’t need a model as heavy-duty as if you plan to use it to chop nuts or other more demanding tasks. Choose based on which characteristics are most important to you, including length of time it can run, power to process frozen fruit or vegetables, length of the shaft (which affects how large a pot of soup it can handle), choice of speeds (it can be useful to be able to slow it down in some circumstances) and type of shaft (stainless steel or plastic). This evaluation of 7 different models by Good Housekeeping can help you get a feel for the choices available.

Include Dried Beans and Peas Often

Pulses, the official term for these foods, are a great way to boost fiber and a wide range of nutrients and protective phytochemicals.  My cupboards always have a stash of black, kidney, garbanzo, and cannellini beans canned with no added salt. And dried lentils don’t need to be soaked before cooking, so I keep a bag or two on hand.

• A kitchen tool to make bean soups and stews easy is a pressure cooker, or the multi-functional Instant Pot version. These devices have come a long way from the versions I remember my mom using when I was young. When it comes to choosing a pressure cooker, experienced cooks often advise that you buy the largest cooker that is best for you. For most people it will be 6 quarts. Families of 5 or more, or people who like to entertain, might benefit from an 8- or 10-quart cooker. Check here for more tips about choosing an Instant Pot that’s best for you.
• If you decide to take the plunge and get one of these handy tools but need help with how to use it, there’s plenty of help online. Check here for tips from the American Pulse Association. And here’s a video from Registered Dietitian Jill Nussinow, MS, RD – known as The Veggie Queen – showing how you can use a pressure cooker to cook dried beans in less than 10 minutes.

Sometimes professional help is the boost you need to surmount a barrier…

Try a Cooking Class to Build the Skills You Need

The Internet offers loads of videos demonstrating how to cook all kinds of foods. And books can provide detailed how-to with tips and recipes.

• But there’s something about seeing food prepared in front of you, and perhaps having a chance to taste new dishes, that can offer extra power as a game-changer for cooking confidence. A local Y, Cooperative Extension, hospital, or other source may offer a class focused specifically on gaps keeping you from moving forward. Since many cultural cuisines have a long history of plant-forward dietary patterns, these classes can be a great way to learn new ways to prepare vegetables, pulses, soy foods, whole grains, and more.

Cut Nutrition Overwhelm with Individualized Guidance from a Dietitian

If you’ve got a gift card that is in the form of a general credit card, you may be able to use it to access a session with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) that would not otherwise be covered by health insurance or other third-party payer. An RDN can look at your individual eating habits in light of your health concerns, lifestyle, and food preferences and provide fresh ideas for workable ways to change it up. Keep a list of your top questions about conflicting nutrition information that troubles you. RDNs are the nutrition experts who can help you get beyond the all-or-nothing misinformation on nutrition and focus on what’s really important for your wellbeing and energy.

• You can Find an RDN in your zip code area through the website of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. You can also find dietitians available for telehealth counseling where you live. If the dietitian you choose does not accept major credit cards, you can use the gift card to buy groceries or pay for something else that would normally come from your checking account, and then pay the dietitian by check.

If you want to amp up the physical activity in your lifestyle…

Get a Strong Start with Classes or Individual Coaching

If you’re trying a new kind of physical activity, learning from a professional allows you to learn right from the beginning how to do it in a way that is both safe and geared to give you maximum results.

• Group classes can be a key strategy for many people. I hate to admit it, but although I will move mountains to keep any professional or personal commitment I make to others, when things get busy, the commitments I make to myself are often the easiest to put off. By committing to some form of lessons – ideally in a group so small that it would be noticed if I were missing – I know that I’ll stick with my physical activity plans.

You could use your gift card to cover a strength-training program, or perhaps a dance class that turns exercise into pure fun (Zumba? Square dancing? Belly dancing? Salsa?). Find a place that feels comfortable to you, whether that depends on other participants’ age, gender, fitness level, weight or type of workout apparel worn. Many fitness facilities now offer the same program type in several different fitness levels.

Don’t keep returning to something you’ve tried to do previously and hated – there’s no single form of physical activity that’s a must. But on the other hand, don’t let past experiences rule your future. Just because you tried something once and didn’t like it, that doesn’t mean that with a different instructor or different setting or timing it won’t be great for you now. You are not the same person you were 10 years ago — or one year ago — so don’t be afraid to give old ideas another try.

• Virtual classes often don’t offer the encouragement to make time to attend, since you won’t have others miss you. But the convenience of being able to join in without time to travel to and from a class may be what gets you over the time barrier to exercise regularly. Some are held live, which may provide more of a feeling of connection to the group. Others are on-demand, which requires more self-motivation to attend, but allows you to fit in some movement at whatever time works for you.

For example, although Peloton may be best known for virtual bike and treadmill workouts, there are a wide range of strength-training and aerobic workouts, too. After a friend gave me a trial subscription, I found it to be the perfect solution for me to try out barre classes and strength-training with a variety of different instructors.

Find Shoes Appropriate for Your Feet and Activity

The right shoes can make a surprising difference in the comfort of your feet and joints during and after physical activity.  Researchers conducting intervention studies that involve getting people more active tell me that participants often show up in old shoes they’ve worn for years of lawn-mowing… shoes that cannot possibly provide good support.  The best choice of shoes varies with the type of activity you’re doing as well as with your individual type of foot and walking pattern.

• It’s tempting to choose a new pair of athletic shoes based only on price, but they’re no bargain if they’re not right for you.  Instead, narrow the options to the shoes that will best meet your needs – you can get some insights here from the American Council on Exercise and from Runner’s World (for running shoes) – and then look for the best price among them.

This list is only a beginning. Take a moment to dream of your future self.

For some people, a gift card is treasured as a solution to meet urgent needs for food or daily necessities.

But if you’re lucky enough to be in a position that allows you to use a gift card for “wants” and not “needs,” consider how you might use it as a long-term investment to give you a leg up to creating the lifestyle you want to live.

*Full disclosure: My description of various products above is not based on a request from any company to mention them, nor any compensation or free product received for doing so. This is simply an effort to share examples of products trusted colleagues and I use as we try to create and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.