Gifts for the feminist fitness fan in your life

In my household we’re not big on gift-giving on special occasions, but we’ll often surprise each other with unexpected gifts for no reason at all. Whether your gift-giving is seasonal or all-through-the-year, here’s a list of gifts that might appeal to the feminist fitness enthusiast in your life.

Of course, to know whether any one of these will pass muster, you’ll need to be at least a little bit familiar with the likes and dislikes you’re dealing with. But there’s bound to be something on this list that will do the job.

1. Comfortable clothing that fits well and is easy to move in. No fit feminist lives without them. And I’m not just talking about workout wear. Fit feminists love themselves enough to want to feel good about, and in, the clothes they wear.

2. A Journal. For tracking if they like to track; for recording feelings if they like to record feelings; for writing down goals if they like to write down goals; for collecting inspirational sayings if that’s what gets them going. Nothing quite captures that swell of hope and about-to-be-realized potential as a fresh journal.

3. Gift card for a favourite running shop, bike store, activewear outlet, or yoga studio. Because new stuff!

4. Gift registration for a favourite event that you know they plan to register for and/or sponsor your athlete when they’re fundraising for an event. The registrations add up and it’s really touching when people know us well enough to take that kind of initiative (you do want to be sure, though, and not just assume, because we also make lots of plans and those plans can shift around a bit). Also, so many events support charities and people are often encourage or even required to raise funds through sponsorship. When someone you know sends you a request to sponsor them, they would very much appreciate your support! Thanks to “johntomboy” for suggesting that this should go on the gift list.

5. Class pass for yoga, ski lessons, karate, or whatever else your feminist fitness fan might be into already or you know they’d like to try.

6. Cookbook by a favourite cookbook author. My two current faves are Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Oh She Glows Everyday by Angela Liddon. (But don’t buy me either because I treated myself to Isa and then my staff bought me Oh She Glows.)

7. FitBit or some other tracking/monitoring device. This isn’t for everyone. But lots of people seem to want this type of thing. See Sam and my “point and counterpoint” on these things from last week: Sam here; Tracy here. My suggestion is to buy this only if you are certain your person wants one, and never to assume.

8. Massage or physio appointment. I don’t know a single athlete, feminist or not, who would turn either down.

9. Gear. Activities can be costly. Even runners, who supposedly just need to throw on a pair of shoes and head out the door (not quite), accumulate gear over time. Whether cross country skiing or snowboarding, cycling or triathlon, ultra running or yoga, there’s gear. From water bottles to fuel belts, buffs to bike helmets, yoga mats to foam rollers, there is gear available for every budget and at every price point. I could write a whole post about gear. But I’ll just say that new gear is usually welcome, especially the kind we would rarely buy for ourselves. For example, I’ve been admiring those special yoga mat bags (that’s all that fits in to them really) but it’s not really the sort of thing I would buy myself because it seems like an unnecessary extravagance (I do fine just carrying my mat around rolled up). But some of them are just so cute.

10. And now for the shameless blog promotion portion of the list: Fit Is a Feminist Issue swag (very cool mugs and t-shirts) and the January Issue of Canadian Living magazine, which features an interview with Sam and me on alternative ways to think about fitness in mid-life.

So there it is. Gift suggestions for now or later to keep the fit feminist in your life happy!

What would you add to the list? Let us know, and happy giving and receiving!