Please Don’t Buy Me Candy Hearts

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day.  Your significant other is (and hopefully you are too) in the middle of this clean eating challenge and will absolutely kill you if you walk into the house with one of those heart-shaped boxes of waxy candy.  But what do you do?  How do you shop for a Valentine who isn’t eating sweets, doesn’t need another stuffed animal, and won’t waste his/her carbs on wine?  Don’t worry, I’ve got you!  Here’s your Valentine’s Day Gift Guide.

Let’s play, “Buy This, Not That!”

Candy:  Skip the chocolate boxes (the seasonal stuff is usually pretty terrible anyways) and get your loved one some really dark chocolate.  It has a ton of health benefits, lots of good fats, and, you know, it’s chocolate.  This bar from Green & Black’s is fantastic!  I’m also desperately in love with the ThinkThin Brownie Crunch bars.  It’s difficult to make chocolate taste good in a protein bar, in my opinion, but these are an exception to the rule.  And the TAZA chocolate is dark, spicy, gritty, rich, and a little unexpected.  I’m obsessed.  You can find it at Wholi Moli in the Target plaza if you’re local.

Stuffed Animals:  They’re cute.  They’re cuddly.  They’re also functionally worthless.  (sorry!)  Get your significant other something he or she can really use like a new Blender Bottle (from any of the Butter It Up locations if you’re local)  for shakes or a water bottle.  I have a Tervis I use most days for water and a blender bottle every day for shakes (or shakes blended w/ coffee…don’t tell).

Purses/Wallets:  I bet you $10 that your loved one already is well-stocked in the accessories department but not as much in the what-the-heck-do-I-do-with-all-this-food-I-prepped department.  This Meal Prep Tote would be a great gift option if he/she is trying to eat healthy at work, on the road, or while chasing kids all over creation.  It has an ice pack, meal containers, and a blender bottle.  It’s on the top of my wish list this year.

Appliances/Tools:  If your amor is into cooking in any way, shape, or form, this is the one purchase you can make that will improve his/her life the most, in my humble opinion.  The InstantPot makes food taste better and cuts cooking time down to minutes instead of hours.  It is a pressure cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, porridge maker, steamer, sauteer/browner, and warmer.  I just mine at least five times a week.  I use it for soups, roasts, hard boiled eggs, and greek yogurt, and I’m still learning about all the cool features it has.  Seriously, best kitchen tool ever.  Period.  And at the time of this posting, they’re on sale for $118 (reg. $234). (awesome Ryan Gosling stickers not included) 😉

Cook/Bake:  There’s no replacement for showing love through making food, at least not in my southern heart.  So, if you want to make something to show how much you care, let me suggest this Chocolate Fudge or Protein Cheesecake.  They’re decadent without putting anyone into a carb coma.

So, as we celebrate this day of love, let’s not undo all the work we’ve done to love our bodies by feeding them well.  And if you need to give a strong hint to the Valentine who is shopping for you, just send this article his/her way.  I’ll deliver the message for ya.  😉  Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!