If you went shopping for that special someone on your list, and you stumbled upon the perfect gift – a gift guaranteed to make them look, feel and sleep better, experience less stress, improve self-esteem, increase productivity and motivation and be healthier overall – wouldn’t you get it?

What if that same perfect gift was not only invaluable, but also inexpensive, or even free?

You’d probably gift wrap enough to cross off everyone on your list!

Well, since it’s so easy – and cheap – why not get it for yourself, too? After all of the running around, planning, cooking, shopping, wrapping and worrying about others, wouldn’t it be nice to do something for yourself?

Treat yourself to the ideal gift of fitness: it’s the ultimate present you can give someone, including the person who looks back at you in the mirror every morning.

It may not sound like fun at first, but if you get into a fitness routine during the holidays and maintain it after most New Year’s resolutions have been broken, you’ll dramatically improve your well-being and your workout-related attitude. It will become easier if you’re patient and, for those who stick it out, it will even become fun.

An added incentive: giving yourself the gift of fitness not only benefits you, it’s also a gift for those who care about you and want you around as long as possible.

Getting into a fitness routine is the ultimate “me-time” experience, opening the door to better physical and mental health. This is about more than losing or keeping weight off: this is also about reducing stress and the risk of diseases like osteoporosis and diabetes. Exercise also improves sleep habits and productivity.

You don’t have to go out and run 10 miles every day or hire a personal trainer. Signing up for a gym membership may help maintain your drive to work out, but so will setting aside a half hour each day to walk briskly around the neighborhood.

You can create your own home gym with equipment that costs less than $15, such as dumbbells, resistance bands, exercise mats for sit-ups and push-ups or a jump rope. Home exercise videos or online training programs aren’t much more expensive.

Register online for Commit to Be Fit to monitor your progress (www.10tv.com/live/content/committobefit/index.html). The site is a great resource to find area events, proper equipment, nutritional information, even advice on how to get started. You’ll be surprised at how driven you can become by competing against yourself.

Conquering a goal and setting a new one is yet another glorious gift you can give yourself. It’s a way to champion a new purpose, to laugh in the face of a challenge.

Once you set and hit a goal, up the ante so you don’t plateau or become bored. Run (or walk or bike) a race. There are plenty in Central Ohio that befit your level of fitness. There are also triathlons and biathlon events, hiking trails, climbing wall facilities, various aerobics, dance, Pilates and yoga classes all over the city, and everything else you can think of to complement your comfort level.

Such a fitness routine will better justify a trip to the spa, too! Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!

Watch Andrea Cambern on 10TV News HD weekdays at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. and at 10 p.m. on WWHO-TV.

Holiday Gift Guide Bonus:
Sign yourself up for a race. You can do it.
• Nov. 9, Buckeye Classic 10K. Columbus. www.runwildracing.com.  
• Nov. 23, Champagne & Chocolates 5K Couples Run, Columbus. www.runwildracing.com.  
• Nov. 27, Pilgrims Progress 4 Miler (running and walking), Polaris Fashion Place. Proceeds benefit children with Cerebral Palsy. www.fatrabbitracing.com.  
• Dec. 6, Jingle Bell Run/Walk, through Downtown Columbus and German Village. Proceeds benefit the Arthritis Foundation. www.arthritis.org.  
• Dec. 14, Holiday Run @ Sharon Woods Metro Park, 4 miler, Westerville. www.runwildracing.com.  
• Dec. 31, MAD Dash to Midnight 5K, Broad and High streets, downtown Columbus. www.runwildracing.com.