Healthy gift ideas for Father's day

TOWSON, Md. - This weekend is about honoring our fathers. But instead of giving them another tie, how about a gift that can benefit the whole family.

There are plenty of ways to encourage the dads in our lives to stay healthy.

For Dawn Williams, getting fit has been a family affair. Dawn lost 200 pounds. She and her husband have always struggled with their weight. Dawn says, "We've both been large all our lives. I weighed 350 pounds at age 15."

But the couple was tired of tipping the scales. They're getting back into shape. And this father's day, Dawn has the perfect gift to keep the man in her life healthy. She says, "We're gonna go hiking. Normally we just go to the beach or just lay around or whatever, we do a more lazy person's vacation so we do do healthier vacations as a family now and we try to be more active."

Gifts to help dad stay active are one idea like an exercise basket that has a water bottle, hand weights, and a pedometer. Dawn says, "People are so much more sedentary now and you don't move as much. So when you have something that's counting steps for you, you'll park further away when you go to the store or you'll take the stairs or you'll just try to get in more steps."

Jacquie Cooper is the coordinator for TOPS, taking off pounds sensibly. Jacquie says a healthy snack basket filled with healthy snacks for dad is a great way to encourage good eating habits.

Food for the mind like healthy cookbooks, a subscription to a fitness magazine and puzzles are another idea. Jacquie says, "Sometimes when we just sit and watch TV, food commercials come on. So what do we want to do, we want to get up and eat. So if you keep yourself occupied with this or reading... It takes your mind off the eating part and it also keeps your brain functioning."

So this year instead of giving dad that boring tie, how about giving the gift of health.