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the spark

so my cousin over at created and called put out a weighloss/healthy living challenge. it is quite impressive how vulnerable she has been with showing her weight and struggles. i decided i'd join in on the fun and contribute to her weekly question.

this week her question was whether or not i was an emotional eater -- oh my goodness yes!! when i'm stressed i eat, when i'm bored i eat, when i'm sad i eat, when i'm lonely i eat....well - thankfully, i'm working on that and recoginizing those times and making better choices and also saying no.

let me share a site that has helped me in so many ways. a friend at church all of sudden got skinny - super skinny! i knew she had decided to workout more this past year. i asked her one day how she did it! her response was sparkpeople! spark what???

well, it is this website you can find at sparkpeople dot com. it is a great online tool that is absolutely free. you can create a page and plug in whatever info you want to about yourself. but the big thing is that you plug in your weight, your goal weight, and your height. you also plug in what kind of exercise (cardio/strength) and how frequently you want to do it. then, it calculates how many calories, fat, carbs, etc...you should have each day. it provides meal ideas if you want to. then as you eat during the day you load in the data and it calculates it for you. i mean if i eat an english muffin, it automatically pulls up the calories, etc...

it has been a great way for me to watch my calories. it is eye opening when i plug in that little treat and realize that it wasn't so little.

the site also has tons and tons of articles on healthy living and recipes.

anyways - this tool has been invaluable to me. for my friend...she followed their calorie suggestions and plugged in her food. then she walked for 20-30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. and 4 months later - she was 20 pounds lighter!!

me....well i joined in the end of november. i've lost 5-6 pounds since then. i've stalled out 3 pounds away from my goal.

check it out!!

Comments

shannon said…
i did sparkpeople too! i lost around 20-25lbs before i got pregnant!!!! im glad its been useful for you too!
January 13, 2009 at 9:27 PM
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