When I was younger, I was one of those people I have come to despise. I weighed 95 pounds soaking wet and had the metabolism of a hummingbird. I could eat anything and instantly burn it up. It was almost like a super power. I look at old pictures of myself and wonder where that sprite-like person went, replaced by the thick-middled person who’s now seriously pushing middle age. I used to joke that my metabolism would one day catch up with me — now I’m not laughing.
Since turning 25, I have gained five pounds every few years or so. Granted, I don’t play soccer anymore, but I still work out relatively regularly. I’ve kick-boxed, I’ve run, I’ve done yoga. Nothing has gotten me back to my pre-marriage weight, and now that children have entered my daily life, it’s even harder to find time to focus on myself and lose weight.
Enter SparkPeople.com, my newest program/plan for getting in shape and staying there. So far it has been eye-opening because I am more aware of what I am eating. Tracking calories isn’t fun. In fact, it stinks. It’s cumbersome and takes moments from your day when you could be doing something else more enjoyable. But it is for good reason and it works. SparkPeople makes it as easy as possible by allowing you to type in a particular food and pick from the list of foods that is generated.
There are fast foods in there (that should be avoided at all costs, but it’s in there so there’s no hiding from truth), fresh foods and some store-bought foods to help track. You can even manually enter in foods and save them to a favorites list if you eat them regularly. I’ve heard there even is an iPhone application for tracking nutrition and exercise, although online reviews said it can be slow.
I tried using the generated meal plans but found some of them to have odd pairings and it brought up things I don’t usually eat. I found it more helpful to just refer to them for ideas of things I could eat and attain the same or similar caloric intake. My friend who got me to start using SparkPeople sadly hasn’t kept up with it.
I’ve found the exercise tracker section of SparkPeople not as user friendly. It does have some strength training lists with suggested exercises, but there isn’t a way to input, say, my yoga class. I had to put the yoga class in as a cardio exercise. Otherwise, I would be sitting there endlessly picking different yoga poses for the printable workout sheets, and it doesn’t track the strength exercises as far as I can tell. There isn’t feedback on physical activity like there is in the nutrition section.
I have been using SparkPeople for just more than a month. So far I have dropped three pounds and three points off my BMI. I attribute 90 percent of my success to just eating better. I still allow myself to rarely have half a cheeseburger or a scoop of ice cream, but I balance it by eating more fruits and vegetables the rest of the day. I have started shopping at the farmer’s markets in town and have been loving my fresher eating habits.
I purchase fresh eggplant, squash and fruits. I chop them up and put them in storage bags as soon as I get home and freeze them so I can take out what I need when I need it and not have to worry about spoilage. I have stopped buying chips, except for multigrain tortilla chips.
I have not been keeping up with my workouts because of life and work getting in the way, but I am determined to be better about that. A friend and neighbor of mine is trying to convince me to sign up for a sprint triathlon (500 m swim, 12 mi. bike ride and 2.6 mi. run). It would be a good goal and a reason to fit in those workouts. I may take her up on the challenge.
Christine Jeffries is a writer/editor for work and at heart and lives in a home of testosterone with her husband and two sons. She founded a women’s group, The Wo-Hoo! Society, in the interests of good friends, networking and philanthropy. The group meets separately on a monthly basis in Phoenix and Kansas City. Christine is interested in women’s health and promoting strong women.
Resources: www.SparkPeople.com