Fitness and Nutrition Information that Sparks!

I'd like to talk to you about an amazing website I've been using for years: SparkPeople.com!   This website has been around for several years and offers a wide variety of information for anyone trying to improve their health, not just lose weight.  You can access the sites information from any mobile device or PC through a web browser but they also have a app that you can download on an Android based phone or an iPhone.  No matter the device, when you first see the site you're greeted by a deceptively simple layout that highlights the main stories, recipes, or exercises of the day and any new challenges the site has started.  It's a very inviting home page to a site that has a lot to explore!

My favorite, and most used, section of the site is the nutrition tracking.  You can use this tool in three different ways.  It can be a place where you actively track the foods you intake throughout the day under the categories of: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snack; it can be used by you to plan out a meal plan you've made on your own; or it can be auto-populated by the site itself based off of one of Spark People's meal plans.  No matter how you track your food the magic really happens at the bottom of the page.  Here, you can see how on target you are with your macronutrient (carbohydrates, fat, protein, and fiber) and energy intake (calorie) goals.  These values are based off of information you provide the site while making your personalize profile, which includes your health/weight loss goals.

Another great feature of the site comes in the form of graphs.  The visual learners will love these because you can see almost every aspect of your nutrition and fitness life in graph form.  For example, you can track energy intake, inches lost, and even your mood over time!

Outside of the tracking portion of the site lies the fitness component.  There are hundreds of free workouts in video or text forms for you to use!  They have videos on weight training, cardio kick boxing, stretching, and more.  No matter your fitness level or the type of equipment you have (I started with no equipment!), they have a video or exercise for you that you can quickly add into your tracker.  If you start a workout program using Sparkpeople let me know!  I'll support you with their system too for free! 

While the food tracking and exercise are a huge part of this site, an equally large side comes in the form of education.  They utilize a blog format and have several nutritionists and dietitians who write blogs for them on a regular basis, as well as motivation coaches and fitness experts.

The most surprising aspect of this site is the community.  It's amazing how supportive everyone on this site is.  You can find community groups set up for almost every faith, age, gender, and sexual orientation.  No matter how you feel in your day to day life, there are people who can very well become your second family in the Spark People community.   I can safely say that I love the Spark People community and I'm happy to see it growing!

I think I would find a way to include this site in every nutrition training I do, and I have in the past.  As a Beachbody coach and I have my clients get an account here.  It's a great tool for them to track their meals so they can see they are meeting their nutrient goals.  It's also a great tool for them to find even more support outside of me and our (bi)weekly check ins.  I also have them use it for the reports.  They post a copy of their meal report and their progress reports to the group so that everyone can encourage each other and share their accomplishments.

Even when I have my own practice (that's my goal), I'll likely have clients sign up for this site because it has motivated me through my weight loss more than a measuring tape ever could.  It gave me ideas of things I could do in my house and outside of the house that would get my heart rate up and put a smile on my face.

(I am affiliated with Sparkpeople.com in NO WAY.  I just really love their site.)