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.)

Why a Registered Dietitian? It started with chronic disease symptoms.

My passion for nutrition came about in an interesting way.  

Like most people, I was trying to lose weight but I wanted to do it in a healthy way.  I saw the advertisements for the Special K diet and I thought that it would be a great place to start!  It encouraged eating multiple times a day, I already ate cereal on a daily basis, and I enjoyed their protein bars when I had tried them at my mom's house.  So, I decided to do the Special K challenge.  That was in 2009.

Within four days of doing the challenge I started having all of the symptoms of pre-diabetes: blurred vision, tingling in the fingers and toes, muscle weakness, increased thirst and hunger.   It was a terrifying time and I was so confused!  I saw my doctor and my blood sugar levels were high, she asked me what I had changed because I had been tested for diabetes earlier in the year since I was overweight and everything came back normal.  I told her about the diet.  She told me to get off of it because of the amount of sugar in it.

That's when I decided I needed to take charge of my health and what I was putting in my body.  

I wanted to lose weight, I knew that I needed to, because diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases run in both sides of my family.   My first objective was understanding diabetes since I experienced symptoms of high blood sugar first hand.   That's when I came across an independent documentary on YouTube called Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days.  The documentary follows six people with diabetes, most of them Type 2, over 30 days as they go through a program at a holistic, raw food camp.  I don't want to spoil the video but in the end, those who finished the 30 days lowered their insulin intake requirements, including the man who has Type 1 Diabetes!  

I wasn't sold on the idea of reversing it fully, but the prospect that through diet changes and exercise they could see dramatic health improvements, not weight improvements but HEALTH improvements, got me hooked on the idea of helping others improve their health through food and physical activity!

Fast forward to today and now I'm healthy, in college pursuing a degree to do just that while working a job that improves people's health through diet and exercise!  The topic of diabetes has stuck with me and it's an area I want to focus on during my master's program.  A study, Lifestyle changes may reverse development of the insulin resistance syndrome, posted in the Diabetes Journal supports the results seen in the Simply Raw documentary but the study took place over a year.  They found that diet changes AND exercise is key to lowering insulin resistance and over time this combination could reverse insulin resistance.  Another study, Effects of exercise and diet on chronic disease,  published in the Journal of Applied Physiology also supports this idea of reducing insulin resistance through diet changes and exercise.

Studies like these give me hope for my future clients and patients as a registered dietitian.  My main focus will be preventing chronic diseases like diabetes but to know that we can improve the lives and maybe even reverse insulin resistance leaves me feeling excited for the future.

References:

Roberts CK, Barnard RJ.  Effects of exercise and diet on chronic disease. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2005 Jan; 98: 3-30.  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15591300. April 19, 2015.

Torjesen PA, Birkeland KI, Anderssen SA, Hjermann I, Holme I, Urdal P. Lifestyle changes may reverse development of the insulin resistance syndrome. The oslo diet and exercise study: a randomized trial. Diabetes Care 1997 Jan; 20(1): 26-31.  Retrieved from http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/20/1/26.short.  April 19, 2015.

New Shaun T Workout Program Coming This Summer!

Hey guys!  Marquita here!

I just found out about a new workout coming JUNE 20th!  It's called Cize and it's the latest workout program by Shaun T, the man behind Insantiy, Insanity:Asylum, Hip Hop Abs, and Focus T25!  

Cize is an all new dance based "workout" that's designed to not feel like exercise.  You'll be using REAL dance moves, yes real dance moves, to build muscle and take your fitness to the next level!


So, what do we know so far?

Workout DVD length = 30 to 40 minutes
Total program length = 4 weeks (28 days)
Beachbody On Demand = Yes!


Beachbody On Demand?

This Netflix for Beachbody!  Any program you buy, PLUS a bunch of workouts from programs you don't own, you can stream as part of the premier Beachbody.com membership service, for $2.99 a month.  I love it because I don't have to remember to pack my DVDs when I go visit my parents.  And, since I own six Beachbody programs, I can switch it up on the fly!

Want more info?
Click the banner below and sign up by giving me your email!  You'll also be entered to win a FREE COPY when you sign up!