Spread the Spark Day!

This, my dear friends, is the reason I've lost 16lbs and in the best shape of my entire life -- and am still not finished.

I won't ever be finished. And that is EXCITING.

Toward the end of 2007, I was 140lbs (5'4) and unhappy. I wasn't technically overweight by any means, my BMI was 24 (the highest of the "normal" range is 24.9...), my shirt size was small and my pants size was 7, but I felt tired all of the time and very sluggish. I thought it was because of my insanely busy schedule when I was finishing my undergrad degree, which often lead to sleep-deprived nights and no-rest days. I THEN thought it was because I was student teaching, which is stressful in itself.

I stumbled upon this website through someone's recommendation on their blogging site. I looked around, and since it's free, I decided to sign up. Why the heck not, I thought. I started looking around -- I was mostly overjoyed at how they plan everything FOR you. I put in my current weight, put in my goal weight, and could either put in a specific day to reach that goal by or have THEM put in a date due to losing 1 or 2lbs per week.....and then they calculate not only a caloric range for you (which I thought ROCKED), but also the fat/protein/carbohydrate ranges, and anything else I wanted to track!

Everything was slow, but in its own time. At first, I primarily focused on getting my calories in order -- making sure it was in that range. I then started deciding I was going to go to the gym a few days a week and do some cardio on the elliptical -- I could then use the Fitness tracker. I used some of the demos on Sparkpeople to do some strength-traning at home, WITHOUT equipment. I made sure to get all of my water in.

I watched the scale go down. And down. And down.

And my confidence go up. And up. And up.

I began to read the articles that are all over the site, and started learning about EVERYTHING. Some things I knew I wasn't ready for, and others helped me gain knowledge about my body, fitness, and motivation. The community is AMAZING -- so HELPFUL! People that wondered the same things I did! Everyone sharing their own experiences!

Before I knew it, I was planning my first 5K. NEVER IN MY LIFE did I imagine that I would do that. EVER. I was the girl that nearly threw up every time she had to run "THE MILE" in junior high and high school. Run 3.1 miles? What?

I could write a book here about SparkPeople.com. To spare the endless gushing, all I can say it that IT CHANGED MY LIFE. It didn't happen overnight -- I learned along the way, and am STILL learning.

But here, a year and a month or so later, I'm 16lbs down, eating clean, in the best shape of my life and am still striving for more, and training for my first 13.1 -- a half marathon.

SparkPeople.com, my friends.

What ARE you waiting for?!!