Spreading the Spark about SparkPeople

I've been busy learning the food logging system at SparkPeople.com. I started tracking my food intake (and exercise) a week ago Friday (May 29th). My goal at this time is to just make sure that I get my needed calories in per day. Throughout the month of May, I took some time to become consciously aware of my eating patterns. They were sporadic, I never ate breakfast and I could tell I wasn't eating enough some days. I tracked my eating a few times in May and on those days I didn't even break 800 calories. Oh, my! That's not enough food i.e. fuel for my metabolism to work.

The first few days of tracking I had a tough time getting enough food. It was a bit of an adjustment being that I wasn't used to eating so much food. When the experts say to eat about 6 small meals a day, they know what they're talking about. Not only is the normal stomach just the size of a fist, so over stuffing causes all sorts of issues, but to get enough fuel we need to be eating every few hours.

Added bonus to eating enough last week... I lost 3 pounds. I have been stuck at 194 for months! Ta-da... I eat what my body needs and I lose.

I am not depriving myself of anything and am not tweaking what I'm eating yet. If I can log it and I can budget it into my daily calorie goal, then I will eat it. The tweaking will come later. A goal of mine for later is a lower sodium intake.

I love SparkPeople. They have everything you need to actively work towards a healthy and active lifestyle. One of my favorite things that helps to keep me on track and reminds me of what it takes to build a healthy and balanced lifestyle is their Spark Points. The Spark Points page is a list of daily activities that you can do to earn points towards virtual trophies and virtual gifts. A few things that I get points for are tracking my food and exercise, tracking other personal goals, posting on my Spark Blog, posting in the Spark Forums and Spark Teams.... the list goes on and on.

I really can't recommend SparkPeople enough. Oh, and best of all.... it's FREE.