Spark People - LONG

jharris

jharris

Cathlete
Hi,

Do any of you here use this site? What results have you had with it? What do you think are the pros and cons of this site? Do you use the mobile version? Is it easy?

I go back and forth between this one and My Fitness Pal. I have MFP on my iphone and its easy enough to use. My only issue is you can't change the mode of servings sizes for most items.

Sparkpeople I have used before but becomes addicting. There are so many things to do and read over there that it becomes overwhelming.

Here's the thing I would like to lose approximately 50 pounds. I workout anywhere from 4-6 days a week, I try to mix up my week with a variety of workouts. Kettlebells, cardio, circuits, weights and yoga. I try to keep the junk to a minimum and eat healthy most of the time.

My problem is I dislike calorie counting, calorie tracking, calorie planning.
I think if I could get over this hurdle I may have a chance at success. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to get past this mental block.
 
Hmmm.....I haven't used Spark People, but I did the Daily Plate for a little more than a year. Worked like gangbusters at first, then it slowly drove me batty. I would realize I had 10 more calories to eat in a day. JOY!!!! Food!!!!! And then would proceed to eat everything in the house in search of those 10 calories I was "allowed" to eat.

I quit with the Plate a couple few months ago - had some good support and advice here - thanks Gayle!!!! While I haven't lost any, I haven't gained any either. I am aware of what I eat, but I try not to obsess over it anymore. I eat when I'm hungry, although I do have slips, I won't say I don't. I no longer go in search of the those last couple calories to round out my day, or end up starving all night because I met my limit at dinner.

My biggest thing that has helped me is to eat REAL food. Stay away from boxes and packages and things you can't pronounce. I still eat food from a box, it can't be helped, but I try to find boxes with the fewest ingredients, the most food, and the least science experiments in them.

There are day when I have to keep myself in check, days where things go very good, days that suck, and days that I have to pick myself up, dust off, and start again. But, I've learned not to beat myself up over it.

Spark people may be good for a month or so, to get handle on portion size and what you're really eating, but then you may want to let it go. I tend to get really "into" things or obsessed, and that calorie counting drove me batty!!!

Yeah, so I didn't really answer the question, but that's my take on the whole thing.

Nan
 
i agree, counting cals/points doesnt work for me either. it makes me think about food too much. once you have a handle on healthy servings, i think you can listen to your body for what works best. whole foods/natural foods give us the most energy. and it doesnt have to be complicated or really expensive.
you might try listening to IOWL inside out weight loss pod casts. this is exactly what she talks about. relearning about hunger, listening to our body, retraining our brain to think like the people that seem to be slender and healthy effortlessly. people in china dont know what bad or good carbs are. they dont know about proteins and rules like no eating after 7pm. they still manage to be healthy.
instead we need to resolve our issues that have nothing to do with food, and focus on passion for life. so much of the time, when i think i'm hungry i'm not. when i do eat when my stomach is hungry and stop when satisfied, keeping up the exercise, i lose weight. i'm sure that we both can do it. pm anytime.
i also use a checkin on these forums to help keep accountable mostly in exercising. we dont need to stop over eating completely. we need to learn self correction. balancing intake with activity. listening to our body.
 
I haven't used Spark People but I do use Calorie Count. I wish that I was at the place where I could eat intuitively, but I am not there yet.

I do like it that CC is pretty easy to use. The food database is pretty extensive, which makes food log entry easier. With most items, you can adjust the entry to how much you ate (e.g 3/4 cup). There is also a recipe analyzer and item tag, which can really speed up food entry. I use Workout Manager to get my calorie burn and then enter it into CC. I strive for a 500 - 1000 calorie deficit daily (I don't always make it). HTH!
 
I use spark people regularly. I lost about 54 pounds on that site, and have kept them off for over two years now. However, when I started, the calorie-count aspect wasn't convenient and didn't give me the nutrition control I wanted, and so I used (and still use) FitDay instead. Or, just a scrap of paper if I'm wanting to keep an eye on things while on travel :)

The SparkPeople benefits for me:
* Community support for you as you make your lifestyle change, from weight loss through maintenance. There are many focus groups that you can switch between as your interests and needs change.
* Like-minded people going through what you are going through - it takes the pressure off of friends and family if you have another place to vent, blow off steam, and so on
* The 'change your life a little at a time' attitude is extremely helpful if you're looking for long term change and not a quick fix
* Combination of articles on fitness, nutrition, habit-change support - knowledge plus action is a powerful combination
* The idea of sparkpoints seemed very silly at first, but it's really addicting and that little bit of a 'reward' for healthy behavior makes it easier to measure progress and stick with behaviors

SparkPeople isn't likely to be helpful for people who want a quick fix or who want to just shed pounds and then go back to their own behaviors.

Calorie counting - interesting issue :) For me, the calorie count was only a tiny part. I *analyzed* my meals, in combination with changing my lifestyle to include exercise, better sleeping habits, and all kinds of little changes. Analyzing meals isn't about limiting my food, but to give me an understanding of what I am putting in my body, and how those things affect me on a daily basis. Comparing changes in what I ate with changes in my energy levels, health measures like blood pressure and cholesterol as well as weight was very useful. I found I was eating far more than I thought, and not nearly as well balanced as I'd hoped - practically all simple carbs/saturated fats and very few proteins, healthy fats, etc. I analyzed my meals regularly during the nine months it took me to lose the weight, and periodically still do this as a checkup, or if I start feeling tired, or if I make a change in my exercise routine. Just counting for the sake of restriction wouldn't be nearly as useful to me as the 'analytical' approach, though it takes longer.
 
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Why do you dislike calorie counting? Is it that you had a hard time with math in school? Or is it that it requires you to be honest with yourself about what you are eating? Would it be more effective for you to set other, more simple boundaries such as, no soda during the week, just one cheat meal, and you have to eat complex carbs, healthy fats and plenty of veggies? That way you don't have to count calories, but are focusing on really healthy options which should produce a calorie deficit without the counting. Junk food won't satisfy, but real food will. Calorie counting is more important with foods that produce an insulin (carbs) response rather than foods that don't (proteins/fats). Adding more olive oil and coconut oil to my diet has produced a weight loss even though they add calories.

Btw, I'm working on about 50 pounds right now too. I have lost 80 pounds over the last three years and kept most of it off until I was put on several rounds of antibiotics and put on 9 pounds, I've got 2 of them off. I also workout 5-6 days/week. I guess what I'm saying is, I am in the same situation and I get it.
 
RapidBreath said:
Why do you dislike calorie counting? Is it that you had a hard time with math in school? Or is it that it requires you to be honest with yourself about what you are eating? Would it be more effective for you to set other, more simple boundaries such as, no soda during the week, just one cheat meal, and you have to eat complex carbs, healthy fats and plenty of veggies? That way you don't have to count calories, but are focusing on really healthy options which should produce a calorie deficit without the counting. Junk food won't satisfy, but real food will. Calorie counting is more important with foods that produce an insulin (carbs) response rather than foods that don't (proteins/fats). Adding more olive oil and coconut oil to my diet has produced a weight loss even though they add calories.

Btw, I'm working on about 50 pounds right now too. I have lost 80 pounds over the last three years and kept most of it off until I was put on several rounds of antibiotics and put on 9 pounds, I've got 2 of them off. I also workout 5-6 days/week. I guess what I'm saying is, I am in the same situation and I get it.
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Why do I dislike calorie counting? Well I'm not the greatest with math but that's not the reason. I think it is the having to be honest with myself aspect. Plus I want to believe I can lose weight without the counting but that's not working either.

I have given myself other goals to work towards. Such as X many workouts in X many days. And adding yoga in one day a week. Making sure I get at least two days of strength training in a week, either using weights or kettlebells. Most of my goals tend to surround exercise because I know my chances of failure are minimum.

What I find the most frustrating is when I started with the goal of making sure to weight train and I did gym styles upper body I put on 4lbs instantly. I know it is mostly water or in the muscles but it is still frustrating. I feel like I bust my butt to workout and I get nothing.

It's like my body doesn't want to release it's fat. I step on the scale nothing, I measure, no results. With frustration comes negativity and then the excuses.

I just want to be comfortable in my skin. I want to not notice the spare tire that hangs around my waist or the xtra flab on my inner thighs and triceps. I want to want to go shopping and not cringe in a mirror.

Jenn
 
I know exactly where you are coming from. I haven't used Spark but use FitDay when I start slipping big time. It is always about what I eat - not my exercising that causes me issues. I do have the bouts of too busy to workout or not feeling well or overwhelmed and can get myself back on track with exercise. Food is another issue as I eat horribly when my life goes off track.

Logging for me is a way to make sure I am seeing exactly what I eat and the calorie counts is secondary. I eat when I am hungry and don't typically eat horribly but will snack on chips here and there or have too many "adult beverages" if life gets to me. That is where I start and the logging will give me my carb/fat/protein intake so I can see where I might be lacking. When I pay attention to the food I take in, and make it only for fueling purposes, I typically have an easier time taking off a few pounds. If I stall, I try to add a little more cardio as that works for me.

Figuring out an exercise regimen to fit your body's needs is another issue and I have played with that the past handful of years as my body has changed the way it responds to various types of exercise. STS makes me gain every time and makes me hungry too.

To answer your original question, I like FitDay because I can log quickly with the custom food feature, recent foods (I eat many of the same things such as salad, chicken, oatmeal, cottage cheese, etc) and by eating the same things consistently it makes it easier for me to know what and how much to eat as I know the portions, calorie count and content(carb/fat/protein). Once I have logged my food and see where I am, then I make the adjustments necessary (even though I know in my mind - seeing it in writing helps me tow the line).

If logging calories is not for you, then try the elimination theory in combination with the reward theory. Eliminate one "unhealthy" food from your diet for a few days, then another,then another. When you have done well, dropped a pound or eaten 'clean' for a week, have a "treat" but do so in moderation. Drink lots of water and see how you do.

Another thing you may want to try is "clean eating" or eating only those foods that are unprocessed. This helps me drop weight in no time. When you are hungry eat veggies in abundance and a couple pieces of fruit per day for a "sugar" fix.

Hope some of this has added to the ideas earlier - good luck in your quest.

YOU CAN DO IT ! ! !
 
I understand where you are coming from, too. I have been a yo-yo dieter for most of my life. So this time (the final time), I am working on losing the weight in a sensible, sustainable way. I have lost 40 pounds and have another 65 to go.

I don't relish the idea of doing food logs or counting calories, but it does make me face up to what I am eating. It has helped me get a handle on some of my problems. As I mentioned before, I like Calorie Count, but it doesn't really matter what site or method you use, as long as you use it regularly. I like chatting in the groups. It really helps me to talk about my food issues with others who are in the same boat.

I made a September goal of making a journal entry every day, having a calorie deficit of 14000 calories for the month (= 4 pound weight loss), and exericising 1250 minutes (about 1 hour 5 x per week).

BTW, I didn't mention it before, but CC does have mobile apps. I don't use them so I cannot say to much about it.
 
I didn't mention it before, but CC does have mobile apps. I don't use them so I cannot say to much about it.
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Really? I am using SparkPeople because they have a moblie app (android) and I couldn't find one for Calorie Count.
 
Yup!

Apparently, they are new. They don't specifically list a droid app, but they do list a mobile website which I assume is generic. The other apps are for IPhone and Blackberry. I just have a regular mobile phone, so I cannot vouch for them, but that's what CC says!
 
Calorie Counting

Has helped me lose 19.5#'s to date (I started on June11)! I don't eat great just counting those darn calories! I use the Itunes app Lose iIt! LOVE it.
 
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