Find a New Workout Buddy in the Community Feed

By , Your Ur-Workout Buddy
The power of community is strong in many ways, but when it comes to weight loss it's the secret weapon to success. According to a Northwestern University study, people who actively participated in online social communities lost more than eight percent of their body weight over the course of six months, versus just five percent in those who did not connect with others.

The Community Feed: the Best Place to Meet Someone New!


Lucky for you, the SparkPeople Community Feed has been out for awhile now and you—our members—are using it more and more every day. Some of you use it to show pictures of your progress, while others use it to give and get motivation, and some share photos, observations or memes that gave you a giggle.

The Community Feed is a tool for success and fun, but there is yet another option available,too, one which you might not have thought about: finding new workout and accountability buddies that can help you on your path to reaching your goals.

Community is a big reason we come to work every day, and it’s the grounding for so many of your successes over the years. The action of tracking your fitness and diet, and reading our latest tips about how to make small changes aren’t difficult to do on your own. But sometimes it can be incredibly hard to follow through with those tips on your own; it can be easy to give up on your tracking and give in.

That’s why SparkPeople isn’t just a diet and fitness tool website, but rather a community of like-minded people who help each other each day to take small steps towards success. We can give you the advice and the technology, but you give our members the motivation to reach their goals.

We’ve known for years that members who are more active in our community are more likely to reach their goals. Why not use the Community Feed today to meet someone new who can help you reach yours? Be proactive with these three tips that will lead you to a new SparkFriend today.

Filter your feed for “Goal Posts” and find people who have similar goals.

Not everyone in our community is trying to achieve the same thing. Some members want to lose weight, while other want to maintain and others are just looking to make healthier lifestyle choices. While you don’t have to interact with people who are exactly like you, finding members who are working toward similar goals as your own will give you the opportunity to find and share advice on some of the challenges that you face together. A quick scan of the Goal Feed should give you an idea of members who are facing the same struggles as you.


Filter your feed for “Trending Posts” to find members who motivate you.

The Trending Feed is where we show posts that have motivated our members most. Sometimes, you might not need to make friends with someone on the same journey as you, but you just want a little motivation. The Trending Feed is made up of posts from all kinds of people who only have at least two things in common: they’re a SparkPeople member and they’re taking steps to become a happier, healthier version of themselves. You never know what kind of inspiration you might encounter. And who knows, maybe your inspiration today will become your good friend of the future!

Check out the #firstpost hashtag to find new members and give them encouragement.

We all have to start somewhere. Think back to the first day you admitted to yourself that you had to make some changes. It was exciting, but a little scary too, wasn’t it? We all go through a range of emotions when we decide to make lifestyle change for the better, and it isn’t easy. Click on the #firstpost hashtag and you’ll see posts from members who are finally taking the plunge and jumping feet-first into our community. Get in there and give them a little support now and they’ll be grateful. You just might meet someone there who will give you the support you need when you need it most, too!

Remember that these are three of our favorite ways to find new buddies in the Community Feed, but this list isn’t exhaustive. We hope that the feed is a place where you can find people just like you that make your journey easier and more fun. If you can think of any other ways to make new friends using the Community Feed, we’d love to see them in the comments below!

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