Spark Spotlight: Jeanie (WALKIN4JEANIE)

At SparkPeople, we love helping people accomplish big goals—but we believe it's equally important to celebrate the small successes along the way. Each week in the Spark Spotlight, we'll check in with a featured member about his or her proudest moments, biggest challenges and advice for others on living, thinking and feeling healthier. We hope these quick snapshots will help motivate you to keep moving steadily toward your own goals, week by week.

This Week's Spotlight: Jeanie (WALKIN4JEANIE)
Age: 57
Location: Hickory, North Carolina

Small Success of the Week

Jeanie is proud of her NSV (non-scale victory): She put on and wore a pair of pants that she was not able to even pull up at the end of the last school year! She says it felt good!

What's your overall goal?

My overall goal is to get to a healthy BMI, which my doctor just told me today that is another 17 pounds away. I have broken that into small increments, though, so my next goal is actually 1.2 pounds away. I am not thinking about the big number—that's too big. I am thinking in small increments.

How is SparkPeople helping you get there?

[Goal-setting] is the skill I have learned from SparkPeople—I learned to set a small goal, reach it, plan for a little reward and move to the next goal. I actually have a new reward of a cute little bracelet in mind when I meet the next goal.

What's your biggest challenge right now?

My biggest challenge right now is beginning the school year next week. I am a high school teacher [so] I will have to adjust my routine, but I don't want to lose my momentum. I know that the first two weeks I will be so tired that I can barely move at the end of the day, so I am trying to come up with a plan to combat that. Right now, I am thinking of trying to prep my meals on Sundays.

What advice do you have for someone who just joined SparkPeople today?

I would tell a new SparkPeople member to set small, attainable goals to feel success more easily, and then challenge themselves to move forward. Honestly, I started with something really easy that I knew I could do and then built from there. I use the hashtag #keepimproving quite a bit.

Want to be the next small success we spotlight? Share your successes on the goal feed or in the comments below, and you might be the next person we contact!