Spark Spotlight: Jen (JENNMT)

By , SparkPeople Blogger
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: Jen (JENNMT)
Age: 49
Location: Silver Bow County, Montana 
 
Small Success of the Week
 
Jen is celebrating her first month of using SparkPeople with the loss of 11.4 pounds and 15.5 inches! 

What's your overall goal? 
 
I am turning 50 in a few weeks and I want to feel my best. I don’t care how much I weigh or even what other people think about how I look—I just want to feel strong and healthy so I can get out and enjoy my life. 

How is SparkPeople helping you get there? 
 
Tracking my nutrition and my activity level [brought things] I had been doing that were not the best things for my body [to my attention]. I learned that I am much more active than I thought I was. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t done very much in a day, but I am learning that I am doing a great deal of physical activity around the house. By tracking my nutrition, I have been able to see that I was routinely not consuming enough calories per day to provide what I need to compensate for all the exercise I do. 

I think the greatest thing about SparkPeople, though, are the members. When I have blogged about frustration or having a rough day, someone will give me encouragement; when I post about being proud of an accomplishment, there are people to cheer me on. 

What's your biggest challenge right now? 

I expect too much of myself. I underestimate how much hard work I actually do. Now that I can see it in my trackers, I am very proud of myself for all I have done.

What advice do you have for someone who just joined SparkPeople today?
 
Start slowly. Don’t think you have to eat perfectly on day one. Take the time to track and observe what your habits are so that you can have a better idea of what you want to change. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to other members on the message boards or the Community Feed because they are a friendly bunch of people who have been where you are and want to help you achieve your goals. 

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!