Sparkpeople

Well a couple years ago I ran across a website called spark people. Sparkpeople is a community of people who are interested in losing weight, sustaining their weight, or just have a general interest in nutrition. They have all kinds of useful information and some counters and charts to keep track of things like weight loss, nutrition, exercise, etc. Plus its free.... So unlike alot of those other websites that I don't use because they cost some absurd amount this website is great and costs nothing but a few minutes to update everyday. Plus they offer blogging and talking to people in the sparkpeople community about just everyday life. I have been going here for a long time and I am still uncovering some of the features that I haven't tried out. Like the Healthy cooking sections where there is Chef Meg who teachers you how to make some of your favorite dishes more healthy. She has alot of good ideas. But there are tons of nice features to try out.

Last time Sparkpeople  helped me loss 15 lbs but over the last couple month I have put about 4lbs on and then over the last 2 years I had put 4 lbs more on. So I am starting Sparkpeople again. I would like to loss (if my scale is right... it gave me three different #'s this morning... ) 25 to 30lbs. Which is a pretty good chunk of weight. For me that is were I want to be. That is were I will be happy.

This is part of the main page...

I have also decided what part of my reward will be when I meet this goal.... A new tattoo. I haven't had a tattoo in 5 or 6 years because I am not sure what to get and they are pretty expensive.  But I am excited. I want to get a Vegan Tattoo sooner or later and I am not sure what to get... any ideas??? I have seen a couple I like but I really wanted something original... Or I have also wanted to get a tattoo of my three dogs, or their paw prints, or names... So I am really not sure yet.

I will still be blogging about food. But probably not as often as last year. Hopefully I will still try alot of new things and also show some old favorites but it really all depends on how many calories I can have a day and even though Sparkpeople says its ok to have upto 1,550 I would like to stay around 1,200 which comes with small meals that have few ingredients.

One thing I do find hard when I am trying to lose weight is the fact I really do love food. I love to cook, I love to try new things, I like to experiment, I like to go out with my husband and have dinner, and try new Restaurants... Our lives revolve around food... When I was younger when I did weight watchers I was a really picky eater. I didn't eat many different things, I had some foods I always stuck with, and I never went out and ate... Which made it alot easier to lose weight.... So now I crave a hundred different things a day and have to figure out ahead of time what I am going to eat for the next couple of days. That is the only way I find I stick to the program and not go over in calories.

Sparkpeople also has a vegetarian option and they will give you a menu for the day. Most things you will have to take the dairy out of. But they do have a few good Ideas. One of my favorite lunch/dinners came from there original vegetarian menu. It is no longer on the menu but I am posting it here.

A baked potato, 1/2 cup kidney beans, and broccoli. I add smart balance light w/ omega 3.  This is such a good meal. Most of the time instead of broccoli though I use green beans it easier but it doesn't have all the  nutritious benefits of broccoli... But I love this!!!! and it is my dinner for the day... :)

They also have a White bean chili that is pretty good and easy to make.

They used to have alot more option on there meal plans for vegetarians then they do now but don't let that stop you from trying there website. It still has a huge bank of foods that you can search click add the amount you wish to eat and it will give you all the information and track it for you.

This is the recipe section that has a ton of vegan recipes.
And there are many different ways to search so you can get just what you are looking for.

Below is the vegetarian options they have on their meal menu. Once you put them on your screen then you can just  not click on the dairy stuff and it will not add it to your calories.

Already listed Breakfast options

Already listed Lunch options

Already listed Dinner options

Already listed Snack options

This is were I entered in my food for breakfast and lunch. It was super easy and quick.  Plus say my smoothie isn't in my menu list then I can click the button and tell them to add it to a certain day. But you can also put it in your recipe box or you menu plan so that you can choice your exact meal that you planned for one of the days and it will save it for the future.

This is my Breakfast smoothie which I had made differently then what I have in my menu
so I just looked up the chances and did it this way. This is the Banana Oatmeal Fuel from 500 Vegan Recipes.

My lunch although I actually planned on having their planed pinto beans, broccoli, potato, and apple sauce...
I decided to have left over pasta and red sauce instead. See the little boxes over to the
 left those are the boxes you mark to say what part of there meal plan you ate.

Although I haven't ate my dinner yet.. This is what I am going to have...
 Except the katchup and mustard... it was with my snack just got put in the wrong place.. oops

My snack and my daily total.. So I went over my 1200 calorie goal but I was still in my limits :)

This is the meal calculator. You enter in all your ingredients. How many portions it makes and then
 it will give you all the nutritional info you need for you nutrition tracker. Plus you can
add it to your recipe box and to your menu for future use.

This is some of my recipe box.I enter alot of vegan cookbook recipes to add to my menu.

You can also share the recipes from your recipe box with other sparkpeople users.
And you can use there recipes and add them to your menu, or recipe box for further use.

This is part of the exercise trackers. This is what I was supposed to do today..
and did I do it... No.. My back still sucks? 

Here is the quick tracker... If you don't want to use the other portion.
 Plus this add your goal minutes up to let you know you totals for the year.

This is some of the other things in the community section were you can connect with every one...

They also have tons of articles on just about everything health related and even more...

This just touches the top of what Sparkpeople can offer you. It does so much and all for free. So check it out you won't be sorry and it may even help you shed a few pounds or just learn something new about nutrition or exercise.