SparkPeople Ghost Runners Do Their Share to Support the Hood to Coast Team

Mike Brennan

Many of you may have read earlier this week Kate Eakman's blog regarding a team of 12 SparkPeople members who have joined together to run the Hood to Coast Relay--a relay beginning at the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and finishing 197 miles down the road on the shores in the small community of Seaside, Oregon.

While the team will be running the actual course in Oregon, we have been blessed to have a group of supporters who have been given the title 'ghost' runner. These members will be supporting us from all around the globe.

The question now is, what is a ghost runner for the Hood to Coast relay in 2010?

A ghost runner is all about supporting the 2010 Sparkin' Hood to Coast Team as they run their three legs of the relay. We have runners from all over the United States, Canada, Scotland and England who will be running the same legs as their assigned runner.

Having ghost runners partake in the journey was the brainchild of our Co-captain, Kate Eakman. It is the opportunity for our SparkPeople friends to come and join in the spirit of the event without having to leave the comforts of their own community.

This has really turned into a SparkPeople event! Everybody involved in this race are all SparkPeople members. Twelve runners, three volunteers and the two drivers are all a part of the team. Eighteen SparkPeople runners signed up to run as ghost runners.

See Yourself as Fit Person, No Matter Your Size

By Beth Donovan (~INDYGIRL)

Sometimes the difference in whether you gain or lose is how you see yourself. Sports trainers often use visualization to help athletes meet their goals by simply by having them imagine or see themselves as winners. What if we all stopped looking at ourselves as dieters and looked at ourselves as fit people? Would we still be so depressed about our situations that we would eat that extra helping? Or would we have a little more bounce in our step and park a bit farther away from our destination? Would we train for a 5K? The possibilities are endless if we don’t limit ourselves with a label of “unfit.”

Yes, so maybe we really are not at peak fitness, or anywhere in the vicinity. I personally am disabled and have more than another 100 pounds to goal, although I’ve lost 132 pounds to date. Part of how I lost weight though, was thinking of what I could do. Sure, there are plenty of things I can’t do, but there are also plenty of things I can.

Take a good look at yourself in your mind and consider yourself fit. You are fit. You are fit to do something about your situation. You are no longer a dieter. You are fit to make your own healthy choices and, if you desire, you can make the occasional indulgent one. The ball is in your court. It’s time to pick it up and play.

SparkPeople Members Take on the Hood to Coast Relay

By Kate Eakman

Imagine running four or five miles in the dark on a back country road. You ran six miles yesterday afternoon. And you still have another five or six miles to run later today.

You haven’t showered since early morning yesterday. You haven’t slept in a bed since the night before last and you won’t get to sleep in one for another day. Rest breaks are in a van filled with five other sweaty runners all doing the same thing you are doing.


Ice and water are your friends.

Exhaustion--well, exhaustion is your enemy.

You paid good money to do this.

And you are having the time of your life.

Welcome to Hood to Coast, a 197-mile relay race that begins at Mt Hood’s Timberline Lodge and ends at the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon. Every year 1000 teams of runners strap on their running shoes and prepare to participate in the Mother of All Relays. The runners take turns completing legs of four to seven miles, taking 14 to 36 hours to complete the course, one that tests physical and mental strength and stamina.

Meet the Man Who Keeps SparkPeople Up and Running

Editor's Note: By popular demand, our Behind the Scenes at SparkPeople feature has returned.

Name: Josh Knepfle

Position at SparkPeople: Chief Technology Officer

Age: 34

Family: My wife, Julie, and I have 4 kids: Joellen (7), Jacob (5), Janie (2) and Jonathan (7 months, above)

How long have you worked for SparkPeople? I started working at SparkPeople in October 2001, but I had worked with Chris previously at eBay and Up4Sale.

Tell us your proudest accomplishment at SparkPeople or a fun fact about your job: I’m most proud of the efficiency of our team in keeping the busiest diet and fitness site running well 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How do you stay in shape? I like to take advantage of our small gym here at the office. I’m here before 7 a.m. most mornings, working out on our elliptical machine and recumbent bike before I start work. I also try to incorporate my kids into my workouts (taking them to the park for hikes, wrestling with them, having them sit on my back while I do pushups, etc).

What's your favorite food? I really love crab legs, and the raspberries, blackberries, and tomatoes from our garden taste so good right now, too.

What's your favorite indulgence? I have trouble turning down any chocolate, especially when it comes in a baked good. My mom’s brownies come to mind. But, I also love a really good fruit pie or cobbler, especially blueberry.

Bidding Adieu to 'The Last Supper' Mentality

By Beth Donovan (~INDYGIRL)

Before SparkPeople, I used to have what I now call the "last supper mentality," as in swearing off a certain food and recommitting to a "diet" after one last hurrah, aka a binge. The last supper mentality is the difference between perfectionism and the middle ground where lifestyle really is.

So many times I used to say to myself:

"OK, this is the last piece of pizza I'm ever going to eat."

It never was.

"This is the last time I'm going off my diet until I get skinny."

It never was.

It never was the last anything. I would wake up the next morning, and Pizza Hut was still delivering, and chocolate was still as sweet and delicious as the day before.

5 More Tips to Stay Healthy on the Go

Hey, dailySpark readers, it’s Anne again from the food and fitness blog fANNEtastic food! In my first guest post I shared my tips for packing a healthy lunch in five minutes flat, and today, in honor of summer, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite tips for staying healthy while traveling!

Tip #1: HYDRATE!


• Bring a reusable water bottle so you always have water handy (for free!). Mine comes with me everywhere! If flying, bring it through security empty and fill it up on the other side.
  
  

  Posted 8/4/2010  6:08:00 PM By: dailySpark Guest Blogger : 51 comments

  Read More

Crossing over Those Dreaded Plateaus

By Beth Donovan (~INDYGIRL)

Since I weighed 460 when I started my journey and I weigh 334 now, you can bet that I’ve had my fair share of plateaus. They are frustrating to say the least and sometimes are the one thing that can break your resolve to stay in a healthy lifestyle, even after months or years of successful fit living.

Personally, I blame the scale. It takes itself too seriously and convinces us that it is the only way to judge whether we are making progress. We want so badly to see those numbers go down. I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience or not, but I can be having a perfectly “thin” day (where I feel good about myself and my body) and then I jump on the scale. If that number goes up even slightly, sometimes it’s like putting an anvil on my back. All the bounce goes out of my step and I feel sluggish, depressed, and as if I’ve failed. Sometimes I feel as if I should just give up.

Since SparkPeople has come into my life, I’ve learned that sometimes the scale goes up or stays the same because my body decides it is time to rest and adjust. I suspect my mind needs time to rest and adjust too. My mantra? Lose, maintain, but just don't gain. Gains do happen, but bodies are alive and changing by the minute. Haven’t you noticed that you weigh differently at different times of the day? Picking one consistent time and not weighing as often, for example weighing weekly or monthly, helps avoid the pitfalls of the body just doing its thing.

From Eating for My Weight to Eating for My Health

By Julie Bream of Peanut Butter Fingers (JL2726)

We live in a world where the latest way to lose five pounds changes every 1.5 seconds. When I was growing up, everyone was all about eating low-fat or fat-free foods. When I entered college, the low-carb craze was in full swing.

I can remember the week I tried living on a diet fueled by meat and cheese and very little carbs. I was living in my sorority house at the time and was surrounded by women who were constantly talking about feeling fat or feeling guilty after indulging in a brownie. I read a lot about the low-carb diets and followed the intro phase, which limited my daily carbohydrate consumption to 20 grams.

After a week of feeling lethargic and defeated, I told my then-boyfriend that I'd rather have a little extra "me" to love, rather than feel the way I did while trying to maintain a low-carb lifestyle.

Sure low-carb living works for many, but I found my greatest success and happiness in living a life fueled by a variety of healthy foods, rich in vitamins, nutrients and, yes, even carbs.

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2008, I began reading a lot about the importance of a healthy diet in cancer prevention. It was then that I truly began eating for my health, rather than eating to maintain or lose weight.

My mom's diagnosis was a bit of a wake-up call for me. I realized that my body doesn't care how thin I am. My body functions best on a healthy diet, rich in fresh produce, whole grains and healthy fats.

'Exercise Helped Me Beat Breast Cancer'

Editor’s Note: When our staff recently reviewed some recent exercise guidelines for people with cancer, Beth, a SparkPeople employee and cancer survivor (pictured with her family, left), felt compelled to share her own story with our readers. This is what she wrote.

We all have certain dates that stick in our mind for reasons good or bad. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Holidays. Deaths. The day you got your job. The day you lost it.

Like many Americans, September 11 is one of those days for me—but for more reasons than one.

On September 11, 1993, I married my wonderful husband (now married 17 years strong).

On September 11, 2001, the world watched in horror as suicide terrorists attacked the United States.

And on September 11, 2007, I learned I had breast cancer.

How the 'Girl with the Scars' Learned to Survive the Locker Room

By Beth Donovan, ~INDYGIRL

Before being the fat girl, I was the girl with the scars. I was a burn victim at the age of 2, scalded by a coffee pot I managed to pull over on myself. I was burned over three quarters of my body and barely made it through.

Growing up with burn scars is hard because children are unusually cruel. Thank God that the scarring faded as I aged and now it is only on my neck, shoulder and chest. Still, in childhood and the delicate dating years, I learned to hide well.

Around third grade, I started gaining weight, so I was the fat girl with the scars. Talk about not wanting to be seen in a locker room, by the pool, or in anyplace I could be exposed, sheesh! I would avoid these places like I would die if forced into the position to be in one. In fact, I blatantly refused to dress with the other girls or shower in gym and took a grade deduction instead. The next year, I required mental therapy about my body image and luckily my psychiatrist said that it would be too damaging to put me in that situation again, especially since they didn’t have a plus size gym suit for me or a uniform swimsuit required for the aquatics class.

By college I was still shy, but learned some things from life and from therapy that really helped me get over my fear of the locker room at gyms, showering there, and changing. I’m not going to say that I’m totally comfortable and stroll freely around the locker room, but I do muster the courage to swim, shower, and change clothing. Let me tell you a few of my concerns and how I dealt with them.

Look Your Best in Every Photo

Editor's Note: Many of us spend years hiding from the camera, but along our healthy journey, we eagerly want to capture every step of the way. How can we ensure that our "after" photos are good ones? An image consultant and SparkPeople member tells us how.

By Merry P. Nachemin (SPARKENISTA), Certified Image Consultant

Whether you are on your health and weight loss journey or have arrived at your destination, it is important to stand tall and celebrate your commitment and progress at each step of the way. One way to do this is with fabulous pictures that record every stage of your unique story. Here are a few are guidelines designed to help you look your very best no matter in what chapter you find yourself at this moment. (Check out the winners of SparkPeople's Official 'After' Photo Contest)

Your attitude, enthusiasm and exuberance are the essence of every picture. That is what comes across to the people viewing your pix and what will be evident in the years to come as you look back on this time. Everything else is wallpaper. Therefore, do not dwell on the small stuff.

Your face is the star of the show. You should always draw attention to your face, shoulder line and upper torso because this is the main attraction of the photo. When you focus on your face, you draw attention away from areas that you may not want to highlight such as stomach, derriere or hips.

The use of makeup can enhance your picture enormously. Wearing a couple of fundamental cosmetics can go a long way toward taking great pictures.

For example:

• a great mascara is universally flattering—I call it the “Panoramic Lash." It opens the eye and makes you look youthful and alert, and it doesn’t require sophisticated knowledge of color.
  
  
• lipstick and/or gloss will keep your lips looking moist and attractive
  
  
• blusher will make you look fresh, healthy and well-rested

Finding a Doc Who Sees beyond the Scale

By Beth Donovan, ~INDYGIRL

It's not easy finding a doctor you like, especially when you're overweight. Some unlucky patients are simply told that their symptoms will go away if they lose weight, without any diagnostic testing to see if there is any other underlying cause for health issues. While it is true that being at a healthy weight is optimum, it is not true that being at an unhealthy weight is the cause of all health problems. Yes, being overweight exacerbates many health issues, but sometimes there is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed--such as chronic pain or depression--before the patient can make any progress. If properly treated, a patient might feel better and thus be able to move more, and therefore lose the weight. So how do you go about finding a doctor who will look further into your situation than just what shows on the scale?

Turning It around When You're Spiraling Out of Control

By Beth Donovan, ~INDYGIRL

Embarrassed... I admit to you all that for a few days last month I was out of control. I binged one or two times and chose really junky food that left me feeling toxic and demoralized and strangely enough like eating more of it. Sometimes I get to feeling so badly, that I eat badly, and feel worse, so I eat worse... It's really hard to dig out or even have the desire to dig out. I used to just resign myself to failing.

Since joining SparkPeople, I have done things differently when I've had these bouts. Now I know how to turn it around.

I want to share my turn-around with you so it might help you turn it around during a bad spell.

Notice first that all of it starts with feeling… feeling badly, so you eat.... Even if you started with eating something you were ashamed of, it was the feeling of shame that kept you going. In other words, an event happened, triggered you to eat, shame followed, which turned into an event itself, so you eat more, have more shame… That’s the spiral.

The BEST thing you can do for yourself is to treat yourself well. That's right, have a manicure, wear your favorite outfit, do whatever makes you feel your most beautiful or handsome. Your actions will follow how you feel. Have you ever noticed when you’re in these moods how you want to lay around in sweats or not put on cosmetics? It’s like you’re punishing body even further by making sure it isn’t allowed to look good if you can’t be “perfect” with your eating. So then you feel lousy and keep eating junk.

I also notice that when I’m in a spiral I won’t exercise, eat my vegetables, fruits, or drink my milk. It's like I have a total disregard for my body because I think “Why bother, I'm such a failure.” Then I look over at some piece of tempting food and think “I ate that extra helping of ____. I may as well…” Here is where I tell myself "If I can say 'I may as well,' I can say 'I may as well not.' "

I'm Changing the Image of Yoga, One Pose and One Student at a Time

Editor's Note: We reviewed and subsequently recommended Abby Lentz's yoga DVDs. Her teaching style and devotion to making yoga accessible to everybody and every body is inspiring, and we were thrilled when she agreed to write a guest blog post for the dailySpark. By Abby Lentz, founder of HeartFelt Yoga

In addition to being a yoga teacher, I also see myself as a translator. I take the benefits of a yoga pose and translate it for the fuller, obese body. For me, it’s not the way the outer body looks--it’s how the inner body feels. This is what makes yoga possible for everyone. Most obese people feel they have to lose weight to even start their yoga practice. In fact, if they would start yoga with the body they have today, they can change how they relate to their body, making changing the numbers on the scale or clothes secondary.

Currently the image of yoga is still based on the already super-thin and flexible. Poses look to be so difficult that it contributes to this belief that not everyone can do yoga. However, yoga can be as simple as taking a deep breath and moving with intention. One of the major contributors to poor health is stress. Deep belly breathing is the first and easiest step to combating stress. To bring all the benefits of this breath into your life simply link deep belly breathing to some other activity--like sitting at a stop light, or watching TV or waiting for the coffee to brew--anything that you do every day. All of yoga can be that simple.

When people think of yoga, I want them to think of themselves, their friends and their family. I want them to think beyond the pretzel poses we often see. Models in yoga poses are used to sell all kinds of stuff, from cars to dog food to candles and massage oil. We see those images of yoga all over the place, not just in yoga magazines. They keep reinforcing that yoga is only for the already fit and trim, making it feel like yoga’s not for everyone.

However, it’s my belief that yoga is for everyone. My second DVD, Change the Image of Yoga, came about after a national magazine article about HeavyWeight Yoga contained no contact information on how to get in touch with me or a mention of my first DVD, Yoga for the Body You Have Today. There was no way to reach me without really digging through the Internet. I was so disappointed--I had to work really hard to remember that nothing is all good or all bad. Then after meditating, I looked over the article and realized that there was a picture of me, an obese person, doing yoga in a national magazine. I realized that this was a start.

Quickly I pulled out my yoga magazines and looked for people doing yoga who looked like me or even averaged sized. When I couldn’t find one anywhere I knew I had to work at changing the image of yoga. Beginning at the grassroots level, I decided to start with a Web page devoted to images of real people doing yoga--a place to let my students tell their stories.

The 6 Benefits of Transforming Your Health Spark into an Eternal Flame

By Matt Garland, of Healthy Lifestyle Design

Who is Matt?

Matt is a healthy lifestyle geek extraordinaire! His turbulent yet exhilarating personal health quest has inspired his philosophy of Healthy Lifestyle Design (HLD). The HLD philosophy is simple – design a euphoric, healthy, and fulfilling life free of restrictive perspectives and conventional templates. This belief is founded on the idea that a remarkable, healthy life is among the few great ways to maximize the human experience.

***

Are you in a healthy relationship?

No, not with a significant other but with yourself.

Your intra-personal health relationship is like any other. It needs honesty. It needs reciprocity. It needs devotion. And above all else, it needs a spark!

But not all sparks are created equal. Some sparkle but never ignite. Some smolder but never produce fire. Others will burn intensely but flame out quickly. And then there are those that explode into an eternal flame!

Which spark is best suited to vitalize a lifetime of health and happiness? The eternal flame!

Don't get me wrong. Any health spark is good. Sparks trigger action. And action is the linchpin in designing a healthy lifestyle. But if your spark is fading then you face a choice - stay the course with a so-so healthy lifestyle, or try something new that can foster healthy greatness.

Yes, your health spark is a choice, your choice. If you're in an unhealthy or sub-healthy relationship, then you are empowered with the choice to change it. This same choice is SparkPeople's passion and mission--to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to live healthier lives and reach their goals.

Make the SparkPeople choice and transform your spark into an eternal flame!