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COACH_TANYA
1/25/08 11:49 A
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You are right that there is a portion of our population here at Spark teens that would love the motivation of a ticker. Those teens are possibly starting with a BMI of 23or 24 and are working to healthily get to a BMI of 18 or 19. That is perfect and if they are doing it by getting rid of bad habits and establishing heathy habits we would say glad to add a ticker.
However, we still have many members that have an unhealthy view of their body and have not dealt with the fact that they are suppose to gain weight as they develop from a child into an adult. Being 85 pounds at the age of 10 or 11 and not having curves or being able to see fat reserves is normal - however as you enter the teen years you are SUPPOSE to develop curves and some padding for your internal organs and the higher energy demands of growth and development into a adult as you transition from a child into a fully developed adult. Being 85 pounds at 15 is NOT what is suppose to happen and too many of our teens look at their "childish" body and want to some how get back to that which at 15 would be very unhealthy. THey are starting with a BMI of 18 or 19 and still wanting to lose a bunch of weight. Those people would NOT benefit from a ticker and they are the ones we have to protect and help learn to see and love their adult forming body for what it will become.
So, hopefully we will have other fun types of ticker one day soon that focus on other things besides weight but for right now we have eliminated tickers from our options.
Coach Tanya
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EIENXTSUKI
1/25/08 10:52 A
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Coach Tanya, you make many really valid points. I can definitely agree that the main focus of Spark teens shouldn't be weight loss, but instead creating a healthy lifestyle that will carry on throughout life.
That being said, I'm not sure I agree with the reasoning to not have weight loss tickers on Spark teens. Some teenagers here are severely overweight, and the more pounds they loose, the more inspired they are to keep the trend and become more in shape. I don't see that harm in adding tickers and I don't think that it would shift the focus of the site or even encourage teens to loose weight in an unhealthy way. I'm sure most of the people here are mature enough to realize that weight fluctuates all the time, and the real prize is feeling better about yourself.
I thought I'd throw that out, and though I can respect and sympathize with the reasoning of the site managers, I'm positive that when kids learn more about Spark teens and healthy living a weight loss ticker wouldn't be abused.
Also, thank you for taking the time to explain why the site doesn't want to add weight loss tickers. I'm sure a lot of people have been wondering.
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COACH_TANYA
9/13/07 11:26 A
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Since this is a new site we are still finding glitches in our programming. Tickers are a part of our mother site Spark People but not something that we have as part of the Spark Teens program. Some how Shawnathon has one that has shown up although he didn't have one a few days ago. We are looking into where the mix up is in the coding.
Just as an FYI - we do not plan on having weight loss tickers on Spark Teens because weight loss is not what we want the primary focus to be for teens. We want your focus to be healthy eating and healthy fitness. When you are accomplishing those things - weight loss happens but we want the healthy habits and goals set and achieved to be your focus. We have lots of tools including Spark Points to help you keep track of those important things. As you make healthier choices in food and fitness you will see many, many positive changes in your life, outlook and attitude in addition to some weight loss or muscle toning. We want you to notice and celebrate ALL the positive improvements in your life and not just focus on a number on a scale and then we want to celebrate with you!
Coach Tanya
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ALY-GATOR
9/12/07 10:05 P
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Yeah I've been wondering that too.
Shawnathon, how did you get your little tracker thing with the starting weight, goal weight, and little football guy?
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SHAWNATHON
9/12/07 9:34 P
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| What weight tracker are you talking about?
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XXILUVEMOBOYZXX
9/10/07 8:15 P
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How do I get a weight tracker like one that my mom uses?
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