While our full FAQ is below, here are a few quick things to help with the most common issues:
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General Program Questions (click on a question below to see the answer)
Nutrition Program Setup Questions
Nutrition Tracker Questions
Fitness Program Setup Questions
Fitness Tracker Questions
Message Board Questions
SparkPage Questions
SparkPoints Teams Questions
Answers
- How do I unsubscribe from emails or change my email address, username, or password?
- Click the "Account/Email Preferences" link, located at the upper left of your Start page, under your username.
- You can change your username, email setup, and more on the main account preferences page.
- To cancel emails or change your email subscriptions click the "Manage Email Preferences" link to reach your email preferences page; from here, you can uncheck emails you do not want to receive; to cancel all your emails click the box by "Never email me again"; make sure to click Save after making any changes.
- Why isn't the "Remember Me" feature working?
- Make sure that Cookies are "enabled" so our program can remember your info. Go to this page to learn how to enable cookies for your browser: http://www.google.com/cookies.html.
- You may have too many Temporary Files stored in your browser. To clear out these temporary files (using Internet Explorer), find the Tools/Internet Options menu item. Under the General tab in the Temporary Internet Files box, you'll see a button to Delete Files. Click that. It will likely take a few minutes for those files to delete.
- Make sure that you have the latest version of your browser.
- My report graphs are not showing up; what can I do?
If you cannot see your reports, it is because you are likely behind an Internet firewall. If you are behind a firewall you can try to open up Port 2005. This should allow you to see your graphs. Unfortunately we cannot provide more details on how to open this Port, since there are thousands of firewalls on the market today.
- I want to totally restart my program. How do I reset my goals?
- Go to Account/Email Preferences (located on the top left of your Start page).
- Click the “Reset Goals” button.
- All goals and everything you have tracked will be removed if you reset your goals (including all past exercise and food tracking data), but by restarting your program, you will not lose your SparkPoints.
- I don’t know why I’m not getting SparkPoints for specific activities. What should I do?
Go to your SparkPoints page (click SparkTeams, then My SparkPoints) to check past days to see if you have points, and click the "info" button next to each task to find out more. Unfortunately, we can't check into your SparkPoints for you.
- Does SparkPeople adjust my program for my time zone?
Yes! To adjust your time zone:
- Click the "Account/Email Preferences" link, located at the upper left of your Start page, under your username.
- At the bottom of the page set your current local time and click Save
- I sent a photo from my camera phone to the Food Pics feature and the picture is not on my account? What can I do?
Since there are hundreds of camera phones and wireless providers on the market, we cannot guarantee our Food Pics feature will work with your phone. If you picture does not appear on your Nutrition page within 10 minutes of sending to us, it may be a problem between your phone and our system. Unfortunately we cannot check into your particular problem.
- How do I change my diet stage? Do I have to change diet stages when the program prompts me to?
- Go to your Start page (under the MyTools tab).
- Click on "Switch Diet Stage," which is located at the bottom of the orange column on the left side of your Start page.
- Select the Diet Stage you want to move to by clicking "Move to This Diet Stage."
- Click the green arrow on your diet stage summary to confirm this change.
You're ready to get started in your new stage!
You can switch stages whenever you are ready. Some people like to take a little more time in a particular stage, and that's okay.
- What are SparkPoints are used for?
SparkPoints are a tool for personal motivation and encourage you to use all of the tools and features the site has available. There are individual and SparkTeam leaderboards that many members use for friendly competition. SparkPoints cannot be redeemed for prizes or awards. However, there are sometimes prizes you can win daily on the SparkPoints Wheel.
- Where can I track my weight and measurements on the site?
- Go to your Start page.
- Click the "Weigh In" icon on the left side of the page.
- Enter your weight and/or measurements and click "Save".
- If you would like to measure body parts other than those listed, click "Change Measurements".
- There you can remove current measurement sites or click "Add Measurement" to add new ones.
- How do I share foods manually entered in the food database?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the "Add a Food" button.
- Click the Favorites tab at the top.
- Click on "Share Manually Entered Foods With Another Member".
- Select which foods you'd like to share and click Share.
- A confirmation page will verify that your foods have been shared.
- How do I close my account?
- Go to Account/Email Preferences (located on the top left of your Start page).
- Click the "Close Your Account" button.
- Please note that once your account is closed, it cannot be reopened. If you want to return to SparkPeople at a later time, you will need to set up a new account. Closing your account will take your SparkPage offline and turn off your emails.
- How do I edit my calorie or nutrient goals?
You can do this from two places.
From your Start Page, find where your calorie goals are listed towards the bottom of your My Tools section. Click the "change" link next to your calorie goal.
From your myNutrition Page, click the "Change Nutrition Goals" button at the top of the page.
You can then edit, remove, or add calorie and nutrient goals and click "Save Your Changes" at the bottom of the page.
Note: The meal plans will adjust for your new caloric goal, still following American Heart Association guidelines. However, if you change other nutrient goals such as carbs or protein, your meal plans will not adjust for these changes, but will still follow AHA recommendations.
- How can I track other nutrients (calcium, folic acid, Vitamin C, etc.)?
You can do this from two places.
From your Start Page, find where your calorie goals are listed towards the bottom of your My Tools section. Click the "change" link next to your calorie goal.
From your myNutrition Page, click the "Change Nutrition Goals" button at the top of the page.
Click "Add Another Nutrient to Track" and select the nutrient you want to track from the drop-down list. Click "Save Your Changes" at the bottom of the page when you are finished adding nutrients.
- How do I turn off the meal plans and track my own food?
We realize not everyone wants to follow a meal plan, so we allow you to find and track nutrition information from our 10,000+ item food database.
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click "Don't Show Meal Plans" at the top right of the Nutrition Tracker to hide the meal plans.
- Click the "Add a Food" button.
- Type the food you want to look for in the box that says “Search for Foods by Name” and select to search “Any of these words” or “All of these words”. Click “Search”.
- Select the food that you had, or the food that is closest to what you had.
- Type in your serving size. Note: The down arrow usually has other serving size choices. You can also type in decimals for your serving size. For example, .25, 1.5, etc.
- Select the meal you would like to add this food to (breakfast, snack, etc.). Select the checkbox to add this food to your Favorites list if you would like to access it quickly in the future.
- Click "Add Food" at the bottom to add this to your Nutrition Tracker for that day.
- How do I add my own recipes to the Nutrition Tracker?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the “Add a Food” button.
- Click on the Food Groupings tab at the top.
- Click “Create a New Food Grouping.”
- Click “Add a Food” to chose your first ingredient in the recipe.
- Search for the ingredient you want and choose the closest match, along with the serving size.
- Click “Add a Food” to add it to your new Food Grouping.
- Do this for every ingredient in your recipe.
- When your Food Grouping is complete, click “Finished,” then click “Next.”
- Name your recipe and click “Save Food Grouping.”
You can add each ingredient as it appears in the recipe, or divide each by the number of servings. For example, if the recipe serves 4, you can divide each ingredient by 4. Then each time you add this food to your tracker, you would put in “1” as the serving size. If you add the entire recipe as it is (and you eat 1 serving), you’ll have to enter .25 (1/4) as the serving size.
- How do I group foods together to easily add them each day? For example, I eat the same breakfast daily.
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the "Add a Food" button.
- Click on the Food Groupings tab at the top.
- Click "Create New Food Grouping."
- Click "Add Food" to choose your first item in the Food Grouping.
- Search for the food you want and choose the closest match, along with serving size.
- Click "Add Food" to add it to your new grouping.
- Do this for every food in your grouping.
- When your Food Grouping is complete, click "Finished," then click "Next."
- Name your Food Grouping and click "Save Food Grouping."
- How can I edit items in my food Favorites list?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the "Add a Food" button.
- Click on the Favorites tab.
- Click "Edit."
- Click "Remove" next to the item(s) you'd like to remove.
Unfortunately, you cannot change nutritional information for items in your Favorites list.
- How can I enter a food I cannot find in the database?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the "Add a Food" button.
- In the Food Search tab, click "Enter Food Not Listed."
- Name your food.
- Select the serving size and the measurement by clicking on the down arrow next to the numeric serving sizes. (Note: you can type decimals for the serving size, such as .5, 1.25, etc.)
- Type in all information you would like to track from the nutrition label.
- When done, click "Save Food." It will appear in the search box.
- Enter how much you ate and select which meal you'd like to add it to.
- If you want to add it to your Favorites list, click the Favorites checkbox.
- Click "Add Food" to add it to today’s tracker.
- How can I enter food from a previous day?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- Near the top of the page, you'll see "Food for" and today's date.
- Click on arrows to the left or right of this date to scroll forward and backward in time OR click on the calendar icon to see a calendar pop up and click on the day you'd like to track.
- Track your food as you normally would.
- I don't like the meal plan I've been given, or some of the foods in it. How can I change or substitute it?
- Click the my Nutrition tab at the top of your Start page.
- To change a specific food in the Meal Plan, simply click the food. You'll see a list of options with similar nutritional values. Choose the option you want by clicking the Choose button and it will automatically be substituted into your Meal Plan.
- To change an entire meal, click on the "Substitute" button to the right of that meal. At this point, you can substitute individual items still (with the Substitute button), or choose another meal from the list (with the Choose This Meal button). When you choose a meal, it will automatically be substituted into your Meal Plan.
- To add foods not in the substitution list, click “Add a Food” and search for other foods to add to your tracker for the day.
- How do I change my calories burned goal for cardio exercise?
You can do this from two places.
From your Start Page, find where your calorie goals are listed towards the bottom of your My Tools section. Click the "change" link next to your calories burned goal.
From your my Fitness Page, click the "Change Fitness Goals" button at the top of the page.
You can find the section that says "If you know how many calories you burn each week, enter it here:" and enter your average calories burned each week. Then click "Save Your Changes" at the bottom of the page.
- How do I track my calories burned?
- Click the my Fitness tab at the top of your Start page.
- In the Cardio Exercise box, click on the "Add Cardio" button.
- You can search or browse to find your exercise, or choose from your list of Favorites.
- To search, type in the exercise, click “Search” and choose the closest match. Then enter the number of minutes you did and which day you'd like to add it to, and click the "Add Exercise" button. To have easy access to this exercise later, add it to your Favorites list by clicking the checkbox.
- To browse, click on the browse tab, choose a category from the drop-down list and then click the "Browse" button. Choose the closest match, and enter the # of minutes and the day you'd like to add it to. Click the checkbox if you want to add it to your Favorites list, and then click the "Add Exercise" button.
- To choose a Favorite, click on the Favorites tab and choose an exercise from the drop-down list. Then simply enter the # of minutes and the day you'd like to add it to, and click the "Add Exercise" button.
- How do I add my own strength training exercises to the Exercise Tracker if I'm using SparkPeople's workouts?
- Click the my Fitness tab at the top of your Start page.
- Click the “Add Strength Exercises” button.
- Click on the User Entered tab.
- Click the “Add a new user entered exercise.”
- Name your exercise, select the body part (from the dropdown menu), enter the number of sets and the number of reps. Click “Submit” and close the window.
- Click on the name of the exercise you just entered to add it to your plan.
- How do I get my User Entered strength exercises to show up instead of SP's exercises on strength training days if I'm using SparkPeople's workouts?
- Click the my Fitness tab at the top of your Start page.
- If it is a day you have strength training scheduled, you will have a set of SP exercises in your fitness plan.
- Click the name of one of the exercises you want to replace with your own.
- Click the User Entered tab.
- Click the name of the exercise you want to replace it with.
- Return to your tracker page and you will see that the SP exercise has been replaced with your own.
- Is it possible to customize the Fitness Tracker so that I can track the details of my own strength workouts (reps, sets, weight, gym exercises) and/or track multiple days in a row?
The Strength Training section of SparkPeople's Fitness Tracker has two options. You can switch to either option at any time, depending on what works best for you.
Consider using SparkPeople-generated workouts if:
- You want to track your workouts as quickly and easily as possible
- You are a beginner or new to using the site tools
- You don't feel confident in creating your own strength training workouts
- You prefer doing a full-body strength training workout, 2-3 days per week
Consider creating and tracking your own strength workouts if:
- You want the ability to track your reps, sets, and weight lifted
- You have strength training experience and are comfortable using the Fitness Tracker
- You want to do your own strength training exercises and workouts
- You strength train on consecutive days (such as upper body one day and lower body the next)
To learn more about these two options, and how to change your strength training settings, read New Fitness Tracker Enhancements.
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How do I post to the message boards?
- Click the Community tab, located at the top of any page.
- Select a forum you would like to join by clicking on it. (The "Introduce Yourself" forum is a great place to get started.)
- Select a topic by clicking on it.
- Click "reply" to the left of a post that you would like to respond to. Once you have completed your message, click "Post Message". Note*** You can subscribe to a discussion by selecting "subscribe to this discussion" to the top right of the topic page. If you choose this option, you will receive an email when someone posts a new reply to this discussion. If you do not click on the link in this email, you will be unsubscribed from that discussion thread.
- How do I edit a message board post?
- Click the Community tab at the top of your Start page.
- Select a forum where the message you would like to edit is located.
- Select your post’s topic you would like to edit by clicking on the topic name.
- Click “Edit” to the bottom left of your post.
- Make any changes you would like within your message and click "post message" to the bottom right of the box.
- How do I add or edit the weight loss ticker, profile picture and/or a signature to my message board posts?
You'll need to create a SparkPage to add these to your message board signatures.- Go to the SparkPages tab.
- Click Create a New SparkPage (or View Your SparkPage, then Edit SparkPage if you already have one).
- Complete the information for the title and description of your SparkPage. Your SparkPage can also be used as a personal homepage to share information about yourself with other members. If you don't want to have your SparkPage available to others, you can check the box to keep your page private (offline).
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the weight loss ticker.
- Check the box that says "Yes, show my weight loss ticker."
- Put in your starting weight and goal weight. Please note that your current weight on your ticker will update automatically when you weigh in, but we will not update your ticker starting and goal weight if you change your goals on your program; you'll need to update starting and goal weight on your SparkPage.
- Select your ticker icon.
- Select your ticker background.
To edit your ticker, scroll down the page to your ticker, make any necessary changes, and click Save Changes at the top or bottom of the page.
- To add your profile picture, go to the box at the bottom right of your page labeled “Profile Image”.
- Click “change this image”. You can select a picture from your gallery or click “browse” at the bottom of the page to find another picture on your computer to upload.
- To enter text for your signature, enter it in the "Personal Signature" box on the right side of the page.
- Click "Save Changes" at the bottom or top of the page.
- How do I stop getting notifications for a particular message board thread?
You will receive an email when someone has a new reply to the discussion that you have subscribed to. If you do not click on the link in this email and just delete it, you will be unsubscribed from that discussion thread and the emails will stop.
- How do I sort my message board posts so that the most recent post shows up first (or last)?
Click on any Message Board thread and at the top right is a button that says “Sort first post on top” or “Sort last post on top”. If you want to see the first post in the thread on top, click that button so it says “Sort last post on top”. If you want to see the most recent post in the thread on top, click the button so it says “Sort first post on top”.
- How do I add a SP "pounds lost" icon to my Message Board posts?
- Go to your Start page.
- Click the "View My SparkPage" link, located at the upper right of the page.
- Click the "Edit My SparkPage" link, located at the upper right of the page.
- Scroll down to Profile Image at the bottom right, and click the "Change this image" link.
- Click the "Also choose from our "success" gallery" link at the upper right of the page.
- Choose your image and then click "Save Changes" on your SparkPage.
- I’m trying to add pictures to my SparkPage and it’s not working. Why?
Make sure your pictures are less than 5 megabytes and are either .jpg or .gif files. Unfortunately, those are the only suggestions we can give for loading pictures onto our site.
- How do I make my SparkPage show up on my message board posts?
- Go to your Start page.
- Click the “View My SparkPage” link, located at the upper right of the page.
- Click the “Edit My SparkPage” link, located at the upper right of the page.
- On the right side is a box that says “Turn my page offline.” Make sure that box is unchecked.
- How do I browse the list of SparkTeams that currently exist?
- Click the Community tab at the top of your Start page.
- Select “SparkTeams” from the dropdown menu.
- On this page you can search by SparkTeam name, or click on a category to browse specific kinds of Teams.
- Scroll through the list of teams and click on the name of any team for more info or to join.
- How do I start my own SparkTeam?
- Click the Community tab at the top of your Start page.
- Select “SparkTeams” from the dropdown menu.
- At the top is a red box that says “Start a SparkTeam.” Click here.
- Put in all of the relevant information about your team in the boxes, and then click “Create SparkTeam.”
- What is the difference between a public and private SparkTeam?
A public team is a group that anyone can search for and join. They will also have a public message board forum. You must have a code to join a private team. You can enter the code into the address bar at the top of the page, and it will take you to the Team page to join.
Private teams also have a private message board forum that can only be seen and used by their group members.
- How do I unsubscribe from Team emails or remove myself from a Team?
To unsubscribe from Team emails:
- Click the Community tab at the top of your Start page.
- Select “SparkTeams” from the dropdown menu.
- Click on “Manage Team Preferences”. There you can uncheck the boxes for new member notifications and/or new topic notifications.
To remove yourself from a Team:
- Click the Community tab at the top of your Start page.
- Select “SparkTeams” from the dropdown menu.
- Click on the Team you'd like to leave.
- At the top of your Team page is a link that says “Leave This Team”. Click here.
- Once confirmed, you'll be removed from the Team.
- Can I track things (Fitness, Nutrition or Other Goals) more than 7 days in advance?
No, you are not able to track more than one week ahead. We've found that members have a greater chance of success when they focus set shorter-term goals and plans to work toward.
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