Thanks for Spreading the Spark with Us

As many of you know, Friday, Jan. 16, was Spread the Spark Day. To celebrate, members were encouraged to wear their SparkPeople gear and several SparkTeams hosted SparkRallies all over the country, from California to Colorado.

For the SparkPeople members in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region, we decided to open the SparkPeople headquarters for our first Healthy Happy Hour.

FDA Adds 41 Pills to Tainted Diet Drug List

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added 41 additional diet drugs to an alert about tainted diet pills.

The pills contain undeclared ingredients that might compromise health.

Some of the pills contain drugs that have been recalled in Europe, others have been known to cause seizures, heart attack or stroke, and others contain suspected carcinogens.

Find more information about the drug recalls here.

Habits of Healthy Eaters: Shop the Perimeter

You want to eat better, right? That's why I'm sharing my easy and often budget-friendly tips on how to eat healthfully. This is the first blog post in the series.

Did you know that the path you follow in the grocery store could help you eat right and avoid weight gain?

It's true.

Take a look at your shopping list:

• Skim milk
  
• Orange juice
  
• Whole-wheat bread
  
• Spinach
  
• Chocolate ice cream
  
• Apples
  
• Yogurt
  
• Potato chips
  
• Eggs
  
• Chicken breasts
  
• Onions
  
• Brownie mix
  
• Oatmeal
  
• Raisins

How Good Manners Can Help You Slim Down

Mind your manners, your mother reminded you at the dinner table each night. She was concerned about etiquette, but her affinity for proper decorum also created healthy habits. Good manners can help you make a good impression if you're ever invited to a state dinner, but they'll also help you with your weight-loss efforts.

Here's how:

Eat at the table.
Past generations ate dinner as a family at a table every night, and, it should be noted, they were also remarkably thinner and more active.

Many of us use our dining room table as a dumping ground for keys, coats and clutter (mea culpa) or restrict it to special occasions. Clear the junk, pull out real plates, and have a seat with your family. With no outside distractions, you can focus on eating and spending time with loved ones.

Eating in front of the TV has been linked to weight gain and mindless eating. Commit to eating at a proper table and you might find that you're more cognizant of what's going in your mouth at mealtime.

Read on for nine more tips on that help with weight loss--and one modicum of etiquette that healthy eaters should forget.

After Losing Half Her Weight, Lessie Shares Her Story

Have you seen the latest "Half Their Size" issue of People magazine? You might have recognized Lessie Alvarado. Known as FlabbyAsian on SparkPeople, Lessie lives in Grand Prairie, Texas, with her husband, Daniel, and her three children, Michael, 21; Leann (her workout buddy), 20; and Christina, 14; and her grandson, 4-year-old Michael, Jr.

Before she lost weight, Lessie routinely binged on fast food, hitting buffets with her sister-in-law and then coming home to eat with her husband. At a petite 5'3", Lessie topped out at 302 pounds. Now, the 41-year-old is a healthy and fit 145 pounds, only 10 pounds from her goal weight.
She talked with the dailySpark about her weight loss, her motivation and her exercise plan.

Stuff We Love: Trader Joe's Harvest Hodgepodge

I love vegetables. Fresh or frozen, any time of year, I'd take a bowl of broccoli with red peppers or an heirloom tomato over just about any other food.

Trader Joe's has an awesome frozen vegetable blend that is a fall-and-winter staple in my house. Harvest Hodgepodge is a one-pound bag of broccoli, carrots, baby corn, mushrooms, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, red peppers, and onions. This is the best mix of frozen vegetables. And, at $1.99 a bag, it's a pretty affordable veg mix.

USA Today Share Tips, Challenges Readers to Start 'Dieting on a Dime'

Losing weight and getting in shape are not lifestyle changes limited to the rich and famous. Even on the tightest budget, with no tools except willpower and determination, you can reach your goals.

SparkPeople tells you that all the time--after all, we're 100% free, so we believe in weight loss for less--but plenty of others agree with us. USA
Today health reporter Nanci Hellmich recently shared the stories of readers who have lost hundreds of pounds for just pennies. From walking laps in the backyard to lifting weights a friend discarded or just running outside, real people--on real budgets--saw real results.

Hellmich shares some great tips and encourages readers to participate in USA TODAY's sixth annual Weight-Loss Challenge: Dieting on a Dime.
Here are a handful of her best tips for losing weight and getting healthy on a budget.

Thanks, dailySpark readers! Keep Spreading the Spark!

Thank you, dailySpark readers. More than 2,000 of you voted for our top story of the week, The 11 Worst Foods of 2008, on Yahoo! Buzz. And more than 500 of you commented on that story.

We really appreciate your support! Want to find out how you can continue to help us Spread the Spark, with just a few clicks?

8 Ways to Save $$ and Eat Healthfully

Think it's easy to eat healthfully only if your wallet is overflowing and you have a personal chef on call? Think again.

It's easy for the rest of us, too, and all we have to do is alter our shopping and eating habits slightly.

The latest issue of Consumer Reports offers 20 tips for healthful eating on a budget. Here are some of our favorite quick and painless tips:

Plan ahead. Make a menu for the week and aim to get everything you need in one or two trips to save on gas (and impulse buying). Watch for flyers or visit your supermarket online to check for sales, and let those drive your menu.

Third-Hand Smoke: Another Reason to Quit

Need another reason to quit smoking this year? Here's a shocking one: Even if you smoke when you're alone, far away from other people, you could still be harming their health.

How?

Third-hand smoke, a term created by doctors at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.

10 Ways to Make 2009 a Friendship-Filled Year

By Debba Haupert, creator of GIRLFRIENDOLOGY.com – the online community for women focused on female friendship

Every year, we host a New Year’s Day brunch. Neighbors and friends join us as we celebrate the new year and the wonderful "extended family" we have in our community. Each guest fills out an order form that indicates what you’d like on your omelet but also requests your New Year’s resolution. It’s a fun way to record our goals for the coming year and a great reference the following year to see if they followed through on their resolutions!

We’ve recorded resolutions to get pregnant and a celebrated a new baby at the following New Year’s Day brunch, as well as adoptions, life changes and a girlfriend who wanted to move to Colorado and find a cowboy (and she did!). Mostly though, everyone makes the usual resolutions--lose weight, exercise, healthy eating, and drinking less alcohol and more water.

These resolutions make us healthier and happier, and having great girlfriends does the same! The fact is: Female friendships lower our blood pressure, reduce stress, make us feel more beautiful and help us live longer! So, why not prioritize friendships as resolution-worthy?

Dietgirl Shares Her 20 Best Weight-Loss Secrets

Today's guest blogger is Shauna Reid, otherwise known as Dietgirl. In 2001, after seeing her gigantic white underpants waving in the breeze, Shauna decided enough was enough. It was time to lose weight. Then 351 pounds, she could barely walk down the block. Seven years and 175 pounds later, the 31-year-old Australia native is happily married and living in Scotland. (See the before and after photos here.)

How did she lose half her body weight and keep it off? Ultimately, the same way many SparkPeople members did: Through perseverance, hard work and moderation. Here, she offers 20 tips for those trying to lose weight and get healthy.

Do You Take Inventory of Your Life?

When the weather starts to turn warm each spring, I clean and organize the tangible aspects of my life. Closets are emptied, unnecessary belongings are purged, and everything is wiped clean.

A couple of weeks before the end of the year, I undertake a similar task for the intangibles in my life. I reflect on the past year, take inventory of my accomplishments, setbacks and goals, and then I assign myself tasks for the coming year.

I started these inventories at age 23. My first inventory sent me on the adventure of my life, a respite from my career as a newspaper copy editor to teach English in Korea in 2005. The second took me along the less-traveled road to home. Another helped me realize I wasn't happy as a business reporter and eventually led me to my wonderful job here at SparkPeople. Who knows what this year will hold?

When I took my first inventory, it came shortly after a good friend sagely advised: "Don't try to live your life all at once. Slow down and enjoy it."
Instead of stressing because I had 35 pounds to lose, I relaxed and focused on making better choices each day. Instead of quitting my job, fleeing my mundane life and moving overseas immediately, I spent six months researching my decision and getting my life in order.

Here are my 6 tips for taking inventory of your life:

A Minute with...Dietgirl Blogger & Author Shauna Reid

Recently I chatted with a talented young writer named Shauna Reid, better known as Dietgirl. Seven years ago, Shauna was living in her native Australia and chowing down on family-size bricks of chocolate most afternoons. She weighed 351 pounds, battled depression and didn't exercise. Inspired to change her fate, the website creator and journalism school graduate started a blog called "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl." Now Shauna is 175 pounds lighter and that blog has become a book of the same name. She's happy, healthy, and motivated. (See the before and after photos here.)

Her book is amazingly honest and heartfelt. I read an advance copy in just five days--and it's a hefty 405 pages. If you've never struggled with your weight, you will feel true compassion for anyone who has, and you'll come to respect the hardships that obese people endure. If you know what it's like to battle your weight, you'll recognize parts of yourself in Shauna's tale. This story is both witty and profound and has a definite lack of self-pity.

Shauna started losing weight through Weight Watchers and even tried a pricey low-calorie diet program. They didn't work. She hit several plateaus and gained some weight back several times.

Eventually she settled on a self-made program of sensible eating, exercise and moderation. (Sound familiar?) Today, she maintains a healthy 175-pound frame and is training for her green belt in kickboxing.

Read on to find out how Shauna--who says she's a big fan of SparkPeople--stays motivated.

Money-Saving Party-Planning Tips

Think you can't afford to throw a party? Think again.

Use these tips to save money and throw a great party for your friends and loved ones!