2017 - I want everyone to succeed!!

It's been a long time since I joined SparkPeople. It was January 8th, 2008. I was seriously overweight. I was frustrated, depressed, irritated and mostly, ready to change myself. I'd never been overweight in my life but I allowed myself to get that way after giving birth to my son. Terrible excuse for me...I should have been focusing on being healthy for my son, my husband, myself...for our futures and for my life. I made that change over 9 years ago.

I was just looking through my friend list on SparkPeople and I was sad for a moment. I don't keep in touch with most of these friends anymore. Most of them haven't even updated their SP pages in many hundreds of days (one person was like 1400 days!) How did this happen? Well, for the same reason I stepped away for a while. I'd reached a healthy weight, things were busy in life and I didn't have the time to "check in". I've been checking in more now...why?

It's not because I'm slipping into my old ways. On the contrary, I'm healthier and fitter NOW than I was when I stepped away! That's part of why I came back. I remember when I joined SP and browsed all the pages...so many people's stories touched me and gave me that extra push when I needed it. So many people had helpful hints, tips and even just an encouraging word that kept me going. So many people who succeeded and wanted me to succeed.

I want you to succeed. If you're reading this, I want you to reach your goals and look back one day, like I did, and say "SparkPeople helped me! It was a tool...I had to put in the hard work myself and make it happen..but SP HELPED ME GET here!" I want to keep pushing myself to get better every day. I'm at a healthy weight and now my focus is on body fat reduction and building some nice muscles, lol! And I want my focus to be on others as well. I'm browsing pages, looking for people who might need that extra motivation and encouragement.

Hey, if you're reading this, IT CAN BE DONE. It's not easy, and you're not always going to see the results you want. I've watched the scale go up and down (weight loss isn't linear...don't let anyone lie to you! It's okay if your weight varies a little day to day!). I've hit plateaus for months where I didn't lose weight, didn't lose fat, didn't lose inches and didn't really get stronger. It's okay...I am always pushing in the direction of getting better....getting stronger and being the best me I can be.

I hope you all are feeling like you CAN DO IT. Because I believe you can. I did, and I am. Join me and let's all keep getting better together!!

~Sandy