Weight Loss Social Network

It has been almost a year now since I joined the Spark People, a free social network for weight loss. I’ve used it on and off for a while, but I find myself not making as many friends on it as I’d like. I really need to convince some friends and co-workers to join it so I have someone to talk about my results with. On that note, I was able to convince my girlfriend to join it with me. Last night she created a page and we’re going to start tracking our weight loss goals together.

Spark people is a social network similar to MySpace, Facebook, or LinkedIn. It is unique because its target audience is people who are trying to lose weight or monitor their weight. It has a food tracker similar to the Weight Watcher’s website which lets you search for differant foods. There mobile is a mobile version of Spark People so you can track your nutrition information from your Smart Phone.

In addition to tracking nutrition information you can also track fitness information on-line with Spark People. You can search for an excercise in a similar way as you would search for food and then view how many calories you’ve burned. You are able to set goals for yourself and track how many days, weeks, or months in a row you’ve met your goal.

Spark People is a viable alternative to Weight Watchers website when you just take into consideration the cost (free) and the tools used to track your progress. What really makes Spark People unique is the social aspect of the site. You can create a profile, upload your pictures, invite friends, join user groups, add a progress bad for your weight loss, and even allow your friends to view your nutrition and fitness information for the day. These features are what really attract me to this site. Now when I eat well my girlfriend will be able to tell me “good work” and when I have a bad day she can encourage me to do better the next day.

Spark People will never replace social sites like MySpace or Facebook, but it is an excellant site to have in my tool belt just like Linked In for business contacts.