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The Spark Solution: A Complete Two-Week Diet Program to Fast-Track Weight Loss and Total Body Health
From the experts behind the New York Times bestseller The Spark and the creators of SparkPeople.com comes The Spark Solution, a breakthrough two-week diet program deemed one of the "Best Diets" by U.S. News & World Report. Designed to help you lose weight and optimize your health, The Spark Solution is a dynamic, comprehensive, and proven program.With an introduction by Chris Downie, founder and CEO of SparkPeople, this day-by-day guide combines the latest data and strategies on nutrition, incredibly delicious recipes, and essential workouts. The experts at SparkPeople designed this easy-to-follow regimen to deliver effective and sustainable weight loss.Thousands have already tried it, lost weight, and discovered a path to healthy living. SparkPeople has taken all the questions and bumps in the road out of the equation with The Spark Solution. There is no better way to lose weight and no better time than right now. Let these first two weeks transform your life.
- GenresNonfictionHealthDiets
384 pages, ebook
First published May 7, 2013
6 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 26, 2013
Here's what I enjoyed about the book:
Quite a few motivational stories from people who have already used the Spark system to lose weight and keep it off.
A two week program (including recipes) of diet and exercise ideas - this was my favorite part. I got quite a few new recipes for my repertoire, one of which I am including below.
An "after plan" with tips on how to keep the momentum going because I am not on a diet, I am making healthy lifestyle changes.
And here are the changes I made as a result of the program:
Started tracking everything I eat. This made a big difference because I really needed to plan ahead and think about food.
Started working out harder and more efficiently. Although I did not follow the exercise plan in The Spark Solution, I did come to realize how many calories I needed to burn in a week in order to lose weight, as compared to how much food I eat. So I switched from just walking 3-5 days a week, to interval training alternating with Walk Away the Pounds videos, plus one day of yoga and one day of rest. I have been exercising more often, burning more calories and actually having fun doing it!!
I did not give up all the foods I love. I found ways to make them more healthy or cut them down to very small portions for those times when I am really craving them. For those things I do not have willpower with (yet) I try not to keep them in the house.
Overall, I found The Spark Solution to be a great program for beginners, if followed to a tee, and for those who have been at this a bit longer, a good reminder of what to do, mixed with tips and motivation that can be incorporated into your regular routine.
Quite a few motivational stories from people who have already used the Spark system to lose weight and keep it off.
A two week program (including recipes) of diet and exercise ideas - this was my favorite part. I got quite a few new recipes for my repertoire, one of which I am including below.
An "after plan" with tips on how to keep the momentum going because I am not on a diet, I am making healthy lifestyle changes.
And here are the changes I made as a result of the program:
Started tracking everything I eat. This made a big difference because I really needed to plan ahead and think about food.
Started working out harder and more efficiently. Although I did not follow the exercise plan in The Spark Solution, I did come to realize how many calories I needed to burn in a week in order to lose weight, as compared to how much food I eat. So I switched from just walking 3-5 days a week, to interval training alternating with Walk Away the Pounds videos, plus one day of yoga and one day of rest. I have been exercising more often, burning more calories and actually having fun doing it!!
I did not give up all the foods I love. I found ways to make them more healthy or cut them down to very small portions for those times when I am really craving them. For those things I do not have willpower with (yet) I try not to keep them in the house.
Overall, I found The Spark Solution to be a great program for beginners, if followed to a tee, and for those who have been at this a bit longer, a good reminder of what to do, mixed with tips and motivation that can be incorporated into your regular routine.
May 30, 2016
Reviewing this as a book is weird since this is more of a cookbook. But there is info about weightloss and I do have some opinions on the book so here goes.
The weightloss info is very basic - if you've been actively working on losing weight and understand the basics (whether or not you are achieving your goals) this book might not be for you. It would be most useful for someone who drinks a few six packs of coke per week and eats out at fast food regularly; someone who needs a bit of a come-to-Jesus to get their weightloss started.
That said, I was interested in the meal plans and recipes. However, I found the organization of the book very challenging! The meal plans run on from page to page, so you may start breakfast for Day 1 on one page but it finishes half-way through the next page and immediately starts with lunch. I would rather they made it page to page - so one page for breakfast, one page for lunch, etc. Worse, the recipes are not with the meal plans! So you have to flip back and forth. This makes it VERY cumbersome to use.
The Spark site is useful for weight loss but this book should be rethought and updated.
The weightloss info is very basic - if you've been actively working on losing weight and understand the basics (whether or not you are achieving your goals) this book might not be for you. It would be most useful for someone who drinks a few six packs of coke per week and eats out at fast food regularly; someone who needs a bit of a come-to-Jesus to get their weightloss started.
That said, I was interested in the meal plans and recipes. However, I found the organization of the book very challenging! The meal plans run on from page to page, so you may start breakfast for Day 1 on one page but it finishes half-way through the next page and immediately starts with lunch. I would rather they made it page to page - so one page for breakfast, one page for lunch, etc. Worse, the recipes are not with the meal plans! So you have to flip back and forth. This makes it VERY cumbersome to use.
The Spark site is useful for weight loss but this book should be rethought and updated.
January 31, 2014
3.5 stars
Solid book to go with sparkpeople.com
The book continues with the philosophy of the website, change your lifestyle to get healthy, and gives some tools to make it happen. It is an easy read, practical and offers the free website services to support it. I really enjoyed the real people quotes, motivation and stories in the book to make it all real.
Solid book to go with sparkpeople.com
The book continues with the philosophy of the website, change your lifestyle to get healthy, and gives some tools to make it happen. It is an easy read, practical and offers the free website services to support it. I really enjoyed the real people quotes, motivation and stories in the book to make it all real.
May 29, 2013
I love sparkpeople.com. This sort of companion book, is LESS helpful than the actual website. The website has trackers, meals suggestions, community forums, recipes, articles. WHY read the book? Nothing new or out of the ordinary here.
June 4, 2013
Fine but not really what I was looking for. I get better information from their website.
July 21, 2014
(finish date is an estimate)
September 2, 2015
Found another Spark book I'm going to read first. I may come back to this one.
April 15, 2017
Not really a book for me but I did save some recipes to try as planned.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews