Stay Motivated with SparkStreaks!

How (and Why) to Start Your Own Streak Today!

-- By Jen Mueller & Nicole Nichols, SparkPeople Experts

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At SparkPeople, we believe that streaking can motivate you to reach your goals. Put your clothes back on—we're not talking about running naked in public (although that sure could inspire you to tone up or drop a few pounds)! We're talking about a different kind of streak—when you consistently meet a goal, like tracking your food or drinking 8 cups of water each day. For years, Chris "SparkGuy" Downie, SparkPeople's Founder and CEO, has used streaks to reach his own health and fitness goals. Long before he started SparkPeople, he accomplished a 700-day exercise streak that even inspired one of his co-workers to lose 50 pounds!

You probably familiar with the concept of rewarding yourself when you reach a goal weight or accomplish a fitness feat. Sometimes it's even more motivating to reward yourself for the journey, not just the destination. Seeing how consistently you've been taking steps to reach a goal (and knowing others can see it, too), can help boost your resolve and keep your motivation going strong. This is especially true when you've done your part but the scale hasn't budged, even though you've been making the right choices every day. That's why we created SparkStreaks—a SparkPeople tracking tool that can motivate you to stay on track and help you reach some amazing goals!

Start Streaking in 5 Easy Steps

You'll find a link to SparkStreaks under the "My Trackers" tab at the top of the site. This page will show you all of your Streaks and the progress you've made with them so far. If you don't have any streaks or would like to edit your Streaks or add some more, simply click on the "Start/Manage Streaks " button near the top of that page.
Simply check the box that says "Track Streak" to start a Streak for the goals of your choice. For example, one of your Fast Break goals might be to track your food in the Nutrition Tracker each day. If you check the box to track this Streak, you'll be able to keep a count of how many days in a row you've met that goal.
You can also check "Share on SparkPage" (optional) to show your Streaks on your SparkPage, which means others will be able to see your progress and can cheer you on as you work toward your goals. This can increase your accountability and help you stick with your goals.
When you're finished setting up your Streaks, scroll down and click "Save My Changes" at the bottom of the page.
Track your goals! Your SparkStreaks will automatically update when you track your goals using the Nutrition Tracker, Fitness Tracker, QuickTrack and Other Goals trackers, which can all be found under the "My Trackers" tab at the top of the site. You don't have to do anything different for your goals to count towards your Streaks.

Even if you miss a day and have to start over with a Streak, that's OK! You'll still be able to see your longest Streak for that goal (as well as your current one). So if you need more accountability or want a better way to measure your progress, set up your own SparkStreaks today!

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About The Author

Jen Mueller
Jen received her master's degree in health promotion and education from the University of Cincinnati. A mom and avid marathon runner, she is a certified personal trainer, certified health coach and advanced health & fitness specialist. See all of Jen's articles.

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