Spark Spotlight: Juli (JULIHC82)

By , SparkPeople Blogger
willAt SparkPeople, we love helping people accomplish big goals—but we believe it's equally important to celebrate the small successes along the way. Each week in the Spark Spotlight, we'll check in with a featured member about his or her proudest moments, biggest challenges and advice for others on living, thinking and feeling healthier. We hope these quick snapshots will help motivate you to keep moving steadily toward your own goals, week by week.
 
This Week's Spotlight: Juli (JULIHC82)
Age: 36
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 
Small Success of the Week
 
This week, we are excited for Juli, who posted to the Community Goal Feed that she finally hit "onederland" for the first time in 15 years!

What's your overall goal?

Onederland is actually one of many goals that I have set for myself, but my overall goal is to lose 125 pounds and weigh around 140. I am almost 60 percent of the way there. I find it very helpful to make multiple attainable goals to really encourage myself to succeed. On my SparkPeople page, I keep track of every step of the way and mark the date each time I reach a goal—it really helps me stay accountable.

What's your biggest challenge right now?

Unfortunately, my biggest challenge is that I have a rare, incurable muscle disease. Though painful and very difficult at times, it's certainly not the worst disease to have, so I'm lucky in a way. It is what it is, so I try to stay positive. My biggest challenge besides my muscles is trying to eat enough quality nutrition. Sometimes I get complacent and make poor choices because I'm being lazy and choosing the easy options.

How is SparkPeople helping you get there?

SparkPeople helps me stay accountable. This community encourages me to be a better version of myself and transform into the person I am supposed to be.

What advice do you have for someone who just joined SparkPeople?

I would encourage a new person to SparkPeople to just be open to this community and really embrace this place where you can just be honest without judgment. Doing that will ignite the spark in you [and] success will follow! It took me longer than I wish it would have to finally embrace my truth and true self. But, thankfully, SparkPeople helped me do that.

Want to be the next small success we spotlight? Share your successes on the Community Goal Feed or in the comments below, and you might be the next person we contact!