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The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting Fit, and Transforming Your Life [Hardcover]

Chris Downie
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (261 customer reviews)

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Book Description

December 29, 2009

A revolution is taking place! Millions of people are discovering a new way of thinking about their weight, their health, and their lives. They are taking part in a visionary approach to weight loss that combines goal setting, nutrition, exercise, motivation, and community that has a proven track record of ten million pounds lost.

From the experts who created SparkPeople.com, one of the most successful online weight-loss programs to date, comes The Spark, a ground-breaking book that focuses on what you can do, instead of what you can’t do. The Spark is about transforming your life and your idea of what dieting means.

With dozens of photos—including stunning before-and-after shots and easy-to-follow exercise images—this book distills the best of SparkPeople’s medically accepted nutrition and fitness plan and infuses it with a program of personal empowerment. In this book, you’ll discover:

·         Secrets of Success—the best habits of SparkPeople’s most successful members

·         A 28-day program that brings together the most effective practices from SparkPeople into an innovative 4-stage plan, available only in this book

·         Dozens of success stories that show the power of this transformational program

The Spark delivers inspirational health and weight-loss advice that will surely spark countless lives.

Frequently Bought Together

The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting Fit, and Transforming Your Life + The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight + SparkPeople: 28 Day Boot Camp
Price for all three: $51.39

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Commonly known as “SparkGuy,” Chris Downie is the founder and CEO of SparkPeople.com, the largest healthy lifestyle community online. Chris and his team have led SparkPeople to become the most active diet and fitness website in the U.S. according to comScore, garnering the attention of media outlets including The New York Times, ABC News, FOX TV, The Today Show, and many more. As SparkPeople’s resident motivation expert, Chris corresponds directly with members everyday. He has written over 10,000 personal messages offering encouragement and congratulations. With more than five million members, SparkPeople and its associated websites (sparkrecipes.com, babyfit.com, and sparkteens.com) gain nearly 175,000 new members each month.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Hay House; 1 edition (December 29, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1401926452
  • ISBN-13: 978-1401926458
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (261 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Commonly known as "SparkGuy," Chris Downie is the founder and CEO of SparkPeople, the largest healthy lifestyle community online. Chris and his team have led SparkPeople to become the most active diet and fitness website in the U.S. according to comScore, garnering the attention of media outlets including The New York Times, ABC News, FOX TV, The Today Show, and many more. As SparkPeople's resident motivation expert, Chris corresponds directly with members everyday. He has written over 10,000 personal messages offering encouragement and congratulations. With more than five million members, SparkPeople and its associated websites gain nearly 175,000 new members each month.

Customer Reviews

So I would recommend this book to anyone making life style changes for a healthier you. Lynn Wilkinson  |  106 reviewers made a similar statement
The book is a a great companion to the website and I am so glad I purchased it. Susan Back  |  82 reviewers made a similar statement
This is a very motivational, down to earth book! Sally Hamilton  |  51 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
99 of 105 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars It's more than diet and exercise, you'll see why July 4, 2011
By Paula
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I got this book because a friend lost 40 pounds in the last 10 months and was raving about Spark and the SparkPeople website. So I bought this and I'm happy I listened to her. I think this book is necessary for anyone trying to lose weight even if you don't use the diet or exercise information in it.

This book is more than just diet and exercise. It's inspirational and the focus is on you as a person and gently nudges you into creating a better lifestyle in an easy manner for yourself. Diet and exercise come after that for true and permanent weight loss. That's a big distinction from other diet and exercise books.

There's incredible support at the SparkPeople website. In fact, you should definitely join up there in order to get the most out of this book.

One of the biggest reasons people fail at weight loss is because they don't have any positive support that they can fall back. So maximize the benefits of this book by joining the website to get the kind of support that will propel you to success. It's free.

Like another reviewer mentioned, this program successfully connects weight loss with all the other aspects of your life instead of having a disconnect or wall between weight loss and the rest of your life.

Spark is great for taking information from other books and programs that have more of the nuts and bolts of fast weight loss tricks and meshing them into your life without making weight loss a burden and a big struggle.

I've personally lost 24 pounds and 3.5 inches from my waist in 5 weeks (a lot faster weight loss than my friend) by using this Spark book, the SparkPeople website for support, com/5-Second-Flat-Belly-Secret-ebook/dp/B004UJDWYI">The 5-Second Flat Belly Secret - Lose 2-3 Inches from Your Belly in Less Than 1 Month for targeted fat loss from my stomach and waist, 5-Minute Miracle Exercises: Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks - Only 5 Minutes a Day! for quick fat loss workouts at home, and The Mediterranean Diet: (author To Come) as the basis for my diet.

I should say that I got 2 of those books because I saw them on the "customers who bought this item also bought" list for Spark. That's a great resource to use to find complimentary books on Amazon.

Spark is definitely worth buying.
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298 of 337 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Much more than just another diet book! December 29, 2009
Format:Hardcover
True or false: People fail to lose weight and keep it off because they don't realize they need to eat healthy food and exercise.

We know that isn't true-- everyone knows about healthy food and exercise. But isn't that the message of most "diet" books? Once you find the right magic foods and the right magic exercise, once you have that secret knowledge not found in any other diet book, then YOU will lose that weight!

If we are willing to be honest, the real reason we are not losing weight is US--- we end up choosing to eat that dessert, to sleep in instead of pounding the pavement, to say to ourselves "this is never going to work."

And that's where The Spark starts: with how we view and live our life and how we can make sustainable positive change. In fact, it doesn't even start talking about what foods to eat until page 84.

Where it starts is with four "cornerstones" of positive living: focus, fitness, fire, and positive force. The author takes a chapter on each of these concepts and lays out how they apply to life in general and a life shift like weight loss in particular.

So, does this work? Does the effort to really understand the principles of positive change make a difference? Well, this book is really just the distillation of a website & online community, [...], which has helped tens of thousands of people make meaningful change. In fact, the center of the book contains short bios and color photos of seventeen people, real people, real people who you can actually contact through the sparkpeople online community, who have used the principles to lose big weight (most of them 100+ pounds) and keep it off and really change their lives.

Yes, the healthy diet and exercise tips are in there, just like in every diet book.
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116 of 132 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Love the site, the book is less helpful August 11, 2011
Format:Paperback
"The Spark" (the book) is in my opinion not what people beginning a diet need to lose weight. However, I'm not sorry I bought it, for one very important reason. I'm grateful from the use of their web site, and happy to contribute to their income by buying the book.

I started a diet in mid-June, and I used SparkPeople to track my calories. It helped me immensely, and in two months I've lost 17 pounds that at the start of the summer I had no idea I would or could be losing. However, I did it because I got into the nuts and bolts of calorie control and switching to better foods on day one of my diet.

I want to emphasize that SparkPeople is a wonderful set of tools and resources to help you lose weight. I owe a lot of my weight loss to making use of the web site's tools, and without it I would not have lost as much weight as I already have.

The book is not as clear cut.

The first 80% of this book spends most of its time talking about organization and motivation techniques. It came across to me much more like books that are intended to pump up a sales staff than a book which would help someone who is overweight kick start their weight loss program. Frankly, I don't think it is helpful to try to get someone who desperately needs to lose weight to juggle many different motivational concepts. That's just too confusing. When a book tells me that one of the first things I need to do to lose weight is to embrace "Positive Force", I'm sorry, I don't know that that means, and I'm still fuzzy about it after finishing the book. LOL

What someone who has trouble because they've gained weight needs is a set of simple and practical steps. "Positive Force" doesn't give me a clue towards how I'm going to lose a pound this week.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic
i am a member of sparkpeople. it has helped me lose weight. i wanted this book for the extra help and good information. speedy delivery. totally satisfied. Read more
Published 11 hours ago by pudn204
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly motivational, yet very realistic approach
This book is a down to earth book about weight loss through healthy balanced nutrition combined with a reasonable amount of exercise. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Sheila W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice
Full disclosure - I am one of the success stories in the book but I read it from cover to cover. This book is not only about weight loss and fitness but about using self-help... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Vivian S. Bedoya
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spark: The 28-Day Breakthrough Plan for Losing Weight, Getting...
I love this book and it has great suggestions in it for living a healthier lifestyle. I deal with several health issues and my doctor is amazed at how well I am dealing with them. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Helen Marling
3.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense
Really don't need the book if you follow sparkpeople.com. I love sparkpeople and all the info and motivation comes from the website for me, not the book.
Published 1 month ago by C. McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spark
This book is worth reading and can help you to learn about dieting, the Spark website, and other great things that can help motivate you. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dawn W Harlow
5.0 out of 5 stars Lit a Spark in me!
Really enjoying this book. Interesting to know how it all started. Good plan. Thanks so much. I recommend it highly.
Published 2 months ago by Gale S. Hanley
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spark
Love the website, love the book. I recommend this to everyone that is looking for a healthier lifestyle and/or support.
Published 2 months ago by Clarissa Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
This book gave me motivation to change my poor nutritional habits. Grocery shopping has become an eye opening experience! Can't wait until the next book comes out.
Published 2 months ago by Elizabeth A. Swygert
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring stories of success!
I have loved Sparkpeople.com since I joined. It is easy and fun and everything is right there for you. I highly recommend this website & Coach Nicole. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Danelle Blinke
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Pre-ordered The Spark!
I preordered, and I'm a Sparker! (ALLYNMC) I am so excited for this book - I can't wait!
Sep 25, 2009 by A. McClendon |  See all 28 posts
Review of The Spark
Just discovered the Spark recipe page and was wondering can anyone help me. I live alone so it is great to find recipes for 1 and also the calories and saturated fat in same. Quite a few of the recipes mention 1/2 c of celery and 1/2 c potato. What does this c stand for as I have not a clue. ... Read more
Feb 27, 2013 by Ms. Jennifer White |  See all 6 posts
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