Feel the rush of the wind in your face as you fly down the ski hill. The chill of the air racing in the biathlon. This is your chance to experience some of that Olympic competitive adventure. Download this calendar to participate in the Step into the Olympic Spirit Challenge.

Names will be drawn from all those who meet the Gold, Silver and Bronze step targets chosen at the end of the month. One winner will be chosen for each medal category. Gold: $30.00 Amazon Gift Certificate, Silver: $20.00 Amazon Gift Certificate, Bronze: $10.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Gold: 120,000 steps (10,000 steps per 12 events)

Silver: 96,000 steps (8,000 steps per 12 events)

Bronze: 72,000 steps (6,000 steps per 12 events)

Starts: February 13, 2010

Ends: February 28, 2010

The last day for upload is March 7th, 2010.

The New Year is well on its way and hopefully you are all working hard towards keeping your resolutions. The Move Smart! and Eat Smart! messaging over the past month has provided several suggestions to help keep you on the straight and narrow.

We’ve combined the January and February newsletter to launch our new newsletter and list some of the exciting new upcoming challenges. Be sure to read the Member Highlight on Jeremy Sapp and his amazing transformation, culminating in running a half marathon.

February is Heart Month.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) kills almost a million people a year and is the single leading cause of death in the United States. Risk factors include inactivity and obesity.

“…even light-to-moderate activity is associated with lower CHD rates in women. At least 1 hour of walking per week predicted lower risk.” -Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

Upcoming Challenges

All winners are randomly drawn among WalkingSpree participants who meet the challenge requirements. The winners receive a $30.00 Gift Certificate from Amazon.

January Resolution 5: We hope you all lost the 5 lbs for this month’s challenge. Stay tuned to the announcement of the winner on the WalkingSpree blog in the next two weeks.

February Step into the Olympic Spirit Challenge: Starting Feb. 12th and ending Feb. 28th, you’ll be earning points for different Olympic Sports based on your steps. You will need to download the Step into the Olympic Spirit Calendar to find out the rules. Watch for it’s availability this week on the blog and look for updates in your Eat Smart! this Friday.

March into St. Paddy’s Day: Take a Virtual Walk around the Emerald Isle to find your pot of gold. Everyone who completes the walk by the end of March will be eligible for the draw for the prize.

April 10,000 steps Challenge: Spring is in the air so this is a month to reach deeper and push harder. For every day you reach 10,000 steps in April you’ll have your name entered for the draw.

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The December Walk to the North Pole Challenge was a huge success with thousands of you reaching more than 7000 steps to compete with Santa. Many of your groups reached the North Pole. The winner of the $30.00 Amazon Gift Certificate goes to Linda McKinney (greatgrammy) from WalkingSpree client Whidbey General Hospital.

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Congratulations to all the steps everyone has worked hard to achieve this past month. Remember, if you have any success stories you want to share with us. Please send us your photo of the month. Show us where your pedometer has been by sending us a photo of you wearing your pedometer and at the end of the year, your name will entered into a draw for a prize (to be determined). Please send them to blog@walkingspree.com.

Top 50 Walkers in WalkingSpree for January 2010.

2010 is bringing more changes to WalkingSpree. Look for a relaunch of our newsletter coming out in January. We’ll also be posting the site wide challenges for the whole year so you’ll know month by month what to look forward to. We’ve also made some changes to the Non pedometer activity section in the site by paring it down to just the bare essential activities that you can’t use a pedometer with. This should simplify your activity tracking even more. We’ll also be including more video tutorials.

January’s Resolution 5 Challenge

That blue moon has come and gone. Don’t wait for another blue moon to change your life. Starting January 1st, the goal is to lose 5 lbs in one month. That’s 1 lb per week plus 1. It’s doable, manageable, realistic, so jump on board the Resolution 5 challenge. Everyone who loses 5 lbs in the month of January will be eligible for a draw to win a $30.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Goal: To burn more calories than you’re taking in. So, set a step goal that you can manage (yes, you can lose weight on 7,000 steps/day if you keep your food intake around 1500-1800 calories/day). There are 3500 calories in one pound. So you need to burn 500 calories more per day each week to lose one pound per week.

How to Participate: You’re automatically entered in the challenge. It’s important to show your  weight loss by updating this under your health profile in the website under My Account. We’ll be generating the report in February, so make sure you have it updated by the end of the month. You can also see your weight loss difference in your Eat Smart! Messaging and in your dashboard on the portal page.

So what are you waiting for? Lose your Resolution 5 today and then carry it forward into February!

It’s almost time again for the annual Walk with Santa Challenge. Once again, this December you’ll have the chance to be Santa’s Walking Buddy. We’re introducing a new segment to our December challenge that will also include a virtual walk from Anchorage, Alaska to the North Pole.

At WalkingSpree we have a diverse group that include many faiths and beliefs, so we fully recognize that not everyone celebrates Christmas or the spirit of Santa Claus. If you do not want to participate in the Walk with Santa Challenge. You can easily remove him from your buddy list by going to Walking Buddies and click remove. We will still verify if you’ve walked more than 7,000 steps on days between December 1st and December 31st.

Rules:

You will notice on your profile page starting December 1st that you now have a new walking buddy. . . Santa Claus. Jolly Ole Saint Nick himself.

Santa averages 7,000 steps every day during December (he doesn’t hit 10,000 because he’s on his sleigh a lot this time of year).

For every day you walk more than Santa from December 1st until Dec. 31st, your name is entered into the draw for a prize (to be determined).

BUT that’s only if your corporation as a whole walks from Anchorage, Alaska to the North Pole. So you all need to work together to make this happen.

Holiday Walking Tips

The holidays can be a challenging time for people to find time to exercise with visiting friends and family. So here are some suggestions to help you get those holiday steps in:

1. Holiday Shopping - You’re at the mall already, so instead of feeling frustrated that you’ve got to run around the mall so much, check your pedometer regularly and refuel that frustration into success that you’re getting healthier and boosting your steps.

2. Park far away from the malls

3. Family walks - While visiting family and friends. Instead of everyone sitting on the couch stuffed to the gills from food, suggest everyone go for a walk instead to look at the Christmas lights.

4. Shoveling snow - Not anyone’s favorite job. Remember as you push the scoop down the driveway that you’re adding more steps to your pedometer.

5. Decorating - While decorating the tree or house, take one item per trip to add more steps.

6. Walk & Talk - The holidays are a time when we’re often on the phone with family and friends. Take advantage of this time to use a portable phone and walk around your house while talking.

7. Holiday parties - Often a time for dancing. Get out on the dance floor and step up a storm.

One step, two steps, three steps, 10,000 steps

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Velcome my stepping friend!

Sound familiar?;)

It’s time again for the Count Stepalot Halloween Challenge! A perfect way to take more steps and have fun at the same time. And if you’re likely dipping into the Halloween goodies, a great way to burn off some calories too. To help motivate you to take more steps this Halloween, whether it’s out walking with your kids from house to house, dancing up a storm at a Halloween party or traipsing to the door handing out treats, we’re offering you this challenge.

Requirements:

1. Send us a photo or a video of you wearing or holding your pedometer with some sort of Halloween theme in the picture and you’re eligible to win a copy of the 10,000 steps to your Optimal Weight Book. You can be dressed up, or you can be in front of a Halloween decorated yard as long as it’s Halloween theme related. The winning photo or video will be posted on the WalkingSpree blog. You must have your pedometer showing in the photo or video or you won’t be eligible for the prize.

2. Now this year to take the challenge a bit further, we’re adding step average minimums. From October 17th until October 31st, you must have a 6000 step average to qualify. To make this fun for you, we’re adding a challenge tracker to your home page.  Those of you in the retail program will also have a virtual walk for the two week duration. The only way to complete the walk in time is to maintain the average. You’ll be able to see your path along the map route and zoom in and see landmarks if you choose too!

Last year’s winning entry was by Pete Manczyk as “Joe the Human Pedometer”. Check out some of the creative entries from  last year’s Count Stepalot Challenge.

All entries must be in by noon EST. Wednesday, Nov. 4th.

Send your entry to blog@walkingspree.com

Good luck and have fun!