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.