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Would you like to lose a few pounds? More than a few? Me too.

These days we do so much online. We can run businesses online. We stay in touch with friends and family online. We shop online. So why not make the Web work for us when we’re trying to lose weight too? Fortunately there are plenty of online weight loss tools out there that do just that. And many of them are free!

Today I want to share some of my favorite free online weight loss tools with you, in the hopes that at least one of them might prove to be useful in helping you reach your own goals.

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1. FitDay.com — FitDay is a pretty comprehensive online weight loss tool. You can track what you eat in your food journal as well as tracking your exercise routines. You can track your weight changes. You can look up calorie information for the foods you eat. And you can look up how many calories different exercises burn. It’s my favorite all-around tool for tracking. You can get a PC download version if you prefer that over the online one, and they offer a premium membership if you want more advanced reports and to have ads removed from the site.

2. SparkPeople.com — A friend turned me onto SparkPeople.com a couple of years ago. It’s a free online weight loss community. If you don’t want to go it alone, this might be what you’re looking for. You’ll have a great support network, challenges to keep you motivated, and you’ll get plenty of tools and trackers to help you put your weight loss plan into action.

3. FitWatch.com — This site is much like FitDay.com as far as the calculators, tools, and trackers go. This site used to be my preference of the two, although not for any particular reason. They’re both fantastic resources, so play with both of them and see which one’s free version is most appealing to you.

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4. CalorieKing.com — CalorieKing is a calorie counting website. You can certainly use the more comprehensive tools I mentioned, but if you’re just curious about calories, this can be a more straightforward option. I specifically love CalorieKing though because they seem to have more thorough information about restaurant foods than some other calorie counting websites I’ve used.

5. YouTube — YouTube is a surprisingly good source of free workout material for those looking to lose weight. You can find countless online workouts you can do from the privacy of your own home. I would just caution you to look for videos from reputable fitness instructors as opposed to amateurs. There is always a risk of injury when trying a new workout, and you need to stay serious about your safety.

What about you? Do you have any favorite free online weight loss tools you’d like to share with our readers? Do you have feedback on any of these? Feel free to leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Millions of Cases of Diabetes in 2000 and Projections for 2030, with Projected Percent Changes.

Westerners have always taken pride in their ability to produce, cook and eat the most sumptuous, savory foods. Food is the centerpiece of family life in much of Western life, with dinnertime often being the main part of the day when a family can get together. Food brings people together, acts as source of comfort, and has for centuries been used for peace offerings, gifts, and to celebrate and to mourn. However, the preoccupation with pleasing the palate has become an obsession in much of Western society.

Obesity in Western culture has become such widespread phenomenon as to be a featured segment on most newscasts at least once a night. Television shows such as “The Biggest Loser” throw a beacon on the problem with glaring klieg lights, putting the issue in front of people in a way many may never have seen it. Whether one sees those kinds of shows as exploitative or just mindless fodder for reality television, it cannot be denied the medium has thrust the issue of obesity into the public eye. Now that the overall health issues of obesity have begun to unanimously trump the issue of looks and physical attractiveness, it has garnered enough attention to be able to get its fair share of research funding and media coverage.

While there are many explanations for the obesity phenomenon, it boils down to more sedentary lifestyles, which are fueled by consumption of nutrient-deficient, calorie-laden foods. A rise in white collar jobs over the last several decades, and automated machinery to make even manual labor easier have combined to reduce the amount of natural exercise people used to get at their jobs. Being over-worked, under-paid and perpetually under tremendous stress in a bad economy does not help the cause. The ‘rat race’ so readily identifiable in American culture has caused the staples of the family dinner table to be pizza and chicken tenders. Hormones and other additives used to preserve and flavor food, as well as speed the growing process, has wreaked havoc on the dietary habits of most people living in Western culture.

When the issue came to the public awareness with such staggering, sudden clarity with the arrival of the Western financial recession and the healthcare issue in the United States came under such fire, it spurred more aggressive research practices and more in-depth care from healthcare providers. There are doctors who specialize in the treatment of obesity, and wellness programs to help those who are obese are so abundant as to be innumerable.

One of the lesser-known aspects of obesity is the issue of its correlation to diabetes mellitus type 2. The lavish lifestyles and notoriously bad eating habits of Westerners have caused the rates of both obesity and diabetes to skyrocket in the last twenty some-odd years, initially leading doctors and researchers to believe obesity must have something to do with late-onset diabetes. Currently, the New England Journal of Medicine reports about ninety percent of diabetes is caused by obesity.

According to National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are nearly twenty-six million diagnosed cases of diabetes type 2 in the United States, which makes up almost nine percent of the population.

The cost of obesity and diabetes on the pocketbooks of Western citizens is another catalyst in the drive to substantially lower the number of environmental- and lifestyle-induced cases of diabetes. With the world economy in such dire straits, there is a sudden charge to lower the cost of anything and everything that is not financially solvent. The cost to taxpayers is becoming ever more burdensome as Westerners continue to eat themselves into financial and physical ruin. Until Westerners realize there must be a consistent, responsible move on the part of the general population to control this ever-worsening problem, there is little evidence of any slowing down of the obesity phenomenon, and its ensuing problems such as diabetes.

Photo credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=809 Francesco Marino

I remember my younger days, seeing those otherwise skinny guys with the big pot bellies and remarking how I’d never be that guy. The guy looking like he swallowed a basketball and got it stuck in his stomach.

And then I discovered beer.

Fast-forward a few years and a few hundred beers and say hello to my growing beer-belly. Like millions across the world, I’d really love to tone up my midsection but realistically there’s no way I’m going to stop drinking beer. So in analyzing my options, I decided the only logical solution was to kiss the darker beers goodbye and begin exploring the world of light beer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s scary territory. I’m used to full-bodied beers packed with flavor and calories, like Fat Tire and Newcastle.

Here are a few beers I’ve tried on my light beer journey and how they rate in both nutrition and taste.

1. Budweiser Select 55- Let’s start with the good. At a mere 55 calories and 1.9 carbs, you’re practically drinking a club soda when you pop open a Bud Select 55. Unfortunately, you might actually think you’re drinking a club soda when you taste it. With only 2.4% alcohol per beer, you have to drink double the amount you normally would with light beers to obtain the same buzz. Why not just buy a regular beer and mix it with water? I’ll pass.

2. Budweiser Select- I remember when the original Bud Select came out and a few of my buddies raved about how it left no beer after-taste. My first thought was “Who wants to drink a beer that doesn’t taste like beer?” Anyway, I tried it and for 99 calories and 3.1 g carbs, it’s not bad. And with 4.3% alcohol, you don’t have to drink double like you would with the Select 55. I still don’t get the whole “no beer after taste” thing though…

3. Anheuser Busch Natural Light- The mention of “Natty Light” immediately sends me into college flashbacks. Why? Because it was one of the only beers we could afford. We didn’t really mind that it tasted like pee because we didn’t know any better at the time. What we didn’t realize was each can of Natural Light only contained 95 calories, 3.2 carbs, and 4.2% alcohol. As for me in my adult years, I’ll spend an extra few bucks on something with decent flavor.

4. Miller Lite- Beating out its rival, Bud Light, with only 96 calories and 3.2 grams carbs, Miller Lite offers the average light beer alcohol content of 4.2%. Chances are you’ve tasted it before and you either love it or hate it. This tends to be my beer of choice if I’m buying a case to stock up for a barbeque. It tastes pretty good cold, won’t make me feel like blubber after a few, and is relatively cheap for sharing.

5. Michelob Genuine Draft 64- I recently heard of this beer on a radio commercial where some guy chooses it over a small glass of vodka of equal caloric value, which seemed kind of stupid to me. If I’m going to the store to buy alcohol, I probably already know if I want either beer or liquor. The choice is between types of beer. At any rate, similar to Bud Select 55, you’re getting only 64 calories and 2.4g carbs per beer. You also only get 2.8% alcohol a bottle, which is about 1.5% less than most light alternatives.

6. Michelob Ultra Amber- Why is a beer with over 100 calories (110 to be exact) and 3.7 g carbs on this list? Because it’s good! For someone preferring darker beers, this “light amber” actually packs a flavorful punch. And with 5% alcohol, you don’t have to drink 10 of them to wind down after a hard day of work. So if you’re looking for a beer that won’t pack on the pounds but doesn’t sacrifice flavor, go buy a six-pack of Michelob Ultra Amber.

So those are the light beers I’ve come across so far. Even though I discovered Michelob Ultra Amber, my journey for the perfect light beer is never ending. Can you help me out with a low calorie beer I should add to this list?

The hardest part about losing weight is to stay motivated. Usually the results are very slow to notice, so day by day you stop seeing the point in going on.

This is when turning to people for help is a great idea. It is always more fun to try to achieve your goals together with someone. Both the feeling of being supported and the contest spirit keep you encouraged and motivated.

But what if there’s no one nearby to share your weight loss goals with? That’s when social media communities are there to help. Here are the three absolutely free web-based tools to help you achieve your weight loss goals:

1. SparkPeople

SparkPeople promotes “a new approach to weight loss” which is basically nothing new but sounds useful: join support groups and help each other lose weight.

Besides support groups and strong and active community, the site also offers quite a few tools to help you track your meals, monitor your weight and keep an eye on your progress:

• Personalized diets;
• Calorie counter,
• Customized fitness programs,
• Expert Q&A section,
• Motivation program, etc.

2. Traineo

Traineo invites members to build a support network of traineo motivators and then join thousands of active community members sharing motivation and support as they follow their weight loss programs. Basically it works as follows:

• You set your weight loss goal
• Then you choose friends and/or family members to become your ‘traineo motivators’ who will track your progress.

This is actually a unique and useful feature: your “motivators” will be receiving your Traineo reports and (if they notice that you seem to be giving up) they can quickly get you motivated again.

traineo in under 2 mins from traineo on Vimeo.

3. Thintopia

Thintopia invites you to lose weight collaboratively by taking part in weight loss competitions.

It lets you meet other like-minded people and connect with them. While the site is really limited in features and simple in design, it does have a great idea. By competing each other you can achieve a lot and have fun as well!

The guest post is by Eric who has recently started a website on treadmills for sale.

Photo credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/photos/broccoli-floret.jpg

I think it’s safe to say that the average person’s diet sucks. Whether you’re binge burger eating or riding the latest dieting fad, chances are your diet lacks some vital components. Here are a few foods you should consider adding into the mix.

1) Salmon- It’s no secret that salmon holds the title of healthiest meat. The reason? Omega-3 fatty acids. With heart disease topping cause-of-death charts, Omega-3 fatty acids offer a way to lower your chances of heart-related problems. Salmon contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than most other fish choices.

Some people fear mercury poisoning when it comes to eating fish, but don’t let it stop you from eating salmon. Like everything else, moderation is the key. So whether you throw it on the grill or pop it in the oven, make sure your personal menu places salmon near the top of the protein section.

2) Broccoli- One of the most versatile vegetables, broccoli provides a healthy side dish for almost any meal you can imagine. Place it on a baked potato, throw it in a stir-fry, or use it in soup. However you choose to prepare it, this fiber-rich vegetable will help you get to the bathroom on a regular basis. The indole-3-carbinol it contains, along with other antioxidants, helps promote proper hormonal balance and might even ward off cancer. The benefits are endless and you can find it all year- broccoli never goes out of season.

3) Eggs- Did you know that 6 grams of protein hide out in each egg? One egg also contains 5 grams of fat, but the kind of fat your body wants. Often people avoid eating eggs because they assume egg consumption will send their cholesterol levels through the roof. Fortunately, that’s not necessarily true. Controlled consumption will keep your cholesterol levels in check, allowing you to reap egg benefits.

4) Quinoa- Qui-what? Maybe you haven’t heard of it before, but Quinoa (pronounced “kee-noh-uh” or “keen-wah”) is currently gaining momentum as a fad super-food for hipsters everywhere. Don’t let the hype turn you away, this seed is the real deal. Quinoa supplies your body with protein rich in all 9 amino acids. Boasting 5 grams of fiber per serving and a wide array of vitamins, Quinoa reportedly fights cancer, heart disease, and migraine headaches.

5) Oatmeal- No, I’m not talking about the instant oatmeal with swirls of syrupy goop that you used to eat as a little kid. I’m talking about real oatmeal with all its whole grain goodness. Whole grains mean soluble fiber to keep your colon clean and clear. Offering a gram of soluble fiber and a mere 150 calories per half-cup serving, oatmeal matches perfectly with berries or chopped up bananas mixed in, allowing you to get your fruit needs for the day.

6) Celery- Before I delve into the benefits of celery consumption, let’s bust the myth- Celery is not a “negative calorie” food. There’s no such thing and I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around why this debunked myth still exists. That said, you might wonder how celery still made this list. While celery doesn’t give you negative calories, it provides relatively few- about 6 calories per average-sized stick. And those aren’t empty calories either. Celery contains double-digit vitamins such as C, A, E, K, and Zinc. It also contains phthalides and polyacetylenes, known cancer fighting agents.

Of course this list of invaluable foods isn’t all-inclusive. What foods would you add?

It is amazing how many Twitter tools are out there. Some of them re really useful, others are just for fun.

This post shares Twitter bots that help you to archive your weight loss goals:

1. Track what you eat

TweetWhatYouEat is a Twitter-driven public food journal that encourages your followers to motivate you to maintain healthy diet.

“Tweetwhatyoueat uses Twitter to allow you track your food intake, calories and weight from just about any device including your mobile phone, IM or the web!”

Here’s a quick video tutorial:

2. Get reminded of your daily workouts

Never forget about your quick work out!

This handy Twitter bot keeps you fit and healthy at work by tweeting a random office workout every 30 minutes:

3. Track your weight

Weight Loss Charts is a fun way to track your weight using Twitter. You can record your weight by sending a DM and you can access your stats any time.

4. Track your calories

gtFtr is a Twitter bot that allows to track your specific exercises and calories burnt. It is in beta now, so rather limited but it requires no registration and is totally free. So why not play with it?

The tool supports the following commands:

• Stats (or Day or Daily) – this has to come first so the parser knows it’s recording daily stats.
• Steps 9000 – How many did you walk today. You can also use S or Step for short.
• Cals 800 – how many did you burn (that’s what it’s all about after all)
• Dist 3.9 – how far did you go

5. Track your daily exercises

Ugomo is a Twitter bot that records and charts your workouts. It lets you make sense of your various exercises by categorizing them using Twitter hashtags.

To use it, just send a public twitter update with related hashtags (like #run, #walk, #swim) addressing them to @ugomo and get charts, calendar, summaries, reports etc.

Do use Twitter to keep fit? Share with us your tips!

This is a guest post by Eric who writes on how to build muscle.

One of the most common excuses people give for not exercising is that they just don’t have the time. And I get it. After all, we’re all busier than ever before. We work longer hours and run more errands. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for exercising. You can always find the time. It’s just a matter of making some small, simple lifestyle changes.

• Park far away—Whether you’re going to work, the grocery store, or your apartment, try parking far away so you can get some walking in. The difference between parking up front and at the back of the parking lot can really start to add up, helping you burn 100 or more extra calories throughout the day. Not only that, you’ll no longer have to spend time circling around the parking lot looking for a good spot. Now that’s a win-win in my book.

• Take the stairs—Stop riding the elevator. Instead, find the nearest staircase and hoof it up to your destination. Do your best to keep a good pace while going up the stairs. If you don’t take the stairs often, you might get winded or feel some tightness, but push through it. Walking the stairs is a powerful exercise that can get some remarkable results.

• Do small exercises when you have a break—Instead of being a couch potato while you watch TV, take advantage of commercial breaks by doing some sit-ups, pushups, or calf raises during those few minutes. You can also do these exercises in your office when you have a 5 or 10 minute break at work.

• Keep a resistance band nearby—You can get a decent resistance band for a few bucks at your local Target or Wal-Mart. Resistance bands are lightweight and portable, and they allow you to do an array of muscle-building exercises. Keep one in your office and one at home so you can get some exercise in while talking on the phone or watching TV.

• Carry your bags to your car—If you’re like me, you go to the grocery store at least once a week. I like to take my own reusable bags because they can hold more items without tearing. This allows me to consolidate my groceries usually into a few bags that I can carry at once. Instead of pushing the cart out to my car, I can carry my bags and get a mini-workout. If you park far away like I recommended in the first point, this can be pretty effective.

• Walk your dog—Another win-win. Walking your dog gives you a chance to get outside and get some exercise, and it makes your dog happier and healthier. An active dog that gets enough exercise is less likely to tear up your home or to get into other trouble when you’re away. Win-win.

Do you have any ideas for exercising when there’s no time? Share your best tips by leaving a comment.

It has now been several weeks since you made your New Year’s resolution. If you’re like most people, you resolved to exercise more so you can lose some weight and get in shape.

So, how are things coming along? Are you still on track to keep your resolution? Or have you stumbled and given up hope?

The key to success is staying motivated to exercise, but motivation can be hard to come by. That’s why I’ve come up with this list of tips for staying motivated while exercising.

• Post your goals where you can see them—If you don’t already have specific goals, create some. Once you have your goals, write them down, and post them somewhere that you’ll see them on a daily basis. This serves as a constant reminder of what you need to do to stay on track. It ensures you don’t forget you need to exercise, keeping you constantly aware of your goals. It’s a simple tactic but one that’s highly motivating.

• Reward yourself for reaching benchmarks—In addition to having major goals (e.g. lose 50 pounds, work out 3x a week, etc.), you should also have smaller goals that help keep you on track along the way (e.g. lose 3 pounds in the next 2 weeks). Breaking down your large goal into smaller ones helps you stay motivated. Whenever you reach a new benchmark, consider rewarding yourself. Your reward could be to cheat for one meal or something non-food related like a day at the spa.

• Put up pictures of what you used to look like—Find a picture of what you looked like at your very worst before you started exercising, and post that somewhere that you’ll see it every day. Seeing this will remind you that you never want to go back to that place again. It will give you the motivation you need to hit that treadmill when you just don’t want to.

• Do something while you exercise—Whether you’re running on the treadmill or pumping iron, the actual act of exercising can get pretty boring. That’s why it’s a good idea to do something else while you exercise. Some people like to watch TV while they work out; others like to crank up the music to keep them pumped up. Find something that you like to do while exercising, and you’ll discover it’s much less boring and painful that way.

• Identify roadblocks ahead of time—We all have excuses about why we can’t exercise. “Oh, I don’t have time today” or “The gym is too crowded.” You need to identify these excuses well in advance and come up with solutions for them so that you’re ready to overcome these roadblocks when they pop up.

• Alter your routine—After doing the same exercise routine for a few weeks, you might find yourself bored and ready to move onto something else. Changing up your exercise routine not only keeps you entertained, but it also helps you target new muscles and avoid the common workout plateau.

How do you stay motivated to keep exercising? Share your best tips by leaving a comment.

Have you tried exercising in the past but not gotten the results you’d hoped for? Chances are, it’s because you were committing one of these common exercise mistakes.

• Focusing on one area of the body—If you go to the gym regularly, you’ve surely run across the guy who only seems to work out his arms. Every single day, there he is doing the exact same lifting routine over and over. As a result, he looks like a bad carton character with huge arms, a beer gut, and chicken legs. Set aside days to target each area of your body. That way, you’ll be well-rounded and in the top condition possible.
• Doing too much, too quickly—Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the body you want be. Getting into shape requires consistency and dedication. Killing yourself on the treadmill after months of inactivity won’t get the job done. Instead, it will lead to burn out, causing you to eventually stop exercising altogether.
• Keeping the same routine for months at a time—Performing the same routine week in and week out for months at a time will cause you to plateau. In other words, your body will adapt to the workout, and it will no longer challenge your muscles. Mix your routine up regularly to keep challenging your body and to keep yourself from getting bored.
• Poor technique—Even the most ardent gym rats often have poor technique. That’s because they were never officially trained on how to lift correctly. This poses 2 huge negatives: 1)Lifting incorrectly means you won’t enjoy the full results of the exercise and 2)More importantly, improper technique puts you at serious risk for injury. One wrong movement can tear a muscle, sidelining you for months.
• Not setting goals—If you don’t have any goals, how can you tell if you’re progressing with your workouts? You need tangible, realistic goals so that you can measure your results. Whether your goal is as simple as losing a certain number of pounds or being able to lift a certain amount of weight, the key is to write these goals down and to make sure you’re progressing toward them at a reasonable rate.
• Not eating properly—Exercise alone just isn’t enough. Just because you hit the gym for an hour a night doesn’t justify eating 3 meals of fast food each day. Find a healthy diet plan that fits within your lifestyle so you can get the maximum results from your workout routine.

Do you exercise regularly? What mistakes have you made that have held you back? Share your best tips in the replies.

Did you know that over 90% of diets fail? Why is that? Is it because we lack the commitment necessary to follow through? Or is it because we choose the wrong diet for our lifestyle? Whatever the reason, the 10 tips in this list will help make sure your next diet isn’t just another statistic in this long list of dieting failures.

1.    Avoid trendy diets—From the magazines lining the checkout counters at grocery stores to the afternoon talk shows, trendy diets are everywhere. Every week, there is a new “miracle diet” that produces results that are just too good to be true. And guess what? They are too good to be true. Trendy diets almost never work as they typically encourage shortcuts or dangerous eating practices.

2.    Pick a diet that fits your lifestyle—The key to being successful with your diet is finding a plan that fits your lifestyle. For example, if you work 2 jobs and live in an apartment with a cramped kitchen, a diet that requires a ton of cooking probably won’t suit your lifestyle. As a result, you’ll end up breaking it because you don’t have the time or resources to cook properly. There really are diet plans available for every lifestyle, so find one that matches your way of life.

3.    Prepare diet-friendly meals ahead of time—If the diet you choose involves cooking your own meals, take some free time to prepare meals ahead of time. Eventually, you’ll run into one of those evenings after a long day of work where you just don’t feel like cooking. If your meal is already prepared, you can avoid breaking your diet.

4.    Set goals—You have to set goals for your diet or else you’ll have no direction. The key is to set goals that are realistic. As nice as it’d be to drop 50 pounds in a month, that’s probably not going to happen. If you set unrealistic goals, you’ll lose confidence when you don’t achieve them, causing you to break your diet. Contrarily, if your goals are tough but realistic, your confidence will go through the roof, further motivating you to stick to your diet.

5.    Monitor your progress daily—A common reason we break our diets is because we don’t hold ourselves accountable. Come up with a system for tracking your progress daily. Put a chart up on the wall listing what you ate for the day. Accountability is what will keep you motivated and focused.

6.    Avoid tempting situations—If you know that meeting your friends down at the sports bar will cause you to binge on wings, avoid doing so. Suggest meeting somewhere else or skip out on hanging out that night.

7.    Don’t starve yourself—Trying to lose weight by starving yourself is one of the worst things you can do. Not only will it make you miserable and unhealthy, but it’s also a scientifically flawed approach. Your body needs to intake calories so that it can burn fat when you exercise.

8.    Reward yourself occasionally (and in moderation)—Whenever you reach the mini-goals you set for yourself, reward yourself…in moderation. If you enjoy ice cream, enjoy a small sized serving of your favorite flavor. Or, you can reward yourself in another way—a shopping spree, a day at the spa, tickets to a sporting event, etc.

9.    Ditch the unhealthy snacks—Snacks are a diet’s worst enemy. If your cupboards are full of unhealthy chips and other snacks, ditch them. Because a time will come where you’re looking for something to munch on, and if unhealthy options are around, you could easily break your diet. Instead, have healthy snacks on hand (fruits, vegetables, etc.). Also, avoid the snack machine at work by bringing healthy snacks with you.

10.    Live a healthy lifestyle along with your diet—Dieting alone usually isn’t enough. You should also start exercising regularly and living an all-around healthy lifestyle. This means trying to break bad habits like smoking that deteriorate your health.

Have you had success dieting? What worked for you?