20 Sites to Get You in Shape

Submitted by webtechhost on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 14:14.

If you’ve been watching the Olympics over the last week and a half, you may have felt the urge to try getting in shape. I know the thought crossed my mind — and was quickly dismissed. Watching swimmers break world record after world record or gymnasts bounce around with impossible balance is inspiring, but getting started with an exercise or healthy eating regimen can be daunting. The sites below can help whip you into shape the Web 2.0 way. (Presented in no particular order.)

Traineo - Graph fitness and weight loss goals and get motivation from family and friends who receive updates on your progress.

Gimme20 - Find or build a workout that works for you, and then track your progress.

PEERtrainer - Weight loss and fitness community where members help each other stick to their goals.

My Food Diary - Food diary and exercise log tracks your calorie and fat intake and how much you’re burning.

Gyminee - Workout and diet tracking in a community environment. Users also share workout programs and challenge one another to fitness challenges.

FitLink - Fitness community that matches people to workout together and keep track of their progress.

DietTV.com - Build a free personalized diet and exercise program using advice from experts.

Skinnyr - A simple app that tracks your weight loss on a graph.

SparkPeople - A healthy lifestyle social network where people share recipes, create diet plans, track calories and fitness goals, share exercises, and health information.

FatSecret - Compare diets, share recipes, ask questions, track your progress, and keep an online journal at this site.

FitDay - Diet and weight loss journal that has long term analysis tools to figuring out how successful your diet and fitness efforts are.

WeightLossWars - Compete against others to lose weight. Feel like you’re on one of those weight loss game shows and let that be motivation to keep trying to shed pounds.

TheDailyPlate - Nutrition information for over 100,000 food items. Keep track of what you eat and how good (or bad) it is for you.

Inpower - Rate your overall well-being, set goals, create a plan, track your progress, and share your experiences with the community. (Not just limited to weight loss, but to all health issues — such as smoking cessation.)

RunFatBoy - Simple site that creates a customized workout plan you can print and bring to the gym. Also food tracking and a journal.

iTrainHarder - Track fitness and nutrition goals. Tools not only for individuals, but also for personal trainers and gyms.

Wellsphere - An online “healthy living community” that encourages people to be more active and eat healthier.

DailyStrength - Online support groups for all sorts of things, including weight loss and dieting. (Not limited to just those topics, though. This site has support groups for everything from depression to parenting to cancer.)

Project Weight Loss - Create a diet and weight loss plan, then track your progress. Menu planning, calorie counting, and body mass index figuring are all part of the package.

TweetWhatYouEat.com - One of the most simple food diaries on the web. Just tweet (or IM or enter via the web) what you’ve eaten, and TweetWhatYouEat.com will keep track of your weight and calorie intake. Unfortunately, not as good at automatically knowing how many calories food items have as other calorie counters, such as a Calorie Counter.

Have you tried any of the sites above? Let us know in the comments. Also let us know about other sites that we didn’t include on the list.