for Your Fitness/Weight Loss

When I'm handing out credit in my own weight loss successes, I always include the power of the internet in the list of contributors. Having these "go-to" places to find answers (or questions) when I needed them, not to mention support and inspiration, was (IS) a huge factor in my progress. HUGE!

With the coming of the new year, I'm suspecting we'll have some new-to-the-community folks dropping by, and I thought now might be a good time to share some of my favorite resources. These first two resources are probably the "huge-est" contributors:

 has been used by 6 million people in 150 countries. Personalized eating plans, calorie and exercise tracking, health and fitness information, recipes, exercise demonstrations and videos, interactive forums for virtually every interest group. You can do as much or as little of it as you want. No requirements, no pressure. Best of all, no $$$. It's all free.

 gave me access to some of the most motivated and motivational health and fitness bloggers out there. Provided by the gracious Diana,  the HYC is an index of bloggers all pursuing the same goals--better health and fitness. As the commercial says, PRICELESS. I honestly can't imagine where I'd be right now without this network.

A few other "go-to" sites for me:

Cooking (as viewed by the non-cook):
 Healthy Cooking section - lots of fresh ingredients and nutritionally rich recipes here.

 - Healthy recipes and tips from Roni
. Her young son helps with many recipes, so be prepared for rampant use of sprinkles. :)

- You've probably seen  at your bookstore. If you're transitioning from a junkfood-filled existence to healthier eating, you might find some of these recipes useful. Long-term, they're probably not the healthiest way to eat (lots of processed foods like Splenda), but face it: sometimes a girl/guy just wants something a little bit decadent.

 - "Diet" food reviews.

Exercise:
 - information and exercise instructions.
- For me, it's a little too much focus on how we should look rather than feel, but that's probably just me being cranky. The exercises are generally good.

Others:
- Gretchen Rubin's recounting of her path to happiness may help you find your own way. She's just released a book of the same title,

 - Thouands of tips for making life more manageable.
- Too commercial for me these days, but the archives are full of excellent articles on living a simpler life, many by guest bloggers from across the spectrum.

I didn't include personal pages because I have (at last count) over 100 of those in my reader. If you're new to the community, you can start with the HYC, as mentioned above, or check out my side bar for my (currently not updated) list of favorite bloggers, or click on the links of other folks responding to this post. When you find something you want to comment on, don't be shy--jump right in! I haven't met a blogger yet who didn't welcome new commenters! (Heck, some of us stand up and do a cheer when someone new shows up! Or maybe that's just me?)

Those are just a few of my "go to" online resources.  What are your favorites? Any tips for those who might be new to this fitness community of bloggers?