Cut Me In Half

I recently found out about a great site for online dating called Just Say Hi.  There are plenty of great reasons to join JustSayHi, but of course it’s not for everyone.

First off, you’ve definitely gotta be single (naturally).  But you also have to like dating sites — which surprisingly few people do.  Personally, I think that getting all the pre-dating stuff out of the way online is the best way to go.  Even if you’re nervous, you’ll still ask and answer questions because there’s really not as much pressure there.  If it doesn’t work out when you’re first chatting, you don’t have to sit through a movie together afterwards or figure out how the check and tip get divided.    If you don’t really have anything in common, you usually just talk about other stuff and part ways as friends after a bit — no pressure and no commitment.  It’s like dating triage. And if you find someone you do like, it’s easy to set up a date.  Plus once you’re on the date, you can get a bit more in-depth since you’ve already gone over the basic small talk like what you both do for a living.

Great reasons to join:

• Dating Triage: Find someone you might like before initiating contact
• Has a large variety of people to contact
• Great Forums for talking about everything from sports to movies
• 100% Free
• No annoying flashing ads, with a max of 2 ads per page
• Great atmosphere and Nice People

JustSayHi.com is one of a very select few free dating sites, so I would definitely encourage everyone to check it out if you’re single and looking for that special someone.
Cons: None
Total Score: 5 out of 5

I would definitely suggest that you guys check out these three sites.  They’re a great help to me, and if you like this site, I’m sure you’ll like these as well. 

Fat Fighter Blogs — This is a great directory

Fat Guy Radio — Two Fat Guys, One Phat Podcast.

My Fitness Pal — New Diet and Fitness tracker.  100% Free and only one ad per page.

SparkPeople — Possibly the best fitness site on the internet.  Includes hundreds of articles on diet, weight loss, fitness and inspiration.  100% Free and has many male members.

Sorry for all the random review stuff, I’m working on something big on strokes and spending a lot of time reading research articles.  It should be done in the next day, so expect things to be back to normal very soon.

I’ve always been a huge fan of free stuff, so I wanted to share with you guys a new free site. It’s called My Fitness Pal, and it’s a combination free calorie counter, fitness tracker, forum and food diary (I’ve got some screenshots below). It’s got some pretty great features:

• Calorie Tracker
• Calorie Counter
• Fitness Tracker
• Charts and Reports that cover Weight Loss, Calorie Intake and Exercise.
• Great Support Forums
• Fast-Loading
• Easy To Use

Screenshots (click for large view):

Really the only thing that I saw that could be improved a bit were the reports. They are mostly good for looking at a large amount of weight loss long-term, in the short term it can’t really display much change. The problem is that it divides into 80-pound increments — which is great because it loads quickly, but bad because it’s not detailed enough. This is my report for the past week.

As you can see, there was a big spike when I joined (my start weight), but you really can’t tell how much I weigh by this graph. I would guess 310 pounds if I had to go by the graph, when really I’m about 15 less than that. The good thing about the reports is that you can see large changes in your weight over time, and you can insert older weigh-ins into the report to see changes in weight over an even larger area.

Honestly the whole site exceeded my expectations, and unlike most sites they only have one text-based ad on every page, not a ton of big flashing ads like most free sites. My Fitness Pal is similar to SparkPeople, but it’s a bit less-complicated and loads a lot faster. It’s also newer, has fewer people and it’s easier to develop a friendly acquaintance with people there. SP is really large, so it’s a bit harder to make friends there. With MFP, it’s not required that you participate in the forums (you can stay very anonymous if you want), but the people there are incredibly friendly and helpful.

Pros: Great for calorie counting, fitness and weight tracking, and for people who want a Support System.
Cons: Weight reports aren’t as in-depth as some sites.

Total Rating: 5 out of 5

MFP’s tools also work well with people of both sexes, and everything is presented in a way that makes it clear that the site really is for everyone who needs to lose weight. I absolutely adore sites that are for everyone, and it’s no coincidence that sites that are inclusive of everyone tend to have better tools and articles. 

A recent study at Louisiana State University found that women who had two eggs for breakfast lost 65% more weight than women who ate a bagel instead and lost a significant number of inches as well. Does that mean that eggs are going to become the new “it” diet food?

About three weeks ago, I had a consultation with a weight loss specialist. They told me something rather interesting: That eating an egg (yolk and all) for breakfast within 30 minutes of waking actually speeds up weight loss.

The reason? Eggs release slow-acting insulin, which means that you’re burning calories and fat for a full 3 hours. Since eggs are fairly low calorie on their own (65-80 per egg), that means quite a fat burn over the course of 3 hours. Eggs also contain small amounts of cholesterol and fat, which help control junk-food cravings. Eating a hard-boiled egg when you get out of the shower and then eating a modest meal 3 hours later is a good fat-burning plan for the morning hours (and can help prevent you from eating a lot at your desk).

This works best when you’re eating 5-6 modest meals a day, as it boosts the metabolism a great deal and in turn helps you burn fat better. But really you could incorporate this with any diet type as a first-thing-in-the-morning snack.

So a hard-boiled egg for breakfast, a nice mid-day snack, a healthy lunch, an afternoon snack and a reasonable, healthy dinner will make for improved weight loss.

Eggs get a bad rep for having cholesterol and fat in them, but in combination with a healthy diet and a little exercise, they can be a blessing in disguise. And at about 80 calories per large egg, they have half the calories of 1oz. of peanuts and just as much protein. Combine them with a salad, a slice of bread or piece of fruit, and you have the perfect afternoon snack.

–Griffin Boyce

Simple Slimming
One of the best things you can do for your overall health is drop a few pounds. Or maybe more than a few pounds.
Being overweight significantly increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer … the list seems almost endless. Plus, if you do get sick or need surgery, being overweight can make any treatments riskier.

You know the drill when it comes to losing weight — take in fewer calories, burn more calories. But you also know that most diets and quick weight-loss plans have about as much substance as a politician’s campaign pledges. You’re better off finding several simple things you can do on a daily basis — along with following the cardinal rules of eating more vegetables and less fat and getting more physical activity. Together, they should send the scale numbers in the right direction: down.

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