Yesterday was the one month anniversary of our weight loss and fitness forum.  In that month we’ve racked up the following stats:
Members: 70
Threads: 335
Posts: 2,544

We have 3 successful challenges going.
We have a Christmas card exchange going.
We have people posting recipes.
We have support from a kickass trainer who gives advice here.
We have maintainers, beginners, trainers, people in the middle of their journey, and people who are becoming friends.

And here are some of the things our members are saying:

I’m having a great time here, with great people.
You have crafted an awesome site, and I look forward to being part of it as it grows.

We are blessed by the presence of many of the most supportive people on any forum. People who have acquired an amazing pool of weight loss knowledge and are prepared to help others reach their goals. People who are focussed and therefore project a great example to anyone looking for inspiration and the way forward.

I like that it is smaller and more personal than some others…I don’t just feel like a number. I feel like my opinion and thoughts DO count and can make a difference.

I’m so glad I found this forum. Unlike some other forums I really feel like I’m a part of a community and get lots of support Thank you!

Come join us and be a part of our “rockin’ forum” (so says Korrie)

Why another diet forum when there are already so many forums for losing weight out there? Do we really need another one?

Maybe not. I’ll be honest that this is, to a large degree, an experiment on my part. There are already a ton of forums dedicated to diet, fitness, weight loss, exercise, body building, and all those other things. I’ve been on a lot of them and I’ve discovered that many of them fall into one of the following categories:

1. Forums that are run as profit centers for owners who couldn’t care less about the integrity of the community and the information provided.
2. Forums that have been overrun by spammers and shysters selling the latest “quick fix” solutions, to the point at regular users have been driven away.
3. Forums that are sponsored by commercial concerns that limit discussion to only those topics that support their product or sales pitch.
4. Forums that are populated by nutrition and fitness fanatics or hard-core body builders (not a bad thing, but hard for the average person looking to lose a few pounds and be healthy to feel welcome in).
5. Forums that are geared mostly towards women, where men feel awkward or out of place posting.
6. Forums that simply don’t have a sense of community.

I want to create a forum that avoids as many of those pitfalls as possible and is a resource for anyone looking to lose weight – any amount of weight. If you have 10lbs to lose to fit into your favorite jeans, I want you to feel welcome here. If you need to lose 100lbs, or 200lbs, or more for your health and well being, I want you to find a home here as well.

I hope to recruit the participation of some of the “fitness fanatics” I know, so that the information provided on the boards here is accurate and useful.

I hope to find people who have successfully lost weight to join and hang around to give us the benefit of their experience and success.

I hope to grow a community of people who learn to care about each other and the struggles we all face at whatever weight we are, and at where-ever we are in our journeys.

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably interested in losing weight and getting fit and talking about it to like minded people. I hope you stay around and become a part of our community.  Come join us and see what it’s all about.