How many people do you think Join on here ... and never come back after the first
 

.... week?

Alot!

I have been going through some of the profiles on Fitday ... and have found the majority of people write one post, and never seem to come back on again :(

This is such a valuable site, with so much to offer, yet very few people have posted more than once .....

I believe success is based on changing the lifestyle so many of us have been living - which has made us UNHAPPY for a longtime!

I come here every day - a few times a day - log what i eat - i log what i did fitness wise - and i write about my moods, my journal - i utilize the site. I hope i will continue to be successful - but i sort of look at it like a job - i have to attend to it :)

nonetheless - i hope you guys reading this continue to come back and read, report and experience! :D

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? There are probably as many "one post wonders" as there are people that start a diet every Monday morning and have completely given up by Friday afternoon.

I've given this site address to almost everyone that wanted to talk "diet" with me. And most of them come back later and say, "I went to that fitday site, and couldn't figure out what I was suppose to eat on that diet.". I've tried to explain it over and over, but somehow changing gears from a prescribed diet like Atkins or WW, to "whatever you want, so long as you maintain a calorie deficit" is impossible for some people. Fitday would probably gain a whole new clientele if part of the site would make dietary suggestions. Like you could type in what you're hungry for, the ingredients that you have on hand, what diet plan you're following and it would look at your calories and nutrients for the day thus far and make a menu suggestion.

Truth be told, I think FitDay loses a lot of people to other sites...yes, there is likely a significant degree of complete diet attrition, but folks find sites like SparkPeople, Livestrong, and the USDA pyramid site and see that it has features FitDay does not; I know for sure that SparkPeople offers sample menus and workouts, as almeeker alluded to.

I'm not saying that's all of it, but I think it's definitely part of it, and that's too bad.

I agree with you guys...I have looked at other sites as well. I really like FD. It seems like a good fit for me. I like to be able to make up my own diet plan as I go along with the day. The diet I'm really on is that I'm trying to make good choices in my food intake, and at the same time watch my cals,fat, and carbs. By using FD I know where I stand....if I'm going to gain or lose.

Maybe some of those single-post profiles are still lurking and just read, but don't participate? I'm sure many of them have stopped visiting though.

I know when I first registered for FitDay in 2006, they didn't have forums as a feature. I was pleasantly surprised when I returned this year to find discussion boards, as support is a huge part of succeeding in a lifestyle change.

I have visited some of the other free sites, like SparkPeople, CalorieCount, etc. and used to belong to a pay site (DietWatch), but still find FitDay to be best suited to my personal needs.

It's a clean, simple layout and navigation system, and just doesn't seem as cluttered up with ads and foo-foo features.

The only thing I wish FD did better was have active moderators or other presence on the site, because right now it seems like they are invisible. I would also love it if they had a chat room function. There are times when I log on here to post and I really would love to just talk to somebody in real-time.

Again....I agree with you! :) I wish we could talk real time too; that would be nice. I guess we could get e-mail address or something, but real time would be much better. :)

FitDay works for me. And keeps me Honest.

:)

I think the reason FT works for us is that it require us to be accountable for ourselves, make our own decisions, and ultimately learn for ourselves how to be fit & healthy.

Other sites that tell you what to do, what to eat, how to eat, when to exercise and how much, can turn into yet another crutch. They can be very helpful when you are just starting, but the bottom line is: if you have to have someone else tell you how to live your life, you will not succeed in the long run.

Yeah for FitDay!

I tried SparkPeople as well, and I became a "one post wonder" over there as well! It was too overwhelming...too much stuff going on all at once. Plus, I just like the FitDay layout better.

One thing I did like about SP was that you could get nutrition information about custom foods from other users. That saved some time entering foods for the day or two I used it.

But I ended up back here, so the lack of that feature must not have bugged me too much. =)

I bet a lot of people join and never come back or don't come back for a long time. I've been on fitday for years. How many people start a new diet every single morning only to blow it by noon? A lot, what matters to me is who is here, right now, contributing information to losing weight and motivating me? Because, it is all about me, isn't it?

Like anything else in life, you get out what you put in. Almeeker's literally worked her butt off to get where she is. I'm going much slower, but 1) I'm not putting as much energy into the process and 2) I'm still going. I don't want to follow someone else's plan, I want to find my own way, so fitday works for me. Plus I can access it at work or at home. I plan on being here for as long as the site exists. I'd love a chat room, but at least there's a forum.

If you have ever been a member of a gym you know that the busiest month is January. All those people make a New Years resolution some only make it a week, some a month, but by February most of them are gone. It is the same here on Fitday.

... And another reason is that when you're done typing and click submit - the site loses your entire post...

Let me try to recreate some what I had - the original post was far more in-depth and thought-out:

Reasons for not posting after 1x:
a) Intimidating - New atmosphere, Like walking into a room of strangers and picking up a conversation with someone - some people have it, others dont
b) Knowledgebase - I could converse with someone, but if there is a post asking for information on something; I'm pretty sure the one who is posting that has the 6 pack abs has a much better grasp of workout information than I do. (That can be said for any other subject too).

Rant about requesting new features and a shared custom foods database axed

side note: Glad to see the new forums and community building around it.

LOL!!, Been there done that.... Sucks when you spend the time to type a eloquent and informative post and then it is gone!!!

I have gotten into the habit of highlighting my post, and hitting <ctrl+C> to copy. That way when I hit submit and it disappears I just open another response and <ctrl+v> to paste it back. But it is still a pain in the ***.

Yeah - typically when I get to where my post gets wordy I'll start typing into notepad and then copy it over. Guess I got overly confident that forums in general have conquered that issue; guess not all have.

In any case - chalk it up to following best practices... (I should know better already darnedit)

I think a lot of people assume fitday.com is a diet plan,when in fact it is just a tool to help you manage your life style .
I'm only on my second week here ,but have already made it a daily routine.
It keeps track of what I need to be able monitor my progress,and gives me the opportunity to interact with people in the same boat as me. And let's not forget about the great advise from those who are willing to share great information, and the inspiration you get from the many success stories.
That my friends is pretty darn good tool.

I am a new member, well to the forum part at least. I found fitday about 2 weeks ago. I think this site is awesome, it does make you accountable for what you are eating, how you exercise, etc.. And it works with any "diet" that someone is on.

I am not a huge poster. but I believe this is # 2 for me. I like to read more so that add my own opinion. but I will be on here everyday to keep track of my results, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with all of you!!

Welcome! This is kind of an old thread, but interesting nonetheless. I note that the OP seems to have, sadly, disappeared as her last visit was on 9/23. As others have pointed out, FitDay is a great tool, but you do have to work it. If you do, success is pretty much guaranteed.

Regards,
Michael

Haha Michael I was going to point that out.

Weight loss is something anyone can achieve. You just can't quit.

Usually when you don't like something you can just quit, but if you don't like you body quitting is not an option. It takes work to be in good shape, or to be healthy.

Some give in to quitting, and don't come back to fitday. Others find out how to do it without the help of this site. Some quit fitday for calorieking or livestrong or the other sites.

The ones that stay here, and stay their course, are rewarded by their hard work and determination. Since joining here I have lost 35 pounds, and for me that was a lot to lose (225 starting weight,) because I only have about 10 or so more to go.

When I found fitday I found something that empowered me to take control of my diet. I have told many friends about this site, and most just try it for a day and give up. So if you are still here after a week, a month, two months, just go ahead and give yourself a big pat on the back, because even though anyone is capable, it takes a special kind of person to actually do it.

I'm probably the one that y'all wish never came back. :D

You are all correct! Anyone can lose wieght, really.. But it takes a special person to ACTUALLY lose it. You guys know what I mean! Stick on this forum and fill out your daily intakes and you WILL lose it!!

I don't know if anyone has said this yet (in class (extremely boring), don't have time to read all the comments)) but, I think a lot of people are just not posters. Some may just log in food and activities and that will be it. Others might post a lot and not post for a long time, I know for sure that when Beginning of DEC rolls by I will probably not post much at all, exams are crazy around here. Of course you have the others, that just wane of, maybe they found another site or just not motivated enough:confused: so there is a plethora of reasons as to why.

I too joined Fitday a long time ago, but thought the forum was a pay feature so I never used it. Just realized a week or two ago that it's not, so I've been ready and posting.

Welcome to the forums SonoBellaCapisce and LisaAnnie!

Attitude is so important. In my opinion looking at weight loss and a 'diet' as a short term method to reach a goal is setting yourself up for failure. I prefer to look at the process as a 'lifestyle' change that I will continue for the rest of my life. I find the forums help keep me reminded and motivated to live that healthier lifestyle. The people we associate with have a huge influence on our lives. My son was hanging with the wrong crowd and eventually did some things he regretted (mostly because he got punished, lol). When he disassociated from that group his behavior improved. The same goes for living healthier. Most of the family, friends and co-workers we interact with on a daily basis are not good influences when it comes to being fit and healthy. Fitday forums are a refuge from the people in the world that are destroying their health through their lack of physical activity and bad eating habits.

I don't think the forums existed back in '02/'03 when I originally joined (or if they did, were a premium feature). Back then I joined a Yahoo Group that was very helpful. I do, though, like having everything "under one roof".

I've turned a number of folks onto FitDay (including some family members who desperately need it) but, sadly, none of them kept up with it.

Anyway, welcome to all who come here, for however long you might stay!

Regards,
Michael

I actually joined a long time ago, but just started posting to the discussion board yesterday... finally decided to get serious about my goals...

I'm Back :)
 

I joined about a year ago, maybe more but never checked if there was a forum. I lost about 50 lbs with this and my nutritionist. This past month I fractured my ankle and could not work out :( I gained 10 pounds...that's what you get when you can't work out for 6 months... well I'm starting again :) and I'm happy. Does anyone know how to log P90X into the Activities?