Stop Procrastinating: Be A Better You
It's about six months late (or early, depending on how full your glass is) for New Year's resolutions, but I've been thinking about lifestyle changes. This mainly came about because I gained five pounds and re-registered at MyFoodDiary.com. The Internet is great for facilitating change, or at least for facilitating the delusion that change is just a few clicks away. Here are my top picks for making yourself a better you (or at least thinking about it).
{{{2}}} (visit) This is basically a calorie log. You list all the things you eat in a day and this site will tell you if you ate too much, or too much of the wrong things, or didn't eat enough (rarely my problem!) You can check your progress throughout the day to find out if you've been good enough to have dessert. I personally lost 16 lbs using this site.
{{{2}}} (visit) This site is really just a way to find a local USA Fit running group in your area. USA Fit is a social running club that has chapters in many areas of the country. I belong to Portland Fit in Portland, Oregon, and ran my first marathon with them last year. Seriously, if I can run a marathon, anyone can. There are different pace groups that range from walkers to sub-seven-minute milers, so everyone can find a place to fit in.
{{{2}}} (visit) This is a personal finance site that helps you track your spending. It will generate a personalized plan to meet different financial goals, such as saving for college. HelloWallet is not affiliated with any banks or lending houses, so there is no ulterior motive for recommending a particular financial product.
{{{2}}} (visit) This site makes it exceptionally easy to find a place to volunteer, even if you only have 15 minutes to spare. You can choose a particular cause, like children's issues or animal welfare, and get ideas and information for how to volunteer. The site breaks it down into segments of time: See what you can do with just 15 minutes a week, or a few hours. They even have a section for planning a vacation focused on volunteering.
{{{2}}} (visit) This site offers a variety of ways to make contributions to charities and non-profit organizations. You can choose to make one-time or recurring donations and you can even purchase customizable gift cards that others can use to donate to the organization of their choice. Best of all, the site tracks your annual donations so when it's time to file your taxes, all of your monetary records for charitable donations are in one place. My one quibble with this site is its lack of information on the charities themselves. I suggest using CharityWatch.org in conjunction with this site.
{{{2}}} (visit) Now that you've contemplated making positive changes, and maybe even signed up for some services, it's time to set a goal. StickK.com helps you put your money where your mouth is. Started by two Yale professors, StickK.com is a goal achieving website. You state your goal (make it measurable!), set the stakes, designate a referee and add support. The gist of this is that if you want to run a marathon, you can bet, say, $100 on yourself. For added incentive, designate that your $100 will go to an organization you detest -- that will really get you out the door.
See the post about this list on the AboutUs weblog.
