Just when you thought you had tried every diet program, in flies Twitter. At one point, you or someone you know has tried it: no carb, low carb, calorie counting, counting points, food delivery, anything Oprah-approved, and acting like a French lady. And now sweets for tweets! I have been trying to avoid the oh-so-popular Twitter, but I had to see what the buzz was all about.
Brian Stelter, of the New York Times, needed support to lose weight and had little time to meet with a weight loss group when he turned to the web for help. He started tweeting his daily progress from his iPhone. Much to his surprise, strangers from everywhere sent him words of encouragement that made him really feel like part of the weight loss community.
Tweet What you Eat is a Twitter-based site that was started in 2008 and now boasts thousands of members worldwide! This online community is basically a food journal that actually speaks back to you with praises and support when you need it the most.
Creator of the site Alex Ressi wanted to help people become more aware of what they put in their body, but he acknowledges that a strong force of the site’s effectiveness is shame. “There is that component of shame,” he told ABC News. “Perhaps if your food diary is open and public, it may affect what you eat.” Shame or no shame, Brian Stelter is now down 75 pounds and owes it to his many followers he carries around in his pocket who convinced him not to have that second serving of delicious cheesecake! The site has been such a success that Ressi created a sister site to help you save money! An online journal for you shopaholics out there called Tweet What you Spend.
So no more citing ‘lack of support’ as an excuse not to diet! With Twitter, the whole world is listening.