If the social media revolution has proven anything, it’s that people have an unquenchable desire to share their most personal ideas, emotions and goals via the Internet. Now the power of social media is making a difference in one of America's most daunting challenges -- getting and staying fit.
  
WeightLossBuddy.com is enabling people from all walks of life and every corner of America to form relationships that help them reach their dream of better health. The free site, which features blogs, weight and exercise trackers, personal food journals, meal planning tips, caloric and nutritional databases, as well as access to more than 125 world-renowned wellness experts, is even more valuable for its popular "buddy system."

"It’s been proven time and again that one-to-one support gets results," states Tenafly resident Joey Dweck, founder and CEO of WeightLossBuddy.com. "And it doesn’t matter if that support comes in a face-to-face relationship or with someone online. When a bond between two people is established, the chances for weight loss success go up dramatically. WeightLossBuddy is free, it’s immediate, it’s full of ideas and most of all, it allows anyone to make connections with an understanding friend."

WeightLossBuddy is a complete online community of people who are committed to losing weight and improving their overall health. At no cost, anyone can join and find new friends through the website's search capabilities that "introduce" fellow site members by sex, age, interests, pounds to lose, zip code or other criteria. Groups of buddies can also start a "team" with their own personalized page -- a place to share information, set goals and track group performance.

The website also offers tools to help ensure success. The diet planning area, for example, features interactive charts where users can enter daily goals for overall calorie consumption, fat and carb targets, and an exercise tracker that computes how many calories were expended. A database of more than 10,000 food items helps users quickly compute accurate nutritional information, while charts automatically visualize the member’s current and projected weight, weeks or months into the future.
 
In the "Ask Our Experts" area, members can get answers to their questions about wellness and better eating. Bestselling authors, physicians, psychologists and life coaches are available to provide information, encouragement and fresh ideas.
  
To give members a voice online, the site offers options to publish a blog -- including avenues for syndication.  Message boards allow people to share everything from success stories to recipes, while the chat room area makes it easy to converse in real time, either through text, voice or even video.