I signed up for an online dating service late last year. In browsing the pictures I noticed an all too common theme in which people had only 1 picture up, or they mislabeled themselves as “about average weight” when they should have said “a few extra pounds”. Now, being overweight is a serious problem, but it is nothing to be ashamed about. By lying about their weight or putting up a fuzzy photograph (taken at a weird angle) these people were trying to fool their potential dates into thinking they are someone they are not.

Since this is the new year, I would like to suggest a solution for those of you who want to better yourselves. Go on a diet. Yes, this is probably something you have heard many times before, and I am only here to give you a little more motivation in order to do so. There are many diet plans to choose from (I’m not going to recommend one over another) and many websites that are setup to offer discounts on weight loss products. I’m going to purposely keep this post short and sweet so that you can take some time to sit back and think about things. Life in this day and age comes at a blistering pace, and sometimes weeks fly by before we even know it. Take a few minutes after you read this post to sit back and think about what you want to accomplish in 2010. Picture yourself after you have reached your goal and think about how happy you will be.

Believe it or not, for most people all it takes to lose a few extra pounds is 1 hour of exercise a day. The U.S. Government recommends you walk at least 1/2 hour a day at bare minimum. I had a cousin who was 25lbs overweight and instead of driving his car to work, he walked 3 miles every morning. Now for most of us living in the city, this is completely impractical so I have compiled a few ideas in which you can find time to get some exercise:

1. If you work a full time job, get with 2 or 3 of your co-workers and agree to talk a walk during your lunch break. If you work in a high rise building, you have the benefit of walking up or down a few flights of steps for 30 minutes.

2. After dinner, take a short walk around your block.

3. Instead of driving to the store to do errands, take a walk.

4. If you work an office job, limit your time spent at your desk (without getting up and going for a drink of water or something like that) to 1-1/2 hours. If you are like me, you will find the longest route to take when having to visit a co-worker in the same office.

5. Wake up an hour early (yes, I know…poor you !) and take a walk around your block. By the end of the first week you will be feeling 100x better and probably sleep much better at night.

After you have reached your target weight the only thing left to do is to sign up for an online dating service and show yourself off ! Be sure to include no less than 5 pictures of yourself so your potential dates can have a clear picture in their mind of what you look like. Many people complain that “the online dating services don’t work” or “I can’t seem to find a date”. 9 times out of 10, they only have 1 picture up in their online dating profile and it is usually taken from a weird angle. Studies have shown that due to the atrocious economy, millions of singles are flocking to the online dating services in order to forget their financial troubles. Take advantage of the rush of new members and hopefully soon you will find happiness !