Ellie has been a great motivator for me. I read about her in our newspaper the first year of Healthwalkers and decided that I, too, could walk. She has motivated me by staying on top of the list and also by personally encouraging me by e-mail.

I have been going to Weight Watchers 2 years tomorrow. By walking, riding a bike, exercising and physical therapy I have needed to do I have become more athletic - at 56 years of age! Of course, diet also plays an important role. I have learned how to eat healthy and try to walk every day.

The total amount of weight I have lost because of all these factors is about 72 pounds as of yesterday. I still have at least 24 more pounds to go, but I KNOW I can reach my goal.

Healthwalkers has kept me accountable for recording activities and trying to maintain a status on the front page, even though I've had some surgeries and some medical problems during this time period. I also challenged one HW member to a goal to be higher on the first page by Dec. 10, 2005. I did win the challenge, but I actually think we both won because we are both more active because of this. By challenging her I have also gained a long-distance e-mailing friend.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you, Healthwalkers!

I read the article that Dean Woodbeck wrote for MTU Tech Topics almost a year ago and I saved it. It took a whole year to actually DO something about it, though!

One thing I would enjoy seeing is a count of the number of days of recorded activity in the month. I've been a sporadic exerciser for many years, and my goal this year is to turn this into a HABIT. Being the analyst that I am, seeing numbers and trends is a big motivator for me, so I am really enjoying your site.

I love the site.  It was an excellent idea.  I would never have walked on this cold day if it were not for the challenges.  I do have a question, in the summer I love to spend a lot of time in the peddle boat, can I count this under any of the categories? 

I like this March Madness walking challenge.  I just saw it today.  The weather here has been bad, plus I have had to work late.  I walked today and was logging my miles when I saw the competition.  It was a pleasant surprise.  This website has been an inspiration to keep me walking.  I am telling my friends about it also. To everyone who has reached their first 100 mile goal congratulations. I hope to be there soon.

I have been saying to people, because of knee surgery in October and the fact I have to snowshoe instead of walk (and snowshoeing is a LOT slower that walking!), I set a new record for most days needed to reach the 100 mile goal!! But I did it, at least in part because of the website. Yes, it has helped. Writing to congratulate others who reached their goals helped me realize that I could do it too, kept me motivated.

I use the site to keep track of walking, strength training, and biking. I enjoy seeing how the other members are doing, how far they are walking and that they meet the goals. I like that the site keeps track of lots of different activities. The special events are fun to watch, too. I wish your message board was more active, but I guess people are all out walking!! The sense of community is nice, since I live in the middle of the woods in Maine and don't have a community handy! I am grateful the site is there. Oh, I also like the walking across the states aspect of the site. Another site I used to go to did a similar thing, but the miles walked did not match up to the miles they gave me (they gave way more than I walked, so it wasn't a true picture of how far I walked). I like how you do it.

I thank you for the work you do to run the site. It is making a difference in the amount I snowshoe/walk, thus it is making a difference in my life.

It's been a lot of help to get started with some type of program that doesn't involve running right away. I have had 3 stress fractures in about 13 months and can not do any running this year. This has been a help to watch the miles accumulate on this site as I am developing a base for marathon training (for a fall marathon-walking). I only log miles that I have walked as part of an exercise period. I walk about 2-3 miles at work but do not count this. I like the option of setting the goals of walking across each state. It makes it a bit more of a challenge and fun.

Thanks for the great site and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the support and keep up the good work.

Thanks for a well-thought-out event!