Skinnyr

Update December 25: If there are two days when you need these sites, it's Thanksgiving and Christmas. So we are bringing it back to the front to help you work off all that Christmas candy and eggnog :)

After last year's Web 2.0 Fat-Off, we are bringing it back this year! This is where we take a look at many of the weight loss Web sites that rely on new technology and capabilities and are outside the normal Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and NutraSlim. It appears that most of last year's entrants haven't made any visible changes to their applications. Considering how far the social networking platforms have come in the last year, this is a bit disappointing to see. Of course, just because there were no updates, this does not mean any of the apps below aren't worth a look. You should try each and pick your own favorite!

I am also a bit shocked that none of them have picked up on techonology such as Twitter/Pownce/Jaiku - how great would it be to send in quick updates as each day progresses and get immediate feedback from anywhere using a mobile? This could be the ultimate upgrade to an existing weight site or a new one could be born just out of this messaging technology.

Come inside to check out all of this year's entrants into the Fat-Off Challenge!

James Thomas (an infrequent contributor on CN) has just launched a new version of skinnyr, the weight loss tracking tool. James notes that it's a "graph thingy to track your weight". Skinnyr was one of the tools we tested in the Web 2.0 Fat-Off in late 2006. Skinnyr is as basic as it gets. It's an online scale. But it does that very well.

The new site has a new Web 2.0 look and logo, a MUCH improved graph, and a Yahoo widget. Here is what I like about the widget. Managing weight is tough and doing it needs to be as easy as possible. The widget makes it easy as the graph sits on your desktop so when you reach to the side to grab a Twinkie, the graph says, "Don't do it, a minute on the lips a lifetime on the hips!"

I still wish James would make a full graphing widget for any of the social networking services. I think it could be a big hit. Graph how many times "Paris Hilton" is mentioned in the first 10 minutes of the news, graph how many minutes you waste playing video games instead of working, etc. I am sure that MySpace'rs and Facebook'rs would eat it up.

Now here is where it gets a bit interesting. The new Skinnyr goes live and James has put it up for sale. Check out the details on his corporate blog. His traffic and registered user numbers continue to increase and I could see it working well with a service such as Traineo. I don't know what he is looking for in price.

A couple of new additions to the Fat-Off. And some other updates. Check out the details because the fat-off starts next week!