In the debut issue of VFSM, I focused on two of the great male weight loss bloggers that I read every chance I get. The Anti-Jared & Jack Sh*t. I consider these guys to be the cream of the crop, when it comes to weight loss and firmly believe they’re impacting thousands of people who read them daily. They’re the kind of guys who I know I’d like to have a beer with, because they’ve reached a point in life where they’re living life! I have a sneaky suspicion than they wouldn’t even have to get a MGD 64 calorie beer. They’ve reached the point where they’re regular guys making regular choices after a long successful war on chub.

Over the past week, as I’ve put some time in adding to my blog roll(check it out, there are MANY!), I started thinking about TAJ & JS and how they’re continuing to inspire people even though they’ve reached a level many of us will continue to blog about reaching for a long, long time.

It made me think about the bloggers I’ve followed for a long time that have reached the point of living lives like an ordinary, not fat guy might.

Billy’s Lean Body Quest

I’ve followed Billy’s Lean Body Quest since the first day he blogged in late 2006. He hasn’t blogged since January, but in the nearly 4 years since he started blogging, Bill’s turned his life around completely. I was drawn to him because his starting weight was near my own.

Over the course of the next few years, he reached his goals and set new ones, and currently maintains his weight when it fluctuates slightly.

What I like about BLBQ is even though his blog has become inactive, his archives are full of great entries. His entire blog is worth reading from beginning to end, because it’s a success story. Any blog I find interesting, I try to read everything by them to get an understanding of where they are today.

His blog reads like so many that have encountered bumps in the road, but he soldiered on. Looking at just October of 2007, this is evident.  There’s a part in there where he says he feels like a ‘grampa’ in the fat blogging community. Interesting idea, and something I wonder if weight loss bloggers don’t consider.  There will be a time and day when you’ve succeeded, and you may not need this wonderful community any more.  Maybe not though. Everybody is different, for sure.

I featured Billy’s Weight Loss Quest in the second week, because between he and The Anti-Jared and Jack Sh*t, they are the top of the weight loss bloggers that have inspired me.

Most people have huge, extensive lists of blogs on the left or right of their blog entries. Mine is on its own page. There’s a reason for that. My feeling is if you’re in the mood to look for new writers, there should be a page for them. Having them run the length of your sidebar(and far, far beyond anything else written in some cases) can cause people to miss someone great.

So, I have that separate page. This week I added a “Hall of Loss” on the main page of my blog. It’s just Billy & the other 2. The Hall of Loss is my Hall of Fame. Guys I’ve followed, gobble up whatever they read, and hope to emulate on my own trip to Onederland. Chances are, this Hall of Loss won’t grow very quickly. There are many great, successful writers, but these are my absolute favorites.

I implore you to read BLBQ, and the guys from the last VFSM, and the guys and gals that make up the extensive list of weight loss blogs. Even inactive blogs can be great, if there’s a happy ending.