Getting motivated to start a weight loss or other fitness program isn’t hard. The difficult part is staying motivated. Having a buddy or being part of a team or challenge can make a huge difference in sticking with your program. Finding just one friend who’s schedule is a good fit with yours can be hard, but keeping up with the schedules of several friends supporting each other could be too much to handle. Here’s an idea… Start your own fitness support group using some free online tools.

Ning.com – My personal favorite and first choice. Ning lets you set up a complete private social network for your group, complete with individual blogs, message boards, photo and video sharing, event calendar and more. You can make your group private, by invite only, or open to the public. A host of extra applications, including chat, are available and the look and feel of the site can be changed to fit your group with a little extra customization. The free version is ad supported, paid options expand functionality and allow for your own revenue-generating options.

Google Groups – An easy solution to get started because it uses your existing Google account (and who doesn’t have one of those) to manage your Groups subscriptions. Primarily an online message board for groups, it does allow for file sharing among members. Public or invite only options keep personal information private if you like.

Yahoo Groups – Yahoo also provides a group option. Features include message boards, photo & file sharing, link lists, database creation and maintenance and more. Private groups are available.

Facebook Groups – Have a lot of friends on Facebook? Set up a group (again private option available) within Facebook to share messages, links, photos and a private group wall.

Use your group to keep up with friend’s progress, share your own goals and keep accountable, set up a group challenge, schedule workouts among the group and more. You could even set up a fitness group or challenge for your company or other organization.

Have your own group site? Share it below.