Studies have shown that keeping a journal and dieting with friends are some of the most reliable ways to lose weight and keep it off. These three bloggers have chronicled their own weight-loss journeys, and are now around to lend support, advice and extra portions of sass to those of us gearing up to look hot in our Santa sweaters after a fall of nomming chicken wings during Chargers games.

Pasta Queen -- Jennette Fulda dropped almost 200 pounds between 2004 and 2007, but never lost her sense of humor. Through good old diet and exercise, Jennette went from being dangerously overweight to running half-marathons, a journey which she chronicled on her blog and ultimately in a book. She's also a self-proclaimed "designer/programmer/geek," which means awesome interactive features and flash animations of her weight loss. But lest you think that she's some kind of sanctimonious carrot muncher, she writes, "I still like to steal cannoli and cake and I'm not ashamed. If that bothers you, I suggest you go somewhere else. I'm not your Weight Watchers leader." A girl after our own cake-thieving hearts.

Diet Girl -- For a second healthy dose of moxie, there's Diet Girl, aka Shauna Reid, an Aussie pistol who dropped 12 dress sizes after starting her weight-loss blog in 2001. She started out on Weight Watchers, but these days, she follows her own program, which involves a lot of cooking her own delicious recipes that are heavy on fruit, veggies and taste, although, as she declares, "I'll never surrender my precious chocolate and ice cream." The incredibly body-positive Shauna provides loads of resources, like portable snacking tips and weight-trackers. Check out her recipe archive, with its pretty photographs that prove healthy food doesn't have to look or taste like ground-up magazines and sadness.

Kalyn's Kitchen -- And for the truly recipe-obsessed, there's Kalyn's Kitchen. Kalyn lost weight on the South Beach diet, but now does maintenance by eating low-cal, low-glycemic index foods. But luckily, she thinks prepackaged foods are bullsh** and refuses to eat anything that doesn't taste great. The site has lots of practical advice for adding flavor to food and keeping it healthy, plus a zillion recipes from muffins to gravy (really) to party snacks you wouldn't feel crappy serving to non dieting friends (diet-friendly Super Bowl food -- we are not lying to you). Try her perfect-for-fall spaghetti squash and chard gratin and thank us later.