I'm thinking about investing in a subscription but don't know which to choose. Self, Shape, Health, Women's Health??? Any suggestions?

May I suggest saving yourself some money and just frequenting their websites.

I have to be honest, I'm guilty of picking up those mags frequently, but I find that really the information is the same month after month after month, just worded slightly differently.

If you are looking for recipies, which they have good ones in those mags, may I suggest Cooking Light.

I 2nd cooking light.

I prefer Muscle & Fitness Hers because it is one of the few magazines out there with effective weight training. Oxygen has some good information but lately their calorie calculations have been off/in error (if you double check yours, it's not so bad)

I second what ncuneo said - they are the same month after month. I was able to get a free year to Fitness through a friend and I can say now, I wouldn't pay for it. If you know anyone that already gets one of those, you may be able to get them to sign you up for a free year or a really discounted year.

If you want to read a magazine, you might want to just pick up a copy at a store to look over.

I did sign up for a vegetarian magazine. I like to look at all the recipes and get different ideas for cooking different veggies. (then I add meat!)

I've bought them all a million times! My favorite is Women's health because they also have good articles on just plain health issues (as well as the diet/exercise/weight loss stuff).

I agree that they do often repeat themselves, so much that sometimes it seems like a waste of money. However, I find receiving them in the mail every few weeks is extra motivation for me. I like to look at pictures of healthy women and read their stories. I personally like Self a lot and Oxygen. I'm not into muscle building all that much but by looking and reading about the women in Oxygen, I find myself saying, "hey if they can go from looking like me to looking like that, I should be able to lose a few pounds and tone up a little". Like I said, I find just having the magazines lying around where I can see them and getting a new one every few weeks motivating. But, that's what works for me. Those are the two that I like the best (so far, there are so many more to try though).

I read all of them every moth, in all I read like 15 zines...

But Women's Health tends to be my best read...it has more actual helpful info than the fluff in others.

I also enjoy Shape.

Thanks everybody! I think I'll go with Women's Health. I feel like it will be something for me to look forward to getting and reading each month!! Thanks for all the helpful advice.

What's this Vegetarian Magazine??? I'm a vegetarian and I'm always looking for recipes and other things!

Are you speaking of Vegetarian Times? It's a decent magazine. Has a few good recipes from time to time.

Prevention is a very good health oriented magazine.

I read a variety of all of the above mentioned mags. I like most of them, probably shape the best.

The only mag I have a sub to is Organic Gardening. Soon will be getting one to Mother Earth News and Hobby Farmer. I'm passionate about those subjects and those mags are hard to find around here. Although I can look at the web sites, I like having the mags around for reference. Plus they have good recipes for veggies, especially odd ones, and homemade whole grain breads and tips on preserving, health and stuff like that.

I know this may sound stupid, but I never thought about getting magazines like these. What a great idea! I'm going to check out Women's Health too because I need all the help that I can to focus on being as healthy as I can.

Why didn't I think of this before? I love magazines too.

I also say Cooking Light, and Women's Health.

Second cooking light. The website also have a nice recipe keeper where you can add their recipes as well as your own custom ones with notes.

Off topic I've also found some pretty good healthy recipes on bon appetite(sp?). I discovered napa cabbage and rice vinegar slaw there which was pretty simple to make. I had been looking for coleslaw with no mayo.

You can't save recipes there, but I copy them to my cooking light recipe box and make is private. You can also print out recipe cards.

All these magazines are available at my local library (except you cannot take the current month home). Have you checked your library?