To Your Health

It's hard enough following a fitness and weight-loss plan when you've got everything going for you. When you're trying to append a diet or fitness regimen to a busy life, the difficulty increases exponentially.

Here are 5 ways to stay on top of your fitness goals when you're on the go.

Count Your Steps. Experts recommend 10,000 steps a day, and you may be closer to that goal than you think just making your daily rounds. The key is to put a hustle in your step so that it counts as moderate exercise, and to keep track. A pedometer is key. You can buy a simple one that just counts your steps, or a glitzy model that calculates distance and calories burned. There's a wide selection, from $4.25 up, at bodytronics.com.

Hire a Virtual Coach. Sensei is a software system that works with your computer or cell phone. It can customize a diet plan for you, eating out or at home, even including fast food, based on a profile you fill out. Once you're on the plan, Sensei will dispatch advice and encouragement to your computer or mobile phone. Starts at $11.25 a month; sensei.com.

Buy a Band. A resistance band can be used anytime, anywhere, to simulate the workout you'd get on a machine or with weights. For traveling, it's so light it will absolutely disappear into a suitcase, leaving lots of room for your strappy sandals. Different color bands offer different levels of resistance; you can graduate up the rainbow as you get stronger. workoutz.com sells a variety of bands, starting at $2.95.

Make Easy Food Substitutions. These simple switches become automatic, and they'll cut down on calories effortlessly. Most of us already sub no-cal soda for the real stuff. Here are some other ideas: eat mustard, not mayonnaise; use balsamic vinegar with just a hint of oil instead of restaurant salad dressing; when eating out, just eat half and take the rest home for tomorrow's lunch. Cut just 100 calories a day this way, and you'll drop almost a pound a month.

Keep a Go-Pack of Healthy Foods. When you're busy, it's even easier to break your diet by grabbing whatever is at hand - candy bar, French fries, a high-fat muffin. Be prepared for snack attacks with satisfying 100-calorie bites (ones that include protein and fiber as well as carbs and fat): 10 cashews or almonds, half an apple with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter, a 6-ounce container of fat-free yogurt.

Also, don't forget to get support from your friends when you're working toward new fitness and weight-loss goals; check out what other Bettys are doing to stay on course.