Fitness tracker such as a Fitbit, Google Fit, Apple Health, etc. I have been using a Fitbit for a few years, and my most recent model – the Versa Lite – reminds me to get up and walk each hour in addition to tracking my steps, my heartbeat, and my sleep. It communicates with my iPhone to show me incoming phone calls, and I can program in an alarm that gently “buzzes my wrist” in the morning. It’s not a fancy or robust as an Apple Watch, but it wasn’t nearly as expensive. It connects to both The Conqueror and Atkins.com to automatically report my steps each day. The Fitbit.com dashboard has its own food tracking tool, so if you just want to track your eating without a specific diet such as Atkins or Weight Watchers, you can use that at no additional cost.

YouTube exercise videos. Workouts from folks like Leslie Sansone and Richard Simmons are freely available on YouTube. The Leslie Sansone workouts involve mostly walking in place, so they don’t require any equipment or much space; they are designed for people at various levels of fitness. Search for “workout video” and see which ones meet your needs.

Music on your iPod, phone, or YouTube. If you have a treadmill, exercise bike, or you just walk around the block, listening to music will motivate you to go longer until you see what song comes next!

Carol Sabbar is director of computer services at Carthage College. Email her at csabbar@yahoo.com.