In order to eat better and get more excercise in today's world, it's sometimes necessary to have a little help. There's plenty of help available online. Here are some suggestions for improving your diet and getting fit.

One of the best things you can do for your body is eat local. The food is fresh, often organic, and hasn't been shipped thousands of miles or processed into a tasty chemical before it reaches your table. If you're looking for a source of locally grown food, check out Local Harvest where they keep a database of farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food.

The National Resources Defense Council provides an interesting tool that tells you what food is available in your local area at any time of the year. And it tells you where you can find the food.

Named one of Time Magazine's top 25 websites of 2007, fatsecret.com is a free dieting support site. It touts the fact that it is independent and not affiliated with any diet program or product line. It provides support in the form of journals, food and exercise diaries, tips, recipes and advice from the fatsecret community. fatsecret gives you the opportunity to find a diet buddy with whom you can share motivation and support. This is a great place to start your search for help and support, because fatsecret isn't trying to sell you anything.

Health sites include exercise, diet, and fitness information. WebMD, for example, has a section with workout videos, fitness videos, online tools and calculators, fitness articles, and much more. All with no hidden food sales or workout equipment sales agenda.

Revolution Health is a health portal that provides all sorts of health and disease information. It includes online tools and calculators, fitness articles and videos, and food and nutrition information.

Other sites, although effective and well-regarded, want to sell you something. Don't reject them because of that. They may be exactly what you need.

eDiets.com offers both diet and fitness tools. This site does sell food, but there are many helpful tools even if you don't buy food. There is a toll free number to call a nutritionist. You get a personalized fitness profile with an exercise plan tailored to you. Fitness tools on the site include videos for exercise training. You also have online support from a fitness team. It's free to get started with eDiets.

Diet.com is similar in approach. Diet.com provides personalized diet plans and fitness plans, videos, a blog, and community forums. You can join a team challenge group here to get support from a group who are working toward the same goals you are. A chief difference I see between diet.com and eDiet.com is that diet.com doesn't seem to be selling food. Among the tools provided by diet.com are a BMI Calculator and a Calorie Counter. There are also quizzes that educate as well as entertain.

dietwatch offers four diet plans. They don't sell food but there is a fee to be a member. You get a personalized meal planner and a personal exercise program as well as various support features such as chat, blogs, and forums. There are online tools at this site for tracking calories, carbs, fat, exercise, and weight.

The grandmother of dieting success, Weight Watchers has an online world. You can buy the Weight Watchers food, of course. There's a monthly fee. There's a long history of success attached to the brand. The site provides recipes, fitness tools, community support and numerous topical message boards. Some of the online tools include a POINTS Tracker and a restaurant guide. The traditional Weight Watchers meetings in the real world in towns all over the country are also great support for people dieting with the Weight Watchers plan.

In terms of fitness, Denise Austin emphasizes fitness and toning with Austin's Fit Forever program. The site offers many products from Denise Austin for sale: kits, videos and other fitness tools. It's definitely oriented to making the sale. But there are tools to help you eat right and lose weight. This site offers free online workout videos to use for motivation and fitness. If what you need is exercise planning and motivation without the online community support offered by the diet sites, Denise Austin might have what you're after.

Another fitness and diet site oriented toward selling products associated with a famous name is Jillian Michaels. You get fitness and diet help in an interactive weight tracker, online calulators, forums, buddy plans for weight loss support, and meal and exercise plans. There's a fee to be a member here.

If you are thinking of joining a local gym, the information at Review Center and ePinions may be helpful.

Also posted today, be sure to read Catherine Morgan's comments on New Year dieting frenzy. There are some good comments there, too.