While giving fitness workshops for seniors, often I am asked how to succesfully lose weight.

There is no easy way to lose weight — but someone once told me, "If you work to increase your fitness every day, you eventually will get the body you want."

This means if we eat a little better at every meal, sit a little less each day and sleep more at night, we will become more fit. This gives us what we strive for: a healthier body.

A few small lifestyle changes can bring about excellent gains in health. They could take a little bit of planning and effort, but such a small sacrifice is well worth it in the long run — and in time, these changes become habit.

• Pack healthy, low-fat and high fiber food to take with you, especially if you expect to have a long, busy day. This will cut down on fast-food consumption and unhelathy snacks.

• Every hour or two, get up from your chair and and do a handful of push-ups or jumping jacks, or even a brisk walk up and down the stairs or around the block. This will help keep your metabolism up during the day and help burn more calories all day long.

• Get more sleep at night: a minimum of  6.5 hours is recommended for maintaining health. However, always schedule eight hours' worth of sleep every night. (If you fall short of eight hours, you have a better chance of making the minimum. However, if you fall short of the minimum, you lose the benefits.)

These three changes are easy to achieve and reap great benefits. Make them habit and watch your extra weight disappear.

What are some other habits you've adopted that have worked for you?