Weigh to go! — Utahn Heather Hansen offers tips on being a 'Big Loser'

BOUNTIFUL — Not everyone gets the chance be on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" reality series, where contestants compete for a $250,000 prize by losing weight.

But, you don't need to be on a TV show to get in shape, said Heather Hansen of West Bountiful.

On last season's "The Biggest Loser," Hansen lost 56 pounds while staying at the show's secluded ranch. She saw obese contestants dramatically improve their health through diet and exercise.

"So many had diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and those started disappearing," she said. "My asthma was gone in three weeks with all the extra weight off me."

For anyone making New Year's resolutions, Hansen offers the following healthy habits:

Drink a gallon of water a day. (That's in addition to the one diet drink a day that Hansen allows herself.)

Do one hour of cardio exercise five times a week. "You should sweat when you work out. If there's no sweat, you need to push yourself harder. A great workout is to keep alternating two minutes of regular cardio (on a treadmill, etc.) with 30 second intervals at your fastest speed.

Do about 40 minutes of weight training three times a week. "This will help transform your body," she said.

Limit calories to 1,200-1,800, depending on how large you are. "At the ranch, even Erik (Chopin, who won the contest), as big as he was, only got 1,800 calories."

Give yourself one "free" meal a week. "That's whatever you've been craving all weeklong. It's fun to go out to a nice restaurant and not feel bad, and it's good for you body not to feel deprived. But I'm talking one sit-down meal, not a whole day."

Moderation was the most important thing she learned on the ranch, she said. "I learned you don't have to eat the whole thing. Yesterday I wanted an Egg McMuffin and a hash brown. So I got them, but I cut them in half and threw half away. People might think that's strange, but it was enough that I felt satisfied. If I hadn't thrown out half, I would have eaten the whole thing."

Eating or exercise? Hansen said weight loss is 90 percent the food and 10 percent exercise.

"You can lose a lot of weight just by eating right," she said. "But the workouts jump-start you and help you look better in the end. We would work out five or six hours a day, and it transformed our bodies. I got down to my wedding weight, but my husband thought I looked so much better because of my muscle tone."