TvGuide online has written up an article that details how the contestants on the Biggest losers lost all that weight. Here’s some timely and hopefully helpful tips from the contestants themselves.

Amy Hildreth who lost 106 pounds says that she eats five or six small meals a day. I know for a fact that this is a good way to keep your metabolism revving. “You have to eat to lose.” “That was something that I never quite wrapped my head around before,” she says. “I thought when you’re hungry that means you’re losing weight. But that’s not the case. You need to keep your body fueled to continually lose and to have the energy to work out and perpetuate the cycle.”

Jaron Tate who lost 160 pounds says “Know how many calories your body needs and how many calories you’re actually stuffing into your mouth,” says Tate, who now eats 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day. “A quarter-pounder with cheese is 850 calories. A large apple [which weighs about the same] is 100. And if you’re having a salad, put salsa on it instead of ranch.” Two tablespoons of ranch dressing: 220 calories. Salsa: 20.

Ginnie Borque, lost 114 pounds says you should make a lot of changes in your life- “I do a lot of little things,” says Borque, one of the 36 Biggest Loser at Home dieters. “I don’t like coffee without sugar and cream, so I switched to tea. I started carrying water bottles wherever I go, traded cocktails for Diet Coke, and I fill up on broccoli instead of French fries. Oh, I also tried to make working out a social event. It’s a lot harder to skip a workout when you’ve scheduled it with a friend!”

Activity is important to Ken Coleman, who lost 161 pounds he says “Even now that the show’s over, I still work out six to seven days a week, three hours a day,” Coleman says. Of course, you don’t have to become a gym rat to slim down. But, as Coleman explains, you do need to increase your activity in as many ways as possible.

Mark Wiley, lost 129 pounds, says lose the excuses too- “‘Oh, I have back problems, work [to do] or I don’t have enough time.’ [Making] excuses: that’s what’s always held me back,” Wiley says. “If you’re short on time, do something to get your heart rate up. One morning I had a flight to catch, and I didn’t have time to go to the gym. So I ran the stairs in my building. It’s eight flights, and I did it about 20 times!”

Coupling carbs and protien helped Jennifer Eisenbarth, lost 100 pounds It’s one of the biggest lessons the plus-size model learned during her only week on the ranch. “Whenever you eat a carb, always eat a protein with it because protein helps your body process carbs more efficiently,” she says. “For example, “I love-love-love hummus. So I put it on egg whites.”