The Biggest Loser Transformed host Fiona Falkiner talks body image, fitness and healthy eating

THE Biggest Loser host doesn’t pretend that losing weight and keeping if off is easy. Here she reveals how she does it.

FIONA Falkiner doesn’t pretend that losing weight, and keeping it off, is easy.

The host of The Biggest Loser Transformed, which premieres this week, first appeared on the Channel 10 weight loss reality show back in 2006 as a contestant, where she lost 30kg and became the poster girl for healthy body transformations.

Keeping that weight off has been tricky for the size 14 model, who regained the kilos she initially lost not long after the finale aired.

But now, the 33-year-old says after years of beating herself up about the way she looked, she’s finally found peace and acceptance in her body.

“In the morning, I always look in the mirror and give myself a compliment,” Falkiner told news.com.au.

“The old me, years ago, would stand in front of the mirror and tear myself apart. I think a lot of women do that and it’s not worth it. There’s no point to it, it’s just ridiculous,” she said.

“The first step when making a healthy lifestyle change is to change your mindset. This is why we should take the focus off the number on the scale. The end goal should be you are a healthier, happier person and once you take that pressure off, you start making changes.”

Fiona Falkiner has been open about her body image battles, but says she is now proud and confident of her body. Picture: Christian Gilles

Falkiner now trains for an hour a day, five or six days a week, even on days when filming TBL required her to be on set before sunrise.

“Training is a part of my life now. It’s not necessarily for weight loss at all, it’s more about the way it makes me feel,” she said.

“I like to do it in the morning, because it sets me up well. That moment when you finish ... it gets me out of bed, knowing I’m going to get the feeling once I’ve done a great workout.

“I like to do a lot of cardio-based training and resistance work. I do 45 minutes to an hour of high intensity interval training and now I’ve got a trainer who I see twice a week.

“Back in the day I would just hit the treadmill, and that isn’t fun for me. The most important thing is to find something that you really enjoy doing.”

Her discipline onset is to be admired. While the crew were tucking into bacon and egg rolls, Falkiner was eating her egg white omlette with spinach, mushrooms and bacon.

“There was catering on set, which is amazing, but I have to make sure that I make really healthy choices because there was dessert [available] everyday,” she said.

“We’re quite lucky, we can put in our requests in the morning. I always had fruit and nuts for snacks in between takes. I don’t eat a lot of red meat, so for lunch it was fish or chicken and some salad, usually steamed broccoli. For dinner after a long day of filming I’d usually buy one of those pre-packaged salads and have it with leftover roast chicken.”

She frequently shares bikini selfies on social media. Picture: Fiona Falkiner/Instagram

Part of Falkiner’s appeal is that she keeps it totally real. She posts videos of herself smashing out a session on the assault bike, red-faced after a gruelling workout or at peace in her hometown of Birregurra, population 688, in country Victoria.

For women used to seeing washboard abs and Photoshopped lips flooding their social media feed, Falkiner’s size 14 figure, which is the same size as the average Australian woman, is refreshing.

“For me, I wouldn’t want to gain any weight. I do have a body type that is prone to gaining weight. If I stopped training or stopped eating well, I will gain weight,” she said.

But like all of us, travel and a busy schedule can make it easy for Falkiner to get out of her usual routine.

“Every time I go on holidays and I’m out of my training schedule, there is the potential for me to gain weight,” she said.

“I have that knowledge in advance and I accept the fact that when I come back, a few kilos have come back on. I just get into my routine and we’ll stable out again. There will be fluctuations in my weight. I don’t put that pressure on myself, because that puts me in a negative headspace, which I try to steer clear of these days.

“There’s no point crying or getting upset about it. I train 5-6 days a week, I eat well, but I still go out and have a drink and that’s healthy and I’m happy with that.”

The Biggest Loser Transformed premieres next Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.

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