Biggest Loser Maraea has the secret to losing weight | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Rotorua's Maraea van Gent wears the title of the biggest loser with pride.

The winner of the Waiariki Institute of Technology's 12-week weight loss challenge beat more than 30 of her colleagues at the Mokoia Campus to not only claim the $1082 cash prize and but gain life-saving habits.

"I joined because I wanted to discipline myself and I wanted an incentive to do that with the support of everybody else," the student support teacher said.

"I was pretty determined and I thought, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it to win."

Mrs van Gent, who was reluctant to reveal her current weight, lost 12kg and was declared the overall winner after percentage of her body mass measurements were made. She said this was achieved through healthy eating and exercise such as walking.

"For me it was also a spiritual journey. prayed a lot and asked God for strength, I don't believe I would have done it on my own.

"I also cut down on the portion size of my meals. Before, I used to pretty much eat what I wanted but now I eat a lot more salads and go to the Waiariki gym.

"I was really surprised when I was named the winner because we had some really strong candidates, especially from some of the men.

"But I want to keep carrying this on, this is just the beginning. I have six mokopuna [grandchildren] and that's been an incentive," she said.

"I've given myself up to July when the sales are on and have a big spending spree with the prize money." Competition co-organiser Charlotte Keepa said 33 participants started but numbers reduced to a group of 16 people.

Those who took part paid $5 a week. Bart Voss won $463 as runner-up.

"[The challenge] went absolutely fabulously and we're hoping to continue next year with new leaders and support team."

Be the biggest loser

- Believe you can do it - be serious about your goal and stick to it.

- Healthy eating and exercise - there's no easy way, you just have to do the hard yards.

- Have a support team - it's easier to stay motivated when you're doing it with other people.

- Have fun - the more you become active, the more enjoyable it becomes.