HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Maria Menounos hasn't always had the bodacious body she struts around with today.
The 30-year-old Access Hollywood host was prone to plenty of late-night snacks during her college days, a period in which she could down five slices of pizza in her sleep. Finally, Menounos says, she decided "enough was enough" when she noticed she had reached a size 14.
"I did it on my own, when I was dirt-poor," she tells Fitness magazine of her weight loss. "And I've kept it off for nine years."
Menounos started by changing her eating habits, first by simply cutting back little by little.
"Depriving myself didn't work because, yeah, I'd resist a craving one night, but then it'd come back the next day and it'd be worse," she says.
Menounos was able to take off 20 pounds in about five months by just improving her diet. She then turned to a trainer to help incorporate regular exercise into her lifestyle, which led to her shedding another 20 pounds.
"I hired her for one session, and she wrote out for me a general circuit program of jump rope, steps, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and lunges," Menounos recalls. "In fact, I still have the piece of paper in case I ever regain the weight."
These days, Menounos has turned to the Israeli martial art Krav Maga to help keep her in shape.
"I started it last year when I was preparing to go to Iraq. I wanted to be able to defend myself if I needed to, God forbid," she explains to the mag. "But what I found was that it's the best overall workout I've ever experienced. It's cardio. It's strength. It's reflexes. It's everything."
What about relieving stress with her hectic lifestyle?
"Driving in my car with the music blasting," she confesses. "If you're ever in L.A. and see some girl singing Greek music in a convertible, it's probably me!"
While she's turned the corner, Menounos doesn't mind returning to her old college staple every now and again.
"I eat a lot of chicken and tuna wraps, which are pretty quick to prepare," she says. "But when I have no time, I'll grab a slice of pizza."
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