(Seychelles News Agency) - New Year’s resolutions are a long tradition. Exercise more. Eat less. Lose weight.

Danielle Lucille Marie is one person from the island nation of Seychelles who knows how to get that done.

The award-winning pro fitness model agreed to share some pointers with SNA for those wanting to go down the "leaner me" path in 2016.

If this is the your first try, Marie -- who was born to Seychellois parents in the United Kingdom -- has this to say: “People in general seem to think starving themselves or cutting out meals help them to lose weight quicker. This will only give you the opposite result, slowing your metabolism, thus not dropping any weight.”

A balance between a healthy diet and exercise will get you to your weight loss goal. ( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)

Marie states that there is no need to rush the process of improving your physical health.

She advises to eat a balanced diet of single ingredient food, meaning they are unprocessed, and drink lots of water -- not soda or juice -- to get closer to your goal.

Next is to get moving more and include a mixture of cardio and weight in exercise regimes.

The 37-year-old pro fitness model has been in the business for 14 years and says female clients are reluctant to lift heavy weights for fear of looking too masculine.

Marie and other experts in the field agree that the more muscle or lean tissue you have the better as its speeds up the metabolism.  

When it comes to training in the Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, Marie has high praise for the Valley Gym on Praslin, the second-largest island. She has also heard good things about X-Trim Gym on the main island Mahe.

Marie’s journey to becoming a World Fitness Beauty and Fashion professional model

Marie started working as a fitness instructor after graduating from Nottingham Trent University in 2000.

In October 2012, Marie was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, an illness in which the thyroid gland becomes overactive and increases the body’s metabolism. 

“This resulted in me losing a vast amount of weight, the majority of which was muscle, in such a short space of time. I was constantly hungry. I suffered with terrible mood swings, was unable to focus during the day and struggled to sleep at night,” recalls Marie.

A visit to the doctor brought some more bad news – exercise was to be excluded from Marie’s routine. For someone who has been active since a young age, this came as a shock.

Contrary to beliefs, lifting heavy weights will not give you a masculine figure. ( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)	( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)

The road to recovery and success

Marie says weight training was her answer. By monitoring her heart rate during each session, the determined young woman became stronger mentally and physically.

Tired of being on medication, she pushed herself further.

“Seeing my strength increase and my body transform, I was hooked. Each week pushing for personal bests in my lifts kept me motivated too," she said.

That was when Marie entered her first competition to prove to herself that exercise and healthy eating could help kick hyperthyroidism.

“I didn’t expect to get a place, never mind come 2nd in my first show!" she exclaimed. "Doing well motivated me to keep going afterwards and enter further competitions. In my second show I won my category as diva fitness model and was awarded my pro-card. I was ecstatic!”  

Marie’s exercise routine includes weight lifting 5 times a week and 2 sessions of cardio. ( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)	( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)

 Marie’s Life Today

Getting the right nutrients and calories is a priority for the World Pro fitness model residing in UK.

“Being organized is key, in order to avoid falling off track and eating the wrong foods,” says Marie, who prepares meals for the day to go to work with. She eats five or six meals per day at a three to four interval.

Sometimes food alone is not enough to obtain enough vitamins and minerals. Marie uses supplements such as good quality multi-vitamins, fish oils and probiotics.

All that nutrition is used to fuel five weight-lifting sessions and two cardio sessions each week.

At the competitions she attends people are often surprised to learn that she is from the Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

"Yes people generally are very surprised my roots originate from the Seychelles as it is such a beautiful place and not many people in U.K. are known to be from there," said.

Marie’s best body part to train is her back ( Danielle Lucille Marie/ danilucillefitness)

In the coming year, Marie plans to continue working out and eating right and performing at competitions.

"I love this sport and the idea of being fit and healthy," she said. "I am motivated to keep training as I love to see the improvements I can make to my physique. Over the past four years my body has come on a long way, so seeing more changes and development is what keeps me motivated."