Marissa Jaret Winokur was the subject of one of the most impressive weight loss stories of 2012, after the "Hairspray" actress admitted she lost 60 pounds to combat health concerns.

According to Us Weekly, 39-year-old Winokur, who stands at just 4-foot-11, lost over 60 pounds in seven months. The actress told the magazine she was forced to lose weight after her doctor diagnosed her with high cholesterol.

"I thought I'd try to lose 20 pounds and see what happened," she told Us Weekly, adding her choices were to go on medication for high cholesterol or lose weight. "It was the little steps. I think it worked because I was genuinely doing it for myself."

Winokur said she dropped seven dress sizes thanks to a cholesterol-free diet and intense workout plan. The actress said she used an app called My Fitness Pal to track the calories she ate versus the calories she burned off through exercise. US Weekly reported she ate 1,200 calories daily with meals like salad, egg white, turkey-apple sausages and 100 calorie bags of popcorn for snacks. She also paired her diet plan with three times-a-week workout session with Los Angeles-based personal trainer Keith Anthony.

And it all paid off for the starlet, who stabilized her cholesterol level.

"My cholesterol went from 220 to 149," she told US Weekly. "I was crying like a Biggest Loser contestant when my doctor gave me the news."

She's also quite happy about dropping 60 pounds and seven dress sizes.

"At Bloomingdale's recently, the sales guy brought me a size 2 dress," Jaret Winokur said. "He eyeballed me and thought I'd fit in that!"

Marissa Jaret Winokur said she now plans on losing "may five more pounds, just for vanity."

Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur in 2003. Reuters
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