Tori Praver is the woman we all love to hate. A statuesque 5 feet 11, with gleaming long blond hair, gorgeous blue eyes, long legs and perfect proportions, we go green with envy when we see her on the pages of glossy magazines, especially the iconic Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in which she appears this week. Her perfection, of course, is in part genetic, but it also takes a lot of hard work.

Raised in Lahaina, Maui, Praver graduated from Lahainaluna High School.

She was discovered as a teenager while shopping with her mother. At 17 she was already the face of the uber-sexy Guess? ads.

While she may now be best known for her fabulous photo spreads in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 SI swimsuit issues, she has also graced the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamour. She has been the face of ad campaigns for Ann Taylor, Izod, Redken and Kanebo. She has walked the runways of Halston, Cynthia Rowley, Zac Posen and Miss Sixty.

We spoke with Praver from the offices of IMG modeling agency in New York. We were curious about how she maintains that amazing model's figure.

While Praver is thrilled to be a model, which she said has been "an accidental career," her first love was surfing.

As a child, she dreamed of becoming a professional surfer. That passion for water sports continues to this day.

Now she is as devoted to Bikram yoga (also called "hot yoga") as she is to water sports.

TORI PRAVER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT MODEL

Age: 21

Workout habits: "I try to be as active as I can." When she's in Venice Beach, Calif., where she has a home, or on Maui, where her parents live, she surfs every chance she gets. When in New York, her other home, she does Bikram yoga. She also swims and bikes whenever possible.

When and why I started working out: "I've always been active. I played soccer and basketball through high school and was on the swim team too. That's the thing about growing up in Hawai'i, it's such an active lifestyle and you can always be doing something."

My good foods/bad foods: "I love ice cream!" Make that Roselani's Tahitian Vanilla when she's home on Maui. What she misses most when away from the Islands: malassadas, poke and poi. Most of the time, however, she eats healthy. She loves vegetables and avoids fried foods. "I was a vegetarian for a few years, but now I eat a little meat. I always choose fish and vegetables first, though."

Where she'll be in the next few weeks: Praver has a grueling travel schedule. This week, for example, she'll be in Las Vegas for one day, O'ahu for two days, on to Sydney, Australia, to shoot an ad campaign, then back to New York.

Advice for those in the same boat: "If you want to model, stay confident but also stay humble. You win some and you lose some. It can be very hard. Stay grounded, and keep your friends and family close."

My next challenge: Praver has just launched her own line of bikinis, Tori Praver Swimwear. It's a huge feather in her cap that the SI swimsuit issue features several of her suits. She is not merely a figurehead for the company. She designs the line and does "everything but the sewing," she said. Find it at Planet Blue in Los Angeles or www.toripraverswimwear.com.

"The fun of that is that it allows each girl to express her own individuality and point of view. When designing the line, fit was always my main focus and I understood that many women are smaller on top and bigger on the bottom, or vice versa. The versatility of my bikinis, which are all made without seams, offers a great fit that lets girls surf, swim or just lounge in the sun, all with incredible comfort and confidence."