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Covergirl Ali Sweeney talks DAYS, Biggest Loser and a healthy lifestyle.
Days of Our Lives and Biggest Loser star Alison Sweeney is on the cover of SELF magazine’s August issue. In the issue, she talks her about her struggles with her weight, Days of Our Lives, the Biggest Loser and “supper club” with Denise Richards and Tori Spelling.
On her stuggles with weight: “In my early 20s, I’d eat a tub of lowfat ice cream and be like, ‘Why am I having weight problems?’ Dave, my husband, whom I was dating then, finally said, ‘Why do you complain? You’re beautiful already, but if you want to do something about it, do it. You pursue your career, but you don’t attack your weight.’ It was loving but an eye-opener. That was when I turned things around.”
On body image issues and not using a scale: “I’ve been on Days since I was 16, and being surrounded by such thin, gorgeous actresses made me so insecure and self-conscious. As soon as I made it about being healthy and shifted my focus away from the scale, the weight started to come off,” says Sweeney, who still doesn’t use a scale. “I keep track of my body by how my jeans fit—and how I feel.”
On being judged by those in the industry: The Days of Our Lives producers didn’t criticize me; everyone there is family. But other casting directors said, ‘She’d be great if she lost 10 pounds.'”
On her supper club and celeb friends: “A couple of years ago, Ali Landry, Denise Richards, Lisa Rinna, Tori Spelling, Brooke Burke, Candace Cameron Bure, Nancy O’Dell and I started a supper club. We have such a dynamic camaraderie from experiencing so many of the same things in Hollywood. We’re not threatened by each other; we support each other and tell each other, ‘You look beautiful!’ You can choose to be allies and take care of each other.”
On becoming a smarter eater: “On my first day of Loser, I ended up in the lunch line in front of Jillian and was like, ‘I have to pick stuff before she does?’ At that moment I realized how uneducated I was. I asked her for advice, and she rocked my world. I wasn’t eating the right kinds of calories. I didn’t know about healthy carbs such as brown rice and lentils. Now I eat small meals throughout the day: oatmeal with cinnamon to start, fruit and yogurt as a snack, and vegetables or salad with chicken or tuna, and a healthy carb, like a yam, for lunch. I avoid carbs at dinner and usually have a salad—I love lettuce. I’m a rabbit!”
On what she learned from Biggest Loser: “On Loser, we see a lot of moms who give to everyone else and give up on themselves. I had to master that inclination. If I need space to sit and read a book or go to the gym, I do it. No one else can give you that time. You have to take it and take care of yourself.”
For more of what Ali Sweeney had to say, check out SELF’s website and pick up a copy of the August issue, on sale soon.
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