Alison Sweeney on life after "The Biggest Loser" and how she stays fit
Fans of "The Biggest Loser" were shocked when host Alison Sweeney left the show after 13 seasons in August, but the writer/producer and actress tells CBS News she has her hands full with book and TV projects, working out and spending time with her family.
CBS News caught up with Sweeney, who is a spokesperson for Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant, at a FlyWheel spin class.
Tell me about your partnership with Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant.
I'm so thrilled to support a brand that's all about taking care of yourself and feeling confident and taking charge of your day. You have to brush your teeth! Everyone does it and to do it with a product like the Truly Radiant Deep Clean brush helps me start my day off feeling confident about my health and my smile.
How has it been to leave "The Biggest Loser"?
Change is always hard, but it can be wonderful too. When you make a change, there's all these things that open up. It's been such a blessing to be with the kids more and have more time to develop and produce movies with Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It's been incredible. I feel very lucky.
Is there anything you miss?
I guess my friends and the people I worked with for so long -- the crew, the contestants. But I still get to chat with all of my friends and the contestants on Twitter and Facebook. I'm grateful for their support, friendship and inspiration.
What projects do you have in the pipeline?
I'm in pre-production for a movie that's going to premiere on June 12 on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It's the third in our series of "Murder, She Baked." I feel very lucky to be an executive producer in an industry that is traditionally very male-oriented, so I'm happy to have that experience. I have a novel coming out on April 5 called "Opportunity Knocks" so I'm excited about that.
What is your novel about?
It's about what happens behind the scenes in Hollywood. There are these true stories I've come across about the crazy antics of actors and celebrities, from people I meet with or things I've witnessed -- I mix it all together. This novel's going to be about the journey of this makeup artist and her finding her strength dealing with crazy shenanigans from celebrities and how she wins in the end.
So it's kind of a fictionalized tell-all.
Exactly.
You just mentioned that now you get to spend time with your kids. How do you budget out your day in terms of working out and eating healthy?
It's all about planning ahead, like going to the market and buying food for the week so when I come home, I have stuff ready to go in the fridge. Sometimes that means packing my gym bag and having it ready in the car so after I drop my kids off, I can get to the park to work out or hit the gym. Planning ahead is the No. 1 advantage to getting things done. Sometimes I make a choice not to work out because I don't have time, and that means I'll do it the next day and that's okay, because I chose it and I don't have to feel guilty.
What are our favorite workouts?
If you have time to hit the gym and go to a spin class or go running, those are my favorites. When I don't have time for a full workout, I think it's really important to still get something done, so there are apps that let me do five-minute intervals with yoga poses or resistance bands. I can even do them while I'm watching TV at night, like an arm workout, sit-ups or plank pose and that's something. Something is better than nothing and sometimes people forget that.
What apps do you use?
I have a bunch of apps -- I'll feature some of them on my blog for Redbook. I think it will come out in the April issue, but one I really like is Fitnet. It's a great app for little, short routines.
What are some healthy snacks for you and your kids?
There's lots. We eat together as a family. I make blueberry smoothies for my kids for breakfast in the morning and for me after a workout -- that's with frozen blueberries, greek yogurt, sometimes orange juice and a little agave. I make trail mix with almonds, dried blueberries and seeds and dark chocolate pieces -- it's not salty and it's good. We eat together as a family and cook at home a lot. I do a healthy stir fry with quinoa; I grill a lot of proteins like fish and serve with whole grains. We mix it up and the kids eat a lot of sushi.
Your kids sound like adventurous eaters.
I don't win all the time but I know what they'll eat. There are lots of vegetables and we keep our options open and encourage them to try new things.
