Alison Sweeney may not be hosting The Biggest Loser anymore, but that doesn't mean she's skipping the gym and eating loaded ice cream sundaes all day, every day (not that we'd blame her if she did). She's still all about eating healthy—and has a few unexpected cooking hacks you can borrow to cut down on the calories and fat in any meal.
We spoke to the actress to get some of her most tried-and-true tricks, all-time favorite snacks and snoop around in her fridge.
She's Strategic About Cheese.
Sweeney loves cheese as much as the next person, but she tends to use it more as a finishing touch than an essential ingredient.
"A lot of recipes call for mixing in cheese, but often, you only taste the cheese that's on top of the dish," Sweeney says. Unless she's making mac and cheese or something where cheese is absolutely crucial, she'll skip the "add cheese" step and just sprinkle a little on top. You get the flavor of the cheese, but your meal is instantly lower cal.
She Puts Blueberries on Everything.
Sweeney starts every day with Greek yogurt or a bowl of oatmeal, topped with a handful of blueberries, but her obsession with the berry doesn't end there. She also loves adding them to flatbread pizzas and spreading blueberry jam on turkey burgers.
"One of the first things I realized when I was trying to lose weight was that I needed to stop eating so many condiments," she explains. "Instead of loading a turkey burger with ketchup, I'd make my own—which has less sugar—or I'd spread a little blueberry jam on it."
She Has a Secret to Craveworthy Turkey Burgers.
Even slathered with blueberry jam or ketchup, turkey burgers can have a reputation for being bland—and/or puck-like. Sweeney acknowledges this, and has found one secret to a better burger: Mix some crumbled feta into the patty.
"It keeps the turkey burger juicy," she says.
It's an exception to the actress's 'use cheese as a finishing touch' rule, but that's because feta is so potent that you don't need a lot of it to liven up the meat—and mixing it in ensures that every bite of turkey is infused with feta's salty, briny flavor.
She's Swapped Soda for Something Even More Refreshing.
"I love sparkling water or making fresh tea with mint or fruit in it," says the star of Murder, She Baked: A Fudge Cupcake Mystery (premiering June 19 on the Hallmark Channel). She'll keep a pitcher of either in her fridge, often adding pineapple or blueberries to it for when she wants a fruity drink that won't derail her diet.
She Skips Certain Aisles of the Grocery Store.
Friends have joked that Sweeney doesn't keep snacks in her house. "I was like, 'What are you talking about? We have tons,'" she says. "That's when I realized she meant potato chips and things like that, which we don't. If we did, we'd be eating them all the time."
Instead of prepackaged snacks, Sweeney keeps apples, carrot sticks, berries, avocados, nuts and sugar snap peas on hand.
"I also make my own trail mix," she says. "I'm an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink chef, so I'll throw in almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, dried blueberries, those kinds of things. Oh, and sometimes, dark chocolate or carob chips."
She'll Use This Instead of Dressing.
Sweeney tries to stick to light lunches and dinners, often having a salad with chicken or protein in the middle of the day, then protein and veggies at night.
"I love a chopped salad with bite-sized pieces of avocado in it," she says. "I toss it with some other vegetables, a little salt and seasonings and cilantro—I love cilantro—and you almost don't need dressing at all. The avocado is the fat, so you can skip oil."
Emeril Taught Her How to Cook.
When she first started cooking for herself, Sweeney was known for making popcorn explode.
"I didn't even know that was possible, but I hadn't left a hole for the air to escape," she says. "I started watching Emeril Lagasse, and I was like, 'I can do that. I want to be like Emeril.'"
She slowly started cooking, based on what she saw on TV. Now, she isn't afraid to experiment and make recipes her own.
"I'll watch those quick videos on Facebook, which have such clever ideas, and I'll come up with ways to make it my own," she says. "I saw one on stuffed bell peppers, and I decided to use less oil and cheese. Or I'll see a recipe call for heavy cream, and I'll use 2 percent milk, or use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream."
(As the creators of many of those food videos flooding your Facebook newsfeed, our ears were totally burning mid-interview.) We may have to borrow a few of those healthy swaps ourselves.
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