A Weighty Issue

It’s lonely being overweight in Hollywood. Alison Sweeney, who has played the deviously gorgeous Sami on Days of Our Lives for 14 years and who now also hosts Season 4 of the hit NBC reality show The Biggest Loser, knows all about it. The 24 Hour Fitness member was never actually fat, but as a weight-challenged teen actress working in Hollywood, she felt that destructive, alienating pressure to be thin. Now she marvels at The Biggest Loser contestants she sees every day, fighting a truly great fight. Together.

“I talk to them extensively behind the scenes,” says Sweeney, 31. “They all got to this place in their lives in different ways. Some have always been overweight. Some were fit as kids and, after college, everything changed. Everyone has a different story. Yet it’s amazing how they support each other even though they’re on opposing teams. It’s a struggle they’re all going through together.”

Sweeney herself continues her own struggle daily, just as many of us do. She has enlisted some help, however. We sat down with Sweeney and her 24 Hour Fitness trainer Marcus Pierce, a trainer at Hollywood Sport 24 Hour Fitness in California, to talk about how a woman with two jobs (The Biggest Loser and Days), a 2-year-old son, a husband, and every food craving known to woman can stay fit, eat right, and sculpt her body the way she’d like it. No, it is not easy. But like the folks you see busting their backsides on The Biggest Loser, nothing that important ever is.

You24: Alison, what results were you looking for from Marcus?
Alison Sweeney: When I was a teenage actor in Hollywood, I had to change my mindset about food and lose a significant amount of weight. I [was able to do it then] on my own. But then I had my son 2 years ago, and while I’ve lost the baby weight and look okay, I really haven’t been able to get that smaller, leaner, stronger body that I want. I need the gym for that. And one of the things I talk to Marcus about is how we work together so well.

Marcus Pierce: You make it easier for me because you’re serious about it.
Alison: Marcus looks at this process as a lifestyle—which I think is absolutely the healthiest way to look at it. It’s not a diet you’re going to go off of at some point. This is how you’re going to live for the rest of your life. If you go to a birthday party and have that piece of cake, you have to work out the next day. You have to know what your boundaries are and live within them without beating yourself up.

Marcus: Here’s what’s important for everyone to understand: People like Alison coming into the gym who don’t have a problem with exercising are already connected to the physical part of it. But they need a mental and emotional connection to what’s happening outside the gym. She needed to connect to the things that were enabling her to not stay committed to a healthy lifestyle. You spend a lot more time outside the gym than inside. That affects your eating habits, your time management, your emotional connection with food. The factors outside the gym were holding her back.
Alison: That’s why I now look at every day as a different decision. It’s all a balance, give-and-take. If I can’t get to the gym because of work, or I’m exhausted, I’m not feeling it, then that also means that day I don’t get any treats. I’m very careful with my diet. Anytime someone sees me eating something unhealthy or even having a glass of wine, it isn’t like I haven’t thought for 10 minutes whether or not I should have it. Believe me, I’ve thought about it.

You24: What does Marcus have you doing?
Alison: More cardio! (laughs) He raised all my expectations. I’d always cut myself some slack on cardio in the past. I did it, but I was never super-happy with the results. I have to be careful not to build big muscles because I don’t need that. I want to be leaner and toned, rather than all bulging. So the first thing Marcus told me is that I should be doing cardio 5 days a week.

Marcus: (laughs) Six is even better.
Alison: Don’t remind me!

Marcus: Alison’s goal was to lose weight and get leaner in the legs, arms, and waist. People think that’s automatically connected to resistance training, and that’s not entirely the case. Resistance training tightens up the muscle and sculpts it, but what gets rid of the fat on the outside of the muscle is cardio. So the resistance training she does with me also needed a really good aerobic program and the proper balance of calories.

You24: What’s a typical cardio session for you, Alison?
Alison: The go-to exercise for me is the stationary bike or the treadmill. I have my video iPod, and I only allow myself to watch Grey’s Anatomy if I’m on a treadmill. So I have two or three episodes backlogged—The Office or Grey’s are my cardio reward.

You24: How do you schedule workouts in an already packed schedule?
Alison: Marcus said, “I know your schedule’s busy, I know you won’t be able to do 45 minutes every day.” But he raised his expectations for me, which raised my own expectations for myself. For example, I didn’t have time for a full hour-long workout the other day. But instead of saying, “I’m just not going to work out today”—which is really easy for me to do, let me tell you—I said, “I can find a half hour at some point.” And I did. And I feel so much better about myself.

Marcus: We also got a lot more efficient about getting everything done fast when she comes in to see me, which means legs, abs, and upper body are all done on the same day. We do circuit training—low weight, high reps—and keep the heart rate elevated throughout the workout.

You24: What kind of core conditioning do you do?
Alison: Oh, boy (smiles). After my son was born 2 years ago, I couldn’t get my stomach muscles back. I went to the gym, laid down, did my first situp, and literally fell back laughing out loud. It was so painful! It was like there were no muscles! Actually, I remember the moment I lost them. I was 7 months pregnant, and I just felt them give up the fight. It was like starting all over again.

You24: So, Marcus, how did you handle that assignment?
Marcus: It’s natural for a pregnant woman—or any man or woman, for that matter, who isn’t exercising anymore—to forget about her core. Because they’re not mentally connected to their own muscles. I told Alison that, essentially, channeling the brain to tell those muscles to work is the road back. So instead of focusing on all these different kinds of ab exercises, I told her to shrink everything down and focus on each movement. If you’re working your obliques, make sure you’re mentally connecting with your obliques, saying to yourself, “There’s my oblique.” Make sure it’s tight and engaged before you start the movement, and make sure it stays that way through the entire motion. And that goes for any muscle group in your body. Alison’s done great. Since then, she’s learned to connect with that core muscle group, and that in itself will wake it up and get it working again.

You24: So what you’re saying is, you have to know they’re there before you can use them?
Marcus: That’s right. Every movement begins and ends with the core. Connecting with those muscles should be a primary concern for anyone starting off any fitness program.

Alison: Totally true for me. I’ve relearned to use those stomach muscles out of habit instead of
having to think about it. It’s made a huge impact.

You24: Watching The Biggest Loser, we’re seeing the edited-down drama—the sweat, the struggle, the determination. But, in addition to the gym, the other key to weight loss takes place in the kitchen.
Alison: You’re absolutely right. Eating right is everyone’s personal drama: What will I eat today? Will I stick to the plan? And how [angry will I be with] myself if I fail?

Marcus: It’s all about time management. She’s busy with her two jobs, her family, and all the little things she does. The big thing with Alison was making time for Alison: Making sure she was eating throughout the day to support the energy she was expending just by having a busy schedule. When you’re up longer and work longer hours, you have to make sure you’re replenishing what your body needs throughout the day. That starts with eating breakfast as early as possible, and making sure you’re eating thereafter every 2 to 3 hours to keep her body fueled. All skipping meals does is make you want more food. It opens you up to cravings. Eating when you’re hungry is a bad prescription for anyone trying to lose weight.
Alison: You know what? Good nutrition comes from simply planning ahead. It’s not that hard. I’ve found that being preemptive and having a snack on standby saves me a world of stress. I have almonds in my car, or string cheese, a snack portion of cottage cheese, things that keep me going so I’m not tempted to snack on something lousy.

You24: What are the key go-to foods?
Marcus: If you’re in a bind, a meal replacement bar is fine. But it’s always better to eat natural foods. Fruits and vegetables, like apples, oranges, pears. And lean protein, like tofu, skinless chicken, and turkey. And nuts and seeds. Foods that have good fats. All those things are better than processed food. Stay away from grapes and bananas, though, which are higher in sugar. Vegetables are a free-for-all. They keep your calorie intake down because you’re able to eat your fill without adding big calories.

You24: So, Alison, what foods put you to the test?
Alison: (laughs) My biggest thing is I like home-baked goodies like cookies or cupcakes. That’s my one obsession. If someone makes something from scratch, there’s no way I’m walking away from that.

You24: Well, it would be rude.
Alison: Yes, I’d be insulting them. That’s exactly it.

You24: What’s the biggest—as in The Biggest Loser—thing you’ve learned about yourself as you’ve worked to stay fit?
Alison: I think I’ve learned two “biggest” things: One is that it is so important to disassociate yourself and your feeling of self-worth from the number on the scale. I know how easy this is to say, and if you have a surefire way to do it, call me, because I don’t know that I necessarily have the answer. But I do know that it’s important. The other thing I’ve learned is how to motivate myself. I remember how difficult it was to find that one thing that got me going. But I’m a very competitive person. So even when I wasn’t in the best physical shape, I always loved a big game of anything. My husband would challenge me to a game of racquetball, for example. And even if I wasn’t good at it, I’d play until I fell down drenched in sweat because I wanted to win that badly. So that was a way in for me. That’s what got me into the gym, what got me active. If you can find that one thing unique to yourself that motivates you, that’s the first step. Grab hold of it and use it. It’ll get you in. And believe me, that’s big.