14 DAY TRIAL // Two-time champion on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, Cheryl Burke is no stranger to leading an active life, just to state the obvious. At the same time, she’s not a stranger either to oscillating weight, which means she always has to make sure she eats healthily, even if she’s on the road, as she reveals for Shape magazine.
She’s not the first celebrity either to advise women to cook more and keep a stacked fridge with fresh produce either. The key to eating healthily is to always know what you’re eating, she explains, which is obviously not the case if you’re always ordering takeouts or eating supermarket ready-made food. So, before she gets on the bus to hit the road, Cheryl Burke makes sure she stacks up on grocery.
Another tip the star offers and that is, again, common sense, is to never skip breakfast. “I used to skip breakfast. But now I know it gets your metabolism going and prevents you from overeating later. My go-to meal is an egg white omelet with lowfat cheese and whole-wheat toast,” she says. Snacks are also very important, so always pack some in your bag. “I’ll munch on Triscuits and peanut butter or cut-up vegetables. And I always have a South Beach Living protein bar, fruit, or almonds in my bag,” Burke explains.
Moreover, you can still eat healthily even if you’re having lunch or dinner out, as long as you know what to order off the menu. “I ask for restaurant dishes to be made with olive oil rather than butter or for them to hold the cheese. If they can’t accommodate me, I find something else on the menu. At airports I depend on Subway or Quiznos, where you can have a sandwich made exactly to your specifications. They also display calorie counts, which is helpful,” the dancer adds.
Keep hydrated properly by drinking lots of water every day, Burke goes on to say. For a treat, you can try a home-made smoothie, since those you can buy in the supermarket are usually genuine calorie bombs very heavy in preservatives too. On a final note, Cheryl recommends never eating after dark: she knows from experience what late night meals and snacks can do to a woman’s figure, she says.