Talking with Sherri Shepherd is like catching up with a long lost girlfriend.
It's frank. It's sassy. It's in your face.
Right now, I'm asking Sherri, co-host of "The View," wife, mom, and actress, about her amazing weight loss.
She brings up Jane Fonda.
"Jane came on the show and she's in her '70s," Sherri says. "So, she walks out on the set wearing olive green leggings."
Take a moment to let that digest.
"Girl, normally most of us only wear black leggings," Sherri tells me. "Green leggings aren't forgiving. They show ALL the cellulite."
Oh, it gets worse. "Jane had on sky high boots and a little form fitting sweater," Sherri says. "She looked hot!"
"She told us ladies of 'The View,' the following and I quote, 'I have a great sex life. I exercise. I eat right,'" Sherri recalls. "Meanwhile, I was sitting on the couch next to her thinking, 'I want to be the chocolate version of Jane Fonda at 70!"
At that moment, Sherri Shepherd knew how she would lose the weight. It wasn't some quick fix program. It was a four letter word.
"Work," she repeats. "You have to put the work in. You have to do the work."
SHERRI AT MIDLIFE
Sherri's life has never been better. She recently married her true love, TV writer Lamar Sally who helps her raise her six-year-old son.
She plays sassy hooker/bounty hunter Lula in the new film "One for the Money" based on the best-selling books by Janet Evanovich. "Lula undergoes a transformation. She still believes in humanity. I look at her as this little sassy thing," she says.
"It was a fun role because I got to wear different hair," she says. "Plus, they didn't need a body double. I brought my own back fat with me!"
The role was for a 300-pound woman.
"I told the casting people, I hope my acting is big," Sherri says. "I reminded them, 'I'm not that big.'"
SHERRI SHEPHERD DIET SECRETS
Sherri isn't that big thanks to a major midlifer wake-up call. "I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes," she says. "It happened when I first started with 'The View' and it was a major wake up call."
"This diagnosis happened a few years ago when I was 41," she says. "I looked at my little boy and said, 'I want to live.'
"I said, 'I don't want my son to say, 'I can't go to college because I gotta change mom's bandages because she got her foot cut off,'" she winces.
How did she revamp her diet to deal with her diagnosis. First step: No more cola!
"I'm on green tea and water, and I have to tell you I feel great," she says. "I have many girlfriends who say, 'But Sherri, I can't give up my cola.' I say, 'You gotta be a big girl and let some stuff go.'"
"If I had to tell you one beauty secret it's that ladies and gentlemen should drink as much water as they can get their hands on," she says. "I drink 96 ounces of water a day."
She also eats as healthy as possible. "The way you treat your body inside is how you will feel on the outside. That's the rule," Sherri says.
A FEW BEAUTY SECRETS
Shepherd says the water also helps with skin care.
"When I drink the 96 ounces that's when my face feels like a baby's behind," she says.
"My other tips are to invest in a great pair of shades," she says. "When you're looking like you just got up off the couch in your living room, a great pair of shades and a little bit of lip gloss are all that you need. You're done. Shades and gloss. Oh baby!"
She says that you don't have to fight your hair.
"I'm a big proponent in getting a great wig," Sherri says. "It doesn't have to be an expensive one.
"Rock a wig for the weekend," she advises. "Sometimes my husband feels like he's having an affair with a different woman. I'm like, 'Hi baby, it's Rashida!'"
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