For Suzanne Somers, there is no typical day. With a multi-faceted career that has spanned more than two decades, the popular television personality has earned success as a New York Times best-selling author, singer, poet, entrepreneur, nightclub performer, lecturer and talk show host – to name a few.

“Right now I am in rehearsals for my one-woman Broadway show, so my schedule is different right now than it normally is,” says Somers. “I get to rehearsal around 10 and stay until about 6. I make phone calls during lunch and do all my e-mails in the morning. I usually do a phone interview here and there throughout the day. I exercise. My days are jam-packed.”

At 56, Somers says she thought she would be slowing down. “But now I am busier than ever,” she says. “The problem is that I am enjoying it so much. I’ve worked my whole life to be able to do what it is I love to do – that’s the good news. The bad news is that’s there’s just so much I want to do.”

At the rate she’s going, it will be a long time before Somers takes a break. Her nightclub act, which she has been touring with for more than 22 years, is one of the most popular in the nation; she is the owner of the successful line of ThighMaster personal fitness products and the Suzanne Somers Jewelry Collection on the Home Shopping Network; and she has authored 10 books, including her newest, a New York Times No. 1 bestseller, Suzanne Somers’ Fast and Easy: Lose Weight The Somersize Way With Quick, Delicious Meals For The Entire Family.

So, how does she balance it all? “I schedule rest weekends,” she says. “It’s important to take days off and rest in order to keep strong.”

Recovering from a month-long illness during the time of this interview, Somers’ tells us why it’s important to listen to our bodies. “I didn’t listen to those little voices in my head that kept saying I was working too much,” she says. “It finally hit me and forced me to stop. It got me in the throat where I couldn’t even talk or sing. So, the body says ‘If you’re not going to take over, I am going to have to do it.’”

A Program For Success
Born with a perfect metabolism, Somers says she was discouraged when, in her early 40s, she gained 20 pounds. “I started dieting, trying every diet that exists,” she says. “Then, as soon as I went back to normal eating, I would gain back all the weight I had lost. It was then that I realized that I was on a futile merry-go-round.”

Somers was inspired by the eating habits of her French friends, having spent 18 summers in France. “I began watching what they ate,” she says. “But, I was so afraid that I would get as big as a horse if I ate like they did.”

Somers says when she returned to the states, she researched food combining. “I looked up everything I could find on food combining and found that protein digests at a different rate of speed than a carbohydrate, so if you put the two together it will create a combustion-like atmosphere, using all the fuel that you need to get through the day to digest these foods that don’t want to be together. That’s how Somersizing started.”

That concept of Somersizing, along with wonderfully delicious and practical recipes, is outlined in her books. Eat Great, Lose Weight and Get Skinny on Fabulous Food were the two books that started the movement that is now a successful program used by millions across the country. It’s reported that more than three million people have lost weight by Somersizing.

“In my books I ask people to eat real foods, and learn what foods the body converts to sugar, while you are trying to lose your weight,” says Somers. “Then, when you’ve lost your weight, you reincorporate those sugars that you miss the most, in moderation.”

Somers suggests that you use your pant size as your guide. Become your own policeman and stop watching the scale. “Allow yourself to see if you’re thick through the middle,” she says. “If you are, you usually have an elevated insulin level. Your cells can hold no more. There’s no more room to store carbohydrates as fuel. From that moment on even a carrot will be stored as fat.”

When Somers was researching her second book, she met up with renowned endocrinologist and author Dr. Diana Schwartzbein, who explains, through her studies, the relationship between what we eat and our insulin levels.

“Once I understood the insulin connection, I realized that that’s the essence of food combining, but it’s a little more complex than that,” says Somers. “I then realized that if I knew every food that the body converts into sugar and I avoided those foods, there would be no way I could gain weight. So, I tested that on myself and sure enough it was all about the sugar. I never realized how much sugar I was eating because it was in disguised forms.”

With obesity fast becoming an epidemic in America, Somers says she is committed to her role of trying to reverse the eating patterns of our society. “When I began writing Fast And Easy, the statistics indicated that 54.9 percent of all Americans were overweight. Upon publication, less than a year later, the figure had jumped to 65 percent.”

Her goal, with Somersizing and her books, is to educate people on how to sensibly approach a healthier lifestyle – lose weight to look and feel great. “We have to turn our kids around,” says Somers. “As busy parents, we need to be more responsible for the healthy eating habits our kids are adapting. I think what we really need to do is get families back to the table.”

Inside And Out
As important as it is to know your body, your metabolism and watch what you eat, it’s also crucial that exercise is incorporated into that new lifestyle. Somers says that although she doesn’t consider herself an exercise fanatic, she recognizes the importance of fitness in the overall picture of health and well-being. “I work out at least three times a week,” she says. “I use my own products; the ultra-track because it really works your butt and upper body. I have a body row and I work out with free weights and a bench, then mat exercises. My whole routine is about 45 minutes and when I don’t do it, I don’t feel as good. It gives me energy and oxygen.”

Somers has inspired many through her books, her program and by her generosity of spirit. In 1996, Somers was the first recipient of the R. Brinkley Smithers Award, which was established in 1995 to honor its late namesakes, one of the chief architects in the field of alcoholism research. The Suzanne Somers Foundation was created to provide research, education and support in the fight against alcoholism. Among the latest in her long list of accolades is the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star she received in January 2003.

Though she remains as busy as ever, Somers knows how to keep it all in perspective. “To heal, ask questions of yourself. And tell the truth,” she says. “And most importantly, choose the high road every day.”