Mother of Ben, 8, and Megan, 4, Alison sat down with us to discuss how she's raising her kids to have healthy habits and adventurous goals—while showing them (and the world) how she's accomplishing her own, one television show, novel and marathon at a time. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

There isn’t a typical day for me. Sometimes I have to be at Days of Our Lives at 6:15 in the morning and I’m there all day. But some days I shoot until noon and then I’m at The Biggest Loser by 2 or 3 p.m. and then I work until 10 or 11 p.m. at night. Then there are days where I’m not at either show and I’m the Taxi Driver Mom taking my kids to school and running around with them.

Do you have a working mom mantra?

My working mom mantra is that it’s really important for me, having made the commitment to be away from my kids for my career, to give it my attention. I’m not going to spend my time feeling guilty or wishing I were somewhere else. I try to give my work and family separate but equal attention.

In All the Days of My Life (So Far), you wrote about how the tabloids discussed your weight and your body—and then you joined The Biggest Loser. Do you ever feel pressure to lose weight?

I put the pressure on myself because I believe we represent a really healthy way of living at The Biggest Loser and it’s important to honor that. No producer has ever said that to me, but I feel that way. I went out to dinner with my friend and the server was a huge Biggest Loser fan. She had tears in her eyes telling me she had lost 30 pounds with the show last season. It was such a great moment, and I realized, she’s aware of what I order and choose to eat. It’s important to me to not be a hypocrite.

How do you incorporate health when it comes to your family?

My kids can be picky, but I don’t have a lot of patience for that. I’ve told them I am not a short order cook. This is what I made and this is what we’re eating as a family. That’s more of a parenting choice I have made. I also don’t have potato chips in my house. Kids eat them because it’s convenient, so instead I always have blueberries ready in the kitchen. Guess what? Everyone eats them.

How do you fit in fitness as a mom?

Fitness is tough. I've come to accept that I cannot always find the time to work out by myself. If my day was more hectic and work-oriented, then my kids and I will go for a walk. I don’t stop my kids from playing on the walk. I’ll just lunge or squat or do jumping jacks until they’re done. Once on a hike I had Megan in the baby bjorn and Ben said, "No, no I can walk up!" Halfway up he couldn’t take one more step. So I hiked the rest of the hill with my son on my back and my daughter in front and I had so many high-fives on the way. So many parents were like, that is a supermom. I thought, I’m cool. I got game.

Tell me about the marathon you ran. A friend said it’s harder than giving birth. Is this true?

Well, it was longer. But it’s the same feeling you have of there is no other option. Running a marathon is a similar exhaustion, especially when you’re at your ultimate low and someone says, "It’s all downhill from here." You’re like, "My foot is still moving in front of the other foot. I don’t know what you think that means." For women growing up, we have to be so modest and it’s hard to own our own successes. I’m not ashamed to say that finishing a marathon is the coolest thing I have ever done.

What’s next for you?

My first novel, Star Attraction, just came out last month and I’m working on my second novel. And still working on Days of Our Lives and The Biggest Loser and being a mom. It’s amazing when I set these goals for myself and see how it influences my kids. My son sat down next to me while I was working on my book and he said he wanted to write a story, too. So he wrote this fantastic, outrageous story about a police shark. Then when I was running the marathon, he said, "Mom can I run the marathon with you someday?"