“I stopped weighing myself and doing calories a long time ago,” Katharine McPhee says in the December issue of Health (on newsstands November 10). The actress and singer, 33, has been open about having struggled with an eating disorder in the past—all the more reason why a balanced approach to eating is important to her now.
“I love salads, I love clean food; it makes me feel good,” she says. “But the idea that you can never eat a burger and French fries [without gaining] weight five days later? I just don’t believe that’s true.” McPhee shared her favorite clean eats with Health:
What are your go-to healthy meals these days?
Well, I love avocado toast. I know it’s super trendy but I love it for breakfast; it just feels so nurturing and wholesome and so good going into my stomach. I put a little bit of truffle oil over the avocado with salt and pepper on delicious whole wheat toast. I did watch that documentary, What the Health; it’s basically gearing everybody to be plant-based and vegan. I could never be vegan; I like milk and yogurt and cheese too much. But I’ve definitely moved more toward the vegetarian route.
So what’s one of your favorite plant-based meals?
I make my version of a vegan soup—though it’s more like baby food [laughs]. In a slow cooker, I’ll put broccoli, peppers, onions, and garlic and a can of black beans and pinto beans. I’ll roast it in the slow cooker for like four hours, probably do some vegetable broth, puree it, and put in tons of Cholula hot sauce. It’s super mushy, but it’s so heavy in vegetables and beans and it’s so filling. Then I’ll do some feta cheese on top. I also like big salads, like the ones at Sweetgreen. I love Sweetgreen.
What’s your favorite salad combo?
Kale, kale, kale, kale. I love kale. And then garbanzo beans, spicy broccoli, red onion, carrot, feta cheese, cucumbers, and then maybe something crunchy, like almonds. I like to eat a really hearty, full meal that’s rich in fiber with good fat, like an avocado, and proteins.
Favorite snack?
Probably an apple, like a McIntosh. It’s not really my favorite snack, but it’s my gauge—I use it as a testing method to go, “Okay, am I really hungry, or will a piece of fruit satiate me right now?” If not, I’ll go for something with a little more sustenance, like a handful of cashews. It’s a hunger test, for sure. I have little tools like that because of my past that I use, and I’m not ashamed to share that.
