Her Gym Is at Daphne’s Place

This Monday will be the final episode for Daphne Zuniga’s Jo, a photographer and one of the trouble-mongers on Fox’s “Melrose Place.” The 33-year-old actress is moving on after four seasons on the show. Just what she’s moving on to is unclear, but wherever, Lou will be right by her side.

Question: What’s been going on?

Answer: Lately I’ve been feeling gung-ho about exercise. I just thought, “You know what? I want to feel like I want to work out.” And I have to get up early, like 5:30, if I have a 7 a.m. call and then to have the gym too far away . . . so I got some equipment in my house.

Q: That way you can’t sabotage yourself about going to the gym.

A: Yeah, exactly. I have never felt in shape enough to go to the damn gym. And they’re crawling with trainers who look at you with that look of “Boy, if I got my hands on that body, I could make it something.” So now the gym is in my house and it may end up being just a coat hanger, but if I feel the urge it will be there. It’s really great. I’ll just hop on the StairMaster for 20 minutes and I feel good. I don’t know, for some reason lately I have been feeling like I want to do that.

Q: What else is in the gym?

A: I have a stationary bike and some weights, and I got a treadmill, which I love. Sometimes if I’m angry I’ll get on the treadmill and I’ll punch my arms. And stretching too. That feels awesome. It’s like that first sip of white wine at dinner. So beautiful. You know, the trick is to listen to your body, to work with your intuition--it’s a friend.

Q: Do you do any running?

A: You know, I used to think I had to run at least three miles a day. I haven’t been into running for a year, and I haven’t noticed a big difference with my body. I can always walk fast if I want to break a sweat. And now I love to hike with my dog, Lou, up in the hills. I’m telling you, I’ve noticed a big difference from hiking in the hills where it’s just beautiful. No pressure. It feels good. And I’ve gone out more since I got Lou.

Q: We have Lou to thank for your workout.

A: It comes down to Lou. She’s the one that gets me out there. Wakes me up in the morning with “What do you mean you don’t want to walk now? I’m going. Time for that hike. You promised.”

Q: What do you eat? Starting with breakfast.

A: I can’t eat first thing in the morning so I’ll just have coffee. I must say I’m addicted to coffee. Sometimes I’ll stop at Starbucks and get myself a nonfat latte. And later on I might have a piece of fruit or a bagel with chopped tomato.

Q: No cream cheese?

A: I don’t like cream cheese too much, but let me tell you about my bagel. I hollow it out and almost burn it so it’s real crunchy. Then I just fill it with chopped tomatoes and a little pepper. It is so good. Then for dinner I like pasta and fish for protein because that’s the only “meat” I eat.

Q: What about water?

A: It’s come to the point where I just love water. I always have a bottle of water on the set. It’s kind of a joke because I lose bottles everywhere.

Q: Do you have a sweet tooth?

A: I love sweets. Brownies and desserts have to be cooked as they were meant to be--with butter and cream and chocolate.

Q: Isn’t there always a lot of food around on the set?

A: There is food around all day and I could graze on the junk food, so I don’t like to eat a lot on the set.

Q: You’ve mentioned how actresses can go spinning out of control. That sounded close to home.

A: I had one thing happen in the early ‘80s when I was in college. I was on financial aid, and I decided to model during the summer. So I go in this guy’s office and he’s like, “How tall are you?” “I’m 5 feet, 8 inches.” “How much do you weigh?” I go, “118.” And he said, “Hmmm, can you bring that down to 112?” Just like that. So casually.

I had never been on a diet. I stopped eating. Lost my period. My hair started falling out. But all I cared about was the numbers on the scale. And I kept losing. I went down to like 105. I was working 40 hours a week. I was taking dance class. I had no energy. I remember one of my classes was on the second story and I had to stop at the first level to get my energy.

And so later this guy said, again very casually, just like you know, he’s saying anything, he says to me “God, you’re really skinny. Go have an ice cream sundae.”

Q: What did you do?

A: I thought, “He has no idea what he has done, what I’ve put myself through and he’s throwing numbers around so casually.” I went and had an ice cream and I never went back. It really was a learning lesson. I can’t take myself that casually and I have to look at what the cost is going to be.

Guest Workout runs every other Wednesday in Life & Style.