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" When we got on the phone with Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, what started as a normal conversation about Sensa (more on that later) quickly segued into one of our favorite topics: go-to stress relievers. It turns out Spencer shares some of our biggest guilty pleasures. &amp;quot;A good book and what I call &amp;#039;murder and mayhem&amp;#039; TV, like a forensic files or true crime show. And Scandal \u2013 the viewing marathons! I save up and watch it all at the end of the season. People have really gotten into the binge-watching, it&amp;#039;s a great way to destress.&amp;quot;  Spencer doesn&amp;#039;t find herself with as much time for Scandal marathons these days, though. The self-described &amp;quot;actress-writer-producer-hyphenate&amp;quot; is kept plenty busy with projects and meetings. Since she&amp;#039;s always on the go, Octavia joined forces with Sensa, the shake-on weight-loss system that admittedly had us skeptical at first. &amp;quot;We all have hourglass figures; your sand just settles in different places,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;For me, my sand settles in the middle, and that&amp;#039;s the worst place for it to settle. That&amp;#039;s what Sensa has been \u2014 a way to shave off some of the sands of time.&amp;quot; Well, when you phrase it as a beautiful-sounding metaphor... Spencer has lost 20 pounds so far, which she credits to consistency, smarter food choices, and not feeling the need to finish everything. &amp;quot;We always think that we&amp;#039;re going to be young forever, and now when I wake up, and I need to stretch, and I need to have my glass of water and be cognizant of what I&amp;#039;m doing with my body,&amp;quot; the actress told us. Thanks to this routine, Spencer always feels best in the morning, and she makes sure to schedule exercise and food into her day so her good mood doesn&amp;#039;t wane. &amp;quot;Life is too short, and I need to eat. I am my meanest when I haven&amp;#039;t had a meal. Hangry [hungry + angry \u2014 we&amp;#039;ve all been there] is not good.&amp;quot; Her go-to snack is peanut butter and a piece of fruit with a shake of Sensa. Talking to Octavia Spencer felt more like gabbing with an old friend than a member of Hollywood&amp;#039;s elite Oscar-winner crew. How does she stay this down-to-earth and &amp;quot;just like us&amp;quot; with all her success? Spencer credits her great support system: &amp;quot;My family supported me before any of this crazy notion of moving out to Hollywood and staking my claim. That support has never waned.&amp;quot;  She also had some great mentors. &amp;quot;My mom told me what being true to yourself really means. If it means being mean to other people, then that&amp;#039;s you, but for me it&amp;#039;s been life-changing because my career has changed so much in the past year and a half, and I&amp;#039;m glad I&amp;#039;m true to myself because I haven&amp;#039;t changed. I&amp;#039;m still the same person that I was, and that keeps me sane.&amp;quot; Whoopi Goldberg also gave Spencer the same advice when she was a 16-year-old casting intern for Goldberg&amp;#039;s film The Long Walk Home. And when Whoopi Goldberg tells you to always stay true to yourself, you kind of remember it forever. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/interviews/a15226/octavia-spencer-interview/>