Emmy Rossum is refeshingly honest about diet and exercise

Actress Emmy Rossum is lean and fit, thanks to daily exercise and a healthy eating plan. Unlike other celebrities who claim they never diet or work out (while secretly subsisting on starvation diets), Rossum is refreshingly candid about the hard work it takes to look as good as she does.

"I'm fit because I make it a priority and it's part of my job," Emmy told the February 2013 issue of Self. "I also try to stay confident, so five pounds up or down doesn't affect my brain."

Interestingly, Rossum, 26, grew up in a strict household and continues to exercise dietary discipline while still indulging her cravings. "I was raised on a macrobiotic diet, so I was more interested in eating the junk food that other kids were eating, although I'd have to make sure my mom didn't know," she recounts.

The slender 5-foot-8 Rossum recently lost six pounds for the film "Beautiful Creatures" by sticking to a strict diet. "When I was filming 'Beautiful Creatures,' I ate 1,500 calories a day," she says. "Nutritionist Carrie Wiatt sent me meals from L.A. But I also gave myself two cheat days a week. I'd eat a steak and fries, an ice cream sundae and then go to Pinkberry.

"Of course, then I'd wake up the next morning and go, 'Oh, great, I'm eating one poached egg and a green apple. Shoot me in the face.' But it was totally worth it. Now I can gain back those six pounds that I had lost to do the movie."

The athletic Rossum also works out every day. "I like Physique 57, Burn 60 and SoulCycle or Flywheel, because I get positive energy from the people around me," she says. "You just can't be the slacker. "

Emmy says consistency is critical when it comes to workouts. "If I've had a meh workout the day before, and I'm still not feeling it, then I'll do another meh one that day, too," she says. "I think you should just do something every day."

While most people amp up their cardio exercise when they're trying to slim down, Rossum takes a different approach.

"When I want to drop weight quickly, I cut back on my cardio and do a lot of weights instead," she says. "It's counter-intuitive, because you'd think I should stay on the treadmill for five hours. I also cut out all fruit and eat a lot of protein and vegetables. My go-to moves are walking lunges, leg raises and my favorite: four sets of 15 ballet pliés, holding eight-pound weights."

Emmy, who has been slim all her life, is fitter than ever, thanks to her healthy and active lifestyle. But she insists she doesn't equate thinness with health.

"Right now I'm probably in the best shape that I've ever been in, although I don't consider 'best shape' to necessarily mean the skinniest," she says. "I've been fatter and I've been skinnier than I am right now, but I'm more at peace than ever."

[Related: Jessica Simpson vows not to gain so much weight during second pregnancy]