It was a trip to college that made Ree Drummond change her diet and workout regimen, but this had nothing to do with the so-called "freshman 15."

In a new chat with "Entertainment Tonight," the "Pioneer Woman" star recalled her weight slowly increasing while working on her Food Network cooking shows and cookbooks. In January, she hit "rock bottom."
"In January of this year, we took my son, Bryce, to college. And I tell this story, but I basically hit rock bottom eating chips and salsa one night," she said. "I went a little overboard, but I thought that night, 'I am going to start tomorrow, I am doing something different.' And I just started and I almost lost 60 pounds now."
For Ree, she totally changed her lifestyle, rather than going on a diet.
"I feel great and that's what matters. The scale was sort of a gauge for me that I was heading in the right direction. And it was never about 'I have to lose this amount,' it's really about how I feel," Ree said. "I feel great, I have, I feel strong. Even when I was thinner, I don't think I ever have been a squatter or a lunger before. Not since my ballet days. So it's really nice to just kind of feel the muscles that I thought were gone forever."
Ree notes that she still cooks the same way as she always has, but she's better at managing how much she eats.
"It changes your whole outlook just having the routine of exercise in your day and, you know, I still eat the foods that I cook my family. I still eat cake," she said. "I just eat a Rhode Island-sized piece instead of a Texas-sized piece."