Julianne Hough

Acting is like free therapy! Trying to make people laugh or cry can be inspiring.

Grease is one of the movies that made me want to be an entertainer, and I have literally been waiting my whole life to play Sandy. My siblings and I watched it and played it out over and over when we were kids. This is my dream role and performing it live on television will be one of the most thrilling opportunities I've had in my career so far.

I think at the end of the day you have to find a balance with what's really important.

I knew if I stayed in London my whole life would be dancing. I'd won almost every major title you can. I thought 'This really isn't my passion. I really want to sing,' and I knew I wouldn't be able to if I stayed there.

But trust me, if I lived in the '80s, I would definitely be the one going to the record stores.

Adrenaline is the reason I do what I do.

Dancing and acting satisfy me in different ways.

A lot of people don't know this, but when 'Dancing with the Stars' first asked me to be on the show, I said no, because I wanted to act and to be taken seriously.

Keep believing in yourself, and don't ever give up, even if people tell you otherwise. Just believe in yourself and take every action you need to get there, whether it's taking more lessons or a fun, cool job in New York or LA and stepping out of the box. Be a little bit risky, but still confident.

I always tweet about where we're at. Since I'm performing at amphitheaters, I'll try to run up and down the stairs and across the field.

Dancing is so great because there are all the little details, and the little movements, and the little muscles that are working without you even realizing.

What I really like to do, especially because we're all busy so sometimes you forget to do something, I always keep wrist weights with me. If I just put them on throughout the day, then I'll just be doing stuff and it's kind of just toning without me doing anything. Sometimes that's just my little trick. I have ankle weights and wrist weights and I just keep them with me at all times.

Even if you're a guy and you don't believe in dancing, you should try dance cardio. It's really fun!

Everybody loves music and it's fun - you feel like you're not working out. It makes the time go by quick and you're having fun and, especially if you take a class, there's the energy of other people and you're laughing.

I'm a huge fan of dance cardio because it goes by really quick.

Take your time. Some of these fad diets and quick fixes, they might be quick, but you're going to crash and burn.

I love chips and salsa. Guacamole.

As guilty and fun as it is to go through a drive-thru and get a cheeseburger or whatever, I just feel like you can make your own burger at home. You know what's going into it. You know where it came from. And it's just easy to go back and forth to those drive-thrus. Just kick that habit!

I absolutely love Italian food. So pizza - like a margherita pizza, penne arbiota, a glass of wine. That's like my dream.

It's more about balance for me. I used to be an all or nothing person. And now I would rather have a lifestyle change - rather than use the word 'diet' - where 90 percent of the time spend my life that way and 10 percent of the time have fun and do what my body feels like it needs or craves.

I definitely am the kind of person that fluctuates up and down. I work really hard for a certain project and then I'm like, 'Oh, I'm done.'

I'm one of those people that loves to try everything.

When my mind is clear, I feel like I can give more of myself to those around me and hopefully bring light and joy and an infectious kind of energy to inspire them to do whatever they want to do. That's really the key behind it all.

I keep saying this about a mental state, but the more that I am physically active, the more that my mind is clear.

If I'm like, 'Oh, this is not something that I want to do,' that means I have to do it. That's always a good motivation.

One of my mantras is if I'm scared to do something, that means that I have to do it.

I also like to feel good when I'm working out. If I put schlubby clothes on, I'm like, 'Blah.' I don't really want to work out. But if I'm feeling cute and I'm looking good - that's my motivation.

I figured out if I have a good goal in mind, then I can actually achieve it.

I think growing up it was never an issue for me to think about working out or having a healthy lifestyle because I danced so much. Then when I stopped dancing and I got into regular life mode, I didn't realize how much diet and nutrition and being active was so important. Not only for my physical state, but for my mental state, too. I think that's just as important as working out for your physical state.

I'm a huge fan of just keeping a healthy lifestyle. For your body but for your mind, also.