Kirstie Alley has a sympathetic ear in Oprah Winfrey when it comes to weight loss – and gain.
In an interview scheduled to air on Thursday's The Oprah Winfrey Show , the former Jenny Craig spokeswoman discusses her recent weight fluctuations – and reveals an unlikely inspiration in her drive to get fit.
"We look around. We see what we want," says Alley, 58. "Don't you look around and see what you want to look like? I'm, like, 'Look, Michelle Obama's guns. I could have those arms,' " she says. "I don't know about the legs."
Responds Winfrey: "You've got to work for that."
"I know," Alley says. "I'm saying, I think I'm ready to work."
After reducing on the Jenny Craig program, Alley tells Winfrey she gained back all the weight because of a lack of motivation. "I just said, 'I'm going to cut myself some slack.' Big mistake."
Having turned her home gym into a dining room, "I thought, 'You know what I need? You know what I haven't had a lot of? I haven't had a lot of dinner parties and company,' " says Alley.
The actress, who last February announced she would be developing her own weight-loss brand, admits, "In a way it's sort of … crazy. We're in the middle of a recession, and I decide, yes, I'm going to create my own business … I'm going to lose 80 pounds … I'm going to be in a bikini again."
Will Kirstie reach her weight goal? Share your comments here
JOSH & FERGIE: ROCKED BY SCANDAL
Did he cheat with a stripper?
Married less than a year, the couple denies an Atlanta woman’s claims that she and Josh had a fling
Note that this week’s cover of PEOPLE may differ regionally
