The View co-host Sherri Shepherd came out in a bathing suit on her show two weeks ago to premiere her new slimmed-down body. Sherri worked with a nutritionist, trainer, and endocrinologist for three months on a diet and exercise program. A long term diabetes sufferer, Sherri was able to stabilize her blood sugar naturally through the program and go off all medication for her condition. At that time, Sherri wouldn’t specify how much weight she’d lost and simply said that she felt comfortable with her body and had dropped 10 inches overall, 5 from her waist. She was featured in an inside article in People Magazine titled “I like the size I am!” and has dropped down to a size 6 from a high of size 16.

Now we know that Sherri has lost 41 pounds, because she’s featured on the cover of this week’s OK! Magazine rocking a new baby blue bathing suit. Titled “How I lost 41 pounds without surgery,” the magazine says that Sherri uses the diet favored by Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson and Sandra Bullock. An article on OK!’s website reveals that it’s a food delivery service called Fresh Diet. I bet they offer to send it free to most celebrities in order to get the coverage:

Sherri Shepherd’s transformation almost didn’t happen: After losing a whopping 30 pounds since her 2007 debut on The View, she began to see the weight creep back on. Rather than surrender, she made a public vow in May to get herself swimsuit-ready.

“This is my marathon,” Sherri, 42, says — and it looks as if she’s winning the race. The talk show co-host and star of Lifetime’s upcoming sitcom, Sherri, has lost 41 pounds in total, dropped 10 dress sizes and cut 10 inches off her 5′1″ frame. And in a new, exclusive interview and photo shoot with OK!, Sherri reveals what inspired her to go public with her pledge — and exactly how she did it.

“I lost weight last year and started gaining it back because I wasn’t exercising,” Sherri explains in the new issue of OK!. “I said to my producer, ‘Why don’t we do something where I tell people ‘Let’s do it together!’ and maybe [up the ante with] a bathing suit.’ The minute I said that, I was like, ‘Gosh, I should take it back because I really want M&M’s!’ But I had to do it. Then all of sudden I had all these people doing it with me. I’d Tweet about going to the gym and how hard it was, and followers would write and say, ‘Sherri, I’ve lost two pounds!’ I thought, ‘Okay, people are getting into this.’”

To help get her into swimsuit shape, Sherri enlisted the help of trainer Don Scott — who she refers to in her Tweets as the “Evil One” — and he spared certainly didn’t give her any slack because of her celebrity. “What I hate is when trainers say, ‘Okay, lets do 15,’ and then you get to 15, and they go ‘10 more,’ She recalls about her time in the gym. “It has taken every mental thing I have to get to 15, so don’t put another 10 on me!”

Now Sherri’s focus is on maintaining her weight, without the trainer. “It’s just mandatory that I find something I like that I can really keep up,” she explains. “I just started this trapeze class that strengthens the arms, and tennis I love. I’m taking salsa lessons.”

In addition to her time in the gym, Sherri — who openly admits that she’s “not a cooker” — slimmed down with the help of delivered meals from Fresh Diet, including Turkey & Green Salsa Quesadillas, Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Ginger Jerk Sauce, Salad Niçoise and Cinnamon Pear Cheesecake. “It’s freshly cooked and they delivered it in the mornings so I would just eat that,” Sherri explains.

But even with all this great food, there were still times when desire’s seductive head would pop up. “Sometimes I just said, ‘I don’t want tilapia anymore; I can’t even deal with salad. I want M&M’s and Ruffles,’” she confesses. “But the difference was I was gonna get back up and go to the gym and keep my commitment. I never once felt like I deprived myself.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Sherri saying that she didn’t deprive herself doesn’t exactly jibe with what she told US Magazine in July – that she was miserable while she was dieting. Now that she’s seen the great results, maybe Sherri has started enjoying eating well and exercising. These weight loss covers must sell well for OK! – they featured Britney’s bikini body last week with details of “How she lost 20 lbs in 4 weeks.” I’m not as fond of OK! now that they’ve changed format and switched their whole website around, but I have to hand it to them – they don’t seem to have Photoshopped Sherri on this cover and are presenting her as she is. Maybe they did a few touchups here and there, but it’s not like they changed her whole body shape and facial structure, like Self did to Kelly Clarkson this month. Sherri looks like herself, and she should be proud. Good for her for landing a magazine cover!