Carrie Underwood Self Magazine Cover: Singer Reveals Diet Tips

Carrie Underwood is the perfect picture of good health. In the cover story of the April issue of Self Magazine, the 29-year-old country superstar spills all the details on how she stays so incredibly fit. She even gives a detailed account of her diet and shares her unique tricks to a great workout. Here are few highlights from the inspiring article:

On the decision to become vegan: "I've been a vegetarian for seven years. But after seeing a friend who looked amazing and had recently gone vegan, I thought, 'What's holding me back?' Now I'm 95-percent vegan. Sometimes you're at a birthday party and there's cake and ... you can't resist. My veganism is based on a concern about where my food is coming from. In my perfect world, I'd have webcams wherever food is processed so I'd know how clean it is. I'll never eat meat again, because I look and feel better without it, but if I could raise my own cows and chickens and produce my own eggs and cheese, it would be awesome! The food would taste better, because the animals would be happy."

On a typical breakfast: "A vanilla smoothie with pea protein powder, half a banana, a cup of berries, almond milk and ice. Or I'll make a tofu scramble with whatever I've got in the fridge, like spinach, onions and peppers, with salsa on top. If I'm working out in the morning, I'll also have an orange or a grapefruit. And black coffee. I like a little caffeine boost!"

On a regular lunch: "I do a stir-fry with precut veggies. I like broccoli, carrots, broccoli slaw, fake chicken and onions. I eat it with brown rice and season it with Bragg Liquid Aminos, then I'm good to go. It's a lot of food but not a lot of fat or calories."

On what's for dinner: "I'll always be a fan of veggie burgers!"

On eating with husband, Mike Fisher: "My husband would rather go out to restaurants than eat at home -- it makes me mad! I really enjoy cooking and eating together at home. If he's watching TV and I'm cooking, I'm like, 'Hey, you're being lazy, come help!' It's a nice time to be together and talk. Plus, I don't know what to do with meat, so if Mike wants it to taste good and doesn't want to end up in the hospital with food poisoning, it's best if he makes it himself."

On how she has fun at the gym: "I have a game I love for when I'm working out on my own, without a trainer. I take a deck of cards and assign each suit a body area -- say, diamonds for arms, hearts for legs, spades for core and clubs for cardio. I split the deck in half and write down exercises for each suit, a different one for each half. So, if I flip over the six of hearts, I'll do six squats. If the next card is ace of diamonds, that's 14 push-ups. Sometimes I'll make spades boxing and beat the crap out of the bag for however many punches the number on the card says."

On her pre-event diet and workout routine: "I lay off starches. I'm not a fan of the no-carb thing; you're going to get yourself in trouble that way. So I have lots of veggies and fruit but no other starches or bread ... I do more cardio and fewer weights than usual. Although strength training is important, I don't want to look too muscular on the red carpet."

Read the full article in Self Magazine here.