When people see a woman like Kelly Killoren Bensimon walking down the street, they assume it’s so easy to look that fit. But as you will learn from the former star of the Real Housewives of New York in her new book, “I Can Make You HOT!” is that it takes a change of lifestyle and keeping your body active in order to achieve such results.

I had the pleasure to meet Kelly in person last year during a swimsuit event and she looked phenomenal! The 43-year-old has collected tips from professionals throughout her career as a model (which she did since the age of fifteen!) and is now sharing those secrets with you!

But can this book help a 5’2″, curvy Latina look like Kelly?

“HOT, which is an acronym for Healthy Options Today, doesn’t discriminate in terms of height, Bensimon explained. I get tweaked every single day by a team of experts so I just wanted to give everyone all the different types of solutions that I get everyday.”

“The book is basically about all the mistakes that I’ve made and the solutions that I have found.”

Kelly’s book features an impressive list of food items she keeps stocked in her home. I was honestly surprised reading through it as I imagined stepping into her pantry and realizing these are all ok to consume! Alcohol and carbohydrates were probably the most shocking but Kelly explained to me the importance of moderation.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t have carbs or alcohol, it’s just that you should not have a ton of carbs nor an overage of drinks. I think that is what happens when people say, “Oh, I can have a couple of glasses of wine on a diet.”

“Well a couple of glasses of wine to me is two but a couple of drinks to someone who drinks everyday could be four, Kelly said. So a glass or two of wine is ok but three or four is not.”

This bit of advice really makes sense to me because if I’m in a situation where I am out with my friends for dinner or happy hour, after about glass number two we start to get tempted to order the spinach dip (or something equally as naughty). So in the end, we’ve had a few drinks and are now eating really bad as a result of feeling less inhibited from the cocktails.

The calories definitely add up.

“One of the things people are really liking from the book is how my mid-western values come through. I have a lot of integrity and strong values and I think people are really responding to the fact that I come from a really healthy environment. And I don’t need to overeat because that is not a part of how I live.

I don’t think anyone should use food as an excuse. It’s not an excuse it’s a fuel.”

If Kelly was your favorite reality housewife and you are suffering from withdrawals ever since she made her departure from tv, we’ve got some great news!

“We’re actually pitching a show to a few networks, Kelly said excitedly. “They really like “I Can Make You HOT.” One of the things that is exciting for a lot of people is that they’ve gotten to see so much of me since they didn’t get to see it on Housewives. There were so many people that were very interested in the way that I live, the way I raise my kids, and what I do and how I work.”

I’m a working single mom and there are so many single working mothers interested in how I’m navigating all of this.”

You can purchase a copy of ” I Can Make You HOT” via OpenSky.com, a social network for shopping, which launched a year ago and already has 1.5 million members. OpenSky’s 100+ experts include people in Style, Food, Home Décor and Healthy Living such as Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, Cynthia Rowley, Tom Colicchio, Molly Sims, and Tony Horton.

Also make sure to come out to Books & Books Miami Beach on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 7pm where she will be signing copies of her book.