She drove 10 hours to Dayton, Ohio, and drove right to the doctor because she knew something was wrong. He just couldn't believe she drove all that way. She went right into the hospital and had emergency quadruple bypass surgery.

I almost lost her. For that reason alone, I'm glad to be part of this campaign.

CNN: You mentioned that many women feel like they have to tough it out and just ignore the symptoms. Why do you think that is?

Janney: I think, as women, we tend to always put our own needs in the back seat to take care of our family or loved ones. My mother did just that.

Women feel they need to take care of everybody, (but) they can't take care of anybody if they don't take care of themselves.

CNN: How did that experience, and learning more about heart disease, change the way you looked at exercise and nutrition?

Janney: I've lost 15 (to) 20 pounds since the summer. I've been doing Pilates three days a week, and I have three dogs, which gets me out walking every single morning. It's been nice to slim down and bump up the exercise.

CNN: Do you have any favorite foods that you've had a hard time giving up?

Janney: I don't believe you have to give everything up completely. I am my mother's daughter. I like cream sauces. I like macaroni and cheese, all that comfort food.

I love chocolate, but now I go for 88% and 90% dark, dark chocolate to treat myself.

I go for Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream in a recipe. It's kind of a game to see how I can take a recipe and make it healthy and still make it taste good. It's a challenge I'm enjoying.

CNN: So you like to cook?

Janney: I do. I'm not the best cook, but I do like to get inspired -- you know, get the cooking magazines or watch cooking shows.

Basically, I like to have people over to my house, because I usually hate going out to restaurants. So I'm trying to give them more reasons to want to come over to my house. Like, "Oh, my God, Allison's a good cook."

CNN: What else is a staple in your diet? What do you have for breakfast?

Janney: I've been doing juicing ... kind of an almond milk mixture. And then if I'm still hungry, I make steel cut oats or have oatmeal with some banana in it or a little agave to sweeten it. And that keeps me going.

I eat a lot of salads. Whatever I eat is mostly 70% water. I eat tons of salads and greens and peppers and scallions and avocados, my favorite food on the planet. I've been eating a lot of soups and one-pot meals, with quinoa, with chicken breast and tomatoes and thyme.

I really try to stick to that, and I find I feel better; I have more energy. I'm 50-something, and I feel better than I felt 20 years ago. So it works.

CNN: What do you do for stress relief?

Janney: I'm trying to learn to meditate. I haven't been able to achieve it successfully yet because I get impatient.