Nia lost 40 pounds the hard way…withdiet, exercise and giving up her beloved cheese.

“I broke up with cheese. I always say like cheese keeps calling me and trying to get me to meet at a cheap motel but I’m really committed to just staying single for awhile.”

Although Vardalos says that she did “like 50 other things” to lose the weight, she claims that eliminating cheese from her diet “was the thing that changed my life.”