Believe it or not, Solenn Heussaff was not always the fit It Girl we have known her to be.
In her recently-released book Hot Sos, she wrote that her younger years weren't exactly the best period for her health.
At the age of 17, Solenn found herself working her first set of jobs in the city of Paris as a waitress, a hostess, and a bartender.
She was also a college student, taking up Fashion Design.
"Back then, my drinks of choice were cocktails, and they're the worst.
"Number one, you don't notice how strong they are. Number two, they're so full of sugar. You can easily drink three cups of sugar, plus all the extra calories from alcohol in one night."
This habit of drinking plenty of alcohol also led to her eating too much oily food, " When you're drinking, you eat more than you realize. I loved having my pizza, paninis, fries... anything that was heavy and oily."
She realized eventually that she had to stop that kind of lifestyle.
Now in her 30s, Solenn is in top shape, and on top of her game.
HOW TO BE HOT SOS If you're a follower of Solenn's Instagram account, you would know how intense her workouts are.
She told PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in a sit-down interview during the signing event for her book in the Glorietta 5 Atrium on September 3, "I do yoga, I do boxing with a coach. House of Pain with Coach John.
"I do pilates sometimes."
At the House of Pain, where Solenn and her husband Nico Bolzico usually do their workouts, she prefers to have a trainer.
"Because I know I get lazy sometimes and I need that extra push. Like when I’m doing abs and, 'Ah, I’m too tired.' Then the Coach would be like, ‘C’mon Sos, c’mon Sos.’ So I need that.
"Then when I do workout on my own, I tend to repeat myself because I’m not a fitness trainer.
"So I don’t know which muscles to work today or tomorrow, which is why I follow apps also if I had to work out alone."
The book-signing event also gave people a dose of her workout, which was a mix of core and cardio exercises.
Her hubby Nico joined the session.
The crowd did their best to keep up with the energy, and surely had a great time with Solenn.
After the session, she made everyone huddle in a circle and danced the calories away.
In an earlier interview with PEP, when she was still putting together the book, Solenn underlined that becoming fit doesn't need to be too calculative or too restraining.
"Fitness, for me, is just your health in general.
"I cheat, I eat burgers, you know, stuff like that. Hindi ako super OA na I need to work four hours a day and eat only white chicken and kamote. I’m not like that.
"I enjoy food, I enjoy life. and I wanna keep enjoying it."
She hopes the book will motivate more people to start becoming fit.
"There’s really no secret in this book because people always tweet me, ‘How do I lose this, how do I lose that?’ And I wanna tell them, like, just really Google. There’s no secret to it. I’m not doing something that someone else isn’t.
"I have no secret. I’m just living a balanced lifestyle. I have my days when I wanna eat what I want, but still portioned.
"Once you begin this journey, you’ll really feel it inside."
Hot Sos is available in bookstores, newsstands, supermarkets, and convenience stores nationwide for P 295.