Solenn: Fit & fabulous

Busy is an understatement for Solenn Heussaff these days. The It Girl just launched her third and latest album, Solenn, under Universal Records. She’s promoting her new fitness book, Hot Sos. She recently unveiled Solenn Art Wine from France, with her artwork engraved on the tube.

You’d think the new Mrs. Nico Bolzico  (Solenn and the Argentinian businessman tied the knot in France last May 21) has no time to those fitness routines she has taken to like a duck to water.

But you’d be pleasantly surprised. Sultry Solenn finds time to take care of her body by keeping fit.

“Having no time for working out is no excuse,” she says.

If Solenn can’t go to the gym five times a week, she climbs the stairs of the hotel she’s visiting or staying in. She runs as much as she can the next day and does yoga on another day.

Besides getting those muscles working and that young blood circulating, Solenn knows exercise produces endorphins or happy hormones. These, in turn, fight stress and depression.

Solenn doesn’t stick to one exercise to keep all parts of her body fit and well-toned. One time, she’s down on her knees on the exercise mat, pushing a skateboard with both elbows. The next, she’s kicking a leg up high. Then, you see her doing push-ups and boxing routines.

Exercise is just one part of Solenn’s fitness regimen. Diet is another.

“I eat on small plates,” she reveals.

Solenn drinks not one, but two glasses of water before every meal “so I’ll feel quite full.”

And although photo shoots, commercials and movies sometimes require her to lose weight fast, Solenn doesn’t take shortcuts by going on a crash diet. She knows results are temporary because the body, deprived of nutrients, will regain the weight it lost.

No wonder 5’5” tall Solenn shed the baby fat she had at 11 to become the fantasy of men and a fitness role model for women.

“I went from big to small,” states Solenn, who tips the scales at 55 kilos. Now, plus-sized women who wish they could be in Solenn’s shoes — and sexy clothes, have reason to hope again.

Their rallying cry is, “If Solenn can do it, so can we!”

Singer wannabes can also take a cue from Solenn, who’s not ashamed to admit how much she hated the singing lessons her mom made her take. So she gave up the lessons and sang in the shower instead.

Little did Solenn know those lessons and impromptu performances for house guests when she was a little girl will come to her rescue many years after. In 2012, Solenn joined showbiz via the variety show Party Pilipinas and started singing on nationwide TV.

Mother knows best, after all.

Today, Solenn makes up for her lack of time for voice lessons by vocalizing at home. She tries to master singing long lines by studying proper breathing and phrasing techniques on her own.

Solenn admits it’s not a walk in the park, but she refuses to let those challenging notes faze her. Practice makes perfect.

This, coupled with Solenn’s determination and discipline, make her master the toughest melodies, the most complex musical arrangements.

Her belief that she should march to the beat of her own drum also makes Solenn ooze with confidence.

Solenn and real-life friends Isabelle Daza, Liz Uy and Georgina Wilson star in their own reality show It Girls on E! Channel at 8:30 p.m. It captures Solenn and her friends in their unguarded moments, so you can judge them for who they are — human beings who, like the girl next door, falls in love, gets married, copes with a loved one’s loss and everything else in between.

They are called the “It Girls.” But they’re every inch a woman. — With reports from Almed Garcia and Julian Mauricio