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Erwan Heussaff on staying fit during the holidays: Learn how to say no


With Christmas just around the corner, have you figured out how you're going to keep fit before the temptation of delicious holiday food? Filipino-French lifestyle blogger and TV personality Erwan Heussaff has one simple piece of advice: Learn to deal with the pressure and just say no.

"The first thing I do at parties is to tell people that, for example, I don't drink alcohol because I'm trying to stay fit," Heussaff says, adding that "your friends and family will understand that it's for your betterment. They'll makes jokes and everything, but they'll understand."

When it comes to parties, Erwan advises people who want to stay fit to stick to meat and vegetables—and avoid starch. "There's always some sort of protein there, so even if there are sauces that are not so healthy, as long as there's meat and vegetables, you'll be okay."

Erwan Heussaff of The Fat Kid Inside

Misconceptions about losing weight, discipline, and "The Fat Kid Inside"

The one misconception people have about losing weight, Erwan says, is its quickness. "People usually give up after a week because they don’t see any improvement or a difference. I tell people that it takes about 2-3 months for your body to assimilate a new lifestyle," he points out.

It's not about the food or the workouts, but rather about knowing what to do and sticking with it. "In our day and age, it’s easy to be distracted, so it’s important to have a goal," he said.

One more important thing about staying fit is discipline, according to the "Fat Kid Inside."

"If I put a piece of cake in front of you, and you can't say no to that, there's an inherent problem with your discipline. I know people love cake, but you know it's not good for you, right?"

Erwan also points out that the only gauge for one to know if he or she is fit or not is himself or herself alone, as people tend to stop maintaining a healthy lifestyle when their friends tell them they've lost weight. "Remember, the more you lose weight, the easier it is to gain weight," he tells GMA News Online.

He also reiterates that a healthy living isn't as hard as many think, which the main reason why he established his well-known blog The Fat Kid Inside. "It’s realizing what’s being done wrong and resetting to the actual state of eating and natural state of movement.  You don’t need crash diets, you don’t need to juice… healthy eating is not expensive and is something anyone can do. It’s all about balance."

Fixing food and Erwan's new TV show

Heussaff, whose inspirational story of how he transformed from 240 pounds to a fit 150 through a journey of healthy cooking and regular exercise, is the newest ambassador of lifestyle network TLC, where he is featured in a series of vignettes called "Food Fix."

"'Food Fix' is taking Southeast Asian recipes and putting them in a format where they can make them from scratch," he explains, adding that the show aims to tell people that they don't need an hour and expensive ingredients to prepare authentic Southeast Asian food.

As TLC's brand ambassador, he top-billed the first-ever TLC Festival in the Philippines held Saturday at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig, along with "Fun Taiwan" host Janet Hsieh and British bakers Tom and Henry Herbert from "The Fabulous Baker Brothers."

Erwan, with Taiwanese-American host Janet Hsieh, shows the media how to cook Crab Fat Palabok.
 
Tom and Henry Herbert from "The Fabulous Baker Brothers" prepare a steak sandwich.
 
Ready to eat: Tom and Henry Herbert's steak sandwich and Erwan's Crab Fat Palabok

The TLC Festival was first launched in Singapore in September 2015. Heussaff, Hsieh, and the Herberts were in Malaysia on Sunday for the festival's next stop. — BM, GMA News