Fit With Fallon
Fit With Fallon: Fallon Mercedes
Interview
I was sitting down in the AfterBuzz TV studios listening and
watching celebrity fitness reporter Fallon Mercedes give her take on the latest
episode of the Biggest Loser. I noticed immediately that she was a natural in
front of the screen. Her energy is fun and her warm personality instantly pulls
you in. Fallon Mercedes is a certified trainer and a celebrity fitness reporter
residing in Los Angeles, California. As the correspondent for Necole Bitchie and host of several AfterBuzz TV shows she has built an extensive resume and
eventually branched out to create her own brand, Fit With Fallon. On her site
she reports on the latest fitness trends, gives exclusive interviews with
celebrities and athletes about their fitness, and has tips on how to eat
healthy. Try to keep up and stay fit with Fallon.
Hometown:
Worcester, Massachusetts
What inspired you to
combine your love of fitness with your passion for reporting?
I wasn’t getting as much work as I wanted as an
entertainment reporter. My mentor, who is also one of my best friends, Necole Bitchie,
suggested that I find something that makes me stand out from the rest. I knew I was passionate about fitness, I’m
a certified trainer, and I was always asked fitness questions. I’m also an
entertainment reporter and people would ask “What do these celebrities eat?
What do they do to look so good?”. It’s something that nobody is doing, the
fitness world is so big and so is the entertainment world. I found myself
saying, how come there’s not an outlet that focuses on that. I think it’s a
great way to dive into a celebrity’s life in a positive way. The celebrities
are more open to it too, because they know I won’t ask them who they are dating
or attempt to throw them under the bus.
What was the
transition like from being a news anchor covering hard news to eventually cover
entertainment?
My first reporter gig in LA was a big one, right when I
moved here, i met the producer of Extra and he asked for my news reel. Later on
that week I was on a major red carpet interviewing celebrities for Extra! But
after that it was hard finding gigs so I had to hustle my ass off. So I bought
my own camera; I already learned how to edit in college and I knew how to
shoot. I started going to red carpets getting my name on the list. I would do
interviews and call up outlets. I would say “Hey, I have an interview that says
this” then shoot it over to them and they would pay for it. I had to be a one
woman band. While others had a camera man or working a hired gig I had that mentality
of doing everything literally on my own. That’s when BlackTree TV was calling
me to do interviews and that’s where I had gotten in touch with Necole. She only
had NY correspondents so I landed the role as her LA correspondent.
What influenced you
to branch off to create your own brand Fit With Fallon?
I started my own site and wasn't getting much traffic, so I
pitched a collaboration to Necole to be a fitness correspondent and she liked
the idea. I knew Necole Bitichie would be a
good platform for my fitness videos. I would approach celebrities saying I’m a
correspondent for Necole Bitchie would you do this interview if it appeared on
her site as well, and they agreed to it.
I grew up in a
household where my father had a lot of businesses so I get that entrepreneurial
spirit from him. It feels good to have something and a certain pride in it.
This is something I started on my own, that I’m doing on my own, and there is a
beauty in seeing growth in something that you built. I love to nurture things,
so to be able to nurture my own business feels amazing and I know one day it’s
going to blossom into something great. I started the blog and it was doing well
with over 50,000 hits within in three months. Then I got a full time job and stopped
blogging. Sometimes when you are working full time it kills that creativity
because you’re so busy. At one point I had to fly home because my father had become ill.
That was a wake up call for me as well because I had gained 20 pounds and
decided when I get back that I would focus more on my fitness. A week later,
after I got back I had gotten fired from my job. I was upset at first, and then
I thought this was a blessing in disguise. I knew I needed to do what I loved.
I started working out and within in two to three months I lost the weight I had
gained, started to cover all these fun classes, and began doing interviews again.
I felt physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally in such a better
place. Now my dad is feeling better.
On your YouTube Page Fit With Fallon TV you showcase activities that are good workouts. What is the
most fun you’ve had with an activity so far and which activity are you looking
forward to featuring next?
I recently went on a trip to Catalina Island off the coast
of California and went on a zip line. That was fun as well as doing
Antigravity Yoga at the Crunch gym in Burbank that I featured on Fit With
Fallon TV. I am looking forward to posting my recent interview with an Acupuncturist;
he did a method called accuweightloss on me which is pretty cool. They stick
needles in certain places in your body that are actually trigger points for
hunger and stress, and help you stop eating as much so you can lose weight. I
thought it was awesome; it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, and I
believe my audience will be excited to learn and see new types of approaches to
health.
Why is it important
for you to keep up with fitness?
I see it as a sense of personal therapy for me whenever I go
to the gym. It is a great outlet for me to get away.
How tempting is it to
break away from a diet plan and indulge in some of your favorite food?
I have no discipline! A lot of is portion control. If I’m
craving something sweet I’ll make a protein shake along with peanut butter and
a banana so I get that craving out of the way. I’m not as disciplined as people
would think. For the most part it’s about balance.
What are some of your
favorite meals to make?
I make this spicy sweet salmon and I cook it in a way that
it’s not too many calories but it really hits your taste buds. I’ll cook the
salmon, then season it, add red pepper flakes, put green apples, brown sugar
and it all caramelizes. I’ll have that
with sweet potato and a nice kale salad. Everybody I make it for say it’s
amazing. I also like making stuffed green apples. You decore the apple put in
oatmeal, applesauce, cranberries, walnuts, dates, cinnamon, and vanilla extract place it in the oven for 25 minutes. It’s so
warm and so many different tastes. I find it as a healthy substitution for
apple pie.
Who has been one of
your most favorite people you’ve interviewed?
My favorite person to interview so far has been Devon
Franklin. He talked about being spiritually fit and mindfully fit. In the US we
don’t do enough exploring different avenues of health. You think it’s just
nutrition and just working out but there are a lot of people whose minds aren’t
healthy. You control and discipline you’re eating habits, you control and
discipline your body through physically working out, but you’re letting your mind
be stressed and have negative thoughts. That was the first time I stepped out
of the box in terms of fitness interviews. Another favorite person I
interviewed was Common. Usually when I interview someone I have to make them feel
comfortable, but with both of them I felt relaxed. The person I would most like to interview is
Oprah. Not only because she’s a great entrepreneur and host, but in terms of
fitness. We’ve seen her over the years yo-yo diet. This woman with all this
money, all this power, and even she has issues with controlling her weight. I’d
love to talk to her about her experiences with that and ask her when she
finally got comfortable in her own skin.
What are some of your favorite workouts to do?
I just love doing things that are crazy. Like the
Antgravity Yoga, I like doing boot camps, beach workouts, and especially
workouts that involve scenery. Anything involving competition I love to do as
well. I don’t prefer working out alone,
I love feeling the energy in the room and motivating other people and people
motivating me. I did my United We Sweat event recently and it was so much fun.
I’m going to start doing Fit With Fallon meet ups. The videos that I do, I’m
going to try to do a meet up where the girls can meet me and do the same
exercise.
What are your future
aspirations?
I definitely want to have my own fitness TV show and after
that I want my own fitness talk show. There’s no show that focuses specifically
on fitness. I want to be the first fitness talk show. I want to do what I’m
doing already, interviewing athletes and celebrities about their health and
fitness regiments and talk about personal stories. I can have a portion of my
studio that has a kitchen to show you how to cook healthy food. Then another
portion of the studio that has a gym to show you a couple workouts and I think
it would be fun.
Where can people
reach you?
You can reach me at my website: fitwithfallon.com
Twitter: @FitWithFallon
IG: @fit_with_fallon
Email: info@fitwithfallon.com
"Fit With Fallon" episode where she features Antigravity Yoga at the Crunch gym in Burbank
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