Hanging out on the set of a reality show was an eye opening experience. I’d never trade my life as a fitness coach long term, but boy oh boy, it was fun for a week.

For anyone who doesn’t know, those that work in the television or movie industry deserve a shout out. They work incredibly hard and long hours for little recognition. I had the opportunity to work with amazing people who were willing to go the extra mile. I’m beyond impressed with the teamwork that goes on behind the scenes and I know that I don’t even see the half of what it takes to get a production on air and into your living room. It was so cool to experience life in another industry.

I was reminded that for the last 7 years I haven’t had a ‘boss’ or a ‘job’. I’ve worked for myself and my time has been my own. Now I’m not the easiest ‘boss’ to get along with, I push myself pretty hard, but it’s very different than having a real boss setting your schedule and telling you what to do. It made me appreciate my flexibility and empathize with everyone who has to work a fixed schedule. It was an added challenge to get my workouts done and also to eat the way I like.

There was a TON of food in the production office with no chance of my going hungry if I took advantage of the food provided. Trouble was, sometimes the food wasn’t my nutritional choice so I just had to make do. This was another eye opener and reality check that often times many of you are in the situation where you’re stuck in a situation where you have to make do too. All the more reason to be informed on your best food bets.

Here were a few of the choices from the snack table I made:

• Fresh fruit
• 100 calorie almond/walnut packages
• Water, water, water

These are the things I passed on:

• Granola bars
• ‘Protein’ granola bars (they had 30 g of sugar and 4 g of protein)
• Sweetened nuts
• Bags of chips
• Cookies
• Crackers

At lunch here were a few choices I made from the lunch buffet:

• Salads (dressing on the side)
• Protein option (sometimes chicken, beef, even pork)
• Mixed veggies

These are the things I passed on:

• Lasagna
• Bread/rolls
• Fried anything
• Potatoes
• Desserts (These looked good! Brownies, cookies, lemon squares…)

It’s not that I had a will power made of iron or anything, but I know that if I eat properly I can think straight and perform better. If I fill up on carbs, I know I’d want to take a nap – not what I was hired to do here on this reality show.

On this shoot, there was one point when the crew had to work straight for 36 hours, crazy I know (luckily for me this was NOT my call times). Consequently, there were plenty of coffee and caffeinated drinks available. Crew were nursing coffee and carbs (not that I blame them). This provides a temporary pick up and temporarily tricks the brain into thinking it’s getting the serotonin and dopamine that only good sleep provides. I’m telling you that these folks live a tough lifestyle. It makes me extra thankful that I’m not in this situation permanently.

Like any other trip, I found a way to train. It had to be quick so it was either in my hotel room, the hotel gym and only once did I hit a fabulous gym in Denver. I learned that life on a set involves a lot of ‘hurry up and wait’. I didn’t want to do a bodyweight workout on the set once wardrobe had me ready, even though there wasn’t much to do since I was in my normal workout attire and nothing fancy with my hair or make up.

This was one of the workouts that I did and I recorded it for you. You’ll only need one set of dumb bells and a small space.

Do 5 sets. The first set you’ll do 10 reps of each exercise, next set do 8 reps of each, then 6, 4, 2 reps of each exercise for the following sets. Time your workout.

• cross body mountain climbers
• DB burpee with push up
• Bent over rear delt fly
• Front squat
• I leg RDL to reverse lunge
• Other leg RDL to reverse lunge

If you want a longer workout, count back up with 4, 6, 8, 10 reps.

This workout was a fun one.  It topped off a fun week that I’ll hold dear in my memory. I feel so fortunate to be able to have worked with that awesome crew and have my taste of Hollywood (in Denver ;))

I’ll keep you posted on when the reality show will air.

In the meantime, if you want more quick workouts like this, you can get more here. If you like challenging workouts like this one that you can do with a minimal amount of equipment in a small space in 20 minutes or less you’ll be all set.