Behind the Scenes Video: Day 3 at MRM Headquarters

Today was another busy day! I forgot to get video for a lot of the filming we did, but I was able to get some behind the scenes shots.  Our day started early at Frazier Farms grocery in Vista, CA.  We made sure to get there really early before they got too busy so we could shop.

It’s always kind of strange getting used to filming in a public place because people are always wondering what all the cameras are for, and I had to just kind of tune out the people staring at the cameras or else I would start to get kind of camera shy.  The other thing I didn’t think about in advance is that shopping carts create really loud background noise so we kept laughing and redoing our takes when someone would walk up with their cart.

After Frazier Farms we went to the MRM office and did the tank top giveaway. The giveaway had over 600 entries and I was really excited to announce the winners.  I wrote a note to each of the winners and put it in their packages too.  After the giveaway announcement I went upstairs and got to try different new protein flavors and learned that MRM does private label manufacturing for a lot of other companies (a lot of big companies actually – I was impressed to learn about all the private label MRM does).

We then went to the MRM kitchen (my dream kitchen btw! such a beautiful kitchen.) and filmed some protein shake recipes (Chocolate Banana Mocha) and my favorite low fat chicken chili recipe.

After filming, we ate some of the chili for lunch, changed clothes, and headed to the Calavara trails in Carlsbad, CA.  The MRM crew probably got so tired of me saying this over and over, but this part of California really is just so beautiful!  There were so many gorgeous hiking trails, beach trails, running trails, etc.  The city has done such a great job of putting sidewalks and parks everywhere and really encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

We got to the trails and started hiking. We stopped about halfway and filmed my 5×5 body weight workout on one of the flatter parts of the trail. Without thinking too much about it I did the situps and burpees and when I was done I looked down and realized I was covered in dirt from the trail – oops!  We kept hiking until we got to this really steep hill and we filmed one of my favorite HIIT workouts (5 minute warmup, 20 second sprint, 2:30 slow jog recovery, repeat sprint/recover circuit four more times, 5 minute cooldown).

This was a fun picture because the hill we were shooting on turned halfway up, so in order to get the full shot we had one camera at the turn and one camera at the top of the hill.  The problem was that Sid (who was filming at the turn) kept getting into Mike’s shot at the top of the hill….so Sid was so awesome and climbed up the mountain and into the bushes to shoot so that he was out of the way.  He handed me the camera and climbed up, then I reached out and handed him the camera back.

Here are some behind the scenes shot when I was explaining why I prefer HIIT training now instead of the long distance marathon training that I used to do.

After we filmed the hill sprints we decided to film a quick ab routine.  We found a spot that was flat and looked like it would be good to film at because of the pretty background scenery.  We filmed the ab workout and as soon as the cameras cut off Sid and Mike started laughing and told me to look at my back.  I was covered in all this dry grass!  We were all laughing about it and they told me that they realized halfway through filming that I was covered and had to readjust their shot so that it didn’t show up in the video.  I had such a hard time getting all this grass out of my clothes, and that night Mark was nice enough to let me throw them in the washer machine at his house to get all the grass out.

After we finished up with the outdoor workouts we went back to the office briefly and then I went back to my hotel room for a little bit and then headed to the beach.

Lastly, we went to Mark’s house around 6:30pm and filmed one last interview on the roof of his house with the California sunset in the background.  Mark has such a beautiful home in Carlsbad and I got to meet his beautiful wife Holly and his two sweet teenage daughters.

It is now 4am as I am typing this on Friday morning.  I am packing up my bags and getting ready to head to Boise, ID for the Bodybuilding.com Fit Expo.  I am so excited for this event because I grew up in Boise and am excited to see my brothers and sisters while we are here!  I’ll try to get some more behind the scenes videos today while we are traveling and tomorrow while I am at the expo.

I’m going to log off so that I can pack…..hopefully I can get some sleep on the plane!  Make sure to keep checking back here on my blog, I’ll have another recap up shortly of the rest of the trip.

Your friend,
Natalie

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Natalie Hodson is a mom of two showing how to balance family, fitness, and a healthy lifestyle.  www.nataliehodson.com