A Star in Training
by Rachel Cohen
Not everyone looks as good in green scrubs and a white lab coat as does actress Rosa Blasi, who plays Dr. Lu Delgado on the hit drama "Strong Medicine." We caught up with Blasi recently, hoping to glean some insight into her stay-fit secrets. She dished about her tolerant trainer, butt exercises from hell and how horrifying it is that a size 2 isn't quite skinny enough for Hollywood.
Lifetime: What do you do to stay in such terrific shape?
Blasi: I've been working out regularly with my trainer, Danny J, for the last couple of years, usually about one or twice a week when I'm working. When I'm free, I try to go to the gym four or five times a week. But really, I hate working out. I have to force myself to do it. I do love my trainer, though.
Lifetime: How would you describe your relationship with him?
Blasi: We're friends. We laugh a lot while working out, like at the guy who wears leather and tiger stripes to the gym, for example. Dan has seen me through my happy times, my depression, my period. I can be a little bitch to work out with, and he knows how to deal with me.
Lifetime: Does he watch your show?
Blasi: No, and I want to kill him for that!
Lifetime: What are the most challenging exercises that you do?
Blasi: Anything [involving] the butt. Squats are like the devil's work! There's a machine at my gym called the Butt Blaster. You're on all fours pushing one leg back, and that is so hard. I'll be on [repetition] two and I'm saying, "I hate this!"
Lifetime: Do you think it's easier for celebrities to stay fit because they can afford luxuries like a personal trainer?
Blasi: I remember how I used to look at pictures of celebrities and think, Of course it's easier for them to get in shape. I could get in shape too if I had a personal trainer and a private chef! But even with that stuff it's a struggle — it's an effort you choose to make or not to make. When you're on a TV or film set, you've never seen more food in your life — they bring you breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. In each room there are tables of junk food — cookies, candy, smoothies. By the end of the season on our show, everyone gains the freshman 15 [pounds].
Lifetime: Do you have specific fitness goals?
Blasi: No, I don't have set goals; I'm just making an effort to stay in the shape I'm in. I want all the perks of being fit. I also want to have children in a few years, and I want to make sure it's easy to get back into shape afterward.
Lifetime: Do you diet?
Blasi: I dieted for two weeks in March to look my best for a photo shoot for Stuff magazine. I had no carbs, no salt and no fun. I was eating sushi — just the fish — and chicken. A treat was four strawberries. Before that, it had been over a year and a half since I dieted.
Lifetime: What do you fuel up on before going to the gym?
Blasi: Just coffee. I'm a big Starbucks addict.
Lifetime: As an actress, do you feel pressured to be thin?
Blasi: I was featured in Stuff as a "healthy" role model. That's a really nice way of saying I'm bigger than the normal-size actress is — and I'm only a size 2! For me, I just want to work, so I guess I have to conform a bit to look good. I don't want to go nuts [in order to] look like the girls on "Friends."