Brande Roderick, quintessential California girl — known for her role in “Baywatch” in 2000 and as a former Playboy Playmate of the month and Playmate of the Year in 2001 — says she’s had to work hard all her life to fight against the dumb blonde image.
“You have to work extra hard to prove yourself,” Roderick says. “There’s always that expectation. Being blonde, for example, going into ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ people thought I would not be a threat. I love shocking people and proving them wrong.”
Roderick says “Celebrity Apprentice” and subsequent “All-Stars” was enriching.
“I learned that you can do anything in a short amount of time. We would do campaigns in two days that would normally take a 
company two months to do. I learned that if you need to get something done, you can do it. I learned there are no limits.”
Most of Roderick’s work matched her looks and fortunately she embraced that sort of typecasting.
“That is something I learned from my acting coach,” she says. “I tried to fight it for a while and she said, ‘Why are you fighting it? Just own it.’ That really helped me. Now being older and being a mom, there are a lot more roles out there for me,” says Roderick, who begins work on a suspense film soon.
At 30, Roderick says she began to be more interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle to preserve her looks.
“It wasn’t as easy to maintain the weight I wanted as it was in my 20s,” she says. “But then it really kicked in when I had kids because I was having them at a later point in my life.”
While on a trip to the We Care Spa in Palm Desert, Roderick learned about eating alkaline foods, which led her to find out about alkaline water and become a spokesperson for Alkaline 88 (http://www.alkaline88.com).
“I love the water,” Roderick says. “It makes me feel better, my skin is better, I have more energy, my arthritis is gone, my heartburn is gone and I know it is working better on the inside of my body. Of course you have to do everything else along with it.”
She cooks healthy food five nights a week for her husband Glenn Cadrez and two boys, Keaton, 4, and Kannon, 3.
“For instance last night we had an organic boneless chicken breast with a whole grain rice, brussel sprouts and a salad. The boys have been eating everything we eat since they have been eating solid foods. I’ve never been a mom who cooks a separate meal for them.”
On the weekends Roderick says they’ll have some treats, maybe donuts or pizza, to have a little balance. She says her guilty little pleasure is combination pizza — bell peppers, olives, onions, pepperoni or Hawaiian Pizza.
In addition to healthy eating, Roderick promotes exercise. She also enjoys exercising at the trampoline park.
“If you haven’t heard of it, the whole facility is a trampoline, you have your own section and there’s an instructor,” she says. “You feel like a kid and you jump, and it’s fun.”
They have a kids’ section there as well, she says, which makes it very convenient for her to as well as her boys to exercise. After dinner the boys oftentimes play outside since the weather in Southern California usually permits.
“We’re lucky enough that we live in a cul-de-sac and there are kids who live there. Every night after dinner they’re active riding their bikes. On the weekends we walk to the Farmers’ Market or the park. I make sure they walk too, but they can get in the stroller on the way back.”
Roderick says she uses the word “exercise” around her kids as much as possible, so they become accustomed to it and don’t fear it. Living where they do makes it easy to incorporate it into their lives.
“Living in Southern California really helps you live a healthy lifestyle because you get to go outdoors,” she says. “You can be outdoors pretty much year ‘round, so whether it’s walking to the park or going to the beach or a museum, it really helps to live in such a beautiful place.”
Photo Credit: Keith Munyan
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