Maria Bailey is definitely “One Fit Mommy”!

It is time for another installment of “One Fit Mommy”!
As I surf around the blogosphere, I come across fit moms (and dads too!) who inspire me to fitness. From there, I hunt them down and force them to tell me their secrets!

Today’s fit mommy is Maria Bailey, CEO of BSM Media. She is also the Host of Mom Talk Radio, Author, Founder of BlueSuitMom.com, National TV Talk Show Host on Lifetime, WE-Women’s Entertainment Network and Co-Founder of Newbaby.com. She has been featured in numerous magazines and profiled in publications across the globe.  Maria is basically the guru of mom marketing and social media.

I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the Blogher 5k and was thrilled to hear that she considers health and fitness a priority in her life.  To say Maria is a busy working mom is an understatement.  Maria knows busy, but she doesn’t let herself make any excuses when it comes to working out.

She just makes the time.

If this busy mom can make & find the time for exercise,  you can too!

Please read on for more about Maria and why she is definitely “One Fit Mommy”!

Q: Have you always been fit? What inspired you to live a fit lifestyle?

I have always been active and thought fitness was important. My mother was bulimic and anorexic so I watched her struggle with weight my whole life. I decided to do thing the right way and live in a very healthy way in order to be trim and maintain a high level of energy.
Q: What advice do you have for moms who claim they don’t have time for exercise?

We all have the same number of minutes in our day.  The only difference is how we choose to use them.  I had three babies under twenty months and even with that hectic schedule I choose to spend some part of my day exercising. It means you have to give up other things to find the time. I did a time audit on myself when I had three babies and found that I was spending almost an hour each day doing things I could give up like refolding towels in the closet or watching television.  Once I took control and made the choice as to what I was going to do with my time, I found the time to exercise.  When times got really hectic, I would involve my children in my workouts.

Q: What is your favorite exercise and why?

I run almost every day so I have to say running.  But my core exercises are sit ups, planks, push ups, lunges, tricep dips and squats.  All of these a mom can do in her own living room while the kids are playing.

Q: Are you more of a cardio mom or strength training mom?

Definitely cardio but as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how important it is to work on strength. As your body produces less Estrogen, lifting weights becomes mandatory.

Q: How do you get your kids involved in your fit lifestyle?

When they were younger, we would race short distances at the playground or do sit up together.  Now that I have teens we challenge each other to each others customized workouts. My daughter plays water polo and no one can keep up with her water polo workouts.

Q: Do you have any mental tricks that you use when you just don’t feel like working out?

Don’t we all?  I tell myself that I’ll only run for fifteen minutes and if I don’t feel like it after that, I give myself permission to go home.  I never do.

Q: What was your favorite marathon and why?

I’ve run 19 marathons.  My favorite probably was New York. It was emotional to look out on to the city and think I was going to run all the way to central park. My favorite for the spectators is definitely Twin City Marathon. They have 19 spectators for each runner and they cheer you all the way. I love the Fort Lauderdale Marathon because it takes place on my training route so its very familiar. There’s only one that I’ve done twice and that’s the Marine Corp because I ran with my husband after I’d done it on my own two years earlier.

Thank you Maria for taking the time to answer my questions and for being an inspiration to all of us!

You can see more interviews with other fit moms (and dads too!) over here.