It has been three months since I lost my mother, but one thing she always kept in focus was her health and fitness. I remember on Sundays, she would be in the living room working out to Jane Fonda or going for long walks or runs, sometimes taking us with her. She was vegetarian when I was younger, but she switched to a vegan lifestyle as I grew older. She truly always made time for herself and her health.

Over the next few weeks, as we head towards Mother’s Day, I will be highlighting moms of all ages that have been able to keep fitness in their lives as they have worked and raised children and have been able to still keep their fitness and health in focus.

Today, I'm thrilled to share insights from Barbara Clemens, the veteran runner who has completed the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby 32 times. Her dedication to fitness, healthy eating, and travel is truly inspiring.

Q: What was your biggest challenge in balancing motherhood with your passion for travel, healthy eating, and exercise, and how did you overcome it?

A: Time to fit in everything was my biggest challenge. I found that running was a family-friendly way to balance my job, children, and family life.

I ran or worked out every lunchtime during the week, and on weekends, I was able to drop off my boys at football at two different locations every Saturday, then run from one venue to the other to support them.

On Sundays, I’d get in a long run early in the morning before Sunday school and Church.

When travelling, I always got up early to run or go to the gym. I would only stay at places that had gyms, and I'm still like that today, although I no longer have to get up early to work out since the boys are now grown up and my time is my own.

I’ve always loved cooking and cook everything from scratch. I even used to make my own baby food so I did not give the boys processed ready-made food.

I made sure to make dinners every night for the family and always included lots of fresh vegetables. It became a standing joke over the years from family members to guess how many vegetables I included in my meals!

That is still the case. I love to have dinner parties, a lot of them ethnic, like Indian and Chinese, and you may be sure that there will be lots of veggies included, and all fresh.

I used to give my boys healthy foods in their lunch boxes and was probably a bit overzealous in that department, so much so that I got more than one call from the school asking if I could send more substantial food because my son was gravitating to others who had yummy food like chips and cookies in their lunch boxes!!!

Q: How do you incorporate healthy eating and exercise into your daily routine, especially while travelling?

A: Whether at home or abroad, I plan my day around fitness, so I will usually work out for an hour and a half or two before lunch, then engage in outdoor activities in the afternoon wherever and whenever possible.

It just keeps me physically and mentally fit, and I feel great. I have also found a couple of places to play pickleball when I am away and really love that, even though I am not very good at it!

The challenge of doing lots of travelling is the eating. I try to get fresh fruit and vegetables on most days incorporated into my eating regime.

This is not always easy. I always ask the hotel to have a bowl of fresh fruit and lots of water in the room before I arrive.

Q: What are your top tips for other moms who want to prioritise their health and wellbeing while raising children?

A: Not sure how to answer this since my children are now in their forties but I think my love of fitness and nutrition were and are the best tools I had and still have.

Q: Can you share a memorable travel experience where you successfully maintained your healthy lifestyle, and what made it work?

A: Most of my trips include fitness and to some extent healthy eating, though I do of course indulge at times!

Q: How did becoming a mother change your approach to health and fitness?

A: I really wanted to make sure my children were healthy and fit, and I became even more conscious of healthy natural food, so my joy of cooking expanded to new horizons. It also became very obvious that keeping fit was very important to manage the stresses of my busy lifestyle.

Q: What are one of your go-to quick and healthy meal or exercise ideas that work well for busy moms and travel?

A: Even if I cannot get in a full workout on the day of travel, I get in something — eg, 30 mins on the elliptical or treadmill. I am fortunate to have a home gym but this was not the case when I had children!

Q: What role does your family play in supporting your healthy lifestyle goals?

A: My family were very good at allowing me time to train for the many Bermuda Day half-marathons that I did. Also my parents used to look after my children when I did the Tuesday evening fun runs and Friday evening speedwork sessions at the track.

The boys started doing the fun runs with me after a while. Later my youngest son did the couples race with me a few times and my oldest son has done the half marathon four or five times.

Thank you, Barbara!

• Betty Doyling is a certified fitness trainer and figure competitor with more than a decade of experience. Look for B. ActiveForLife on Facebook