This rock star advocates holistic fitness
Maysh Baay is Moonstar88’s vocalist, known for hits like Torete, Migraine and Sulat. This mom is also finishing her master’s degree in Business Administration at Bradford University — andis a fitness enthusiast, too.
To many fans, Maysh Baay is Moonstar88’s vocalist, known for hits like Torete, Migraine and Sulat. Not many know that this mom is also finishing her master’s degree in Business Administration at Bradford University.
Recently she added another feather to her cap. She was crowned the third BodyCon female winner. We caught her after the awards night and asked her a few questions.
PHILIPPINE STAR: How does fitness help you balance your different roles: mother, singer, career woman, and master’s degree student?
MAYSH BAAY: Fitness has been pivotal in ensuring I get to accomplish everything that I want to achieve. I’ve often shared that after I gave birth, I couldn’t keep up with my activities and schedule and would often get sick after a grind and wasn’t willing to give up anything from my multi-hyphenates. I would think of it this way: I have a strong vessel that can carry all the heavy lifting (pun intended) of an otherwise jam-packed and exhaustive day.
What are the biggest challenges in maintaining your fitness level?
It would always be time. I always need to build in 60-90 minutes on my workout days. I strategize by ensuring it becomes a collateral itinerary when I need to be somewhere.
Luckily as well, Gold’s has a lot of strategic locations. It allows me to have a halfway house or, in this case, halfway gym in other locations like Cebu, Clark, or somewhere south or north of Metro Manila (as I am from the east). I also need to be really smart with what I do in the gym, hence I developed my mantra to #movewithapurpose. If I need to perform supersets/drop sets to be able to finish in 30-45 minutes, I am happy to do so.
Have you always been this fit? When did you start and what was the trigger?
No. Ha ha. I started going to the gym 10 years ago but didn’t really set a definitive goal until three years ago when I engaged a competent personal trainer. Lots of triggers: I wanted to be strong, boost my immunity, be an example to my daughter, and rebuild my self-esteem. I also wanted to be preventive of my family’s list of diseases, primarily hypertension and DM Type 2. As a healthcare worker (I am a registered pharmacist), I’ve always known that preventive medicine is better than maintenance meds.
How are you influencing people around you to get into fitness?
As with everything that I do, I try to be hands-on with family, friends, and fans, who reach out to me for fitness advice. At the end of the day, it is still through leading by example, organically. I get so excited when they tag me on social media during their workouts or food preps. Recently I’ve been doing Facebook live Q&As to those who may not be able to reach me regularly. It still surprises me that more and more people have started to take notice and ask for my advice. As such, I really want to ramp up my knowledge and take up courses and licenses in fitness after I finish my MBA. I will not make a living out of it, but I want to be sure that I provide sound advice to people.
How often do you work out? What type of workout do you do?
My default would be to go to the gym three times a week for 60-90 minutes. I lift weights, perform cardio, HIIT and circuits. I increase weights every two weeks then I try to change my program every eight to 12 weeks to shock my muscles and prevent adaptation.
What is your diet?
I don’t follow popular fad diets but I keep a good macro ratio to ensure I keep building muscles and decrease my body fat. I try to eat less processed food. My diet consists of fish, lean meat, eggs, fruits, nuts, and vegetables and occasional rice, pasta, bread, sweets and beer/wine. It helps that my husband is a chef-in-training and he prepares most of my meals from scratch.
What is holistic fitness and why is it important?
This is something that I advocate passionately, especially for young girls and moms. It goes beyond six-pack abs. One has to find a balance to maintain fitness physically, intellectually, mentally, and spiritually. It is also mindful and reflective living. I have to stress out that while a good physique is nice to have, having something between your ears matters just as much. Attending to your mental health needs to be just as high a priority.
What advocacy is closest to your heart and why?
It’s crazy but I have a lot: holistic fitness, the OPM movement (just compensation and recognition for Filipino artists), and educating Filipinas (a higher level of education across the board) are my top advocacies. There are initiatives that I rarely talk and write about but act on in the background. I guess these top three pretty much are giveaways — close to my heart and define me as a person.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
