To say Tracy Moore wears many hats is an understatement. Everyone recognizes her as the host of Cityline, Canada’s longest-running daytime talk show for women. Then there is the clothing line she launched four years ago, Tracy Moore Designed By Freda’s, sold exclusively at TSC.ca, which means you can watch her there, too. Add in philanthropist, wife, mother, friend and world traveller and you see our point. And while each role is important, don’t ask her how she “does it all.”
Don’t stress about balance
“We all get this question, right: How do you balance? And my answer is always, ‘I don’t!’” she says, laughing. “Nothing sums that up more than my kids saying to me last night, ‘Hey, you took your makeup off. Aren’t you doing anything for TIFF?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m not doing anything this week.’ And they both jumped up and cheered: ‘Yay!’ Can you imagine the guilt I felt?
“It’s a bit of a zero sum game,” she continues. “I wish we could all have it all, all of the time, but I have accepted the fact that that is just not going to happen.”
Keep focus in the moment
Instead, Moore admits that she finds juggling work and home life really challenging and learned the best way for her to handle it is to focus her energy on one or the other. Which means if she is playing cards with her kids (Sidney, 11, and Eva, 9), she tries to be in the moment and not distracted with thoughts about work. “Obviously there are times when I am dying to reach for my phone to check emails, and sometimes I do and my kids get mad at me,” she says. “But I feel like this is life and my kids are going to have disappointments, I am going to have disappointments, my husband is going to have disappointments. Sometimes my work is going to get upset with me. I just try to give my kids a healthy dose of reality. And to be honest, I have pretty well-adjusted kids. When I step back and look at them through my lens, I feel really good.”
Take time for love
She feels good about her marriage, too. “Lio impresses me more and more each year. I never thought I’d be in such a healthy, thriving marriage,” she says (you can hear her smile through the phone). “When I look around, a lot of my friends are getting divorced. This is like, the time, right?”
One of her secrets to marital success? A two-week vacation every year sans kids. “My parents love taking my kids and my kids love it, too,” she says. “And every time we are alone, we always say, ‘Oh my gosh I forgot how much I like you!’ I feel like that trip is healing for the marriage every year.
“My biggest transformation was becoming a mom and learning how to take back time not just for my marriage, but also for myself,” Moore says. “And as each year goes on, I find that I am getting better and better at setting boundaries and creating a niche for myself for my own mental health. And that has transformed the way my brain works, my body works, the way I think about life and my perspective. And I am committed to that on a daily basis.”
Get her sleep
The obvious question is: How does she stay so committed? Well, she’s not binging on Netflix. “I’ve never seen an episode of Game of Thrones,” she says. “I didn’t watch the show where the guy is a drug dealer. According to my husband, they are incredible productions and I feel somewhat left out. But because I covet my sleep so much, I am willing to forgo all of the cool pop culture that is happening in order to be in bed every night just after my children. I tuck them in between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and I am in bed by 9, at the latest.”
The main reason Moore goes to sleep early is because of her strict morning routine. Taking time for herself is key to her happiness and ability to handle her career. “If you don’t etch out time for yourself, and be militantly vigilant about it, it’s not going to happen,” she says, pointing out how important her fitness regime is. “It means more than just fitting into skinny jeans. I have always been into fitness, starting from after I graduated university, but it took on a whole new meaning after I had kids. I suffered from postpartum depression after Sidney. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Lio was very worried and didn’t know what to do. And as close as I am with my family, I didn’t feel comfortable speaking with them about it. I thought, ‘Who do you think you are? You just had a healthy baby. Smarten up, suck it up and get over it!’ “
That isn’t an uncommon reaction for those with postpartum depression. Thankfully, Moore’s midwife noticed she wasn’t leaving the house and suggested she start taking her newborn son for walks in the stoller or sling. “I started out slowly, nothing crazy, just walking for ten minutes,” she recalls. “Then I gradually increased the length of time, and added lunges and eventually jumping jacks. And I found that this helped my mental health so much. I had never used fitness as a tool for my brain before.”
Share the wisdom
It was this revelation that helped inspire Moore to launch Cityline’s Annual Weight Loss Challenge, now in its tenth season. Sure, they have helped viewers from all over the world lose hundreds of thousands of pounds, but for Moore, it’s more about helping her audience stay mentally well. “When I figured out that fitness equals mental health equals happy, it stuck with me. At 44 years of age, I don’t feel any depression whatsoever, so I am going to stick with the medicine that I know is going to work, and that’s fitness for me.”
Some people might look at Moore’s discipline and think its punitive. But for Moore, it’s taking preventative measures to stay healthy. “This is the best gift I can give myself.”
Photography by Alvaro Goveia
Location by Four Seasons Toronto
Outfits from Tracy Moore Designed By Freda’s