Personal trainer and best-selling fitness author Sue Fleming has helped hundreds of New Yorkers slim down, get toned and feel good about themselves.

Now, the trainer who helped Katie Holmes slim down after giving birth to Suri and slip into her petite designer wedding gown is spreading her fitness philosophy to the world with her popular "Buff Fitness" workout guides -- "Buff Brides," "Buff Moms-To-Be," "Buff Moms" and the most recent, "Fashionably Buff."

Fleming grew up on Long Island and attended Riverhead High School, where she learned early on that she enjoyed the camaraderie of team sports. Later, while attending Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., where she received her master's degree in health and physical education, the now 40-year-old fitness expert realized she wanted to bring health and fitness to the masses.

Her program's popularity led to a reality TV series -- "Buff Brides" --on Discovery Health Channel, while her "Buff Fitness" line of workout DVDs based on her Random House book series has been receiving great reviews from people those on Fifth Avenue to middle America.

Today, Fleming works day and night -- training adults in the early morning hours and late into the evenings while she teaches children during the day about the benefits of physical education at a school in the Bronx.

She also recently teamed with Weight Watchers when her franchise became the focus of the "Buff Brides Fitness Challenge," that offers Fleming's fitness tips on strength training, workouts and more than 60 exercise demos to keep a bride's body honeymoon-ready.

Bankrate: What does "buff" mean to you?

Sue Fleming: Feeling great about yourself. When I hear the word "buff," it's about looking at yourself and feeling good and feeling good about your health and feeling good about your fitness. 

Bankrate: Within the "Buff" series, is there a constant theme throughout that defines the programs? 

Sue Fleming: Yes. It's OK, you can do this and you don't need a gym membership because you can be healthy in your own home. People don't have to feel just because you don't have money, the time or the equipment, that it's impossible to lead a healthier life. Fitness should not equate into money. I point out that it is possible and it's very easy; my programs are manageable. 

Bankrate: What is your personal workout regimen?

Sue Fleming: I'm a big runner. I've competed in eight New York City marathons. I'm very active during the day with my fitness teaching but my own regimen is six days a week of an hour of cardio and then some strength training. I'm a firm believer of the balance -- not one over another.

Bankrate: Katie Holmes had great results with your program. Why do you think she did? 

Sue Fleming: For the same reasons others do. Hey, you open up the book and say, a) It's not boring and, b) I can do this at home. She did a combination of the post-baby shape-up and "Buff Brides." She took techniques from both programs and made it her own. It's really a no-brainer.

Bankrate: What body part do women say they work on more than others?

Sue Fleming: Everyone wants the arms, the great shoulders and not that waving waddle, as I call it. They all ask how to get rid of it. Well, you can thank mom and dad for a lot of the body shape you have. You can't blink it away, but I give them exercises to do to help tone that area.