I am so excited to share this week’s interview. I talked to Meredith Atwood, who some of you might know better as Swim Bike Mom. She is a recovering attorney, motivational speaker and author of the newly released, Triathlon for the Every Woman: You Can Be a Triathlete. Yes. You. She is also the host of the podcast, The Same 24 Hours. Meredith lives in Overland Park, Kansas (for now!) with her husband and two children and writes about all things at MeredithAtwood.com. Her next book, The Year of No Nonsense, will be released December 2019. You can follow her everywhere at @SwimBikeMom.

In this interview, we talked about Meredith’s books, overcoming addiction, depression and suicide, and some of the fears we have as moms. She also tells us about some of the fun things she’s discovered since her move to Overland Park, and I share my favorite places to get BBQ in the KC area. If you’ve never done a triathlon, or can’t fathom dipping a toe in the water, I...

Race season is heating up across most of the U.S., so I wanted to do a special race week edition of the podcast to share the "Golden Rules of Race Day."

A few years ago, I was in amazing shape and was prepared for a half marathon PR, but when the race started, a few things happened that were out of my control. These things cost me several minutes and I wasn't able to hit the time I was shooting for that day.

As I complained to friends and had a pity party, some good conversations arose, and I realized that we needed more awareness around some of the "rules" of racing that no one tells us. 

I don't want to give you more to stress about, so most importantly, remember that runners are a good group of people. We love welcoming others to the runner family. And we are all there to have a good time and to participate in an activity that we love.

That said, I'm going to share some ideas that might give you, and everyone around you, a better race day experience. I'd love to hear...

For those of you who have been around for a while, you know that I am always saying that the words we tell ourselves matter. I’m all about positivity and optimism and believing that we have the ability to write the story of our lives. Every day is a fresh, blank page and each morning, we have a choice—do we write a story that’s filled with love and light and hope and optimism and belief in ourselves? Or do we write a story that’s dark and hopeless?

Heck, you don’t even have to wait until tomorrow. You can start right this minute and choose optimism.

You’ve probably heard a variation on the story about the woman who got up late, fumbled around the house in hurry, spilled coffee on her shirt, gets into the car an angry mess, cuts people off in interstate traffic, lays on her horn, waves her middle finger at the other drivers, gets to the office slams the door, barks orders her assistant… and her day continues to spiral out of...

Linda’s personal story is one of overcoming obstacles. Time after time, she has been knocked down, only to rise stronger. From being abused by a close family member as a child, to leaving an abusive marriage as a stay-at-home mom, to the ups and downs of finding a way to support her family, the highs and lows of a career in the fitness industry, her experiences as a fitness competitor (and the torn hamstring she competed through)… plus her books, her podcast and the new women's fitness boutique she is about to open.

One of the things I love most about Linda is that she never gives up.  Every time she is hit with an obstacle, she evaluates, regroups and finds a way to continue achieving. You will leave this interview with Linda Mitchell feeling inspired and ready to take on the world.

Linda  is a 55 year old -- award-winning fitness competitor, women’s health expert and an elite obstacle racer. I met Linda a few years ago at a fitness convention, and was...

Don’t let the internet…

crush your optimism, define your worth, stifle your magic, wreck your wild or dull your self-love.

I found this quote as I was scrolling Instagram the other day.  There is some beautiful artwork  that goes with it by Dani DiPirro over at PositivelyPresent.

It really hit home for me because so much of the content that I put out into the world reflects what I feel like my daughters need to hear a certain week, or maybe it reflects what I need to tell myself in a particular moment. Or maybe it’s a message for a friend who I know is hurting.

I try to be a source of inspiration to help others chase their dreams, get through rough patches and believe in themselves. So when Rachel Hollis released her second book, Girl Stop Apologizing, and I saw multiple negative articles and book reviews, I took it a bit personally. I felt like the criticisms could also apply to my work. 

I strive to put out uplifting and empowering...

 After breast cancer treatment, as a result of being on a hormone-blocking drug to reduce the risk of recurrence, I felt like my body aged 30 years, practically over night. While that's never something anyone wants to experience, it forced me to devote time to learning even more about how the body works. I've learned a lot about pain, and continuing to be active with pain, over the past three years. And, that is good news for my clients and all of you. 

If you're a runner, and you’re struggling to run because you have aches and pains… or if you’re someone who has always wanted to run but feels like you can’t because you feel like your body is creaky and tired… Or if you can't even get started with a workout program because it's just uncomfortable to move... WE NEED TO TALK. In fact, today’s episode is all about ways to change up your training so that you can perform your best at any age.

I’ve talked before about the 8 pillars of...

I've heard people say that mindfulness is the new running, meaning that mindfulness is going to be the next big health craze to gain mass appeal, just as running did in the 70s and again in the 90s. When we think of mindfulness, we often think of meditation, which has tons of benefits (such as helping with pain, anxiety and depression, calming the mind, enhancing creativity, helping with age-related memory loss, reducing stress and more). However, the idea of sitting in a dark room and doing nothing can be intimidating... and can sound really boring to those of us with busy minds!! So, I was excited to interview Viviane Wolfe about yoga because yoga has its own benefits, in addition to the benefits that meditation brings. 

If you are a chronic restarter -- you find yourself setting a goal, and starting over again and again and again -- you need this FREE 30 Day Course I'm offering. Crush Your Goals (for real, without being a chronic re-starter) starts on March 11th. It's not a...

I first met the team from Empower Fitness at the IDEA World Convention last summer. As I walked past their booth, I saw people bouncing on these big, blue balls, similar to what many people my age remember as the Hippity Hop from their childhoods. I turned back and asked to try one... because THIS was a company I could get behind. I love the team's philosophy that fitness should be fun, and so I've done a number of promotions with them over the last few months. 

In this interview, I talk with Donna Savage, who co-founded Empower Fitness with her husband.  We talk about why fitness should be fun, why her company creates products they market to women, and what it's like to be a working mom. We also talk about their new product, the HOPfit and why they've created a whole line of nostalgic fitness products (such as the Skip Fit and weighted hula hoops I've demonstrated on my Instagram in the past.)

I'll be posting content using their new HOPfit all week over on Instagram, so...

Seize Your Saturday!

We'll see how long I can do this consistently. I thought Saturday might be a good time to pose a question that will challenge all of us to think.  Ever since I interviewed Tracy Cotton for the podcast, and I learned about her 50 for 50 Adventure, I've been thinking about how much courage it takes to commit to trying 50 new things in a single year. 

Here's my challenge for you this weekend. Wherever you gather over the next few days, see where the conversation goes when you ask this question:

If you challenged yourself to try 50 new things in one year, what would you choose? They can be places to visit, day trips, new hobbies, things that scare you or ideas to explore--but you have to make your list public so that your friends hold you accountable.

As she explained on the podcast, Tracy decided she wanted her 50th birthday year to be epic, so she had some friends help her come up with a list of 50 new things to try in 2019. Some of the things on her...

We all have rough days, and by the time five o'clock rolls around, most of us are ready to change gears, to relax, kick back... and do something that doesn't require being laser-focused on a toddler who wants to feed the dog her Legos and flush Hatchimals down the toilet.

On days like this, we might see a mom friend post on Facebook, "Mommy needs wine!" And all the moms rally and offer to show up with wine, or plan to meet at the bar for a much-needed GNO.

I totally get that mommy needs a serious break. I've been there. When I look back to my days as a  young mom, I sometimes wonder how we packed so much into every day when I was E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D, with three girls who each had strong opinions about how our time would be spent.

I've been wondering though, if mommy wine culture is becoming an unhealthy obsession. A quick search for "mommy needs wine" on Pinterest brings up pages of wine glasses and t-shirts and memes devoted to the idea that mommy needs her...