If some is good, more is better . . . right?

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

One of my dad’s favorite expressions is, “If some is good, more is better.” Lots of hot pepper on his pizza. STRONG coffee. STRONG beer. Big tubs of stuff from Costco. (The “more is better” mecca.) A queue of projects for the wood workshop. My dad is often a whirling dervish, buzzing around the house from thing to thing, even …

How to overcome mom guilt

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

  When I became a parent (or actually when I started showing when I was pregnant with James), I started getting a ton of advice about parenting, both solicited and unsolicited. Breastfeeding was a popular topic, but there were SO MANY others. When to give solid food. Bedtime routines. How to fix a picky eater. Sleep training. Preschool screening. Time …

I finally tried CrossFit. Here’s what happened.

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

Mind blown. So inspiring. CrossFit and I finally met, and we became fast friends. CrossFit for me has been like the boy in high school who you steal glances at for a year before working up the courage to talk to him. This was the week I finally tried it. No more side glances. I went all in. ​I was …

Let go of perfection and your fitness will come

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

So I was hit with the flu last week, and it was the first time I’ve been sick like that in a long time. I suspect I picked it up from the plane when I went to Palm Springs–those planes are petri dishes!–and it caught me off guard. I thought I could just soldier on with my life and schedule. …

A month without sugar and booze: an interview with Kate

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

I’ll just come right out and say it: our American culture can be awfully strange when it comes to the messages we receive about food. Take the months of January and February, for example. When you open your inbox on January 2, you are inundated with messages about cleanses, new diet plans, insane workouts, and “clean eating.” But if you …

Lifting for confidence, running for therapy

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

As I’ve gotten more into the world of weightlifting, I’ve discovered something I find pretty fascinating: most lifters HATE running. Seriously hate it. Like with hashtags and memes. My trainer, who is in the anti-running camp, saw a picture of me on Instagram this week doing a hip thrust with the bench up against the treadmill (this picture here) and …

Accountability: the golden ticket to fitness

Rachel Flanagan Uncategorized

Accountability noun  ac·count·abil·i·ty \ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions  Accountability = responsibility = owning up to your behaviors Let’s take a few real life scenarios. 1. If you’re doing Whole30 and you eat a Thin Mint with nobody around, does it count as “cheating”? 2. If you put your …