The tricks fear plays on your health—and the treat waiting on the other side Halloween is a good time to talk about fear. Not haunted houses, scary movies or the bowl of candy sitting by the front door. I’m talking about the quieter fears that keep us from doing things that could make us stronger, healthier and more capable. Maybe you’re afraid to lift a heavier weight because you might hurt yourself. Maybe you avoid getting down on the floor because you aren’t sure you’ll be

A bottle for energy. A powder for your gut. Gummies for sleep. Something else for stress, metabolism, and whatever an Instagram ad just convinced you is wrong with you. Before you know it, you’ve spent hundreds of dollars trying to feel better. But how much sleep are you getting? When did you last eat a real meal sitting down? Have you moved your body today? Had any water? Taken five minutes for yourself? I know. Those questions aren’t nearly as exciting as a new produc

For seventeen years, chasing finish lines helped keep me committed to my workouts. Triathlons, marathons, obstacle course races, and Ironman. There was always another challenge on the calendar, always. I loved it. And I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. But something changed this year. In May, I lined up for Ironman Jacksonville feeling more prepared than I had five years earlier when I completed Ironman Chattanooga. I'd trained consistently, paid attention to

Twenty years ago, I joined a gym near the Home Depot store I managed. This was not the beginning of some perfectly planned wellness journey. I was working close to 100 hours a week and surviving on four or five hours of sleep, coffee, Diet Coke, Snickers bars—and a lot of alcohol. Coffee is the only one of those things I still do, and even that is only occasionally. Back then, I was exhausted, stressed and mostly trying to get through the day without losing my mind. Working o

Most of us have been taught that when a movement feels difficult, we need to try harder. Push more. Stretch more. Strengthen more. But sometimes your body isn’t asking for more effort. Sometimes your brain needs different information. Your Brain Is Part of Every Movement Your brain uses information from your eyes, inner ear, joints, muscles and feet to decide whether a movement feels safe. When that information isn’t clear, your brain may limit your strengt

From my 20's to now meeting 65, I want to be strong for my life.

I became a grandmother at 47. So I've never really associated becoming a grandmother with becoming old. At 47, I felt like I was just getting started. And I had no idea where the next 17 years would take me. Triathlons. Marathons. Spartan races. An Ironman. Building and rebuilding a business. Travel. Seven grandchildren. A whole lot of starting over. Somewhere along the way, being a grandmother started meaning something different to me. It wasn't just a new title. It became p

"three start lines and only one finish line” People see the Ironman I finished. What they don't know is that I crossed three start lines and only one finish line. And lately I've been thinking that's a pretty good metaphor for life. We see people's finish lines. The business they built. The career they created. The adventure they're having. The confidence. The picture from the top of the mountain. What we don't see are all the missed cutoffs, wrong turns, failures, restarts a

Sometimes I wonder if the things I've done make it harder for women to see themselves in me. I've finished an Ironman. Run marathons. Done Spartan races. Hiked mountains. Built a business. And now, at 64, I'm still wondering what I might want to do next. It would be easy to look at that list and think: Well, that's just who she is. But here's the truth. I'm really not that special. I didn't wake up one morning disciplined, confident and strong. I wasn't always healthy. I wasn

The Boring Stuff Is Building Your Future A few weeks into my Road to 65, I have an update for you. Nothing particularly exciting is happening. 😂 And that's okay. Not every day needs to be a push. Not every day needs to be extreme. Not every day needs to be a challenge. You don't need another dramatic transformation plan. Sometimes you just need a whole lot of boring basics. And I'm becoming more convinced that this is where the real work happens. The exciting stuff gets our

What four days in the mountains taught me about the kind of rest I didn't know I needed. Last Thursday, I left Florida for a four-day retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia. A one-hour flight to Atlanta. A two-hour drive deeper and deeper into the mountains. And eventually, a beautiful house tucked into the middle of the woods with a waterfall just outside. There were six of us women. Most of us didn't know each other. We came from different places, different lives an

Why My Road to 65 Might Actually Be About You Last week, I introduced something I'm calling my Road to 65. For the next six months, leading up to my 65th birthday, I'm sharing what I'm doing to prepare my body for the next decade of my life. The strength training. The food. The recovery. The nervous system work. The mobility. The cardio. The boring basics. The good days and the days when real life gets in the way. But after I shared it, I thought about something. Why should

I'm Not Fighting Aging. I'm Training for It. Six months from now, on February 14, I turn 65. And I've been thinking a lot about that number. Not because I'm afraid of it. Not because I'm trying to figure out how to look younger. And certainly not because I think there's something magical — or terrible — about turning 65. I've been thinking about a different question: How do I want 65 to feel? I want to feel strong. I want to trust my body. I want to get down on the

Six months from now, on February 14, I turn 65. And I've been thinking a lot about that number. Not because I'm afraid of it. Not because I'm trying to figure out how to look younger. And certainly not because I think there's something magical — or terrible — about turning 65. I've been thinking about a different question: How do I want 65 to feel? I want to feel strong. I want to trust my body. I want to get down on the floor and know I can get back up. I want to carry my ow

What Are You Training For? I'm home from the Grammy Tour and getting back into my routine. Lifting. Building muscle. Working on balance, power, mobility and my nervous system. Eating well. Sleeping. Recovering. But here's what's different: I don't have anything to train for. No Ironman. No Spartan race. After a retreat in a couple of weeks, I don't even have another trip planned. And I've realized something. Maybe that's exactly when we should be training. We tend to wait

For the first time in months, my suitcase is unpacked. I'm home. The Grammy Tour is officially over. This summer took me thousands of miles from home, across the country and across the world. I spent time with all seven of my grandkids. I carried babies and strollers. I paddleboarded, rode horses, walked for hours, spent time with an 11-year-old who never stops moving, and chased a 16-year-old around a race track for four days. There were also parts of this summer I nev

Sometimes strength isn't pushing harder.Sometimes strength is simply holding on until the storm passes. For the past few weeks, you've seen the adventure side of my life. The Ironman. The travel. The paddleboarding. The horseback riding. The zoo trips. More travel. The laughter and memories. The grandkids. And while those moments are absolutely real, they're only part of the story. This week has looked very different. As many of you know, I'm in Massachusetts helping out

There are days when the most productive thing you can do is stop trying to be productive. That might sound strange coming from someone who loves setting goals, building strength, and helping women become their healthiest selves. But after years of coaching—and learning through my own experiences—I’ve come to believe that knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to push. The to-do list will still be there tomorrow. The emails can wait. The laundry isn’t going

My Granddaughter Isn't Something I Can Buy My granddaughter has no idea I'm 53 years older than she is. And honestly... I hope she never does. For the past several years, Briann has flown from Massachusetts to Florida with me, as part of her birthday gift. Every year we add a few more days, and every year we somehow find even more adventures to pack into our time together. This year we've paddleboarded. Walked for hours at the zoo. Spent afternoons enjoying each others compa

As we celebrate Independence Day, I’ve been thinking about another kind of freedom. Not political freedom. Personal freedom. The freedom to believe your best years are not behind you. The freedom to stop apologizing for getting older. The freedom to become stronger—not smaller—as the years go by. For too long, women have been told a quiet but damaging story about aging. We have been told that getting older means slowing down. That weakness is inevitable. That aches, stiffness