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Hi there I’m Hannah and I’m Rachel and this is the Before & After podcast where we discuss all things related to training, mindset, health, wellness, nutrition and body image. Whether it is talking from personal experience and sharing stories from our own journeys or reviewing the latest trends from the health and fitness world, our goal is to provide you with fascinating insight and helpful information to help you reach your own goals. Between us we have years of training and coaching exper ...
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A lot has happened since our last episode! Rachel competed with great success in the CrossFit Age Group semi finals and Hannah crushed her 50K trail race finishing in 1st place. In this episode we each reflect on the 10 most significant lessons/takeaways from our respective epic challenges. From the power of the mind to how you approach failure, we…
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Congratulations Rachel for qualifying for the Crossfit Age Group Semi Finals!! In this episode we reflect on the different training paths we have pursued this year and how dialing back intensity could well be the key to Rachel's recent success in the realm of competitive fitness. We compare notes on how our bodies felt during Quarter finals and the…
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Have you ever questioned where your confidence comes from? What is it that enables some people to take on crazy wild challenges even though they know it's going to hurt? In this episode Rachel takes the reins and quizzes Hannah about her mindset and training as she gets closer to her 50K trail race. We also talk about our approach to coaching and w…
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When you think about it, coaches have a great responsibility. A great coach can make a monumental difference in someone's life but a bad coach can cause both physical and mental damage. What is your experience with different coaches? How do you rate the coaches that you have in your life? If you are a coach what do you consider to be your strengths…
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Ever found yourself feeling like you are missing out because someone else is doing something you feel like you should be doing to? Or maybe you have to take some time out due to injury or trying to focus your energy and efforts elsewhere but it kinda sucks to miss out? Whatever the reason you may be feeling like you are missing out it can be hard t…
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Finally we get Season 4 underway after multiple technology fails thwarted the release of Episode 1 (see IG post for pitiful explanation). We are so excited to be back with a new season and in this episode we talk about why it is important to do hard things and what you can take away from pushing yourself into dark places and extreme situations. Wit…
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We went out partying and then calculated the caloric cost!!! It was high but lots of fun was had and this is not something we do every weekend so we are not stressed about it but we started to think about how often "we" lie to ourselves about our lifestyle choices. Wondering why you are not making progress? Perhaps it is the small snacks that you d…
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Well hey! Remember us?? Just kidding, we didn't disappear just got a little off schedule thanks to life and being pulled in many different directions. The best laid plans and all that... In this episode we go over lessons learned from our online team competition experience and how to manage your best athletic performance between work meetings. We d…
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Age does not have to be a barrier to entry! What an epic experience it was to be a part of the Old Dirty Masters Competition. Believe it or not we were among the youngest athletes on the competition floor and we still walked away insanely inspired by the skills, strength, capacity and tenacity of the other teams. From 70+ year old women crushing pu…
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Phew it's been a minute and we apologize for leaving you in the lurch but it will all be worth it (we promise). September has been a whirlwind of a month with all sorts of incredible experiences that we can't wait to share with you. This episode kicks off Season 3 where we will be expanding our horizons to talk more about training, mindset, health …
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Ever heard of body preoccupation, body checking or even muscle dysmorphia? In this episode we consider an alarmingly long list of body image issues and discover that we relate to almost all of them. We try to bring a rational approach to how to deal with the feelings we have towards these issues and highlight the difference between a "normal" respo…
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Oh how we love to train but when is it too much? In this episode we challenge you to consider if your training is actually moving you towards your goals or unintentionally breaking your body down. We identify the difference between exercising and training and the importance of being fueled correctly to support your energy output while maintaining o…
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After thinking long and hard about our last episode we felt it was important to follow up with some ideas about how to break through those times when you don't feel great about being you. We also discuss the injuries we are currently dealing with and how that feeds into our feelings surrounding body image and self worth. Happy listening!…
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Oh hey! It's been a minute. Travel and adventures got in the way of recording but we feel like that's a pretty good excuse to take a break. In this episode we catch up on what we have been up to. Rachel admits to falling in a crevasse and liking her Llamas on the chonky side and Hannah confesses to experiencing a phase of feeling a little insecure …
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How does it makes you feel when someone pays you a compliment? How do you feel about complimenting others? Is there a right way or a wrong way to do it? Should we even compliment others on their body at all? So many questions to unpack. In this episode we talk about how to receive a compliment even when you feel awkward about it, how to tackle comm…
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How much pride do you take in your appearance? How do you want others to see you? How much do you care about what others think about your look? What factors determine how you present yourself to the world? Is there a certain outfit that makes you feel powerful? So many questions (and not quite enough time to answer them all). In this episode we con…
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Are your expectations of what your body can do and what you want it to look like in line with what you are putting into it? Are you expecting your body to perform like a Ferrari while fueling it like a moped? In this episode we talk about management of expectations when in a caloric deficit, the importance and significance of putting quality foods …
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In our last episode we talked about the adventure we were about to embark on - climbing Mount Whitney in extreme winter conditions. Well we are please to report that we survived and despite battling altitude sickness, sunburn, trekking across avalanche flows, falling in a tree (you will have to listen to find out about that one) and experiencing al…
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Yes it may come as a shock to some of our younger listeners but it is entirely possible to keep on getting better even when you reach middle age!! In the first of a 2 part mini series we talk about how we both surprised ourselves by making it to the quarter finals after the Crossfit Open, continuing to PR our lifts and how on the release date of th…
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It is estimated that 28 million Americans will experience an eating disorder during the course of their lifetime! But what is the difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating? Does one lead to the other? What do eating disorders and the people who suffer from them look like? With numbers so high, it is likely that you know people who…
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If you haven't watched Brittany Runs A Marathon then do so! We base this episode around the narrative of this movie - taking responsibility for your health, fitness, wellness and lifestyle choices in order to be able to achieve awesome things. As we run through the movie plot we reference similarities in our own lives and pivotal moments where we h…
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Oh calories...we have counted you, tried to burn a lot of you, obsessed over you and then macros came along, so we started counting them instead! But which is more important? Are all calories equal? Do we burn them in the same way as our friends? What is the best way to burn them? Heck what even is a calorie?? So many questions and while we don't p…
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Try as we might, we are not immune to fears surrounding aging! Many of those involve the inevitable aesthetic challenges that come with time in the sun, decades of gravity and hormones but we also talk about fears surrounding decline of health or ability to use our bodies in the way that we want to. We eventually determine that broccoli is the solu…
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We couldn't possibly let the last episode of the year go by without talking about those "New Year New You" transformation plans!! Much to Hannah's delight, Rachel admits to reassessing the "I want to see my abs" goal in favor of a performance related goal and Hannah determines that for once she really isn't unhappy with where she is at and the goal…
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After a brief hiatus due to family emergency travel and the flu we are back! We had to change track at the last minute so we straight up free-styled this one and ended up having a great conversation about real connection with your partner and the role community plays in physical and mental health and well being. Will Hannah successfully learn how t…
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We have all been there and made grand plans to keep up with our regular fitness routine while traveling. Then time zones, busy schedules, gym access and a myriad of other obstacles make it seemingly impossible to get even close to those goals we confidently set! In this episode Rachel admits to setting unrealistic goals for a recent business trip t…
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Annnnddd we are back!! Thanks for your patience while we took a little unscheduled time out to catch up on life. From here on we will be back to our regular schedule of 2 episodes per month. We kick off Season 2 Episode 1 with a recap of life since we last recorded. Then we jump into a conversation around those moments in life where you suddenly ge…
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Shout out to the Morning Chalk Up for doing a series of articles featuring their female contributors about their experiences surrounding body image (Fighting the Stories in Our Heads: A Series on Body Image). We review each awesome write up and talk about how our own experiences relate. If you have ever felt too big, too small, not strong enough or…
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We snuck this one in between meetings so it is a little shorter than usual but a good one none the less! We jump into a topic that we both have experience with but from opposite sides of the spectrum - what happens when you and your partner have goals that don't align? From extreme discipline to emotional eating both Hannah and Rachel make referenc…
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10 Episodes ago Rachel was the subject of the destination postcard and in this episode we change roles and Rachel guides Hannah through the same exercise. What does Hannah's future look like?...Well you will have to tune in to find out but needless to say Rachel does a great job and we learn that if nothing else, a porch will be a feature! We also …
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We didn't have a plan so we went with the flow to see what would come up! Turns out we are both going through a period of change and we both feel the same "pressure" to look good when we attend the Crossfit Games in August. Reflecting on previous podcasts about the destination postcard, sphere of control, values and identity we quickly realize that…
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If you only ever listen to one episode of our show, choose this one! Back in Episode 26 we interviewed Rebecca Shingledecker, Crossfit Games Adaptive Athlete and true inspiration. After experiencing multiple traumatic brain injuries, Rebecca's grit and determination got her to the Crossfit Games in 2021. When we last spoke she was preparing to comp…
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Are you motivated by the destination or the journey? Either way there is a good chance that at some point you run out of steam and start to question why you bother getting up every day to train. In this episode we discuss our different approaches to training and how we have pushed through the times of 'slump' to find the motivation again on the oth…
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Are you even aware of the rules that you live by? Maybe you tell yourself you can't eat after 7pm (looking at you Hannah) or you are not allowed to buy cheese (oh hello Rachel). In this episode we investigate the rules that we have lived by and decipher which ones no longer serve us and why and which rules still serve us well and have morphed into …
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We finally got ourselves a male guest and what an awesome conversation we had. On this episode we chat with Andre, a plastic surgeon based in Ontario and long time friend of Rachel's. We discuss the world of plastic surgery, steps taken by surgeons to identify potential body dysmorphia prior to surgery and what it takes to maintain the results. We …
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After reviewing diet trends and body shapes over the last century, we decided to take a look at workout clothing trends so we got back to our Google research. From wool bloomers and sailor collars to leg warmers we got it covered. We also shed light on how to test for squat proof leggings and allude to our experiences of wearing inappropriate color…
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A much needed conversation sprinkled with some pretty awesome breakthroughs regarding tracking metrics and how that affects your life. We discuss the effect the number on the scale has on an emotional level and how our current obsession with tracking bio metrics has lead so many of us to forget to pay attention to the fundamental practice of checki…
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We made it to Episode 30 which is allegedly the average number of episodes a podcast lasts for. This technically means that after this episode we will have surpassed average and can start to bring you some epic content!! ;) But seriously thanks for listening so far and we are excited to continue the conversation way beyond 30 episodes. In this epis…
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Well that was an unexpected break! Between work, travel, holiday stuff and now Covid we have been a little distracted but thank you for being patient and we really appreciate all of the requests for more podcasts! We are back!! We decided to change up the schedule just a little and will now be releasing 2 episodes per month on the 15th and the 30th…
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We are back! After a mini break we regroup to catch up on life and check in with all things health, wellness and fitness. We take a deep dive into Hannah's experimental weight cut, the expected side effects and some that took her by surprise. After 4 Weeks, 4 pounds of fat loss with no loss of lean mass and a final percentage body fat of 11.6%, Han…
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We may be camping but that doesn't stop us from recording the podcast! Coming at you live from the tent, we talk about weight cuts and the different experiences we are having between the healthy slow approach cut that Rachel is on and the physique show cut that Hannah is half way through. We highlight the importance of having a plan to get into and…
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When we started this podcast we hoped that in time we might just attract some truly inspirational guests ready and willing to share their personal journey's with body image and related topics. So you can imagine we were beyond excited when none other than a Crossfit Games adaptive athlete slid into our DM's to see if we would be interested to chat.…
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We had some fun with this one and decided to each make a top 10 list of things we love about lifting weights. If you are an avid listener of the show then you will know that we preach about loving what your body can do rather than focusing on aesthetics so we decided to celebrate our love for all things heavy. If this doesn't inspire you to pick up…
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After a busy month of work and back to back weekends of birthday celebrations, we reflect on how we get back on track and avoid getting sucked into a season of letting it all go. Whether it is the cooler weather that brings it with it the opportunity to cover up more in comfy clothing or knowing that January 1st where we can all reset again (yay) i…
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What is not to love about Old Lady Gains!! In this episode we chat with Kim Munoz founder of clothing brand Old Lady Gains. We ask her all about how she got started, the brains behind her epic slogans such as "Kinda Vintage, Kinda Savage", "Older Smarter, Jacked and Hotter" and "Lift More Age Less". We talk about her own athletic journey and discov…
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Ever wondered why you just can't seem to stick to a diet or follow an exercise program for more than a couple of weeks? Do you find yourself stuck in a pattern of saying you will do x or y only to rarely or never follow through with getting it done? Panic not! This episode takes a deep dive into how to improve your say/do ratio. We take a look at t…
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We all know how important a good night's sleep is in terms of how we feel the next day. Waking up like a bear with a sore head is no fun for anyone but lack of sleep has ramifications beyond mood. Sleep is essential for recovery and repair and critical part of achieving optimal performance be it athletic or being able to feel alert and firing on al…
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We veer away a little from our usual theme of body size and shape and take a look at various methods of body modification. From tattoos to tongue splitting, sub dermal implants to the bagel head trend and silicone abs, we ponder the why behind certain trends and discuss our own tattoo stories (sorry mom!). How far would you take body modification a…
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Thank you for your patience while we took a little vacation! In this episode we catch up on our vacation experiences which are about as opposite as they get. While Hannah spent 7 days eating and drinking in the bustling city of New Orleans Louisiana, Rachel back packed in Desolation Wilderness near South Lake Tahoe. One of us consumed an abundance …
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We had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Jordyn Sloan a former competitive gymnast born with no toes. This amazing young lady has amniotic band syndrome meaning her feet are about the size of her hands yet this has never stopped her from being a competitive athlete. Jordyn speaks openly about her training and experience with different coaches …
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