Category Archives: BIRL

The #RealMOMrealCEO Challenge on Instagram – Join me!

The #RealMOMrealCEO Challenge on Instagram - Join me! - Fit2B.com

The pressure on female business owners like myself to do all the things is huge. We run companies and kids in carpools. We take classes on QuickBooks and core fitness, yet we still struggle with isolation. I’ve found that it’s far too easy to buy the lie that no one understands the daily paradigms we’re […]

Impact and bone density

Impact and bone density Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

Am I wearing a neck brace? Yes, and I’ll explain why in the video + tell you about a cool study that linked impact to bone density that blew my mind! Because did you know that after menopause a woman’s risk of dying due to complications from osteoporosis LEVELS OUT with her risk of dying […]

Getting An MRI

Getting An MRI Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

This was a scary time for me. Something serious was going on with my neck (read about it here) and my way of coping with this scan was to turn it into a teachable moment that I hope will help others. The injury has been dealt with, and I’ve filmed many new routines since then, […]

Discussing discs

Discussing discs Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

It doesn’t get much more real than me in my surgeon’s office, playing with intervertebral disc models while wearing a neck brace. In this video I am just a few weeks post-operation. I thought you’d like to see these cool models and understand what they put in my neck + what I was able to […]

The Garden

Screen Shot of Beth Gardening - Fit2B.com

Working in the garden, like many activities, isn’t just a single manageable motion. It’s many actions all strung together and done repetitively, usually without a suitable warmup. It’s therefore no big shocker that gardening results in more injuries than football. Strategy is required to avoid injury (or worsen diastasis recti) while gardening, and being outdoors […]

Scrubbing Tubs

Beth In Real Life Scrubbing Tubs Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Would you believe me if I said I’ve filmed this video multiple times as I learn more? Of course you would! That’s how we roll around here, so it shouldn’t surprise you. I love the fluidity of a website for that very reason. As we learn more about cores and diastasis recti recovery, I can […]

Car Stretches

Beth In Real Life Car Stretches Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

When you are NOT the one in the driver’s seat, and the road is long, and the “when are we there yet” queries from the backseat are frequent, and your hip flexors or neck are telling you they’d like to get out of the car, but you’re all stuck… this video should help provide some […]

Thrifting for Fitness

Beth In Real Life Thrifting for Fitness Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

I love a bargain, and that might be why Fit2B is such a good deal. I have never bought a huge piece of bulky exercise equipment, and I don’t ever plan to because I don’t need it. The sporting goods aisle at any local thrift or second-hand shop is a treasure trove of fitness props, […]

Sweet Feet Moves

Beth In Real Life Sweet Feet Moves Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

One lovely morning, while waiting outside for our table to be called at a restaurant, Alice and I started talking about feet. She and I go way back as friends. She is one of my co-founders for Fit2B and has also contributed to the fashion & beauty lesson in the Fit2B Girls course… but she […]

Beth In Real Life | Bad Clothes

Beth In Real Life Bad Clothes Fit2B Studio - Fit2b.com

I got stuck in a shirt, okay? Nothing to see here. Move along. Do I hate my body because it didn’t slide right into the cute top that turned out to be a size too small? Nope. There’s a lot of things I don’t fit in anymore. This body has been through many things that […]

Beth In Real Life | At the Car Wash

Beth In Real Life At the Car Wash Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

At the car wash… At the car wash,  yeah! Admit it, you’re singing the oldie it in your head now. Seriously, though, while going through the car wash I had a few thoughts on how it applies to our own self-care. Do not watch this video if you don’t need a swift kick in the tush […]

Beth In Real Life | Lifting Loads

Beth In Real Life Lifting Loads Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Life involves load. It’s necessary to avoid heavy lifting when you have diastasis recti or prolapse, and you haven’t yet learned the strategies for managing your pressure systems. Once you dial in your technique, though, and you learn how to recruit your core instead of bulge it, you can start approaching heavy things with more […]

A Snowy Walk

A Snowy Walk Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

You wouldn’t know how rare snow is where I live based on all the snow videos I have in this MEA 2 mini course! This is one of those rambling philosophical videos. I’m basically sharing some musings while I bring you along on my walk. Don’t forget you should totally do MEA 4: Walking As […]

Beth In Real Life | Stoking Fires

Beth In Real Life Stoking Fires Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

We life in a fixer-upper farm house with a wood stove as our primary source of heat. During our typically damp, cold Winters in the Pacific Northwest, I end up stoking our fire several times a day. I didn’t realize how much it was affecting my diastasis recti. You may have “missing link” in your […]

Eating Food

Eating Food Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Food can feel like the enemy when the world is full of fad diets and food allergies abound. Food is fuel, comfort, entertainment, and laughter with friends and family around a table. I like food, and I think you need to know that I don’t diet. I don’t restrict. I don’t avoid fat. I don’t […]

Gas Station Stretches

Gas Station Stretches Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

A member asked if I might have any good stretches I do while “pumping petrol” … and it took me a full 27 seconds to figure out what she meant. Hehe! We call it “gas” around here, and that’s not the first time our forum has had some fun with the language differences we encounter […]

Beth In Real Life | Sweeping & Vacuuming

Beth In Real Life Sweeping Vacuuming Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Housework can be exercise, and exercise can be done while doing housework. It’s all about how you move and – as always – your strategy. This video will hopefully inspire you to quit slumping through the doldrum of daily chores and see these opportunities with fresh perspective. Vacuuming is your chance to do lunges. Hand […]

Trampolines and Diastasis Recti

Trampolines Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Is it safe to jump on a trampoline while you diastasis recti is healing? What about if you have prolapse or urinary or fecal incontinence? Let me just say straight up that leaking pee or poo when doing any activity is a RED flag to stop that activity and seek help from a women’s health […]

Bike Riding

Bike Riding Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Get ready to laugh at my expense, people! Trying to video myself while on a bike path was some crazy fun. I go a little off-road with my bike and my tips on seat position, torso alignment, and diastasis recti awareness. As usual, what comes out of  my mouth is more than what you’d expect… […]

My Belly After Diastasis Recti

My Belly Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

My belly would like to share a few thoughts with you. It has its own story to tell after carrying three lives and healing from diastasis recti. While we keep things very modest on this family friendly fitness site, it’s time to for my tummy to show it’s true tone and tell you a few […]

My Training Begins!

My Training Begins Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com -

If you’ve been on Fit2B for any length of time, you know I love race walking. However, I don’t do it year round. It’s hard on my body, so I cross train during the winter. This is a video I took as I finished one of my first training walks of 2017… a year that […]

Pushing Strollers

While out for a walk with a friend who was bushing a baby in a stroller, she was nice enough to hold my iPhone and record this for us. Thanks, Jessica! For a full lesson on stroller cautions and tummysafe moves, visit BeyondFitMom – Kate Horney’s lesson on stroller fitness in our Experts on Diastasis […]

About My Nails

My reasons for having thick acrylic nails might surprise you. They’re deeply personal and necessary for my self-care. I don’t go into all of it here, but I do let you in how I do them and what it’s like. One thing I will tell you is that it’s part of my mental health, and […]

At The Park

At The Park Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

I remember sinking gratefully down onto park benches on many exhausting days as a young mom. If someone had told me to go play on the equipment with my child, I would have squinted up at them with one eye shut and told them, “I’m fine. I worked out earlier today.  Now I’m tired. My […]

On The Toilet (fully clothed)

On The Toilet fully clothed Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

Beyond using a stool to elevate your feet so your knees are higher than your hips – thus, putting you in a supported squat – is there a good way to poop? Does alignment matter when you’re going to the bathroom? We have a whole lesson on bladder and bowel health in the Fit2B Girls […]

Brushing Teeth

Brushing Teeth Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

Brushing my teeth is soooo boring. I hate it. I have a serious gag reflex and genetically soft teeth, so I often wonder what the point is (just kidding, please don’t write me long letter about tooth health) The only way I’ve made peace with it is to perform other meaningful things while I’m doing […]

More Laundry Tips

More Laundry Tips Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

I have quite a few BIRL videos about laundry because I do quite a bit of laundry. Yeah, no maids here. My kids are old enough to do their own, but there “ain’t no dirty like farm-dirt dirty.” Because laundry isn’t just one motion but rather several, and because it involves arm actions, carrying and […]

Sorting Laundry

Sorting Laundry Fit2B Studio - Fit2B.com

If you are in the early stages of restoring core function, then sorting your laundry in an upright position is critical. This may look like sorting on a table or hanging out in a deep squat if you can maintain a vertical torso. Being able to squat deeply with a vertical core takes some progressive […]

Beth In Real Life | In The Kitchen

Beth In Real Life In The Laundry Room Fit2B Studio - fit2b.com

This video is part of the original, profesionally-filmed BIRL series so it’s a little prettier than some of the others I later did with my iPhone. You see, I just can’t always wait for my film crew, and I don’t believe you always want to see me all snazzed up. So this is still me […]

In The Kitchen

Our members have access to MEA courses, one of which is the Beth In Real Life series, also known as the BIRL videos. Mea is an ancient word for the deep core “seat of our desires” and also the loins. We’ve co-opted it here to also be an acronym for motivation, encouragement and application. This […]