The Athlete Mom Project | Pregnancy Workouts, Postpartum Exercises, Meal Plans, Diastasis Recti, Back Pain, and Mindset Tips

In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we talk about consistency, goal setting, and why showing up imperfectly matters more than chasing motivation — especially during times of transition or at the start of a new year.

As a new season begins, many people feel pressure to set big goals or overhaul their routines. This episode offers a more grounded approach, focusing on consistency over perfection and building habits that actually fit your life.

We discuss:

why consistency beats motivation

how to set realistic, meaningful goals

what to do when life disrupts your plans

common questions around staying on track

how to approach a new year without burnout

This episode also includes a short Q&A touching on movement, mindset, and navigating change without falling into all-or-nothing thinking.

If you’ve struggled to stay consistent in the past or feel overwhelmed by goal setting, this conversation will help you simplify your approach and focus on what truly moves the needle.

Progress doesn’t come from doing everything at once — it comes from choosing what matters and showing up consistently over time.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we break down the best lifting program for endurance athletes and why strength training — especially lifting heavier weights with lower reps — can significantly improve endurance performance.

Many endurance athletes default to high-rep, low-weight strength workouts, assuming that heavy lifting will slow them down or add unnecessary bulk. In reality, properly programmed strength training can make you more powerful, more efficient, and more resilient in your sport.

In this episode, we talk about:

why heavy strength training benefits endurance athletes

how lifting heavier improves muscle recruitment and power

how strength training increases efficiency over long distances

why stronger muscles reduce injury risk

how to balance lifting with running, cycling, or other endurance training

We also discuss how strength training should support your endurance goals — not compete with them — and why your lifting program should look different depending on your sport, training phase, and overall capacity.

If you’re an endurance athlete who wants to improve performance, stay injury-free, and train more efficiently, this episode will help you rethink how strength training fits into your plan.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we’re talking about motivation — why it naturally rises and falls, and how to stay consistent when you’re not feeling fired up.

Whether you’re training for a race, trying to build muscle, or simply staying active for your health and your kids, motivation isn’t something you “have” or “don’t have.” It moves in cycles, and understanding those cycles can make consistency feel far more doable.

In this episode, we break down:

why motivation fluctuates

how to work with your natural energy and capacity

what to do during low-motivation seasons

how to stop relying on willpower alone

practical ways to stay on track without burning out

Instead of trying to force motivation, this conversation focuses on learning how to plan for the lows, leverage the highs, and create systems that support you even when life feels busy or overwhelming.

Motivation doesn’t need to be constant for progress to happen. When you understand how it works, you can keep moving forward — even during the messy, chaotic seasons.

If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed and want a clear, step-by-step approach that fits your life, you’re invited to book a free discovery call to talk through what support might look like for you.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we break down calorie tracking vs intuitive eating and talk about how to decide which approach is best for you — especially during busy, high-stress seasons of life.

The question isn’t whether calorie tracking or intuitive eating is “better.” The real answer is that both can be useful tools, depending on your current capacity, stress levels, and relationship with food.

For many moms, chronic daily stress keeps the body in a heightened sympathetic (fight-or-flight) state, which can disrupt hunger and fullness cues. Elevated cortisol levels can create false hunger signals, cravings, and confusion around appetite — making intuitive eating difficult when the nervous system isn’t regulated.

In this episode, we talk about:

the pros and cons of calorie tracking

when intuitive eating works — and when it doesn’t

how stress and cortisol affect hunger signals

why structure can sometimes support freedom

how nervous system regulation impacts fat loss and food choices

If you’re hoping to lose weight without tracking, this episode explains why nervous system regulation may need to come first. Practices that support the parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) system — like breathing, sleep, and recovery — can help restore clearer hunger cues over time.

This conversation offers a more compassionate, realistic approach to nutrition — one that meets you where you are instead of forcing a method that doesn’t fit your current season.

There’s no single “right” way to eat. The best approach is the one that supports your body, your mind, and your life right now. his episode is especially helpful for moms navigating weight loss, chronic stress, or confusion around hunger cues.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we talk about body image, neuroplasticity, and how movement can be a powerful tool for changing how you think and feel about yourself — especially after motherhood.

If you’re feeling stuck in your body, uncomfortable with body image, or disconnected from movement, this episode offers a new perspective. We explore how the brain is constantly changing through neuroplasticity, why motherhood creates a unique opportunity for transformation, and how learning new skills can help rewire the way you experience your body.

Motherhood is one of the biggest identity shifts there is. Rather than seeing that change as something to “bounce back” from, this episode reframes it as a chance to build a new relationship with yourself — one rooted in capability, curiosity, and trust.

I also share how practices like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, learning unfamiliar movements, and engaging in challenging but meaningful activities can help shift body image by focusing on what your body can do, not just how it looks.

We touch on:

body image and identity after motherhood

neuroplasticity and why it’s a superpower

how trying new skills changes self-perception

movement as a way to process stored emotion and stress

why “movement is medicine” goes beyond workouts

Somatic healing focuses on the mind-body connection, and movement is one of the most accessible ways to reconnect with yourself. Breathwork can be powerful — but so can showing up consistently in movement that inspires you and brings you back into your body.

If you feel stuck, uninspired, or unsure what your next step is, this episode is a reminder that you’re not broken — and you’re not finished. Growth is still available to you.

You don’t need to do something extreme to change your life. But if you feel called toward something challenging, this is your sign to listen. Because you can do hard things.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, I share a short ultramarathon recap, what went well, what I would do differently, and what the experience taught me about training with intention.

From there, we dive into Zone 2 training — what it is, why it matters, and how it can support endurance, recovery, and long-term progress for runners. If you’ve heard about Zone 2 but feel confused about whether you need it, this episode helps simplify the concept without overcomplicating your training.

We also talk about how different running goals require different training approaches. If your goal is simply to become a runner, you don’t need a perfect plan — you just need to run consistently. But if you have a specific performance goal, random training leads to random results, and a more intentional plan matters.

This episode covers:

ultramarathon lessons learned

what Zone 2 training actually does

how to improve your running without information overload

when simplicity works — and when structure matters

how performance goals can change your relationship with movement

For many years, my motivation for endurance sports was tied to how my body looked. That “why” eventually stopped working. This episode reflects on how shifting toward purpose-driven movement — rather than aesthetics — changed how I train, recover, and show up.

If you feel stuck in your body, uninspired by movement, or unsure what to do next, this conversation offers clarity without pressure. You don’t need to chase big goals to feel good in your body — but if you feel called toward something challenging, this is your reminder that you’re capable of more than you think.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, I share why I chose to run an ultramarathon as a busy mom — and why it had nothing to do with weight loss, proving anything, or chasing a podium.

This conversation was inspired by a question a client asked me: “Why not just go run that distance on your own? Why the race?”

For many years, my relationship with exercise was driven by how my body looked. But after becoming a mom, that “why” stopped working. In this episode, I talk about how shifting toward performance goals helped me reconnect with movement, rebuild trust with my body, and find inspiration beyond aesthetics.

I ran 32 miles for my 32nd birthday — not as a test, but as a celebration of growth, resilience, and choosing something bigger than myself.

This episode is for you if:

you feel stuck in your body

movement feels uninspiring or flat

you’re tired of exercising just to change how you look

you’re craving a new reason to move

You don’t need to run an ultramarathon to feel fulfilled in your body. But if you’ve ever felt a pull toward something challenging — something meaningful — this episode is an invitation to listen to that voice.

Because you don’t need permission to do hard things.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we break down Nutrition 101 and talk about how to simplify nutrition without tracking every calorie, cutting out entire food groups, or living in food stress.

With so much conflicting nutrition advice online, many people feel overwhelmed, confused, or stuck in an all-or-nothing cycle. This episode explains what actually matters when it comes to nutrition, how to build a foundation that supports energy, health, and consistency, and why complexity often creates more problems than it solves.

If you’ve ever felt:

overwhelmed by nutrition advice

confused about what to eat

stuck between “eating healthy” and enjoying life

tired of starting over with new food rules

this conversation will help you zoom out and focus on the basics that move the needle.

We talk about:

how to build meals without overthinking

why consistency matters more than perfection

how to stop cycling between restriction and burnout

what “eating well” actually looks like in real life

This episode is especially helpful if you’re rebuilding your relationship with food, navigating a busy season of life, or trying to support performance, recovery, and long-term health without turning nutrition into another source of stress.

Nutrition doesn’t need to be extreme to be effective. Sometimes the most powerful shift is learning how to keep things simple — and sustainable.

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In this episode of The Athlete Mom Project, we explore progressive overload — a concept most people associate with strength training — and how it applies far beyond the gym.

Progressive overload is the idea that growth happens through intentional, gradual stress followed by recovery. But when this principle is misunderstood, people push too hard, ignore signs of overload, and end up burned out, injured, or stuck. This episode breaks down how to recognize when it’s time to push forward, when it’s time to pull back, and why both are essential for sustainable growth.

If you’ve ever wondered:

whether you should keep pushing or take a step back

why doing more isn’t producing better results

how to grow without burning out

why rest and recovery are part of progress, not a failure

this conversation offers a simple framework to guide decision-making in training, work, relationships, and life.

Progress isn’t about constant intensity. It’s about learning how to apply stress at the right time, in the right dose, and knowing when to recover so growth can actually happen.

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The Athlete Mom Project is a podcast for moms who want to feel strong, capable, and confident in their bodies — without burnout, extremes, or losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Chandler Sommerfeldt, a movement and nutrition coach, endurance athlete, and mom, this podcast breaks down how to rebuild strength, improve performance, and create a healthy relationship with movement and food through motherhood and beyond.

Episodes cover topics like:

postpartum workouts and returning to exercise

body image and identity shifts after motherhood

simplifying nutrition without diet culture

pelvic floor health, core strength, and pain

endurance training, running, and performance goals

mindset, recovery, and nervous system regulation

This podcast is for women who identify as athletes — whether they’re training for races, lifting weights, chasing kids, or simply trying to feel at home in their bodies again.

Rather than chasing quick fixes, The Athlete Mom Project focuses on sustainable progress, self-trust, and learning how to work with your body instead of against it. You’ll learn when to push, when to pull back, and how to build capacity for both sport and life.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in your body, disconnected from movement, or unsure how to move forward in a new season of life — you’re in the right place.

This is about becoming strong for life, not just for a season.

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