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“The Switch Witch” for a healthier Halloween Halloween with is kids can mean candy overload! In fact, according to data from 2013, the average child will eat about 3 cups of sugar on Halloween… That’s equal to 220 sugar packets! That’s over 16 times the recommended amount of sugar. GASP! OMG - our kids are going to be swinging from the rafters for weeks! Last year I learned about the ‘Switch Witch’ and it was a hit - our 5 year old, Hazen is already talking about the Switch Witch again for this year. Meet the Switch Witch. She even has her own poem.  As the poem suggests, the night after trick-or-treating, have your kids set their candy by the door and after they go to bed, you swap it out for a toy they want (Hazen knows EXACTLY what he wants), tickets to a movie or concert, or basically any non-candy item they’d like!
This means they get double the fun of Halloween – not only trick-or-treating, but also a surprise gift when they wake up the next morning. Then you can donate the Halloween candy to a local food pantry, homeless shelter, or the organization Soldier’s Angels (learn more here: Treats for Troops) and get a tax-refundable donation receipt. I hope this helps your family have a healthy (and happy!) Halloween. ENJOY! Paige REFERENCE: www.insider.com/how-much-sugar-the-average-kid-consumes-on-halloween-2017-1 WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips, tricks, and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can’t wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living!
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So many of our clients absolutely LOVE pizza and I have been on the hunt for a recipe that is healthy and delicious. This is a true winner in my book! For a long time, I have been experimenting with cauliflower crust, and while I do have a few cauliflower recipes that I love, they are incredibly time consuming. This recipe is super simple and you can see me whip it together super fast in the video below. AND - it has just a couple simple ingredients that you could have on hand at all times, so the next time you get that crazy craving - you are able to whip up something healthy vs calling the pizza delivery man. Super simple, right? And just a few ingredients: quinoa, an egg, salt, pepper, baking powder, and oregano. HEAVEN! Quiona is referred to as the 'mother of all grains' and for good reason - it has high in protein and is one of the very few plant foods that contain sufficient amounts of all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants. Read more here! Here is the recipe from Run Fast Eat Slow:  I hope you love it! Please let me know if you are going to give it a try for your next pizza night!
ENJOY, Paige WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips, tricks, and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private Facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can't wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living!
We live in a high pressure world - we move fast - life moves fast and we all experience stress at one point or another. What matters is how we handle the stress. We are going to talk through the impact stress may be having on your health and ways to get yourself to relax more.
I hope this information was helpful to you. If you would like to download our FREE Unplug Guide, click here.
Let me know if you have any questions! Lots of love, Paige Truth talk- I just used the smallest kettlebell we have and it kicked my butt! It was a seemingly simple move - a squat with one arm overhead - but I could not get it to save my life. Literally - I went to squat and I could not move. Something was locked up inside me. I was in a group with 6 other people who didn’t seem to have any trouble with this movement. No. Big. Deal. This sort of thing used to stress me out. Am I not good enough? Why can’t I do this? Everyone is better than me. Oh, gosh, this is embarrassing. No. Big. Deal. We are human, we are going to have good days, we are going to have bad days. We are going to have days where we thought we were 13 over the weekend and could waterski like we were the champions of the world and then sit at a computer for 8 hours and then get to a training session and maybe have some mobility issues. No. Big. Deal.  Life happens - you have good days, you have bad days. Some things are harder for you than others - you are better at some things than others.
It is no big deal. Our trainers are here to meet you where you are. Support you. Encourage you, and help you get to where you want to go. Our community is here to support you, encourage you and get you to where you want to go. Nobody is watching for you to use the teeny tiny kettlebell. You will be applauded here for focusing on form with low weight or no weight. You will go farther by focusing on the basics. You will have good days. You will have bad days. The true measure of success is showing up, being consistent, and treating your body right. Lots of love, Paige (and the teensiest, tiniest kettlebell we have) WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips, tricks, and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can’t wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living! Stress is sneaky. Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re feeling it until you turn your head and your neck hurts, or you feel a tension headache coming on. The truth is, some stress is normal (and even good) … but chronic stress can do a real number on your body. Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your hormones, making you gain weight (especially unhealthy abdominal fat). And it can also take a major toll on your health, paving the way for illness and disease. Below are 24 techniques to combat stress. Be sure to scroll through the images to see all of our tips and strategies. Hope this information was helpful to you! Stress can do a real number on your health – over time, it can add inches to your belly and lead to (among other things!) high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic aches and pains. If stress is making you tired, bloated and frazzled, it’s time to take back control! Download our new UNPLUG Guide here - it will help you unlock your body’s power to feel better – and get even better results from your fitness/nutrition! – in just a few minutes a day. Our UNPLUG Guide will teach you: ● Breathing techniques to unlock your body’s natural relaxation response. ● Tips for building a body that’s resilient, lean and strong. ● Mindset shifts to help you find focus (and keep it). ● Stress prevention tips to keep you on-track – and have more fun! It’s amazing how much better you can feel when you learn to put the power of your body’s built-in systems to work to help you relax, restore, and rejuvenate! Get your copy of UNPLUG and see for yourself! (It’s only available for FREE for a little while, so be sure to download today!)  Click to access your Unplug Guide right now! ←
Hope you find it helpful! Committed to Your Health, Wilcox Wellness & Fitness WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips tricks and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can't wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living Cortisol is a pretty incredible hormone in your body that helps you get up in the morning and start your day feeling energized! It also gives you the “juice” you need when you’re under any kind of threat, to either do battle or run away. But when you have too much of it surging through your body (due to too little sleep, too much stress, or health issues), it can do a HUGE number on your mood and your health. Studies show that too much cortisol can:
As you can see, cortisol is no joke and it’s a super important part of your self-care! Hopefully that is enough evidence to convince you to give yourself permission to unplug and destress every once in a while (preferably daily!) to help keep your hormones in balance. If you haven’t already downloaded UNPLUG, our stress-management guide, definitely check it out for some effective breathing techniques that will work almost immediately to help you relax. (Download it right now by clicking here.) If you’re like most people, it isn’t the actual outside “stressors” that cause all the problems … it’s the way you react to them.
That’s because when your ancestors had to outrun a predator or their life was in danger, they used the cortisol/blood sugar/adrenaline/etc. that got dumped into their systems as part of the natural stress response. But in modern times, that’s not usually the case. As a result, you can get into a chronic stress cycle where those hormones build up in your body, causing serious problems. The most important thing to know is that you’re not a victim of stress – you CAN take control back! Studies show that our thoughts and reactions impact our cortisol levels. Doing a little feel-good mindset work can make a BIG difference! ● In one study, researchers had people write about their most stressful life experiences. When researchers did follow-up tests a month later, the people who recalled those events in detail STILL had higher cortisol levels than before they wrote them down … plus they showed more symptoms of developing a cold than the study control group (which didn’t do the stressful writing). Also, research shows that learning how to be more mindful/aware of your thoughts – and what’s causing them – can help cut back on your stress response. ● According to Healthline, a study of 43 women in a mindfulness program revealed that when they could recognize and describe what was stressing them, they had a lower cortisol response. Being able to catch yourself having stressful thoughts will enable you to take a step back before they get out of control… which means you aren’t constantly reacting to them. How do you do “catch yourself” having stressful thoughts? It’s actually pretty simple. It means becoming more mindful of your body’s cues and listening to the voice in your head. For instance, if you’ve ever noticed that your shoulders are tense, your jaw is clenched, you have a concrete block on your chest, or you are holding your breath, chances are you’ve been thinking about something stressful (even if it’s subconscious). Or if the “voice” in your head constantly says the same negative things over and over again – “I’m so tired!” “I’ll never get this all done!” “No one appreciates my hard work!” “Why can’t they do what I say?” – it’s time to turn things around. The MOMENT you become aware of these thoughts, it’s time to do some breathing exercises … rework your inner language to be more positive … or just step back and take a little break! I realize that can be SO HARD to do, but your body deserves (and NEEDS) it. You can find little ways to escape, reset and unplug every day, by going for a walk, enjoying nature, listening (or playing) your favorite songs, reading, attend a training session, or just sitting and “being.” Studies also show a light-to-moderate workout also can almost immediately cut down on your stress! Here’s an easy homework assignment: come up with 3 everyday things you can do to take a little mental break. These should be “fun” things that make you feel relieved. Now, just find a little time to actually DO them! Bonus point: send us a message and let us know what your 3 things are! Remember, a healthy body is more resilient to stress. Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, and UNPLUG! :) Lots of Love, Wilcox Wellness & Fitness References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854015 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25497480 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24971591 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ways-to-lower-cortisol
Healthy Charcuterie Board - how is that for a fun food idea for the next time you entertain friends or family… but first lets talk about something that’s pretty important. In fact, it’s something our clients ask us about all the time!
How do you know the “right” diet or the “right” foods to eat, when you get so many conflicting facts? It can be overwhelming! How do you know what’s fact vs. fiction? Borrowing advice from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (website: eatright.org), helps simplify things a lot. It’s all about VARIETY and not about following a specific diet (low-fat, low-carb, low-sugar, etc.) or cutting out entire food groups... because those kinds of eating plans are really hard to sustain for a lifetime. In a nutshell (pun intended), it’s about eating more healthy, whole foods like veggies, fruits, seafood, nuts, and beans – and eating less processed meats, refined grains, sweetened drinks, or sugary/processed foods. By focusing on the big picture of your eating patterns, you’ll notice huge changes in your energy, how your body feels and looks, and even your mood. Plus, it’s so much easier to make your food and meal choices. One thing that is really interesting is that they even recommend looking at the “big picture” of your veggie intake over the course of a week instead of day-by-day. Every week, they recommend shooting for 1½ cups of dark green veggies, 5½ cups of red and orange vegetables, 1½ cups of beans/legumes, 5 cups of starches (sweet potato, squash) and 4 cups of “other vegetables” (green beans, cauliflower, cabbage, mushrooms, cucumbers, onions, zucchini, etc.). That seems like a lot, but it boils down to 2½ cups a day and gives you lots of options for variety! Our Healthy Snacking Guide is a great place to start to incorporate more of the good stuff into your diet. Speaking of which … we have a really fun entertaining idea for you that is all about variety that will let you sneak in some veggie servings. How about creating a healthy charcuterie board the next time you have family and/or friends over? You’ve probably seen charcuterie boards in magazines or online – they are super trendy right now. Basically, it’s a board (and sometimes even an entire table!) covered with snacks like nuts, fruit, uncured deli meats, veggies and dips/spreads. 
If you want to make a charcuterie board, you can use several of the recipes included in the Healthy Snacking Guide >>click here to download for FREE<< (the cauliflower hummus, baked chicken wings, dried plum poppers, to name just a few). Add some goat cheese, cauliflower and broccoli florets, baby carrots, celery, uncured deli meats, shrimp, fresh fruit, or other favorites.
Your guests will love it! I’m here to help you in your health and wellness journey, and I’m ready to help you take it to the next level! We would love the opportunity to talk with you LIVE to see how we can help you form a plan to achieve your health and fitness goals – or… just get started. Click here to schedule a time to chat with us LIVE! Can’t wait to talk with you! HAPPY SNACKING! Wilcox Wellness & Fitness WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips tricks and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can't wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living Kombucha - oh how I love you, let me count the ways. I know it is a bit of an acquired taste but this elixir from heaven has an incredible way of turning my day around. If I am in a funk and not feeling 100% myself energy wise, kombucha gives me just the lift that I need. If I am craving mint chip ice cream - kombucha can turn that around for me. If I have #overindulged with all the junk food - kombucha is settling to my stomach & soul. This fermented tea juice just turns my day around and I love it! Are you a kombucha lover? What is your favorite brand / flavor? OR - have you tried it and hated it? It is a polarizing topic - I want to know!  PS - I am getting the gumption up to brew my own (again)... any tips or tricks for me? My 4 year old assisted me on the first go round and things went terribly wrong with the culture as you could imagine. Wish me luck! Paige WANT MORE OF THIS? Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on both Facebook and Instagram for motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips tricks and strategies for healthy living. You can join our private facebook group to go even deeper with us or book a call to see how you can get started training with us in person. We can't wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living Your core keeps you standing and sitting upright, protects your back, and can even affect your breathing, circulation and digestion (you’ll find out how!). Nearly every movement you make originates from your core. Keeping it aligned, stable, balanced, and strong is integral to your health and well-being! Here are a few really interesting and unusual reasons you probably don’t know about... 1. Did you know that if you have a stronger core, it can actually make you a better runner? A study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that after 6 weeks of core training, runners clocked faster times when running 5,000 meters! 2. A strong core will help you breathe more deeply. When your core is strong, the muscles in your torso are more balanced – and that leads to having a stronger diaphragm and better posture. Both of those factors can help you take deeper breaths. According to the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, deeper breaths help you relax and reduce stress. (win-win!) And if you haven’t tried belly breathing (taking a few minutes to breathe slowly and deeply in and out of your belly and up through your lungs), try it! You’ll be amazed at how quickly it helps you to relax. 3. You’ll notice an improvement in your balance. A strong core helps align your posture so you’re not slouching forward. An aligned posture helps keep you upright, which can improve proprioception – your body’s “awareness” of where it is in space. This is REALLY important- especially as we get older. 4. A strong core also can help keep you agile, active, and moving with fewer aches and pains as you age. We’ve all seen images of elderly people with a bent-over, “stooped” posture. If you take the time to work on your core and posture now, you can save yourself a lot of pain and discomfort later in life. Since this all is so critically important we have pulled it all together for you in a guide complete with handpicked exercises sculpt a powerful core from the inside out. Click the image below to download the guide now!  Core exercises are especially important if you’ve had an injury; sit or stand all day at work; spend much time in front of a steering wheel, computer, or phone; or if you’re a new mom. All of those factors can lead to muscular imbalances that, after a while, can contribute to pain and even injury. Training your core properly can help counteract all that, plus have you standing taller and feeling more confident! Feel free to share this guide with your friends, family or coworkers who might benefit from it! Here’s the link to download ← We hope you LOVE this guide! Let us know what you think! Wilcox Wellness & Fitness In the summer of 2018 one of our clients, Jacquelyn Gill a University of Maine professor of climate science and ecology, was offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to be one of four scientists to take part in filming a documentary, “Lost Beasts of the Ice Age”. Little did she know that after spending 10 days in the Siberian wilderness filming the documentary, that she would end up fighting for her life thousands of miles away from home, alone for 6 weeks. Due to the long travel days and intense stationary nature of her job there, Jacquelyn was sitting for long periods of time which put her at risk for getting blood clots. By the time she was trying to board a plane home, she knew something was seriously wrong since she couldn’t catch her breath and she had tunnel vision. A trip to the hospital confirmed that she had deep vein thrombosis in both legs and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. After weeks in the hospital, Jacquelyn was finally well enough to travel and made the long journey home to Bangor. Upon returning home, her doctors commented that they couldn’t believe how she was doing so well after that ordeal given the severity of her embolisms. They believed that since she started training with WILCOX in May 2018, her training and lifestyle change months before the trip likely played a role in helping her survive her pulmonary embolisms. We had a conversation with Jacquelyn to hear more about her story and how training at Wilcox Wellness & Fitness helped her survive this life-threatening ordeal. Wilcox Wellness & Fitness: Jacquelyn, we are so happy that you are here today and able to share your story and experience with us! Do you agree with your doctors that training at Wilcox Wellness & Fitness helped save your life? In what way? Jacquelyn Gill: Definitely, and in more ways than one! Firstly, before I started training, I was the least fit I'd ever been. I was in pain all the time, constantly tired, depressed and anxious. I'd had problems with my IT band for months, and rest wasn't helping. Then, just weeks after I started training, my mom passed away unexpectedly. It was a really difficult summer for me, and training was one of the bright lights during a really hard time. I found that I was looking forward to having that space where I could process my emotions in a healthy way, with a supportive community. When I walked into WILCOX, it was like I left the world behind, checked in with myself and my body, and focused on the progress I was making. I had more energy, I felt great all the time, my pain went away, and even though I was going through a tough time, my overall mood was so much better than it had been going in. After just a few months, my blood work showed a big drop in cholesterol and a huge improvement in my overall health!  Jacquelyn with her dog, Neko, at Schoodic says: "Getting fit helps me go on more adventures with her!" WILCOX: That’s amazing! Your commitment to the program and enthusiasm helped lead you to success! We love that you saw that kind of progress after only a short time! Months after starting with us, you said you were going overseas for work; can you tell us more about that? JG: Last September, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Siberia to conduct research and film a documentary on ice age ecosystems preserved in the permafrost. On the last day of shooting, we were hiking to a remote location along a river in really rough terrain -- slippery mud, tiny log bridges over big chasms -- it really felt like an obstacle course. I was beating myself up because I was having a hard time. I was getting winded, needed a lot of breaks, and I thought it would be easier since I'd been training all summer. Then the next day, when we were getting ready to fly home, I found myself getting winded just getting up to go to the bathroom. I knew something was seriously wrong when I was walking across the tarmac and I felt like my vision was closing in and I couldn't get enough air. I went straight to the hospital in Yakutsk, and I had DVT in both legs and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. The doctors told me it was amazing I'd survived- my lungs were so obstructed! They told me that improving my condition through training all summer probably saved my life. WILCOX: That is so scary! Do you feel like your training program helped you to know your body well enough to know something was wrong? JG: Absolutely, for two reasons: First, before I started training, I just felt gross all the time -- tired, run-down, in pain. I didn't even realize how bad it was until I started going to WILCOX and I started feeling better. So the first thing training did for me was clear away all the pain and tiredness I was feeling. I stopped expecting to feel like crap, which meant I was able to notice when something was wrong. Secondly, the approach at WILCOX really emphasizes getting in touch with yourself, and paying attention to your form -- it's not about powering through the pain, or pushing yourself to unhealthy extremes. Rather, it's about listening to your body -- where can I push a little more? When should I stop? What's my heart doing? How are my lungs? This gave me the confidence to know that what I was feeling wasn't normal, and it was okay to ask for help, rather than try to muscle through and pretend like everything was going to be fine.  Jacquelyn in Siberia, 2018 WILCOX: Checking in with yourself is huge and we are so glad you were able to put those techniques you learned here to use in your daily life. What other benefits have you seen since starting your training program? JG: There have been so many benefits I wasn't expecting! I knew that training could give you increased energy, help with general pain, and be a mood booster (though to be honest, I didn't really believe it until it happened!). But I've also found that it's given me a lot of confidence in my approach to other areas of my life. Going into a scary surgery or a challenging meeting, I hear my trainers' voices in my head cheering me on. I find that I'm moving in a more mindful way, whether I'm picking up a gallon of milk or hiking my favorite trail. And most importantly, I've gained a lot of confidence in myself -- after so many false starts and bad experiences with diets and gyms, I was always beating myself up for thinking the problem was me: I didn't have enough willpower, I wasn't good enough. Now, even after having to be out for a few months after my Siberian adventure, I'm not beating myself up for "backsliding" or losing some of my conditioning; I know it's going to be fine, and I'll get back to where I was. My internal voice is a cheerleader now, and not a bully.  How Jacquelyn feels after finishing a workout at WILCOX! WILCOX: That makes us so happy to hear your internal voice is cheering you on and the trainers’ voices resonate with you throughout the day! There are so many people who have started and stopped training programs or nutrition programs in the past, just like you have, and may be at the point where they are done with trying. What would you say to those people to encourage them to keep trying? JG: Don't give up on yourself. It's never too late to make a positive shift, and that decision can change your life. Forget the scale, and focus on how you feel. If you've hated every other gym or diet, the problem isn't you-- it's that so much of the culture of fitness and weight loss is about shame, guilt, and blame. What makes a place like WILCOX stand out is the positive approach to wellness: there's a team of people who are invested in your success, as you define it. Not how you look, or your numbers. There are no mirrors, weigh-ins, or judgments; you'll see bodies of every shape, size, age, and ability. When all that other stuff is stripped away, and training becomes a matter of focusing on healthy movements (and healthy eating, if you want to follow optional food guidelines) you end up having a lot of fun. And I never, ever thought I'd say that!  Jacquelyn, after crushing a workout at WILCOX! WILCOX: That is great advice!! Anything else you want to share about your experience at Wilcox Wellness & Fitness? JG: I started training because I was fed up with being sore and out of shape, and I needed the accountability and encouragement I wasn't getting when left to my own devices. And I needed that extra attention, because of my IT band syndrome. Training with an injury was a really positive experience, because my trainers got to know me and they're paying attention, so I knew that I could trust them not to put me in a situation where I'd aggravate my injury. That let me focus on my workout, and not miss anything, because they were always ready to step in with a modification. WILCOX: Jacquelyn, thank you so much for sharing your experience with me! Your BDN article had me in tears and I know that it has already inspired so many people to commit to healthy living just like you have. We are so glad to have you back training with us and we can’t wait to see where your next adventure will take you! With Love, Paige Inspired to get started on your own journey to healthy living?
If you are ready to take the first step, we are ready to support you! We will meet you wherever you are and support you along your path with health and wellness. This isn’t our first rodeo – we have a proven path to help people achieve their very best life and form healthful habits that they can sustain for a lifetime. Click the link below to schedule a no obligation call with us to chat about your health and fitness goals. Take the first step by clicking here to schedule that call! |
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