I hope your family loves this as much as we do!

ENJOY!

Paige Wilcox

Would you like more weeknight meal inspiration?  Check out the NOURISH section on our website:
https://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/nourish.html

Sick of meal planning?  Want us to tell you exactly what to eat?  Give you the grocery lists and ensure you will have the fuel to power your busy days?  Download our QuickStart Guide:
https://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/quickstart.html

Want MORE of this?  Join our private Facebook group where we share all of our tips, tricks, and hacks for healthy living.  Every Wednesday we share a new healthy recipe just like this one. Join us here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WilcoxHealthyLiving​

Oh, how I love my SlowCooker, let me count the ways…  

SlowCooker meals are a snap to prepare, the flavors come together so nicely in the pot, and dinner is ready when you walk in the door.

What I love most about slow cooker meals is how little time they take to prepare.  Not only that, but you can make them in larger quantities so you can enjoy leftovers.  I am all about amazing food with minimal effort.

As an added bonus, slowcooker meals often stretch a buck so you can save on your grocery bill.  Time savings, healthy delicious recipes, and cost savings – it’s a win all around!  Boom.

True confession time…  I didn’t always love slowcooker meals.  To me, they used to all taste the same and left me feeling bloated and exhausted… thank you cream of mushroom soup and packaged onion soup mix.  

Also - I love to cook!  I felt like the slow cooker took the ‘fun’ out of cooking for me.

I recently became a mother of two - I am currently on maternity leave with my new baby girl and I have a 3 year old boy.

We all still need to eat and the slowcooker seemed like the perfect solution.  

So I set out on a mission to find the best, healthiest, and quickest slowcooker meals possible.  

In our community at Wilcox Wellness & Fitness we have some amazing cooks who also love healthy food so I reached out to them for all of their favorite recipes.  

There are some serious winners here!

We compiled a SlowCooker Cookbook with all of our favorite recipes.  You can download it here:

And let me tell you - I have been very happy with the results.

Even the 3 year old is eating these meals.

Here is what I have learned in the process:

The more vegetables the better.  Just throw them all in there!  Whatever you have on hand - whatever you are feeling.  If your veggies are looking a little ‘sad’ their flavors will perk right up in your slow cooker.

No peeking!  Seriously… keep the lid shut.  You don’t need to stir the pot or do any checking.  Trust in your SlowCooker.  Everytime you open the lid, you are losing all of the heat and your quick check can add a lot of time to the cooking of your meal.

Know your conversions.  Slow cookers are pretty forgiving and if your recipe called to be cooked on low for 8 hours but it’s noon and you haven’t gotten into the kitchen yet… no problem - you can cook that meal on high for x hours.  Here is a handy dandy conversion chart for you: ​

Thank you Crock Pot Ladies!

​Layer Smart: I like to get creative with my kitchen creation.  Often I cook without a recipe or just use a recipe for inspiration and cooking guidelines.  With slow cooking, it’s important to know the order your ingredients go in the pot.  Here is another great chart to help with that: ​

Thanks Oprah!

Experiment, have fun, and enjoy your time in the kitchen.  Also, be sure to download our favorite slow cooker recipes here: ​

​Enjoy!

Paige

Inspired to get started now?  Download this free QuickStart Guide:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/quickstart.html
This free QuickStart Guide that has been used by many of our clients and is proven to increase your energy levels and help you feel great.  This free QuickStart Guide includes a full 7 day whole foods based meal plan, a simple to implement exercise plan, 18 delicious whole foods based recipes, and daily encouragement from our trainer team to help you stick with the program.

​Join Wilcox Wellness & Fitness’ mailing list:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/keep-in-touch.html

Want more healthy recipes? See our delicious and nutritious meals here:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/nourish.html

One of the best and easiest ways to take care of your body is by staying hydrated. Water makes up roughly 60% of your body and is essential for every one of your cells to function. If the water content in your body drops by even 2%, your mind starts to lose alertness and your body will begin to feel fatigued. A loss of 10% of the body's water can cause physical and mental deterioration, and a loss of 15% - 25% can cause death.

Most people know how important staying hydrated is, yet some studies have indicated that 75% of Americans are functioning in a chronic state of dehydration.
​
Symptoms of chronic dehydration include:
​

• Constant hunger - dehydration is often confused with hunger
• Heartburn - heartburn increases in relationship to dehydration.  Over time chronic heartburn can lead to ulceration and even cancer.  
• Nerve function - dehydration disrupts proper nerve function resulting in the sensation of pain
• Digestion - is impacted by dehydration.
• Brain function - dehydration has a drastic impact on cognitive ability
• Bone function - the skeletal structure is compromised with dehydration

​
This article from foodmatters.com is worth a read if you want to learn more about the symptoms of dehydration

We are so lucky to live in a country where we have fresh, clean, drinking water flowing from the tap. We just don’t know how lucky we are to have this available to us.  
Earlier this year, I took a trip to India to visit my brother. This trip was incredibly eye opening for me. You can not drink the water in India. You can not brush your teeth with the water out of the tap in India.

India is incredibly hot and dry. It was about 100 degrees every day I was there. I drank a lot of water.  
In our travels I noticed women walking along the side of the road carrying huge loads.

​I learned that the task of retrieving water on a daily basis for some women living in rural India is a constant challenge. The Water Project reports that nearly 1 billion people in the developing world don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. Water is the fountain of life and today, all around the world, people are spending the entire day searching for it.

The Water Project Reports: “Indian women can take up to six trips a day to gather and transport water. These walks in rural regions can average ten miles a day, carrying up to fifteen liters every trip. The women load jars or buckets on their heads to carry water. The pressure, added with the distance to water sources, creates back, feet, and posture problems. The heat increases their exhaustion, and the chore itself takes away much needed time for other duties. It is a great loss for these women to spend their days fetching water; they are removed from being able to make an income, better care for their children, or in a younger girl's circumstance, be able to get a proper education. It is common for girls in rural India to drop out of school, so as to help carry out the burden of moving water.”
​
How is that for perspective? What is the obstacle that is getting in your way of being properly hydrated? Is it because you are worried about the inconvenience of more frequent bathroom breaks?  Don’t like the taste?  Would rather drink coffee or soda?  It is time to get over these obstacles and commit to getting yourself properly hydrated.  

Your body is about 60% water… and just a small 2% decrease can significantly impair performance and the way you feel.

Our recommendation is to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces each day. This is critically important. If you are not already drinking this amount of water, make the commitment today.

Example:  If you weigh 200 pounds, you should be drinking a minimum of 100 ounces of water each day.
​
Need motivation to drink more water? Download our strategies here.

Water should be the main drink you consume on a daily basis. We want you to avoid alcohol, sugary juices, and soda because those beverages do nothing to serve you. Not only that, they’re loaded with sugar that will spike your insulin. It places a heavy load on your body to detoxify from it, which is the exact opposite of what we’re trying to achieve with proper hydration.

Hope this helps provide you with a little perspective and tools and resources to commit to proper hydration.

Cheers!

Paige

Download our habits tracker here:
www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/habitstracker
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Enter your contact information to receive some free tools and resources to support your habits for massive impact.  Visit the link above to sign up to receive more support from us.  We will send you information via email to help support your habits for massive impact including a printable habits tracker that you can use to measure your progress within the next 21 days.

Join our Healthy Living FaceBook Group:
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Join our free private FaceBook Group - Healthy Living with Wilcox Wellness & Fitness to connect with us live. Daily we post all things healthy living - pro tips for healthy living, recipes, and weekly workouts for you to do at home. We will answer any question you post and we encourage you get involved in the discussion.
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Join Wilcox Wellness & Fitness’ mailing list:
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Many people ask what our trainers eat in a day. Katie Norwood is our senior trainer, and is an amazing athlete and person. Since January of this year, Katie has already run over 1,300 miles! She has also completed four Ironmans and run the Boston Marathon. Besides being a great athlete, Katie also loves helping others fall in love with fitness. She is often seen munching on healthy snacks here and there between her training sessions at the gym.

This is from Katie - what she eats in a day.

Being a personal trainer, I am on my feet all day and am constantly in-between clients trying to scarf some food down!  At work, I know that I get one chance to show people that working out can be the best part of their day so I constantly need to be ON POINT.

A lot of people have been asking lately what I eat in a day with my busy schedule. The key for me is to prepare and plan my meals and snacks so that I can nourish myself throughout the day.

4:30 am // Wake up call!

4:35 am // I drink 16 oz of water.

5:00 am // Overnight oats - this is filled with healthy carbs and protein. This keeps me going and energized until my mid-morning snack!  Check out our recipe here:
www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/overnight-oats
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8:00am // Apple with peanut butter

I also make small snacks that I can eat if I am busy in-between clients so I always have SOMETHING to nosh on. Grapes or some sort of nuts.

11:30 am // Berries/Watermelon

1:00 pm // Lunch is a salad loaded with veggies, avocado, and chicken or tuna. The protein gives me fuel and energy.

4:30 pm // Rx bar - very filling and satisfying - also made from whole foods with very few ingredients

7:30 pm // Steak and sweet potato with onions and peppers.

8:30 pm// Popcorn- either Boom chica pop or Skinny pop

I have popcorn EVERY NIGHT. It satisfies my sweet tooth and has healthy carbs in it!  

Everyday: a gallon of water and 12oz of green tea or Kombucha!
​
There you have it - what our senior trainer, Katie eats in a day.  Katie eats very well so that she can perform at her best both in life and in her athletic pursuits.  She follows our Habits for Massive Impact in terms of nutrition.  Here they are:

It is also important to note that as long as you are on point following these guidelines 80% of the time the other 20% of the time you can really enjoy yourself and indulge in your favorite foods and activities.  

Enjoy!

Paige & Katie

Download our Overnight Oats Recipe
www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/overnight-oats.html

Get Inspired by our Favorite Recipes
https://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/nourish.html

Join our Healthy Living FaceBook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WilcoxHealthyLiving/
​
Join our free private FaceBook Group - Healthy Living with Wilcox Wellness & Fitness to connect with us live.  Daily we post all things healthy living - pro tips for healthy living, recipes, and weekly workouts for you to do at home.  We will answer any question you post and we encourage you get involved in the discussion.  

Everyone is just... so... BUSY!  You are on the run all the time.  Sometimes you are just trying to survive running from meeting to meeting, event to event - there is not much time in there for meal prep.  We are pulled in so many different directions. We have responsibilities at home, busy careers, and involvement in community events that keep us on the run and away from our kitchens that we have stocked with the most nutritious of foods ;).

It can be challenging to stay on point in terms of nutrition when we are on the run and out of our routine. Challenging, yes… impossible… not at all.  Included here is a free PDF with our best strategies, tips and tricks to help you stay on point when you are on the run.

Good News!  Most people are not eating enough to give them the energy to get them through their day and we are going to encourage you to eat more (of the right stuff – whole foods only please)!  To maintain energy levels and keep your metabolism burning, it is important for you to be constantly fueled throughout the day.  This means starting your day with a wholesome breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up and then eating every 2-3 hours to keep the fires burning.  This is one of our Habits for Massive Impact – Eat Consistently Throughout the Day.  

Staying hydrated is one of the BEST ways you can take care of your body, as water is essential to maintain the function of every cell in your body. Proper hydration increases your energy levels, promotes weight loss, flushes toxins, improves skin quality and digestion, as well as relieving joint pain and even headaches!  On the BDN Blog - Inspire Healthy Living - we are talking about the importance of proper hydration.  Click the link below to read the entire article.

Our recommendation is for you to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces of water daily.  Here is a resource to help you with that calculation: ​

So what's with all the hype about juicing? Sure we know it's good for you but what's the difference between drinking and actually eating all the fruits and vegetables?

Well, for one, it's going to be a lot easier to get your daily servings from the basic food groups. Remember the food pyramid you learned about in school? It's still around people, just redesigned and ignoring it may even shorten your life. Here's a little refresher course for those of you sitting there saying "Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that thing once".

The American Heart Association suggests an intake of 1600-2000 calories a day. Of course, this will vary depending on your age, height, weight, etc but, it's a good starting point. So, according to the 'plate', roughly a quarter of these calories should come from grains. Breads, cereals, pasta... Sure, it sounds easy right now. Who doesn't love carbs?

Next we add in 300-500 calories of protein and throw in a few servings of dairy. Now, take all of those calories and try to match them in the amount fruits and vegetables you consume and you have yourself one busy day ahead of you. 

Keep this in mind... You can drink way more fruits and vegetables than you could eat in the same amount of time. In order to get an equal amount of benefits from 16 ounces of fresh juice, you would need to eat two pounds of the green stuff.

Drinking your fruits and vegetables aids in your body's ability to breakdown their nutrients, sending them into your bloodstream at a much faster rate. And, 95% of the vitamins, minerals and living enzymes are found in the juice and not the fiber of the fruit. Bottom line? You get a huge burst of energy without the crash later. 

LONG TERM BENEFITS

While you are feeling energized for the day, you can also take comfort in the fact that juicing can help to fight cancer and other illnesses, aid in sleep, strengthen your immune system, and keep your body in an alkaline state. (Most illnesses flourish when the body is in an acidic state but more on this in a later post.) Studies have shown that juicing improves cardiovascular health, detoxifies the liver, contributes to healthy skin, nails and hair, and aids in rebuilding blood cells.

Naming all of the benefits to juicing would make reading this take longer than eating two pounds of vegetables. Kale alone is rich in:

• Chlorophyll which is helpful in reducing bad cholesterol levels as well as to people with anemia
• Calcium to strengthen bones
• Omega 3s to fight brain damage from high sugar levels
• Carotenoids such as Lutein to protect the eyes
• Protein for muscle health
• Indole-3-carbinole to boost DNA health and slow the growth of cancer cells
• Vitamin K for bone health and injury healing
• Flavonoids to help control indigestion as well as inflammation and stress

Kale also has more Vitamin C than an orange and is high in vitamins B1, B2, and E. It is rich in iron, calcium, copper and potassium and is highly alkaline. Okay, you get the idea. Moving on.

WHY NOT JUST TAKE VITAMINS?

Ah those little miracle capsules that promise all the benefits of a healthy diet in one little pill. Don't get me wrong, vitamins are extremely beneficial to those who are deficient in certain categories. There are also a variety of supplements for your body that you just can't get from food - or at least any food found in your average grocery store. But, given the opportunity to drink a glass of fresh orange juice or take a vitamin C - Drink the fresh squeezed Juice!

While the capsules do contain the actual 'vitamins', they lack the Phytochemicals such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which work in synergy to help your body absorb the nutrients at a slower rate. Why is this a good thing? Because vitamins taken on their own are absorbed so quickly into the system that the body thinks it doesn't need all of the nutrients and scurries to get rid of the leftovers. Ever taken a multivitamin and seen your urine turn fluorescent? That is literally your money being flushed down the toilet.   

IN CONCLUSION

Okay, so juicing is super beneficial. In my opinion, the only real convincing you need is to try one when that afternoon slump comes barreling down on you. It's so much better than just overloading your body with vitamin B for a fast fix and won't keep you up at night like a late-in-the-day cup of coffee.  

Check out Tiller & Rye in Brewer for their amazing array of fresh juices. ​