Newsletter/Blog

Always fresh, sometimes normal...

6/4/2019

Always Fresh, Sometimes Normal. Misfits Market tag line is my spirit animal and I am smitten!

I came across this organic produce subscription service recently and I am pumped for so many reasons. Misfits Market delivers organic produce to your door for up to 50% less than grocery store prices.

They rescue all of the unwanted and 'ugly' but perfectly delicious produce. They are dedicated to breaking the cycle of food waste by helping delicious food find a good home.

Our first experience was AWESOME! I was surprised with how much produce we got and how fresh it all was. It was super convenient to have it all delivered to our door. If you want to give it a try for yourself, feel free to use this code to save 25% off your first order!

Let us know how you like it!

Paige

How to eat on point when you are dining out

5/7/2019

For 9 years I worked as an account manager and I was out to eat with either customers or suppliers at least 4 times per week. Entering this job, one of the more senior reps had warned me that I would gain weight with all of the restruant meals and sitting on long car trips.

I was determined that this wouldn't be the case for me so I researched and researched and figured out how I would be able to stay on point with my health goals even on the busiest of weeks.

Here, years later, I am sharing what I learned from that experience in our Dining out Guide.

Eating on point when you are dining out is so simple if you stick to just a few basic guidelines. We include these guidelines in our Healthful Living Guidebook but I made this Dining Out Guide as an extended version of that so that you will know how to order based on the type of restaurant you are at. With this guide, you will learn how to order like a ninja when you go to:
● Diners, delis and sandwich shops
● Burger joints
● Mexican restaurants
● And so much more!

With this guide you will know EXACTLY what to order to stay on point with your #goals so that you are feeling great and have the energy to do the things that #setyoursoulonfire.

Also – you don’t need to order a boring ole’ salad with grilled chicken on it. There are so many great options at literally any restaurant you go to!

Download your guide here. We hope you love it! Please let us know if you have any questions at all!

ENJOY!

Paige Wilcox
Wilcox Wellness & Fitness

Meal Prep Guide

5/6/2019

We are SO EXCITED to share with you our new Meal Prep Guide. The guide outlines practical tips for making sure you always have a healthy meal ready when you need one. The best part is…. it doesn’t involve eating chicken and broccoli out of plastic containers… unless that is your thing.

Instead, it’s all about how to plan and prep your meals without disrupting your entire routine (i.e., meal prep for “real” people living real, busy lives!).

I made sure the guide has plenty of information on how to store your meals, too, so they don’t end up with “freezer burn” and also so you can avoid that nagging worry in the back of your mind about whether it’s time to keep or toss your prepped creations.

Here are just a few reasons to plan and prep your meals ahead of time:

You’ll save time by cutting back on grocery trips
No more stressing over what’s for dinner/lunch every day
You’ll eat healthier whole foods
You’ll reach your goals faster
You’ll waste less food
You’ll save money
If you have a family, it will help develop healthier eating patterns for life
You’ll feel better and have a LOT more energy (and better sleep!)

Your new Meal Prep Guide includes a couple delicious recipes that you can make-ahead to save yourself a ton of time!

One of our new favorite breakfasts (chia pudding) is in there, along with a delicious Beef Stew you can make in the pressure cooker in no time flat.

This guide is another “thank you” for all your support. We want you to know how grateful we are to be able to do what we love each day. That’s all because of you!

→ Click here to download the Meal Prep Guide now!

Feel free to share this with your friends, family or coworkers who might benefit from it. We appreciate it!

ENJOY!

Wilcox Wellness & Fitness

Get Your Mojo Here // Part 2: Alkalization

5/28/2018

My dear friend Allison Hopkins who has spent her career in the biotech industry, shared with us last week information on the gut microbiome and the benefits associated with the morning mojo drink.

For me, it was eye opening. Who knew that our gut microbiome could be in control of our cravings of all things. I always knew that when I ate good foods, I craved good foods and vice versa. Those sneaky little critters!

If you missed last week’s blog post, you can catch up real quick here. This week is going to be focused on alkalization. She makes it fun, promise!

Here’s Allison:: Part 2 - Alkalization:

In my last post I focused on how ACV and lemon juice benefit our gut biome, and this week I am going to focus on alkalization. Alkalization is related to the pH of the body. The pH scale is logarithmic, and ranges from 1-14, with each point representing a ten-fold change. The lower the pH the more acidic, and the higher the pH the more basic or alkaline.

Research shows that a balanced, slightly alkaline pH, equates with greater health. Our blood pH is always maintained at 7.4 no matter what. This is critical for life, so as a result our bodies do an incredible job at making adjustments to ensure that our blood pH stays right where it should be. Two main processes are used by our bodies to ensure this perfect blood pH - Maintenance of an alkaline reserve and acid storage.

Our body maintains an alkaline reserve, mostly in the form of calcium, which our bodies can draw from when our pH becomes too acidic. But it’s important that we replenish these reserves through the food that we eat in order to prevent the reserve from being depleted.

The calcium reserve is stored in our bones, and if our bodies need to pull from this reserve too frequently and without replenishment through our diet it can lead to calcium deficiency, which is responsible for a number of health problems including arthritis, heart disease, gout, high cholesterol, cancer, acid reflux, and high blood pressure.

Another side effect of a body that is too acidic is weight gain.

You have probably seen all kinds of articles claiming that drinking apple cider vinegar or lemon juice can promote weight loss. Can that really be true? Well, a lot of these claims are tied to the pH of your body!

The 2nd way that your body will compensate and prevent too much acid from harming your vital organs is to store that acid, and wouldn’t you know it, our bodies store acid in fat and muscle cells!

The use of fat cells for storage leads to weight gain as well as difficulty losing weight when the body is too acidic. Storage in muscle cells results in low energy, muscle cramps, and in extreme cases, chronic fatigue. Some more common ailments associated with too acidic of a pH include acne, joint pain, sleep problems, premature aging, and slow digestion.

So, how does all of this relate to Morning Mojo?

You might be asking, both apple cider vinegar and lemon juice are very acidic. How can this possibly help maintain an alkaline environment? Well, while both lemon juice and apple cider vinegar are acidic outside of the body, the end product of digestion are very alkaline. Therefore, morning mojo actually helps your body maintain an alkaline environment.

In addition to your morning mojo the majority of the foods you eat should be alkaline forming. Most fruits and vegetables are alkalizing, whereas meats, grains (unless sprouted), most fats, dairy, and all junk foods are acid forming.

As always, moderation and balance is key. Don’t be tempted to only eat alkalizing foods as being too alkaline has health risks as well.

Another way to help maintain a balanced pH is to drink plenty of still water, which has a pH of 9. If you’re struggling to replace your soda at lunch with a refreshing glass of water, this next point might give you some motivation.

Colas, including diet colas, have a pH of about 2.5, almost all the way to the end of the acidic scale, and when you drink colas your body pH is dramatically impacted. In order to compensate your body will start pulling from the alkaline reserve, depleting calcium from your bones. In order to offset one cola you would need to drink 32 glasses of water!! I think that’s amazing!

You need 21 times the amount of water to neutralize the effects of one can of soda. This would prevent your body from drawing the calcium reserve in your body. But 256 ounces - WOW… I drink a lot of water but I am not sure that is possible. Since this is impossible, this is why it is so important you are eating enough alkaline forming foods to help you maintain an alkaline state.

This is a great segue into our focus for next week, which will focus on hydration. Remember, the recommendation for water intake is ½ of your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150lbs you should be drinking about 75oz of water each day. Not only will this keep you hydrated, but it will also help you maintain a healthy pH!

From Paige:
GOOD STUFF, Allison! Thank you! Hard to believe that soda requires 256 ounces of water to neutralize the pH of one 12 ounce can of soda.

I also love the supported evidence that the MoJo has the ability to bring us to a more favorable akalized state.

We hope this has inspired you to give our Mojo a try. It certainly is an acquired taste - I think it is absolutely delicious - like a fancy lemonade but a lot of our clients absolutely hate it at first. (They do grow to love it!)

If you are interested in giving it a try, you can download our recipe here:

https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/

Let us know what you think!

Can’t wait to share next week’s post with you on the benefit of hydration in the body.

Enjoy!

Paige & Allison

Inspired to give the Morning Mojo a try - download our recipe here :
https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/

Want more support? Join our free 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.

Don't miss another post. Join our mailing list here:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/keep-in-touch.html

Get your MoJo here // Part 3: Hydration

5/24/2018

My dear friend Allison Hopkins who has spent her career in the biotech industry, shared with us the past two weeks week information on the gut microbiome, alkalization and the benefits associated with the morning mojo.

Her findings have been eye opening and inspiring. Pretty incredible that a simple little drink that we can make at home for pennies is so incredibly impactful to our health.

If you missed last two week’s blog post, you can catch up real quick here: Part 1: Mircrobiome // Part 2: Alkalization. This week is going to be focused on hydration. She makes it fun, promise!

Here’s Allison:
Hydration is perhaps the single most important attention you can provide to your body.

Our bodies are made up of 3/4 water. Three quarters of that water is contained within our cells and the rest make up various fluids such as blood, gastric juices, bile, mucus, and the fluid surrounding our brain and spinal cord.

Water is critical to transportation of nutrients, hormones, and chemical messages throughout our bodies. Our bodies utilize two main processes, called hydrolysis and osmosis, to support life.

Hydrolysis is the chemical breakdown of a compound due to a chemical reaction with water. Water is involved in not only helping move food from our mouths through our digestive system, but also, through the process of hydrolysis, breaks down the nutrients from our food so that they are available for our bodies to use, and then carries those nutrients to our cells.

Don’t be fooled - our cells are just hanging around ready to receive those nutrients. Remember, our cells are made up of water, in fact 75% of the cell is water. And through the process of osmosis, a process by which molecules pass from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, equalizing the concentrations on both sides, our cells are able to receive nutrients. If our cells are not properly hydrated they cannot receive nutrients from our blood as effectively.

Inside the cells all of the amazing nutrients from our food, including mineral salts and electrolytes, combine to fire up the mitochondria, the power plant of the cell, and the key to a healthy metabolism. But metabolism leaves behind all kinds of waste products within the cell, and water facilitates the removal of waste from our cells.

And, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what water does for our bodies. Water also regulates temperature. It stores heat like passive solar energy, and helps to cool the body through perspiration.
Water makes up the synovial fluid between our joints and serves as a cushion that keeps our joints and spinal discs from rubbing together.

Water is part of our immune system, and like all other cells makes up a significant amount of our white blood cells and lymphatic fluids, which carry toxic substances and carcinogens to the lymph nodes where they can be destroyed and removed from the body.

Our brains, the most important organ in our whole body, is made up of 85% water!

We know that water conducts electricity, and within our brain our neurons are constantly sending electrical impulses to send messages to our bodies. So without a well hydrated brain those electrical functions can’t occur effectively. Ever notice that when you’re dehydrated you have “brain fog”? This is why!

So at the very least, making a habit of drinking morning mojo each morning is a great way to start off your day with hydration. Even if the thought of drinking ACV and lemon juice is tough to swallow at first, starting your day with a big glass of water is a great healthy habit and good start. You can always increase the amount of ACV and lemon as you acquire a taste for it.

One closing thought for you to consider. It is recommended that we drink ½ of our body weight in ounces of water.

So if you weigh 150 lbs you should be drinking about 75 ounces of water each day.

This may seem like a lot at first, and you might think that you don’t even feel that thirsty. How could you possibly drink that much water? Well, we as humans are very good at compensation.

Our bodies do a lot to keep us ticking without us even realizing it, and this is true in the case of water as well. Our brain requires a lot of water, and if it doesn’t have the water it needs we will find ourselves in a very serious state.

So our bodies compensate to ensure that we are able to stay alive even in times of water shortages. Our bodies will pull water from our cells and deliver it to the brain to ensure that this important organ has everything that it needs.

But this is at the cost of all of those other systems and processes that I describe above. We need to be drinking water throughout the day in order to ensure that our cells and bodily fluids are fully hydrated as well.

By the time our brains start telling you that it needs more water it has already taken a large part of the water it needs from other parts of the body. By the time you feel thirsty you’re already quite dehydrated, impacting the efficacy of all of your other bodily systems.

So whether our grandparents knew it or not, there is something about starting the day with a glass of ACV and lemon juice. If for nothing else, it helped to support their hydration.

While research findings and opinions are varied on the topics addressed in this blog series there is a lot of evidence that points towards benefits associated with apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.

As with everything, moderation is key. And perhaps even more importantly, you need to determine what helps you feel your very best. Personally, I’ve experienced a multitude of positive results that I believe are associated with incorporating Morning Mojo into my morning routine. If nothing else, starting your day off with a nice hydrating glass of water can only benefit you and the health of your body.

Inspired to give the Morning Mojo a try - download our recipe here :

Drink up buttercup!

Allison & Paige

Inspired to give the Morning Mojo a try - download our recipe here :
https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/

Want more support? Join our free 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.

Don't miss another post. Join our mailing list here:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/keep-in-touch.html

Get Your Mojo Here // Part 1: Microbiome

5/21/2018

I am so excited to introduce my dear friend Allison Hopkins to contribute as a guest blogger. Allison and I have known each other for over 11 years - she is my go to when I want to hash out the virtues of grass fed vs organic or really anything else in life. We were colleagues for 9 years when I worked in the Biotech industry. We covered the State of Maine together and have clocked hundreds of hours in the car together.

Let me tell you a little bit about long car rides with curious minds… they discuss a lot. Allison and I are similar in a lot of ways - we love data, we love analyzing that data, and we love talking about it.

Allison has studied immunology & molecular biology at the master’s level and is the best person I know who can take something super complex like Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and break it down so anyone can understand it.

Allison has always lived a healthy lifestyle - she is the one that first warned me in my early twenties of the dangers of chemicals in our cleaning and personal care products. Recently she has invested an incredible amount of time learning about nutrition and exercise - she has recently become Precision Nutrition Certified and has embraced our Habits for Massive Impact, starts her day each morning with our Morning Mojo and works out 3 times per week with our at home workout guide.

I am so excited for you to learn from Allison in this 3 part blog series on our Morning Mojo from a scientific perspective. I have had the privilege of learning from her for years and I am excited to share her brain with you!

Allison has experienced first hand the benefits of starting her day with the Morning MoJo and in this blog series she is going to share with us her research with WHY this is such a powerful drink for health. She will share with us the incredible benefits to the Microbiome, Alkalization, and Hydration.

Here’s Allison!
Part 1: Microbiome

I have known Mike & Paige Wilcox for many years (oh the stories I could share...), and as Paige notes, we have enjoyed many inquisitive conversations with each other pondering various curiosities. The latest of which is the amazing attributes of the Morning Mojo, which is a concoction of apple cider vinegar (ACV), freshly squeezed lemon juice, and freshly grated ginger.

You have probably seen a recent resurgence of these olde timey concoctions. Some of us may be familiar with the idea of drinking ACV, lemon juice, or both from our grandparents. So what is it about the come back around these of things, and do they actually work?

Well, I can tell you that I’ve been drinking the morning mojo daily since last October, and I’ve noticed a few benefits for myself. This past winter was brutal for cold and flu, and I’m happy to say that I made it through the entire winter healthy, despite airline travel, days trapped in conference rooms and exposure to the kids in my life. Additionally, my allergies to my cats seem to have subsided, and so far spring allergies aren’t bothering me at all.

So is all of this due to drinking the mojo? Perhaps!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on nutrition over the past several months, and there are three common themes that I am encountering, all of which lead us to some answers about the benefits of morning mojo. They are Alkalization, Gut Biome health, and Hydration. Over this and two additional blog posts I will share some of the interesting information that I have discovered about these three influences on our health and well being, and why I think they provide some insight into why morning mojo is an excellent way to start your day and maintain a healthy and energetic body.

To kick off this series I am going to start with the Microbiome of the gut. You might not think of the term “gut” as a scientific term, yet it’s common to hear the phrase “gut biome” when referring to the relatively new interest in the microbes that live within our digestive system. “Gut” generally refers to the stomach and intestines. The microbiome is a term referring to a population of bacteria, viruses and fungi, and their associated genetics, in an environment (3). There are microbiomes in all kinds of environments including other parts of our bodies such as the microbiome of the skin, but can also refer to bacterial populations outside of the body, such as the microbiome of a wetland.

The microbiome has been a topic that has been receiving all kinds of attention in the research arena across many areas of study including the area of nutrition. In fact, National Institute of Health (NIH) has engaged in a 5 year study to better understand the bacterial population of our gut and its association with disease (3).

Bacteria are very prevalent in our environment and in our body. We often associate bacteria as something bad. We spray hand sanitizer and antibacterial cleaners all around us to prevent us from these seemingly harmful critters. But a lot of the bacteria in and on our body are there to help us out and we should think twice before trying to kill all of them.

In fact, there is at least as many bacterial cells in our bodies as our own human cells (5)! And the majority of those bacterial cells populate the colon and are associated with digestive health. Our gut bacteria play a much bigger role than you may realize. The bacteria in our gut are directly involved with the breakdown of food, gaining access to all of the amazing nutrients so that our body can use them to keep us strong and energized. But the population of bacteria in our gut can vary with good and bad bacteria, and the way that we eat can influence the proportion of beneficial bacteria and those who have their own interests in mind over ours.

Bacteria have been on this planet longer than we have and they have developed a very keen ability to survive. They are actually able to influence signals that are sent to our brain that tell us that we’re hungry and cause us to crave foods that support their survival. This is the root of sugar addiction. Eating refined sugar causes changes in our gut bacteria, resulting in bacteria that need sugar to survive (2). When our gut bacteria gets out of balance we’ll find ourselves craving unhealthy foods. On other hand, when we develop a habit of eating whole, healthy foods our gut bacterial population will change in response, and before long you will probably find yourself craving an apple over a candy bar or bag of potato chips.

The morning mojo is a great way to jump start or maintain your efforts in developing healthy, whole food eating habits by supporting beneficial bacteria in your gut that will crave other healthy foods. Consuming lemon juice and ACV helps to support a healthy gut environment through their role as a prebiotic, not to be confused with probiotics. Probiotics contain the healthy bacteria that support our gut health, and include foods like yogurt, miso, kimchi and sauerkraut. A prebiotic is a food that beneficial gut bacteria eat, and in the case of ACV and lemon juice is found in the pectin. The pectin comes from the apple skins and from the pulp of the lemon, so when you make your morning mojo be sure to get the pulp out of the lemon too.

Apple cider vinegar also helps to increase stomach acid and delay gastric emptying, providing additional time and help breaking down the food in your stomach. This helps to aid in digestion and absorption of nutrients from food. Additionally, acid reflux is thought to be due to low acid content in the stomach, so drinking ACV and lemon water can help to reduce these types of symptoms if you experience them.

Although not directly associated with your gut’s microbiome it is worth noting that ACV is also known for decreasing the release of histamines (4). Histamines are chemicals released by our bodies in response to an intruding particles like pollin or pet dander. We typically respond to our allergic reactions with over the counter antihistamines, which often leave us feeling groggy. Apple Cider Vinegar naturally reduces the release of histamines, thus reducing the overproduction of mucus in response, and therefore relieving those unpleasant symptoms.

There are many believers in the benefits of ACV and lemon water. Some recommend drinking it in warm water to assist with the ramp up your digestive juices first thing in the morning. Others recommend drinking ACV about a ½ hour before each meal. Personally, I prepare a concentrate using the Wilcox Wellness & Fitness Mojo Recipe and then combine 12oz of water with 2T of concentrate each morning. If the taste is too strong at first, consider starting with 1T of concentrate in your water and working your way up over time.

She's great, isn't she? I love how she is able to take complex scientific information and give us just the chunks that we care about in a way that is important to us.

I think it is absolutely amazing that our gut bacteria has control over our cravings and we have the ability to change it to crave the good stuff.

We hope this has inspired you to give our Mojo a try. It certainly is an acquired taste - I think it is absolutely delicious - like a fancy lemonade but a lot of our clients absolutely hate it at first. (They do grow to love it!)

If you are interested in giving it a try, you can download our recipe here:

Let us know what you think!

Can’t wait to share next week’s post with you on the benefit of alkalization in the body.
Enjoy!

Paige & Allison

Inspired to give the Morning Mojo a try - download our recipe here:
https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/

Want more support? Join our free 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.
Don't miss another post. Join our mailing list here:
http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/keep-in-touch.html

Winner Winner Tuscan Chicken Dinner

3/22/2018

I am constantly looking for quick easy weeknight dinners that my family is going to LOVE. Bonus points if I can prep the meal ahead of time and pop it in the oven just before dinner time. (I don’t know about you but 5pm in my house is crazytown - the 3 year old is S T A R V I N G, the husband is HANGRY, the baby is needy, and I want to get the show on the road!)

This dinner was certainly a winner for us! It took about 10 minutes to prep and 45 minutes to bake. I actually prepped this in the morning and refrigerated until dinner time. In the future I am going to batch prep this with my meal prep on Sunday. Awesome-sauce!

Do this recipe once or twice and you won’t need to follow the recipe again:

Download Recipe Here

Full disclosure - this recipe came from easyfamilyrecipes.com. I found them on a Pinterest search and they are definitely worth checking out!

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:
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Oh, how I LOVE my SlowCooker

2/26/2018

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

3 in 4 Americans are dehydrated. Are you one of them?

11/14/2017

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 took this photo on the way to an organic spice farm in Goa, India. It was 108º F that day and dry. Just look at the load this woman was carrying. This was on the side of a very busy road where dirt bikes, rickshaws, cars, and livestock were zipping around. I have this photo saved in my favorites on my iPhone. Anytime I think I have it bad or I am having a hard day, I bring up this photo and get instant perspective.

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

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What does a WILCOX trainer eat in a day?

11/1/2017

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

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.