What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 11:30am 2pm - 3:30pm Tuesday 8am - 3:30pm Wednesday 8am - 3:30pm Thursday 8am - 3:30pm

http://mothertomotherwellness.com/

Mother to Mother Wellness, LLC, 1114 Park Row Boulevard, Manitowoc, WI (2026)

12/05/2025

The holidays can be filled with joy, fun, family and friends, tradition, and…stress! While we may enjoy the extra gatherings, our kids' Christmas programs, baking cookies, and gift exchanges with our coworkers, that doesn’t mean that these “extras” don’t take a toll on our overall well-being. Because while we GET to do fun activities that make this time of year a little more special, we also HAVE to do the things that make the world go round. We still have to do laundry, go to work, take care of sick kids, go grocery shopping, and pay bills. So instead of removing one activity to replace with another, we end up doing double the activities! No wonder we often hear tired moms sigh heavily and force a tired smile when asked how they're doing or our fed-up coworker utter the words, “I hate Christmas.” These extra activities are taxing not just to our calendars, but our bodies, minds, and spirits, too. Unfortunately, when we experience stress, it often causes us to neglect other aspects of our well being, such as a healthy diet, extra sleep, or exercise. In turn, we end up feeling a little fatter, a little older, and a little more tired, if not visibly showing signs of these changes.

There’s actually a scientific explanation for this–free radicals*. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can cause cellular damage, which contributes to the above mentioned woes. You’ve probably heard of free radicals when watching tv, because they get mentioned in commercials for your favorite anti-aging skin care products. But they can do a lot more damage than just wrinklier skin! What causes these pesky little molecules to accumulate? Stress. Toxins. A poor diet. Overall bad lifestyle choices.

While it would be ideal if we could drop certain necessary tasks (grocery shopping!) in favor of the fun ones (cookie baking!), it’s simply not practical or feasible for 99% of us. Instead of forcing yourself to “get through” the holidays, scheduling in and planning for a little TLC is the best bet. Easier said than done, I know, but if you can hit The Big Three–nutrition, exercise, and sleep–you may actually make it through this season feeling healthy, energetic, and thinking “I wish I didn’t have to wait until next year!”

NUTRITION

No one expects you to eat super clean and healthy this time of year. But overdoing it on the cookies and hot chocolate and underdoing it on antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables is a surefire way to feel sick. Those antioxidants are going to help mop up those free radicals wreaking havoc on your body. Rather than worrying about avoiding your favorite treats, make sure that you’re getting enough of those beautifully colored fruits and veggies. Aim to eat 1-2 servings of a fruit and/or vegetable every time you eat (including snacks). And who knows? Those fiber-rich produce items might just help you feel full enough to prevent you from reaching for that third cookie.

EXERCISE

Exercise may not specifically get rid of those free radicals, but it can affect you in two ways. A sedentary lifestyle will ensure that your cells are not as metabolically active as they should be (basically, your metabolism slows and you will not flush out the bad stuff). OR overexercising can create stress and contribute to the production of these harmful molecules. While this temporarily causes soreness, fatigue, etc, overall, exercise adaptations help your body to have a more efficient antioxidant defense system. Finding the right balance of exercise–especially when life is stressful–will help to make sure that you can adequately recover from the exercise you participate in, and it will also help your body and metabolism to function optimally. I often recommend cutting back on the intensity of your exercise program this time of year. Walking is a great alternative to running, yoga is a nice substitute for some strength training. But keep moving!

SLEEP/REST

If you recall, stress is essentially the cause for these molecules–one simply cannot de-stress if they are sleep deprived. When you have kids’ basketball games late into the evening, followed by frantic eating of late-night pizza, followed by a marathon gift-wrapping session keeping you up until midnight, it can be really challenging to get enough of this essential activity. Sometimes days like these are unavoidable. We can combat that by scheduling in down time. Maybe you could use one of those 23 vacation days you’ve accumulated. Perhaps you can sneak in a car nap on your lunch break. You might start by saying “no thank you” to certain activities that do not enhance your life. Or a gentle walk may just be the mental break that you need. Like exercise, sleep may not directly get rid of these free radicals, but due to the slower production of these harmful foes during sleep and the boost in antioxidant mechanisms, sleep acts a bit like an antioxidant for the brain!

It’s easy to read tips like these and mentally tuck them away for later use. Or to think “yeah, that’s great, but I’m the exception to the rule” or “my life would never allow for that.” Please remember, you must be intentional about your self-care. Not everyone will benefit from all aspects of self-care, but when we discern what speaks to us, and put pen to paper and add these important facets of our well-being to our very busy schedules, we take the first step in admitting that we are not superhuman. You CAN thrive–not just survive–this holiday season! Here’s to a more youthful, lighter, more energetic winter.

*There are many factors involved in aging, weight gain, and fatigue. This is simply highlighting one explanation at the scientific core of these concerns.

11/03/2025

Been BUSY lately—just added a few new clients! But I still have room for YOU. How can I help you meet your fitness or nutrition needs? Reach out to set up a free consultation!

07/14/2025

I think this is so true. I also think The Enemy is out to convince us that other people ARE doing it all. I must be very honest right now—with a new baby in my home, my house is a MESS. Heck, my house was a mess when we didn’t have a new baby! Instead, right now I’m focused on making sure I make time to exercise my body every day because I am the only one who can exercise for ME. Someday I may have time to do both, but that day is not today. Choose the things that are most important to you; let go of the rest and let life happen as it will. No one is doing it all. We weren’t made for that.

07/11/2025

Garden salad with hard-boiled eggs. Lettuce, tomato, leftover cucumber salad, sunflower kernels, ranch-flavored chickpeas, eggs, and French dressing. Refreshing summer meal! Those chickpeas make a FANTASTIC substitute for croutons! 😉

07/01/2025

Poll:
What is the quickest, easiest, go-to meal that you cook? 🍝👇🏻

06/11/2025

A little levity for the evening …I’m glad I’m not there yet 🤭

06/04/2025

Can you eat the foods you love and still lose weight or maintain a healthy weight? Well, yes…but with a caveat or two.

The internet is full of influencers out there telling you that you can enjoy the foods you love (while showing gratuitous footage of themselves stuffing their face with pizza) while still losing weight. It’s also full of ads for your favorite coffee place, workouts that claim they will give you flat abs, people selling cookies and candy for their kids’ fund-raisers, supplements that will torch your supposedly broken metabolism, images of overly-indulgent vacation food, and reels convincing you that you only need to do one simple exercise to lose weight (and that you can skip the cardio). We hear refrains of “everything in moderation” and “it’s not your fault” echoing around every home. But is any of this true?

What most of these seemingly easy and convenient ads, reels, influencers, etc will fail to tell you is that HARD WORK is a major tenet of any of these products and programs. Yes, this medicine or supplement may stifle your appetite or kick up your metabolism, but it won’t do you much good if you’re still eating too many calories and sitting on your rear-end. Absolutely, you can enjoy your fave coffee drink while trying to lose weight, but you won’t be able to do this on a regular basis. Sure, you can do these particular exercises to help flatten your abdominal muscles, but you won’t see them unless you lose the fat that sits on top of them. Great, go ahead and support the neighbor girl’s troop fund-raiser, but at 150 cals per two cookies, you’re looking at almost 10% of your caloric needs in a deficit for the day. You bet, strength training will help build the muscle necessary to burn more calories with other physical activity, but if you sit around for the other 23.5 hours of your day, the difference is negligible.

Remember, all of those “shiny” things are TOOLS. Tools are meant to help you execute a job. But if you buy a hammer and expect it to build a house for you, you’re going to get cold, wet, and wind-blown. I like to level with my clients; yes, you can buy just a single session or just a month of training, and yes, you can eat indulgent foods from time to time, but REAL results, LASTING results are the product of months, if not years, of hard work. It’s the product of trying and failing, time and time again. It’s starting to log your calories and then getting tired of it after 2 weeks, over and over. It’s realizing that running is not a good fit for you, sitting around for several months doing nothing, and then deciding to try group exercise instead. It’s signing up for the workout and diet plan that the internet is raving about only to decide that these recipes aren’t realistic for you. It’s discovering that eating pizza every week is the very thing that keeps setting you back every time you see a little movement on the scale. Success cannot be achieved without lots and lots of failure.

The next time you see something that seems too good to be true, take a beat. Pause. Think about what they’re selling, what they’re expecting, what they’re asking, what they’re charging and decide if it can really be a helpful tool for you or if it’s just going to show up in your email taunting you week after week. If it’s going to be a help, then by all means! But remember that it will still require EFFORT from you. You will still have to show up, pull out the pots and pans, practice self-denial, lace up, or press play.

So can you eat the foods you love and still lose weight or maintain healthy weight? Dieting should never be a miserable experience. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be uncomfortable, some times more than others. Yes, go ahead and enjoy the foods you love, but understand that doing so very regularly is very unlikely to yield the results you hope for. I will tell you this from both personal and professional experience–rarely does one lose weight without tracking calories. Rarely does one lose weight without learning to forego the foods that so often tempt. Rarely does one lose weight without exercise or without eating healthier foods or without small sufferings. Those “magic bullets” you see out there? They’re tools. But look closer. The people succeeding with their use are also eating less and exercising! As with most other things in life, you are most likely to be part of the 99, not the 1.

Need REAL LIFE help for your REAL LIFE weight loss struggles? Reach out and let’s have a REAL TALK about what may actually work for you! (Hint…it’s going to take time and effort 😉 )

www.mothertomotherwellness.com

05/31/2025

Today is the last opportunity to lock in this low price on your online coaching!! Give me a shout—how can I help you reach your goals? 😃

05/23/2025

Part 2: Potential solutions to sneaky weight loss obstacles. The other day I shared several ways in which we may be blindsided by weight loss obstacles—these obstacles are all around and many are sneaky. Here are some suggestions for combating some of these issues.

1) Habits are hard to abandon. The solution here goes hand in hand with number 8–don’t multi-task. It takes time to develop new habits, and it definitely takes time to abandon old ones. If you’re looking to get rid of a habit, try just getting rid of one, and refrain from adding in something new until you’ve gotten a handle on the old one. For example, if you are hoping to stop hitting the snooze button (old habit) and start getting up earlier (new habit), first focus on not hitting the snooze button. Once you feel like that’s starting to take hold (maybe after a month or two), THEN begin to inch your way into the new habit of getting up earlier, perhaps 5 minutes at a time.

2) Will power and self-control are like muscles. Baby steps. That’s the way to go here. You’re going to get “sore” when you first start exercising, be it your muscles or your will power. Instead of a no-pain-no-gain mentality, begin with easier exercises. Begin with fewer exercises. Begin with less frequent exercises. You may not be able to go an entire week without sweets, but you can probably go one day per week without sweets.

3)Environment, environment, environment! Some things we cannot change. We probably can’t stop our coworkers from bringing in donuts or cookies for their birthdays. We can’t stop fast food places from advertising on the billboards on your commute. We won’t get our grocery stores to stop putting candy in the checkout lanes. But we could take a different route to work to avoid the billboard or bring a healthy snack for our desk so we avoid going to the break room. And we can be sure to meal plan and grocery shop and budget in order to avoid filling our carts with junk and in order to stock our own fridge with healthy foods.

4) Eating healthy does not always mean eating less. The temptation for those dieting is to skip meals–or to skip eating altogether–when they know an indulgence is happening later. This is bound to backfire and cause overeating. Instead, try pre-planning your day. When you know you are eating cake or going out for drinks later, look ahead to your meals and decide where you can make some slight cuts from each meal, such as a reduced portion size, swapping milk for water, or skipping a side dish. You still want to feel energized and nourished throughout the day, and to enter into your event not feeling ravenous.

5) We’re busy. Never underestimate the power of sameness here. We typically eat similar things on a daily basis for breakfast and lunch, so why should dinner be any different? People often cite boredom for why they end up eating out instead of cooking at home, but if you’re busy, and cooking the same basic things makes it easy (and you probably end up ordering the same old pizza or fast food week after week anyway), then why does that need to be a problem? Additionally, sit down and write out a list of easy meals that you regularly make. You probably have more than you realize and you can make a rotation out of it, like every two weeks or at least every few days, for instance. And there are soooooo many websites out there with loads of FAST, easy meals.

6) You keep believing that you should eat like your ancestors. So many folks out there are trying to eat like cavemen. Or pioneers. And absolutely, if we ate more like our ancestors, we would probably not have the weight troubles that we have today. But our ancestors did not have the same problems we have today, nor were they exposed to the same things. They adapted, and we should too. Instead of trying to revert to prairie life, consider which modern day struggles plague you the most. Try coming up with ways to counter those issues–for instance, if fast food is something you regularly turn to, try finding “fast” healthy foods you can buy instead, such as a veggie tray or microwaveable brown rice pouches or a rotisserie chicken.

7) The numbers you have in mind for your weight or pants size are either arbitrary or inappropriate. It’s all about our mindset here. You can be grateful for the body you once had in your more youthful days. And I hope you will be. But take a good look at a high schooler–that is a child, not an adult. It would not be appropriate for you to still look that way and most people would probably believe you to be too skinny if you did. I hope you will also be grateful for the body that you have today. It’s okay to hope for change and to plan for change, but remember, your body has given birth, it provides a liveable home for your loved ones, it makes dinner, it reads stories, it pays a mortgage, and it is often up at night praying for your children–your motherly body is not meant to be like it once was. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

8 ) We are not good at multitasking. As moms, as adults, we often have to multitask. But with the things that really matter, we need to slow down. It is probably unrealistic to expect ourselves to eat perfectly healthy, get the recommended amount of exercise, work full time, take our kids to every mother-loving activity under the sun, and get an abundance of sleep. When you hope for a change in body composition/appearance, try really focusing on one thing at a time. Instead of signing up for a gym AND writing out a rigorous meal plan, try simply adding a daily post-dinner walk. Okay, maybe you’ll need to pack a brown bag dinner and walk during your kids’ baseball games or swim practice 😉 But simplicity is the name of the game.

9) No one wants to hear that weight loss is going to take a long time. I know. This one hurts. Certainly weight loss can happen expeditiously, but if we truly want it to be a sustainable effort that suits our modern lives, we really need to embrace the slow burn. I’d rather see you take a short, post-dinner walk every day and make really simple meals like spaghetti on repeat than start training for a marathon and going vegan. Because a slow burn is better than burnt out.

10) You’re too concerned with high calorie burn and deep calorie cuts. Similar to number 9, drastic is usually not the way to go. If you start doing HIIT multiple times a week on top of torching hundreds of calories running multiple times a week, you will, in fact, burn more calories…but you will, in fact, need more calories to fuel these workouts. So slashing calories from your diet by skipping meals and food groups and entire MACRO groups (!!), especially while performing vigorous exercise, is extremely detrimental to the health and energy levels of most human beings. Plus, as you lose weight (and you will, at first), your body releases hormones (or stops releasing hormones) that signal needing to eat due to low energy availability. You will probably be far more successful by adding that short evening walk and minding your portion sizes of the normal foods you eat.

11) Portion sizes have gotten out of hand. Be aware that most meals when you go out to eat have upwards of 1000 calories, which is probably more than half of the calorie requirements for most women. This is relatively easy to remedy, thankfully. Use a smaller plate at home, ask for a to-go box at the start of your meal and put half of it away immediately when out to eat, and avoid fast food joints in favor of healthy “fast” food (see number 6).

12) Your neighbor/friend/sister/coworker makes it look easy. Another mindset-based solution. When you feel comparison creeping in, sit down and write a list of all of the ways in which your life differs from that person. You are not broken because you wear a different pants size or don’t enjoy their flavor of exercise or can’t seem to get on board with the keto diet that they had success with. You are you. Find the things that bring you enjoyment. Find the things that work for your lifestyle, your family, and your preferences. There’s something out there for everyone and there are probably as many paths to the same end result as there are people.

We live among all sorts of dieting minefields; best practice is to avoid what we can, but to learn to work around those things we can’t avoid. Simple is typically better than complicated. Small is easier to manage than large. And reality is easier to work with than fantasy. Some of these changes are actionable , some are mindset related. No, these changes won’t produce obvious, overnight results; they will, however, produce long-term results that will be MUCH easier to stick with in the future. Let’s talk about your goals, hopes, and dreams. I believe in you, and I want to help you get there!

www.mothertomotherwellness.com

05/20/2025

Why on earth is weight loss so difficult? 🤔 In theory, it’s simple. Eat a little less. Move a little more. Go to bed a little earlier. Reduce your stress. But the reality? It’s multi-faceted…and therefore it’s just plain hard. Let’s consider a few things.

1) Habits are hard to abandon. You know how they say it takes 30 days (or 60 days or 90 days…) to form a habit? Well, whether or not those numbers are accurate, when you do something on repeat for, not days, but YEARS, you will have developed a deeply ingrained habit. A habit that you might say is “second nature.” And so if creating a new habit only takes a matter of days, and this new habit is supposed to be much easier because you have done it so many days in a row, exactly how are you supposed to shed an old, bad habit that you have been doing for YEARS?

2) Will power and self-control are like muscles. If your muscles aren’t exercised, they will not get stronger. Likewise, if your will power or self-control are not exercised, they will not get stronger. But much like exercising your muscles sometimes hurts, so too does exercising your will power. And when you’re feeling “sore,” it definitely makes it harder to keep adhering to the exercises.

3) Environment, environment, environment! When you enter the break room at work, did a co-worker leave donuts? Is the vending machine stocked with candy bars and chips and soda? When you drive home, do you see billboards galore advertising your favorite fast food place? Is your weather app telling you that today is the perfect day for an iced coffee? We are surrounded by temptations all day, every day. And if you sleep with a sleeve of cookies by the bedside, eventually temptation is going to win out.

4) Eating healthy does not always mean eating less. When you begin to make more nutritious choices for your body, it will feel pretty great. More energy, less bloating, etc. But it can be difficult to meet all of our nutritional needs without eating more calories via snacks or healthy side dishes. Furthermore, just because you choose better foods most of the time doesn’t mean you don’t still want to enjoy indulgences…but if you’re already at your calorie limit from eating the healthy foods you need and then you choose to add treats on top of that…well, a calorie is still a calorie.

5) We’re busy. If you’re too busy to eat breakfast, you barely eat a lunch at your desk, and then you shovel crackers and chips into your mouth before taking the kids to their practices and other activities and then you’re too worn out to make dinner so you pick up pizza…and bread sticks and soda and then you have dessert and a drink because you’re stressed out from being busy and hey you earned it…I’m sure you can detect the problem here.

6) You keep believing that you should eat like your ancestors. You know what your ancestors never had? Fast food. Pizza. Vending machines. Sugar and whipped cream laden coffee drinks. Dessert any time they wanted it. Cubicles and computer screens. Television. Smart phones. Dishwashers. Refrigeration. Long-ass days at the office. Kids in multiple after school activities. Lack of interaction with nature. If you’re not going to live like your ancestors, why should you eat like your ancestors?

7) The numbers you have in mind for your weight or pants size are either arbitrary or inappropriate. For some reason, people think they should weigh or look like they did in high school, college, or before they had kids. But you probably didn’t have kids in high school. You probably didn’t have a full time job in high school. You probably weren’t making your own food choices in high school. You probably weren’t worried about a mortgage or car payment or medical expenses or the cost of raising kids in high school. Why WOULD you weigh the same?

8 ) We are not good at multitasking. We all know that person who brags about being good at multitasking. Guess what? They’re not. They just might be good at pretending they are. We do our best when we focus on one thing at a time. So trying to lose weight by cutting calories AND adding exercise AND changing other habits is bound to backfire. Because when we juggle multiple things at a time, we’re bound to eventually drop one.

9) No one wants to hear that weight loss is going to take a long time. Did it take you a long time to gain the weight? Probably. You probably slowly and steadily gained weight over many years. Losing it could take just as long. But that concept really bums us out.

10) You’re too concerned with high calorie burn and deep calorie cuts. What is a calorie? Well in layman’s terms, it’s energy, it’s fuel. So if you focus on high calorie burn (meaning high FUEL burn), you should expect that your body will demand more FUEL. But if you simultaneously create a deep calorie cut, what do you think will happen? Your body will detect low energy and your body will work really hard to convince you that you should eat more. Because you should. Because you’re burning more fuel. And the tank can’t run on empty.

11) Portion sizes have gotten out of hand. Go to just about any restaurant—chain or otherwise—and you will receive one portion size. That’s the same portion whether you’re male or female, tall or short, desk jockey or marathoner. But those folks don’t all require the same amount of energy. And very few of them would require the size of portions that most restaurants serve. Short of ordering off the kids menu (which also are often oversized portions), you are left with the option to either end up with leftovers that will leave you feeling sluggish the next day or you end up overeating.

12) Your neighbor/friend/sister/coworker makes it look easy. Your neighbor/friend/sister/coworker also has very different life circumstances from your own. Comparison is the thief of joy, y’all.

I could go on, but you probably get the idea. Modern society is a minefield for dieting woes! Can these things be avoided or changed? Of course. Is it easy? Of course not. How can you make these changes? One small action at a time. But before you take action, let these realities sink in. Because it’s not going to be easy.

Stay tuned for the follow-up post in which we’ll discuss how to combat these challenges. In the meantime, reach out if you’d like to set up a free consultation to discuss your wellness goals. Or message me to share how you overcame one of these challenges!

www.mothertomotherwellness.com

05/19/2025

All month long, lock in a lower price on my online coaching options! I’m super excited to connect with you and discuss those goals! 🤩 The beauty of online coaching? You can train with me no matter where you live! No gym membership required, no long term commitments, no equipment requirements—we work together with what you have available (including your limited time 😉). Reach out today!

05/11/2025

Happy Mother’s Day to women of all experiences! 🫶🏻

Mother to Mother Wellness, LLC

12/05/2025

11/03/2025

07/14/2025

07/11/2025

07/01/2025

06/11/2025

06/04/2025

05/31/2025

05/23/2025

05/20/2025

05/19/2025

05/11/2025

Address

Opening Hours

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share

Monday	8am - 11:30am
	2pm - 3:30pm
Tuesday	8am - 3:30pm
Wednesday	8am - 3:30pm
Thursday	8am - 3:30pm