Happy Monday #2

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you have all had a good day so far. I have had a wonderful yet busy Monday. I trust you all had a fabulous weekend as well. My weekend was relaxing and quiet. I did not do much. As most of you know, I have been sick this past week, so I decided to take this past weekend to rest and rejuvenate. Cody and I finished watching the Harry Potter series, now we only need to see the last one and we are finished. I actually really enjoyed the movies. I took a nice long relaxing healing bath this weekend as well. I have been focusing on healing myself and getting lots of rest. I also got to finish my "crone" painting that I have been working on to go above my altar. I am feeling so much better today then I did all last week. I was a little bummed that as soon as I started this blog, I got sick. I am glad I recovered quickly and can start updating again.

This morning Cody and I woke up and went on a walk. My head cold is still lingering a bit so we decided to walk instead of jog. It was a beautiful Fall morning out. We took a picture of the moon shinning down upon the ocean. I love waking up before the rest of the world. You get to see things that the rest of the world doesn't. It always starts my day off right to wake up early and enjoy my surroundings with my wonderful husband by my side. 

We headed back home to have our breakfast which was Kashi Go Lean Cereal, have I mentioned I love this stuff? So delicious and filling. Cody helped pack my lunch while I got ready for work. He is seriously a dream husband, I could not ask for more. I am excited about the start of the new week and finally feeling a lot better. Tonight on the agenda is 30 minutes of cardio at the gym and a Hot Yoga class. I have certainly missed my Yoga classes while being sick. I am excited to hit the mat once again. Tonight for dinner we are having Peachy Pork Chops. I have a video on my YT channel (Abroomandthemoon) which shows you how to make these. I will post the recipe and pictures here tomorrow as well.

Goals this week:

1) Eat Healthy/Clean Meals. Stick to my meals that are planned.

2) Drink 90oz. + Water Daily!

3) Have 1 cup of Green Tea every day.

4) Stick to my workout calendar for this week. 

5) Track my meals and fitness in my journal. 

6) Start jogging in the morning instead of just walking.

7) Earn 30 + Activity Points.

8) Meditate at least 3 times this week.

9) Do the TIU Office workout at my desk every day (5) days this week.

10) Blog here 5 times this week!

 Painted my nails Sailor Blue this weekend. (What a nice way to pamper myself!)

 My homemade antioxidant smoothie! Frozen Berries, pureed berry ice cubes  and Almond Milk!

 My house is full of Fall Festive designs!

My husband always buys me bat stuffed animals because he knows I love bats. He got this one for me as a get well present. How cute is he?

 I got Cody to hang up my spider Halloween lights in the living room!

 The paintings above my altar! The seashell one was done by Cody, his Mom, and myself while she was here visiting. The middle witchy painting was done by Vikki. The rest are mine. I just finished the maiden, mother, and crone paintings this weekend!

 These are my element paintings. Just supposed to be abstract to use for meditation.

A close up!

 Cottons the cat rested with me all weekend! Yes, that is how she sleeps. LOL

 Saturday morning was spent on my patio with a coffee in hand and a good poetry book! I love Fall mornings.

 My FAVORITE hummus! I love this stuff!! This was a weekend staple since I was to lazy to cook!

Beltane the cat also rested with me!

 I love T.J.'s soup! I bought this for my lunches this week! I just pour the serving size into a bowl and toss it in the microwave. Such a yummy treat for lunch!

 I am also bringing a fresh orange for lunch everyday! Lots of Vitamin C to drive this cold away!

 I am also bringing some sliced cucumber with 2 tbsp.'s of fat free ranch for lunch!

This was taken from our moonlit walk this morning! So beautiful! She is almost full!

Happy Thursday #1

Happy Thursday Everyone! I am so happy tomorrow is finally Friday! I am sorry that I could not post yesterday, but I was busy at work and could not find the time, my apologies. Unfortunately I have come down with a cold. Last Friday I started getting a headache/migraine which lasted all weekend long. I thought it would go away eventually if I did all the right things. Drank tons of water and tea and ate really healthy, unfortunately it stuck around and now it's manifested itself into an ugly cold. I have too much going on at work lately and can't take any time off, so I am stuck in the office until this weekend. I plan on resting a lot throughout the weekend and taking care of myself. Sometimes are bodies tell us that they need some downtime, it is quite unfortunate considering I just started this fitness blog. I hate missing my fitness routines but with this cold, I don't think I would last 10 minutes on a treadmill. 

Yesterday I had a dental appointment. I have not had my teeth cleaned or examined in years so I figured I better make an appointment and stick to my "healthy" year goals. After all the hectic stuff that happened in the first half of this year, Cody and I decided that we would make the rest of this year our "healthy" year. A time for us to take care of ourselves and stop putting off dental and doctor appointments. It feels so amazing to be in charge of your own health. I am actually really proud of myself for sticking to these goals, even though I typically avoid the dentist at all costs. All those tools they use look like something from the medical torture era. In all honesty, it felt good to know that I was in charge of my health and making the right decisions toward a brighter future. Turns out, I only have 2 cavities. I made another appointment for November 2nd to get them both drilled. I am so proud of myself for accomplishing all of my healthy year goals before the end of 2011! I strongly urge you to think about setting a goal and deadline for your healthy year. Being in charge of your own health is so empowering!

The dentist appointment took a little longer then I thought and I did not get home until 6. I headed upstairs to take a long hot shower and wash away the stress of the day. Then I decided to do my first Samhain oracle spread. I know, it's not Samhain yet, but I have 5 oracle spreads that I want to do. One for each week of October! The final oracle spread will be done on Samhain. When I am sick or suffering from an injury, I try to focus on other positive things in my life instead of getting bummed that I can't be in a Yoga class. I am extremely grateful that I have discovered this spirituality and it was nice to spend some time beside my altar last night.

My game plan is to get lots of rest this weekend and hopefully be back on my feet next week! Sometimes when we are sick, the best thing to do is rest and relax so that our body can fully recover. I am a little bummed that I won't be able to meet my goals this week, but I have to listen to my body and it's signals.

Those of you who already know me know that I love to read. I have recently been reading some poetry books. I just had this calling to go to the library on lunch yesterday and pick out some poetry books. I love all types of poetry and it always fills my heart with joy to read it. I am really fascinated with Rumi right now, one of my Yoga instructors turned me on to him and I love the magic in his words. So I thought in the spirit of poetry I would share a few of his works with you. In another poetry book I am reading, my eyes devoured in delight...the poem I share with you below.

"These words a drop,

From love's infinite ocean.

To the world,

thirst-quenching nectar.

To the soul, everlasting live."  

-Rumi 

"Without love, there will be no joy and no festivity in the world.

Without love, there will be no true living and no harmony.

If a hundred raindrops pour down from the clouds to the sea,

without love's doing, a pearl will not form in the deepest waters."

-Rumi

"Of the games of this evolving world, don't be afraid.

Of what is coming to you, whatever your fortune, don't be afraid.

Make the most of this single breath called life.

Don't think of what is gone, and of the future don't be afraid."

-Rumi

Her Kind

By: Anne Sexton

1928-1974

"I have gone out, a possessed witch,

haunting the black air, braver at night;

dreaming evil, I have done my hitch,

over the plain houses, light by light:

lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.

A woman like that is not a woman, quite.

I have been her kind.

 I have found the warm caves in the woods,

filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,

closets, silks, innumerable goods;

fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:

whining, rearranging the disaligned.

A woman like that is misunderstood.

I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,

waved my nude arms at villages going by,

learning the last bright routes, survivor,

where your flames still bite my thing 

and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.

A woman like that is not ashamed to die.

I have been her kind." 

 My Samhain Oracle Spread Last Night.

 My Samhain Altar.

Our Samhain Tree (on the dinner table).

All of my Love,

Jenn Embers

(Fitness Witch)

Happy Tuesday #1

Happy Tuesday! I hope you all have a fabulous day! I went to Hot Yoga last night after work, and our instructor asked us to "imagine if all the world leaders and the American government did Yoga once a day." What a difference this world would be! I especially like the instructor that teaches on Monday, she really pushes us to work hard through our asana's and to challenge ourselves with new poses. I usually do my cardio before my Yoga class, I hop on the elliptical and turn on Netflix on my phone. I love having Netflix on my phone, it's great for working out at the gym. My gym normally is not playing things I would watch on T.V., that's why it's nice to have other options. After Yoga class I headed home and Cody made Pita Pizza's already by the time I had got home, so it was nice not to have to cook. I hopped in the shower while the Pita Pizza's cooked in the oven. Then we enjoyed them while watching the first episode of Dexter for this season! I have been making Pita Pizza's for a couple of years now and it's just a simple recipe I thought up one day while craving a slice of pizza. In all honesty, I have grown to like Pita Pizza's way better then store bought pizza or the pizza chains.

For the past few days, I have been feeling a little under the weather, my throat is killing me and my sinuses are going crazy! Ugh! This is never a good sign. I did not sleep at all last night, I laid awake in bed unable to even swallow. I am feeling a little better this morning but decided to take today as my rest day instead of Thursday. I allow myself one rest day a week where I don't do any cardio or classes, this way I allow my body to soak in the benefits of exercise. I am not going to lie, sometimes it makes me feel  guilty, but in the end I know that I am doing what is right for my body. I am a little bummed I will miss Hot Yoga tonight but I plan on trying to make it for another Hot Yoga class this week. I plan on going home and making dinner and then cuddling up in bed with a good book and sweet slumber. Getting absolutely no sleep last night has made me extremely tired today, and the best thing to do is to listen to my body and the signs it is giving me.

I have studied the benefits of adding rest days to your fitness routine, here's what I have found. Prevents overuse injuries, prevents mental burnout, and prevents glycogen stores. Rest is important because it gives your body time to adapt to the stress of exercise and training. It also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissue.

On my way to work this morning I saw the most beautiful rainbow. I wish I could of taken a picture of it. It reminded me to be grateful for the things that I have and enjoy the small things in life. I don't remember the last time I saw a rainbow, so it was such an enchanting sight to see. Today, I have a lot to do at work but I also need to work on the next article for Pagan Edge Magazine. I have been so busy, I did not realize how close the deadline was getting.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. Some of you may know, I dubbed the rest of this year my "Healthy Year". Mentally this year has wrecked me from the inside out, so much crazy stuff has happened. I decided about 2-3 months ago that the best I could do was turn this year around and focus it on getting physically healthy. I went to the doctor and had my first ever "female" exam. I also got my blood drawn and checked for low levels of vitamins etc. It felt good to take control of my health. Next on my list was go to the dentist. My least favorite thing in the world. After having my wisdom teeth out last year, I must admit I am not excited for this appointment. I know it's part of being healthy, that's why I am forcing myself to go.

Pita Pizza Recipe

Makes 1 Pizza

Ingredients:

1 Whole Wheat Pita

1.5 tablespoons of Organic Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons Reduced Fat Shredded Cheese

6 Slices of Turkey Peperoni

Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Onion

Garlic (Optional)

Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)

Directions:

Set your oven to 400 degrees. Spread organic pizza sauce on whole wheat pita. Chop up your veggies, use as many veggies as you like. I personally love, Bell Pepper, Mushrooms, and Onion on my pizza. I also love fresh garlic on my pizza, this step is optional of course. Place your veggies, reduced fat cheese, turkey peperoni, garlic, and add a bit of crushed red pepper to the top of your pizza. Cook for 10-15 minutes until crispy. Allow the pizza to cool out of the over for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

My Pita Pizza last night! So delicious!

 I am in love with Kashi Go Lean Oatmeal/Hot Cereal. I love Honey and cinnamon flavor.

I love this oatmeal for an "on the go" breakfast. This is what I had this morning for breakfast at my desk. Yum!

 For those of you who love fitness but hate the aches and pains that sometimes follow it, try Stop Pain (found at Wal-Mart). My Mom's doctor recommend it to her and it works amazing. I apply it to my knee's before a run or before Yoga.

 I also love the Mixed Berry Flavor! It's the perfect thing to sip while enjoying your favorite T.V. Show in the evening!

 I also love their organic dark chocolate! I allow myself one piece after dinner in the evening! I love the Dark Chocolate with raisins and pecans!

 But my all time favorite is their Dark Chocolate with Almonds! So delicious! It curbs my "sweet" cravings in the evening.

I try to do an oracle reading every morning. This was my oracle reading from yesterday morning. I love it's message, especially "Visualize Success". I normally keep one oracle deck in my purse through out the week and then change it before the next week starts. This one is Doreen Virtue's Angel Therapy deck. 



Happy Monday #1

Happy Monday! I hope you all are having a fabulous day! So far, my Monday has been prefect. I woke up early at 5AM with Cody and we hit the streets for a walk/jog. I love waking up early and enjoying the world before people are even awake. The sky was lit up with bright stars and white puffy clouds, it was the perfect Fall morning. I am making it a point to stretch a bit before my walk so that I can pick up the pace to a jog. I have previous knee injuries that tend to flare up from time to time, and I am so glad I am finally feeling better. It was nice to jog a bit this morning and breath in the marvelous Fall air. We usually only jog for about 30 minutes that way I still have time to get ready for work and have breakfast when I get back home. Today we went 1.5 miles. I also always wear a heart rate monitor to track my calories burned. I write it all down in my fitness journal and track what I eat throughout the day as well. Studies have shown that writing down what you eat causes you to stay on track and meet your health and fitness goals. 

Tonight after work I plan on going to the gym where I will do 30 minutes of cardio and then a Hot Yoga class. I love Hot Yoga, I always leave class feeling so refreshed. Once I get home, I plan on cooking dinner. Tonight we are having my famous Pita Pizza's. They are delicious! I plan my meals the Sunday before the week starts so that  I have no excuses not to stay on track. I have a white board in my kitchen where I write down each day's meals. The Tone It Up Plan suggests eating 5 meals a day to keep your metabolism revved through out the whole day. Meal 1 is breakfast. Meal 2 is a snack. Meal 3 is lunch. Meal 4 is a snack. Meal 5 is dinner. I love having my meals this way because I never feel hungry, I always feel satisfied. Putting healthy food in my body makes me feel good about my choices. Some of my meals stay the same throughout the week and some of them change.

I am currently reading Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison. I don't do Yoga everyday so it won't be a straight year, but I try to read a chapter each day before Yoga class. Today's quote was "Burning zeal in practice, self-study and study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of Yoga" -B.K.S. Iyengar. Quotes like this used to make me uncomfortable because I don't worship a "God". I finally have come to the conclusion that where some say "God" I say "Divine Spirit". The scriptures I study are in the many enriching spiritual books I read and not a bible. I love this quote because when I am doing Yoga, I too surrender to the Divine Spirit. Yoga class to me is my church, it is where Spirit and I connect most easily. This chapter talked about spirituality in action. Moving my body is me putting my spirituality into action. On the mat, Spirit and I are dancing together. This chapter also talked about remaining open to your own spiritual potential. I love that thought!

So from now on Monday morning is my weigh in day! It will also be the start of my week. So, I will post new goals every Monday morning to stick to throughout the week.

Goals this week:

1) Eat Healthy/Clean Meals. Stick to my meals that are planned.

2) Drink 90oz. + Water Daily!

3) Have 1 cup of Green Tea every day.

4) Stick to my workout calendar for this week. 

5) Track my meals and fitness in my journal. 

6) Start jogging in the morning instead of just walking.

7) Earn 30 + Activity Points.

8) Meditate at least 4 times this week.

9) Do the TIU Office workout at my desk every day (5) days this week.

10) Blog here 5 times this week!

 I love vitamin water! I brought some with me to enjoy during lunch today. I have given up my diet cokes, I hate how unnatural they are.

 Meal 1: Breakfast this morning was Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax with unsweetened Almond Milk.

 Meal 2: Will be around 10AM. I add these strawberries and blackberries to non-fat Greek yogurt! Delicious!

 Meal 2: I love Voskos Non Fat Greek Yogurt. It is so rich and creamy! Even better with added berries!

 Meal 3: Lunch. Shrimp Anti-Pasta. A recipe from the Tone It Up Plan. It is AMAZING! I made a big batch so that I can take it for lunches this week.

 Meal 3: Lunch. Grapefruit with Truvia. I love having fruit after lunch as a sweet treat!

 Meal 4: Luna White Chocolate Macadamia. I have been eating a lot of Lara Bars lately and I love those but my grocery store does not sell them. I have to drive to Trader Joe's to get them. I heard the Tone It Up girls talking about Luna bars and I had to try them! Will let you all know how they taste. 

All of my Love,

Jenn Embers

(Fitness Witch)

Welcome to the Fitness Witch!

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend, I know I have. Most of you know, I have another blog called Abroomandthemoon which is basically focused on my spirituality and the liking. I decided to create this blog because I am a health and fitness guru, I love anything to do with the two and I wanted to share my love of those with you. I am also a Kitchen Witch, I adore cooking. Although I am a very busy person, I am a wife, a mother of 4 cats, and I work full-time, I still try to find time to spend in the kitchen. I love trying new healthy recipes, and I also love cooking all of my favorite go to recipes that I have been using for years. I love to jog, walk, dance, hike, swim, strength train, but my favorite thing to do is Yoga. I have been practicing Yoga for 4 years now and I have a dream to get my Yoga certification in order to teach someday. Yoga inspires me and forces me to focus on the present. 

Just a back story, almost 3 years ago I was planning a 200 guest wedding and living on my own for the first time. I was so stressed between working and planning our wedding that fitness and eating healthy did not seem important. About a year after our wedding, I decided that something had to be done. I laced up my shoe laces and joined a gym, I also signed up for Weight Watchers online. I had great success using Weight Watchers online, I lost 22 pounds. I learned so much about portion sizes and how to cook healthy yet satisfying food. I kept on my fitness and healthy eating regime until I had an unexpected health problem and had to have surgery. I was out of work for a week and since this was a dental surgery, I was unable to eat for a week. By the end of the week I was very weak and uninspired. My pain persisted for about another month and I was unable to get back to the gym right away like I had hoped. The surgery I had was last October and here we are in October once again. This past year has been a rough one. It started out with a horrible sinus infection that took 3 months to leave my body, then our beloved cat Knox passed away, then my Great Grandmother passed away, and I also lost a best friend. Needless to say, this year has been a difficult one. 

I still eat really healthy but I have decided to get back into blogging about my health and fitness adventures because it helps me to stay focused and dedicated. I have been combing the knowledge I gained from Weight Watchers and the Tone It Up Plan which I purchased a few months ago. I love both plans and I have been putting them together to work for me. I try to eat at home as much as possible, that way I can control what goes into my food. 

This blog will be filled with health and fitness information as well as yummy guilt-free recipes. I have been recovering from a knee injury and I think I am finally ready to hit the pavement tomorrow morning. The Tone It Up Plan suggests getting up 30 minutes early and getting some cardio in before work. They call this a "Booty Call" workout! I actually enjoy waking up early and enjoying the world before most people's alarms are even buzzing. My husband and I have been waking up at 5:00AM to hit the streets for our morning walk. I am hoping to step it up to a jog now that my knee's seem to be doing better.

My grocery shopping is done and my meals have been decided for the week. I made up some shrimp anti-pasta to take to work for lunch this week. Can't wait to dig into that tomorrow afternoon. I am going to try to post 5 days a week to check in with you and keep myself accountable. I encourage you to lace up your shoes and join me too, I promse you won't regret it! 

So to give you an idea of what's to come on this blog, here are a few photo's from the last week.

Today, I have spent the day relaxing and enjoying the Fall sun on my patio with a good book. 

 Since it is Sunday Night Football, I made these Veggie Wings for Cody and I for lunch while we watched a game. They are amazing!

 If you have not tried these veggie wings before, I highly recommend them!

 This was from early today, cooking up our veggie wings for football watching!

It has been hectic at work, it's our trade-show season. We got sent a huge box of wine from a client and it was so nice to enjoy it after a long day at the office! (Red of course)

 This is my famous Pita Pizza recipe! So healthy and delicious. We are having this tomorrow for dinner, so I will post the recipe then.

 I made this Chicken Chile Taco recipe from Clean Eating Magazine last week. You top it off with homemade avocado sour cream. Simply amazing!

 This was taken on a Fall walk that Cody and I took this week. Fall is my favorite season, I love how the tree's leaves change color. So beautiful!

I made this tofu stir fry last Sunday for my lunches for last week! Amazing! 

 These are my one of my favorite go to healthy snacks! Snap pea's baked! So yummy, natural and delicious! Plus extra vitamin C!

 This is what I made the Tofu Stir fry in last weekend! My new Wok! My Mom and Steven bought it for me, and I love it! Works great for cooking large amounts of vegetables.

 Every woman should own a Wok! I love mine!

 Cody went surfing this weekend and took these pictures, beautiful!

We live in San Clemente by the beach! 

 Cottons (one of our cats) and I doing early morning Yoga together!

All of my Love,

Jenn Embers

(Fitness Witch)