Okay Principle number 3... Moderation and Balance in ALL things.
When I was in College I was still a workout queen but I didn't eat a balanced diet and as a result I gained my freshman 20. I would eat pretzels for dinner and chug down some water and think I was being healthy, but as a result of poor diet I began to fail in other areas of my life. I often felt tired or mad at myself for eating food that did very little for me, this type of thinking spiraled into other areas of my life and it made for an unhealthy, unhappy life.
It wasn't until I met my best friend, who later became my husband, when I realized how unbalanced my life had become. He showed me balance in all things spiritual, physical, mental, etc. When I discovered that balance I was dropping pounds and returned to my normal self!
If there is an area of your life that seems out of balance you may see it manifest around your waist line. Figure out what's not balanced and then do all that you can to balance it. Look at what you're eating every day, when you sit down to a meal and look at your plate...is it balanced with complex carbohydrates, protein, and good fat? If not add or take away something until it is balanced. Do you take time out of your day to read scriptures, exercise, and meditate or pray? How much time do you spend on your cell phone, Facebook, gaming, T.V. reading novels? There is always enough time to do what's most important, you just have to make it a priority before anything else.

Time to take a break and do a little exercise! :) your favorite part of my blog right?!?!?! Lunges baby! Feel the burn and be grateful for it :) Do 50 lunges, and be sure that your knee doesn't go past your toes.

Today's recipe uses protein rich, low fat black beans:

Black Beans
1 pound dry black beans (2 cups) 1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, chopped 1 T Salt
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed 6-8 cups water
1 T cumin
Rinse beans. Cover with excess water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain. Add fresh water to cover; add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer and cook 1 1/2 hours or until tender.

Now what to do with them now that they're cooked...
-Blender up the beans with some of the liquid and make bean burritos out of them, buy or make whole grain tortillas, serve with cheese, salsa, avocado, etc. Serve your burritos with a green salad or some other kind of veggies.
-Cook some brown rice and serve the beans with their liquid over the rice, top with lots of salsa.
-Make a taco salad with corn chips or tortilla chips, lettuce, cheese, olives, salsa, plain yogurt (instead of sour cream), black beans, avocado, etc. Remember go easy on the chips! MODERATION!
-Use the beans to make chili.
Note: I like to double the recipe so I can freeze left overs for a quick dinner another night.
Enjoy! Let me know what you think.