Oh My Meal Prep!!!!

Whew!!!! Ok so it's Sunday and Sunday means: MEAL PREP DAY!!!! Oh how I have a love/hate relationship with meal prep!! I love it because during the week it's so easy to just grab and go and not have to think about what I'm going to eat! I hate it because, well...it's time consuming! I have been cooking for the past 3 hours and that does not include clean up (the dishes are still staring at me on the counter...and the dishwasher is full...oh joy).

Either way, this week's menu was planned out yesterday and it includes:
- tilapia with quinoa and cabbage
- spaghetti squash with marinara sauce, chicken and sauteed mushrooms and onions with broccoli
- chicken with 1/2 of a sweet potato and broccoli or cabbage (whichever tickles my fancy when it's time to eat it)
I still have a tuna and cranberry recipe that I want to make, but that might have to wait until tomorrow.  I also planned to make egg muffins, but I used all my onions which leaves me with only mushrooms to go in them (blah) so I'm going to have to hit the store for more veggies before I can make those.

So let's begin! This week I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried 3 new items to cook! 1. cabbage (yes, this was my first time making cabbage in life)! 2. quinoa 3. spaghetti squash.  Everything else was pretty much something I've already had or made before so no biggie on how to prep.
I wasn't sure how to make ANY of these foods since it was my first time, so I utilized the best thing to learn how to do just about anything...YOUTUBE! A childhood friend of mine and a few Facebook friends helped with how to prepare the cabbage.

Cabbage is amazing!! It's super cheap (I got mine for $.26/lb #eatcleanonabudget) and it's super yummy!!! I seasoned my pot with pepper, basil, a little sea salt, and a little chicken broth! I boiled mine as well. I think I now have enough cabbage to last me for the next 2 weeks!! One head will yield a large harvest!

Next up is the quinoa! I got tri-colored quinoa from Whole Foods since it was the cheapest! I had never tasted it before so I didn't want to pay too much for it and risk not liking it. Quinoa is a grain that essentially cooks like rice.  You boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of quinoa to the boiling water. Let it simmer until the water is completely gone and viola! The thing with quinoa is that you have to rinse it off first. I decided I would pour mine into a colander to do the rinsing and all of the little tiny quinoas started coming out of through the holes of the colander!!! PANIC SET IN!!! "I bought this stuff from Whole Foods" is what I heard myself shout as I try to quickly stop the quinoa from falling through the holes all over my counter top and into the sink...then down the drain!

So I had to find something else to use....and I found this little (literally) contraption to rinse my quinoa in.  Talk about comedy!! And tedious task because that thing is only big enough to maybe hold a spoon full of quinoa. If you look closely, you can see the quinoa on the sink...those pieces didn't make it into the pot! I poured a little chicken broth into the pot of quinoa to give it a little flavor...I also do this with my rice. My review on quinoa is that it's not bad. It's not the most exciting thing, but not terrible. I'm not sure if the "tri-color" had anything to do with taste or not. Again, this is my first time cooking it and/or eating it.

Spaghetti squash: Ok this was super easy to make as well and it taste really good!! I didn't get a chance to really eat it, but I was able to taste a little bit of it after it finished "roasting".  I learned how to make it via this Youtube video. 

Before

Cut squash in half and clean out all the seeds and pulp in the middle. You can do this with a spoon. 

This was after it was cooked. I'm not sure why it was recommended to put seasoning on the outside of the squash, but whatever..I did what I was told. 

Final product!!!

 Looks just like spaghetti right!? I added the sauce, chicken, mushrooms and onions after I snapped this pic! 

I now have several different dishes to eat for the week! This is when I love meal prep (especially when it's over) and I'm super excited about trying new things! 

Clean up on the other hand....

And this is to put it mildly...I tried to do some cleaning as I was cooking.  Geez...where is Halle Berry when you need her to help with clean up (from Boomerang)????

And now it's time for dinner..and yes...that's a glass of red wine. Meal prep has driven me to drink! LOL j/k! One glass went well with tonight's meal. P.S. I had already started eating before I snapped the pic! 

And all of this has me badly in need of manicure....nail polish chipping like crazy!!! 

So that's this week's meal prep and all it's splendor!! Until next time!! Thanks for reading! 

New Changes

If you haven't noticed already, I've made a few small, yet significant changes to my blog!! I'm really excited about it because when I first started blogging, I didn't think it would be something that would become so important to me! For starters, I decided to change the name of my http address! Romantic Comic was the only thing I could come up with initially, but since I've been blogging for about about 3 months now, I decided it was time to change it to something that was more significant to the actual blog contents.

New name....www.station4inspiration.blogspot.com. I was on the phone with my Bih trying to come up with something different and it seemed like everything was already taken! It was quite a challenge coming up with something, but finally we found a winner!!! Yesssss!!! Not that clever, but whatever, it fits with what I'm trying to do here so there ya go! :)

I also added some enhancements to the overall layout...you like?

Bih provided me with some much needed feedback and said she really liked yesterday's post because I had more pictures and not as many words. I am totally aware that I can be really wordy and some of y'all aren't here for all that! I'm working on it....promise! So expect more pics in the near future!

I also especially liked including my 5 moment memoir in yesterday's post so I will share that with you all every time I post...but just for one day! I initially thought I would catch you guys up and post all my 5 moment memoirs from days that have passed, but Bih told me that was over kill and shut the idea down. See, I need this feedback people! I want y'all to be inspired!! Not overwhelmed with a lot of words!


Yesterday's 5 Moment Memoir...

1.  I sent Ange a thank you card in the mail today for being such an awesome big sister! I can't wait for her to get it! 
2. I took a walk around my neighborhood today while listening to Juanita Bynum station on Pandora. That was my first time taking a walk while listening to gospel music (I'm usually listening to something ratchet to ensure my heart rate stays up...smh). I loved it!!! The sun was setting and the music was really speaking to me! I think I want to start making that a regular thing! 

      3.  Yesterday I signed up for Oprah's 21 Day Meditation Challenge and I love it! I spent my Friday night catching up on my meditations while sipping some red wine. Awesome Friday night-in for me!

      4. I bought a bottle of wine today. First time I've done that in months!! 

      5. I met someone new today who happens to be one of my sorors and a fellow educator! 

Playing catch up

OMG it feels soooooooooooo good to finally have a free moment to catch up and write a post!!! Since my internet/social network fast, I have had so much to blog about!!! Since the fast ended, I have been a little busy this week, but now I am devoting some time to check in with you guys and give you some updates!! 

Ok where shall I begin?? Umm....ok let me say that the fast was amazing for me!!!I will admit it was really hard and I had some moments that I had to use the internet for some business related things, but overall it was so hard because I wanted to get on and blog and update you guys on my Facebook and Instagram account with all the happenings! The first night was extremely tough because I was bored out of my mind. I had to find something to do, so this became my favorite past time...

I think I did more reading in that week than I've done all year! I mean when you have a lot of time on your hands, you've got to do something to entertain yourself, so why not better yourself? I also caught up on lots of my old magazines that I never seemed to have the time to read.  Funny how when you cut out social networking and internet you have so much time on your hands...hmmm. 

Anyway, it was truly a great week because I spent tons of time with God! I signed up for 2 new reading plans on the Bible app on my phone, I finished Monday Morning Choices (finally), and I'm almost done with Be Anxious for Nothing by Joyce Meyer. I plan to finish that very soon...perhaps this weekend! I found some really awesome gems while catching up with my O magazines as well! I'm so thankful that my sister got me this subscription! I never would have thought to subscribe on my own, but Oprah's magazines are such an inspiration! I highly recommend you getting a subscription! In the February issue, there was a segment called "The "Ahhhh" Moment": A Practical Guide to Creating Inner Peace, A Saner Routine, and More Space for Things You Love.  One of the entries that I found to be extremely powerful and I'm including now in my own life is a segment called The Five Moment Memoir.  A girl named Sarah Beauchamp came up with this and it is basically what she describes as her "simple exercise for keeping the faith".  She forces herself to write down five things that happened each day; the highlights and the low lights. Here's an example of my Five Moment Memoir for March 7, 2013:

1. Another snow day and day off from work.
2. The gym was empty today! I love when that happens.  I also burn 702 calories by doing a new workout routine that I found in one of my old magazines!! #score
3. My birthday present from Valena came in the mail today and she got me something extra! A new sermon notes journal!! :)
4. Young Adults Ministry got cancelled tonight due to the snow. I was really looking forward to going too!
5. I finished reading Monday Morning Choices! My next book will be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. A great quote that closed MMC: "The bottom line is that whatever you have learned, whatever you posses, is not yours to keep. It is yours to pass on". "Be willing to share what you know and to mentor those looking for the pathway to success".  Those two quotes really inspired me to keep helping people get fit and eat right! As I learn, I share and encourage others to reach the success that I'm reaching! 

Another awesome thing I stumbled across in O's magazine that I couldn't wait to use the internet to do is the Life Challenges!! Each month it's something different! Right now there is a 21 day Meditation Challenge that I highly recommend you guys signing up for if you haven't already! I've done the meditations for the past 2 days and I have felt so relaxed, at peace, and serene! Here is the link to register so you can get the daily e-mails! 

This week has also been a really awesome health week for me! I had a physical on Monday and my proudest moment was when I got my blood pressure taken! Now I've never been diagnosed with high blood pressure, but my pressure is always higher than most without being considered "high blood pressure".  A typical reading for me would be like 140/90.  I was always told "oh you just have white coat syndrome" or "you work at a school, of course your pressure is up".  But little did they know, that was always the reading and it had been like that for years! I knew it wasn't normal, but no doctor ever considered it a "bad" thing. Although it might not have been bad enough to diagnose, I knew I didn't want it to stay that way.  When the nurse took my blood pressure, it was 122/70!!!!!!!! I was sooooooooooo pumped and proud of this!!! I've also lost a total of 20 pounds since the end of October!!! My doctor was very pleased with my overall physical. It made me feel so good to have a good health report especially since Monday would have also been my mom's 66th birthday.  I am motivated to be healthy and keep my health in tip top shape for as much of it that I can control because I know deadly diseases run in my family. 

On Monday, I asked my girlfriends to wear purple to spread awareness for Pancreatic Cancer in honor of my mom. And of course they supported me and the cause! I'm so thankful for good, supportive friends!! 

Thursday was wear orange for World Kidney Day to spread awareness about kidney disease. My best friend, Jaime's dad died from kidney disease last year so I had to support the cause! 

It's truly been a blessed 2 weeks! Now that I'm back to blogging, I'll be sure to get back on to the regular scheduled program of fitness updates, Worship and Workout Wednesday, and any other thing that happens in my life! Stay tuned......

Much love to you all and thanks for reading!!! 

Workout and Worship Wednesday 3/6/13

Today's Workout and Worship Wednesday is inspired by a Bible verse I read this morning. I am currently doing a plan on the Bible app on my phone to read the whole Bible in one day! One of the passages from today's reading comes from Luke 5:27-39.  I wanted to focus more closely on verse 29-32 though. In the text, Jesus sees a man named Levi who is a tax collector and tells Levi to follow him. Levi agrees and hosts a big dinner at his home in Jesus' honor. At the dinner, Jesus is seated among many other tax collectors and other guests. Tax collectors back in Biblical times were viewed to be bad people. When the Pharisees see this, they question why a man like Jesus would have anything to do with these tax collectors and why is he sitting down to dinner with them? The Pharisees are outraged, appalled, shocked even! They say "why do you eat and drink with these tax collectors and other sinners?" Could you imagine the way this came out of their mouths?? Nose in the air, face scrunched...a look of disdain is written all over their faces. Jesus then says in verse 31 and 32 "healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners"  That is such a powerful point right there!!! Some people believe you have to be wearing your holy halo in order to fellowship and come to God! They think that they are too bad, too sinful, too far gone to ever be accepted. That's not true! God loves you just as you are! Over time and with consistent fellowship, worship, and prayer, you will be transformed! Come as you are and give God a chance in your life! He loves you more than you'll ever know!!

Today's song comes from Tonex.  It's called Make Me Over. I looooove this song!!! Every time I listen to it, it truly ministers to my soul!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! 

And today's workout comes from another great Pinterest find! A friend of mine pinned it and I loved it! It's a great workout to tone up those legs!! We have about 2 more weeks until spring and the legs will be out to be shown off!! I'm so excited for warmer weather that I can hardly contain myself!!! Leg Workout.

I'm signing off for now! I'll get back to you guys next week!! Have an awesome day!! 

A few updates

For the past 7 days, I have been shut off from all media.  No tv and no music. Now I'm not a big tv watcher so that definitely was not even a struggle for me. I go without television on a regular basis and I'm cool with that. As I mentioned before, no music was not so easy!!! On Saturday, I was doing some cleaning around the house and was going crazy because I couldn't listen to music!!! I had a song in my head and really wanted to listen to it so I decided because it was gospel, it wouldn't hurt to listen for just a second.  I felt bad as I started to listen to the song because I was not adhering to the sacrifice. I then turned it off and went back to working in silence. I then came up with the great idea to just listen to an audio version of the Bible and figured that would be alright.  The man who was doing the voice over had the most eerie  voice I had ever heard. He was not making the experience pleasant, so I turned that off as well.  Back to silence I went. Now that I'm coming down to the last day of this, I'm really excited about being able to get back to the music tomorrow.

Tomorrow also marks a new sacrifice which is...dun dun dun dun.....social media and the internet!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!! So that means no facebook, no Instagram, no personal e-mail, no blogging, nada! I will be allowed to check work e-mail, but anything outside of that is off limits! Disconnecting myself from the internet (my favorite past time) and all social media will probably be good for me! I do spend a lot of time on all of my social networks or just surfing the web when I'm bored.  A new devotional book that I just ordered camed in the mail today and I recently signed up on my Bible app on my phone to do a "read the Bible in a year" plan.  I will have plenty of time on my hands to get some reading in and really connect with God without these distractions.  With that being said, I will post my Workout and Worship Wednesday segment today so that you guys will still be able to benefit from that even though I'll be away for the next 7 days! If you want to e-mail me about any questions regarding getting fit, clean eating, etc. go ahead and feel free to e-mail me and I'll get back to you next week! road2bfit@gmail.com


I also want to express how overjoyed I am with all of the support I got from my rededication to God and my baptism post!!! I have gotten the most hits to date from that post alone! That truly shows me that God is really working through me to bring people close to him! I mean out of all the things I post about, that one was the most popular!! I really do hope my journey through life and my testimony is reaching others and making people want to try God for their self! Thank you all for the support and the love!!!

The Rededication

Today marked a very special day!! One of the proudest and most monumental days in my adult life! I was baptized and I rededicated my life to the Lord. About 15 years ago, I was baptized, but this time, I made the decision as a fully aware adult who wanted to publicly declare that Jesus is my Lord and Savior! I blogged about this briefly a few posts ago so I won't go into too much of that again, but I do want to share with you all my joy regarding this moment!

So what does this mean for me? What will life be like now that I've decided to get baptized again? Why even get baptized again? Well for me, this means continuing to live for God and to inspire others to be drawn to God as well.  I tell you, my life has been so amazing since I developed a deeper relationship with God. And this is not about material things or being blessed with everything I've ever asked for. No, not a chance. I have had my fair share of disappointments, set backs, upsets, etc. even AFTER I have developed a relationship with God. 

Over the past couple of years as my relationship with God has grown, I have realized that having the joy and peace that God gives me is so much better than my life before I really knew him. I also don't even desire to live that kind of life anymore. I don't even miss it!  I am so overjoyed and words can't express the feeling I felt today after my baptism. When I first got into the pool, the first thing I thought was "whew this water is cold!" Apparently everyone who was watching below could also read my lips to see that's how I really felt! I was a tad distracted because some of my closest friends were standing in the door way watching and I was looking at them trying to get my mind off of the cold water. 

I had envisioned the moment to be a serious moment where I would reflect on my old self literally dying and when I was brought back up out of the water, I would feel like the new rest of my life was beginning. I came out of the water discombobulated trying to gather myself, and after my pastor wiped my face off, I started smiling when I saw all of my friends looking back at me. Everything happened so quickly, I didn't really get a chance to bask in the moment. When I got in my car to drive home, I felt like I missed the moment.  I was even some what disappointed that I wasn't focusing enough at the time. I got home and continued to listen to music while worshiping God and I shared a picture on Instagram and Facebook of the moment. After so many people liked the picture and commented on how inspiring it was, I started to realize that I do have the rest of my life to live for God. The baptism was a mere second, but it signifies so much more! I felt inspired that I was inspiring other people! I felt humbled that God was using me, someone who would have never imagined this to be happening to me 5 years ago. I felt proud of my decision! I felt God's presence all over me!!  

I heard a quote one time that said something like "I wish I had known God before knowing the Christian".  This essentially means that some people are turned off from knowing God because of how Christians act.  Christians are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).  What we do will either attract the nonbeliever to want to have a relationship with God or will push them away from God. I am hoping and praying that I am attracting people to want a deeper relationship with God! That people will want to know God for their self! That something I say or do will touch someone's life in a way that will give all the honor and glory to God! 

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"

Romans 6:4 

God bless you all! Thank you for reading the Inspiration Station! I hope you have been inspired today! :)

The Power of Choice!

This post may come across as a "duh" post to you, but I feel like it could also help someone! So let's get in to it! Today after leaving the gym, I headed home to enjoy the rest of my Saturday! Of course the first thing I wanted to do was eat!! I had worked really hard during Saturday morning Bootcamp (which for some reason I'm convinced the instructor's goal on Saturdays is to kill the participants) and I also lost another 1.8 pounds since my last weigh in!! That takes me to 19.8 pounds since October!!! I'm not bragging or boasting, but that certainly is a big deal to me!

Anyway, after class I knew food was on the agenda, but I had to decide what I was going to eat. I usually don't do meal prep for the weekends unless I'm traveling since I have more time to figure out what I'm going to eat and more freedom and flexibility to eat things that might not be as quick to put together during the week. My first meal after the gym consisted of a protein shake, 1/2 of a banana, and a handful of almonds. That was cool for a while, then I got hungry again. This time I chose grapes and carrots because I am planning on making something a little more heartier for lunch, but hadn't gotten a chance to do that yet. So I'm looking at my carrots and trying to decide what I'm going to pair them with. I have three options: peanut or almond butter, hummus, or nothing at all. I really wanted the peanut butter because I loooooove peanut butter, but I then realized I already had almond butter with breakfast and almonds in my post workout snack.  I am also planning on making a meal later on that might be a little higher in calories, so I chose the hummus (forget nothing at all).

It then dawned on me that this whole thing is truly about choices.  Peanut butter is great, but it's also a whopping 190 calories per serving.  It's not even noon here yet so I  had to decide what I was going to do to be smart about the rest of my day. I forgot my heart rate monitor at home this morning so I have no idea how many calories I burned during my workout so I don't know how much wiggle room I have today to "indulge" per se.  This concept applies to anything you're eating! There are so many other choices that are just as good and pair well with our food that can be a better option at the time. The hummus I chose only has 30 calories per serving, yet I only had half the serving (15 cals) since I didn't have that many carrots that I was snacking on.

The power to choose also comes into play when you're out to dinner/lunch/etc. I was talking to a friend this morning and she was telling me about her plans for next weekend. She has a dinner lined up just about every night of the weekend for her birthday and she said "I'm going to have to really be careful what I'm eating during the week so I can afford to have more flexibility and freedom this weekend".  Yes!! That's what it's all about!! Being aware of what you're eating and also in a week's time frame. To lose 1 pound of fat/week you have to burn 3500 calories or take in 3500 less than you usually would (cutting 500 calories/day for 7 days is an easy way to do this). If you're taking in more calories than you're burning then you're not going to lose.   Weight loss is science and math, not magic! Making good choices and thinking about why you're doing this is also a way to stay motivated and on track!! To be honest with you, I have found myself asking me regularly "why are you doing this"? I have to ask myself this to keep me in line. I haven't always been this dedicated to the cause, but changing myself and helping others is what truly keeps me going!!

Always remember: if you don't choose, someone or something else will choose for you. In this case, if you just go through life not making these conscious choices, then not meeting your weight loss goals will be the choice that will be made for you!

It's a work in progress and every day isn't perfect, but just keep going!!! When I stepped on the scale today and saw that I was down to 177lbs (first time since like college), I thought about how if I gave up in December, then I'd be looking at March now wishing I had started and kept going back then! It's been almost 5 months and I've come so far that I just can't give up now!!! Keep pushing, keep educating yourself, keep making good choices and you'll be transformed!!