31:17 + Grilled vs. Fried

Diet Tip of the Day
I was faced with a tough choice today.  Joe and I decided to order takeout tonight, and I decided on an Oriental Chicken Salad.  The description said fried chicken pieces, so I thought, "ok, I can do this.  Just need to make sure dinners are healthy the rest of the week."  When I called to place the order, I found out I had an option of grilled or fried chicken.  What a tough choice!  The Southern girl in me craved the fried chicken, but I knew to keep the meal on more of the healthy side, I needed to order grilled chicken.

Source: http://www.applebees.com/menu/2-for-20/oriental-chicken-salad

Doesn't the fried chicken just look so delicious?  In the end, I was very satisfied with the grilled chicken, and the oriental dressing was very tasty!  Whenever you order takeout or go to a restaurant, be sure to order your meat grilled for a calorie savings and a flavor boost!

Today's Training

Monday's are normally my rest day, but I decided to make it a strength training day.  Joe was headed to the gym, so I figured I'd go with him to make sure I got some weights in this week.  I decided to do upper body, as I feel I'm neglecting it lately with all this running.  Via Pinterest, I found this 31:17 arm workout:

I loved all of the moves, especially the lift/press move!  I did 12 reps of each exercise with 5-pound weights and worked through them 3 times.  I was feeling it by the end!  Our little apartment gym was so packed that I had to take out the burpees.  I was stuck in a little corner of the gym and barely had enough room to lay down, much less do burpees!  I would also use 7.5 pound weights next time for an additional challenge, but sadly, my little apartment gym doesn't have 7.5 pound dumbbells :(

After completing the upper body circuit, I also added in some core work.  I did 20 bicycles crunches, 20 butterfly crunches, and 25 reverse crunches two times through.  I love working my abs, and these are some of my favorite ab exercises!  Great day of weights, and I look forward to getting back to running tomorrow.

Faith Find

I mentioned the 31:17 arm workout that I did today.  Did anyone look and find out the significance of the 31:17?  By finding that little workout on Pinterest, I have now found a blog of a Christian personal trainer with lots of great recipes and workouts since the 31:17 refers to Proverbs 31:17!  You may hear people talk about the "Proverbs 31 woman."  Have you read Proverbs 31:10-31 before?  It lays out the definition of a wife of noble character.  The charges of that chapter can often be controversial and debated regarding relevance to the times, but to me it talks about how to be a Godly woman.  As I read back through those verses today, Proverbs 31:12 jumped out to me in regards to my goal of loving others this week.  The verse says: "She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."  Loving others brings them good, not harm, each and every day.  There's a connection between being a disciple of Jesus and being of noble character.  As I strive to be a disciple of Jesus, this Proverbs 31 woman thing should fall right in to place.  I love finding connections between the Old and New Testaments :)