A New Favorite

 I had to take a business trip to Florence, KY (near Cincinnati) recently.  The plan was to have lunch at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, but as I was walking toward the restaurant, I noticed Bibibop Asian Grill.  Hmm??  What's that about?  I decided to check it out.

Basically, it's like a Chipotle, only with Asian food.  They have fresh ingredients, and you can get healthier options like broccoli, kimchi, and sweet potato noodles.  I went for the purple rice, broccoli, kimchi, Korean BBQ, purple cabbage, and black beans.  It was very good.  I found a new favorite while travelling 😉

Too much sodium intake is always a challenge when eating away from home.  I'm sure this place isn't low sodium, but it's better than McDonald's!!

A Favorite Cereal

I enjoy a good cereal to fill in the missing calories when I'm having a breakfast smoothie.  The problem is, most standard cereals are packed with added sugar.  For instance, Cocoa Puffs and Honey Nut Cheerios both have 12g (3 sugar cubes) per 1 cup of cereal, and I suspect that is on the low end if you examined some of the other cereals that are available.  

Sandra and I also eat gluten-free, so finding a healthy cereal can be a challenge.  Recently, we came across Seven Sundays brand cereal.

With real ingredients like sunflower protein, dates, etc., this GF cereal is both tasty and fairly healthy.  It has 1g of added sugar and 5g total (dates make up the other 4g).  Fiber is 3g/serving.  Not bad, and protein is at 5g/serving.  It's only 170 calories per cup, so it makes a perfect filler for a breakfast that needs "just a bit more."  It's also a great snack.  I like the cocoa flavor best, but the cinnamon is nothing to turn your nose up at.  

We try to get 25-30g of protein per meal and 5g of fiber per meal, so little wins like this cereal help!

Perfect Morning to Run

 The thermometer hovered around 62F this morning.  That's good running weather for August if you ask me!  After numerous mornings of "feels like" 85F, I was lovin' my cool morning run 🏃

I did 3 miles this morning, but my tracker didn't pick up the whole thing, so it showed up as 2.76 miles.  

This verse stood out to me as I read my Bible the other morning ...

"He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich."  

Proverbs 21:17

Living above one's means and "having it all now" are common themes in today's society.  People can't stand to miss a pleasure or forego a luxury.  Credit card companies are loving the money made from all the debt that's being racked up on credit cards.

Have you heard the saying, "He has money because he doesn't blow money"?  This verse reminds us all to be content and to live within our means.  I don't need to have a new pleasure every day.  I don't need what my neighbor has.  So many people are running around acting rich and "buying" things, but it's so superficial because they can't afford what they are buying and they don't even own it truly.  

Live simply, expect less, give much.  God is good, and He supplies my every need.

Lessons in Waiting

Sandra and I have been listening to the same audiobook that deals with the subject of waiting upon the Lord.

The book mentions Psalm 40:1.

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry."  I like how David arranged the wording of his prayer.  He doubled the Hebrew word for "waited" by coupling both the verb and infinitive forms together so that the idea is this ...

"I waited ... and waited ... and waited for the LORD ... ."  David was deeply focused upon his God Who he knew would not fail him.  What happened?  God was inclined toward David and heard him!

If you're a child of Christ who's going through a tough time of trial and waiting, don't be discouraged.  Keep seeking God.  Keep looking to Him.  Keep waiting on Him.  Keep letting Him grow your spiritual "muscles."  Keep letting Him make you more like Jesus.

Exercise this morning was a series of bodyweight moves.  I worked 40 seconds and rested 20.  This is a common time interval for me.  They say that 40-45 seconds of time under tension is optimal for muscle growth and strengthening.  The circuits consisted of pushups, single-leg squats, bodyweight rows, pull-ups, lunges, sit-ups, crow-pose (hand-stand with knees on elbows), and jump squats.

Sandra made an amazing dinner of pork noodle stir-fry with veggies.  Delish!!

Bodyweight Exercise

 The beauty of bodyweight exercise is obvious.  It doesn't require any equipment for the most part.

Recently, I've been reminded of the benefit of this type of workout. To add a little something new, I made handles suspended from heavy rope so that I can do bodyweight rows. 

Normally, you'd do rows with dumbbells, but bodyweight rows add an extra challenge. 

I attached them to my pull-up bar. This movement provides counterbalance to the pushup motion. 

Here's a sample bodyweight workout.  Give it a try!

40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest

Pushups (as many as you can in 40 seconds)

Squats

Rows

Lunges

Hollow body hold

Repeat this  circuit 3 or 4 times.

If you have a pull-up bar, use that for a round instead of rows.

Having a Fixed Heart

 "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD."  Psalm 112:7

I have noticed, that when my mind wanders from the things of God, I find myself anxious, disturbed, angry, or upset in some way; however, when I get into the Bible and fixate my mind on the things of Jesus Christ, I am calmer, more focused, and more loving and caring toward others.

Where's your trust?  Where does your mind spend most of its time?  Here's a friendly challenge.  Keep your Bible in front of you every morning or evening.  Memorize a small piece of Scripture.  Remember that, if you are a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, you are a missionary here.  This isn't our permanent home.  Every believer in Jesus Christ is destined for a much better future.

"O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee."

Sandra and I discovered that Tropical Smoothie Cafe will make any smoothie without the added sugar.  This is good news because I travel for work, and I'm always on the lookout for healthier options.  Anyway, their website lists the ingredients in each smoothie, so I made my own knockoff the other day.

It's called a Chia Banana Boost.  I can't remember the exact ratio of ingredients that I chose, but it went something like this ....

1 tabls of chia seeds

1.5 frozen bananas

3 tabls of natural peanut butter

almond slices

1/4 cup rolled oats

cinnamon

3 smaller dates (pitted)

1 serving of collagen (added 10g of protein)

It wasn't bad.  It enabled me to get some chia seeds in which I don't often do.  It ended up being about 27g of protein.

Psalm 112, Strength/Cardio Mix, and Tracking Down Electrical Issues

"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion."  

Psalm 112:4, 5

No matter how dark life gets, I will always have the light of Christ in my life.  Because my God is gracious, I want to choose gracious behavior.  Because my God is full of compassion, I want to choose an attitude of compassion.  Because my God is upright, I want to be upright, even though uprightness is becoming less popular (even in professing Christian circles).

I appreciate the instruction and encouragement of these verses.  It's good to lend and share what God has given to me.  Putting others first and being generous are great antidotes for bitterness and selfishness.

Today's workout routine consisted of a run that mixed strength and cardio.  I started off with a 3-minute warmup session and then performed 8 pullups.  

I followed this with a 12-minute run after which I did 20 pushups and 20 air squats.

I followed this with another 12-minute run and then did 20 more pushups, 10 chin-ups and 15 crunches.

After all that, I did a 5-minute cooldown session.

My work took me to a tractor far out in the middle of nowhere.  I followed the GPS on my phone to the "edge of forever" and then turned left into a hay field.  After 2 hours of testing, I found a power wire that had high resistance somewhere in the harness.  Solution?  Replace the harness.  By the time you spend the labor to expose and test the harness, you may as well replace the whole thing.

A Simple Day ... Simple Thought

Today began with a lower body workout.  I did 3 sets of the following with minimal rest between moves.

- Walking Lunges (12/side)

- Box Jumps (10)

- Suitcase Squats (8)

- Bulgarian Split-Squats (8/leg)

- Goblet Squats (10)

I did 3 rounds of these moves with 1 minute of rest between rounds.

I warmed up for 5 minutes first and cooled down for 5 minutes afterwards.  That is very important, especially when you aren't 20 anymore!

The rest of the day was spent answering questions about machinery and helping co-workers get their projects up and running while studying for Fuel Diagnostic classes that I have to teach this week.

While preparing for Sunday School last week, I reviewed Psalm 112.  I was encouraged by this Psalm.  I had memorized this Psalm in the past, so I decided to review and re-memorize it.  The man who lives in God's righteousness is a blessed individual.

I have committed the first 2 verses to memory.

"Praise ye the LORD.  Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in His commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed."

Simple thought ... I am grateful for God's righteousness that has been imparted to me through faith in Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Steady State Run and Protein with Produce

 5 minute warm-up, 25 minute run, 5 minute cool-down 

I followed this up with 20 pushups, 20 squats, and 8 pull ups, 20 pushups, 15 lunges per leg, and 8 more pull ups.

I needed to start the day with some cardio and strength because it was a long day of driving.

Sandra and I visited Burger and Bowl and the food was amazing.  My bowl had riced cauliflower, roasted chickpeas, summer squash, broccoli, roasted Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and a tangy sauce. I added a 4 ounce beef patty. 

We enjoyed a 5.5 mile walk that day. 

A Nice Start to the Day

The temperature was in the 60s this morning. I enjoyed opening the garage door and doing my workout in the fresh air.  

Today's workout incorporated light weights (12 pounds each) for strength moves and bodyweight cardio moves.

I followed this with my favorite chocolate banana smoothie.

I tweaked this recipe a bit.  It had ...

3 tablespoons of almond butter

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup riced frozen cauliflower

1 frozen banana

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Dash of vanilla

Topped with raw cocoa nibs

This yields about 15 grams of protein.  The muffins had 5 grams each, so that gets you to the desired 25-30/meal for adults.

Before any of this, I spent some time in I Chronicles. I was reading about David's mighty men. They were his top warriors, and each one had a strong loyalty to David (Joab's loyalty was unconventional). How much stronger should my loyalty be to God? 

It's Been Awhile

Time has gotten away from me.  It's planting season, and when you're in the agricultural industry, planting season and harvest are the two busiest times of the year.  Anyway, enough excuses.

Today's workout was upper body.  I did two rounds of the following ...

Pull ups

Dumbbell rows

Dumbbell chest presses (use a loop band wrapped around your back to make it harder)

Pushups

Overhead presses

Curls

Tricep extensions

This was followed by one set of ...

Lateral biased rows

Pushups

Reverse fly

Curls

Tricep extensions

Movement is a gift of God and we ought to use it.  If you're looking at these exercises and thinking "I can't do that," just remember that you can modify any of these moves to fit your needs. Grab a light resistance band or some soup cans and just do what you can.

Or skip this entirely and just take a walk.  Walking is an amazing form of exercise, if not the best.

Sandra introduced me to a new running app called Just Run.  It's not fancy at all.  It simply gets you moving and works you up to the point where you can run 3 miles or 30 minutes without stopping. I was already to that point, but I enjoy having an app to shake things up for me.  

I was reading in I Chronicles chapter 1 and 2 today.  It's not the most exciting part of the Bible, but I was reminded of the fact that Joab, David's captain, was the cousin of Amasa. If you recall, David tried to replace Joab with Amasa, but Joab killed Amasa. 

The human heart is a wicked thing, and it can't be trusted.  My heart isn't any better than Joab's. I need to stay close to God, because I have the same selfish, prideful heart as Joab. By the way, life didn't go well for Joab.