My Food Staples

In trying to eat a low-carb, high protein diet, there are a few foods I simply cannot live without. They make this, well, almost easy. What are some of your healthy staples? 

This is what breakfast looks like most mornings:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And starting with 2 eggs is important to me. On days that I don't have time to scramble them myself (read: when I oversleep), I grab 2 of these on my way out the door. Packages of 24 pre-boiled, pre-shelled eggs are about $4 at Costco.

Making time for Steel Cut Oats mid-week? Almost impossible.
These oatmeal "pucks" microwave in 2 minutes and are pre-sweetened, but not overly so.
There are 4 to a  package.

And lunch:

 

This Poppy seed dressing is available in the refrigerated section. (I've only seen it at Target.)
But for 15 calories and  4 carbs, it's an almost-daily staple.

I'm not picking when it comes to brand on these. I've eaten enough carrots for a lifetime.
Instead, I now eat these peppers with Fresh & Easy's plain hummus for a great lunchtime snack!

Two alternative dressings that are excellent low-carb options.
The sesame ginger is great for Asian-inspired meals.

Basically, I love this. It's like Strawberry Milk
and I think it's utterly delicious!

Consistency

Consistency is one of the hardest things about obtaining our optimum health. It can be so easy to get sidetracked! This month, a friend was in the hospital for a week and I attended my grandpa's funeral out of state. (And I read a great new book!-that's another 3 days...) Sometimes, relationships are more important than a gym workout. However, I'm still trying to find ways to make my health a priority and to not put that on the sidelines too often. Sometimes I'd rather be social than work out, but unfortunately, that  translates into not being fit, either. Making healthy choices in any situation is really key.
Overall, in June, I finished half of my Phase 2 workouts. I feel like I've climbed this same mountain for months, so I'll definitely be finishing it up this month!! I also dived into some carb-laden treats from Trader Joe's to celebrate summer. But I'm starting to feel it on my waistline, and I don't want to undo all my hard work. It's good to have an occasional treat, but not six a day!
How's your summer going? Successes? Roadblocks? What are your goals for this summer?
I'm adding 30 minutes of cardio to my mornings to help get my metabolism going in the mornings. I'll keep you informed!

Phase 2 Jamie Eason Live Fit Trainer

So really, I can't call this a true "beginning," but I didn't take any pictures when I first started doing Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer 6 months ago. I haven't been too consistent at Phase 2, so I'm starting over. The plan for this blog is to spend 30 days seeing just how a certain workout improves or changes my body. The idea started when I began to be overwhelmed at all the possibilities and my desire to try everything at once.  It took a good (and perhaps more reasonable) friend to suggest a more linear approach. Which seems like an excellent idea.
For now, the plans include Phase 2 & Phase 3 (which may take a few weeks longer than 30 days to complete all the workouts), a month of Crossfit, one of Body Envy, one with Fitness Trainers, one of Boxing, and possibly a month of swimming and yoga. Any ideas would be welcomed. I'm excited to see where these months lead!
If you'd like to follow my diet, which is also crucial to these changes, I'm on myfitnesspal.com, username christinmarie.

These are my "before" pictures, taken today:

This is my favorite so it gets to be the biggest

My roommate told me I should look as big and
 as miserable as possible for my before pictures. 

This is me poking out me stomach for the same reason

I have it on good authority that my back is
actually more defined than it appears in this picture.

And this is what "sucking in" aka "flexing" can do