LiveFit, take 2

I really had the best of intentions with the LiveFit plan.  Not surprisingly, the last 2 weeks of December were chock-full of events and holiday celebrations that really derailed even my best laid plans. 

So, I’m really starting over again this week.  I have nothing dramatic planned in January.  No vacations, no parties (unless you count Les Mills launches!) and no reason not to commit to the plan. There’s nothing getting in my way to successfully complete at LEAST Phase I with no interruptions.  That’s 4 weeks of commitment to the program.  I can totally do it. (right?!)

(I will say that even though I didn’t follow the plan to a T, I did incorporate some of the nutrition guidelines throughout the holidays as best I could.  Net result? No holiday weight gain. Two points for me!)

Anyway, last night I went out to the store and stocked my fridge with lots of healthy foods, knowing I was embarking on another Week 1:
-organic chicken breast
-mixed greens with baby romaine
-brussels sprouts
-green beans
-limes
-grapefruits
-organic carrots
-carrot baby food (more on that later!)
-soy milk
-almond milk
-liquid egg whites
-whole wheat pasta
-bananas
-onions

And I already had these on hand:
-tofu
-tilapia
-baby spinach
-flank steak (mmmmm, beeeef)
-quinoa
-brown rice
-clementines
-apples
-oranges

I also bought some new tupperware containers because my stockpile of reused chinese food takeout containers is pretty looking pretty dismal. 

Armed with my arsenal of healthy foods, I started fresh this morning. For breakfast, I made myself an eggwhite, spinach, onion and fat free cheese omelet. 

For lunch, I had some grilled chicken and string beans, and a half a slice of ezekiel bread.

Mid-afternoon snack was greek yogurt and a half an apple. And dinner? Protein, veggies, starch.  Tilapia, broccoli, quinoa

Except, the fish was too, well, fishy.  I think it had been in the freezer too long. Neither of us liked it at all, and neither of us ate it. Ugh. 

So I made do with a couple of protein squares instead of the tilapia.  What are protein squares?  My new favorite snack!  I wish I could take credit for this recipe but alas, I cannot. This recipe is from the LiveFit Trainer website.  Tonight, I made a batch of Carrot Cake Protein bars.  You can get the recipe or watch the tutorial video here. 

My preference, however is to tweak the recipe.  The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup of Splenda, but I really dislike the taste of too much artificial sweetener.  I found that you can get by on just 3 packets of Truvia and it tastes more like a pumpkin bread than a carrot cake, and still super good!  Oh, and I just use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice separately because it’s just more simple.

But the recipe calls for, yes, carrot baby food.  The thing about baby food is that it has zero additives and it’s very smooth.  Perfect for baking!

I cut the pan into 8 bars and wrapped them up into grab & go packets. 

These are pretty much my mid-morning snack every day!  They’re also perfect for the drive home from the gym after a tough workout to get that protein into your system quickly.  Store them in the fridge, though, because they have no preservatives or additives! 

So, day one (again), I’m off to a good start (again) and looking forward to taking you along on this journey (again)! 

Happy Monday!