Sparked up and goin’

It’s no secret I’ve been floundering, so last week I decided not to just wait until January to get serious about fitness again. It’s such an easy thing to do, but I know that if I’m going to make it through the holidays, I need more than six hours of sleep and a cup of coffee to get me through the day. A family friend approached me about doing the Visalus program, which is a 90 day weight loss, get fit program, built around the Visalus meal replacement shakes. Unfortunately, that does not work for me. I am allergic to pretty much any meal replacement bar or shake, as I can’t do whey or soy protein. Still, the offer intrigued me.

I sought out my friend and neighbor, Teresa, fitness instructor extraordinaire, AdvoCare distributor, and all around kick ass woman. I’d heard a lot about AdvoCare, especially their Spark and Catalyst products, and most notably, their 24 Day Challenge, which is a sugar-free cleanse and muscle build program meant to help kick start a weight loss or fitness routine. Teresa did a Challenge when I did my sugar (and gluten and dairy and…) detox at the beginning of the year, and we had lots of notes to compare.

A few conversations and an AdvoCare shipment later, I started my own 24 Day Challenge today. Starting today means that I will finish the day before Thanksgiving. I’m no silly girl, I don’t want to interfere with my favorite holiday! Yes, this means no Halloween candy for me. The six year old inside of me is crying a bit, but the grown woman in me is looking forward to succulent dessert on Turkey Day and will not miss that Snickers bar in the meantime. Not to mention, tackling the holidays with more energy than I have had in years past sounds really fantastic right now.

So far this morning, I have Sparked up, started the cleanse, ate a delicious breakfast and worked out. (And got the kids up, drove the Big Kid to school because he missed the bus, consulted with the teacher for Wednesday’s Halloween party, did some work for my Dad’s estate and vacuumed. Lest anyone believe that by 11:15 am, all I’ve managed to do is eat some food and workout.) After this post and a shower, I’ll be set to tackle the rest of the day.

Sometimes it helps to have your food smile at you. Though this really looks like a zombie breakfast with that face.

The only thing bad about this breakfast is that I (once again) mistook the cumin for cinnamon, so I didn’t have much of a serving of oatmeal, as I prefer mine a little less Tex-Mex. I have to post the recipe for the turkey breakfast patties, because they were Ah-Mazing.  As for my tomatoes, I typically drown them in salt, but today I tried some Mrs. Dash instead. Not quite the same, but still delicious.

And with that, the little Beastie Boy in my life is Fed-Up with my blog posting, so I am done for now. Off to the Showers!

What motivates you to kick start a new routine? I typically need a program of some sort to follow. Something that I spend a few days planning, let my family know, get prepared.

What supplements do you use as part of your daily Being Fit life? There are a million to choose from and no right or wrong answers.

What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Mine is Bacon. Straight up. Unfortunately, no bacon for me for the next 24 days. Even the natural kind has added sugar. Such. A. Bummer. I shall miss you, my little porky love.