Good Tuesday Morning to you all! I'm back from my 3 day weekend! It wasn't exaclty the three day weekend i would have envisioned, but only because I sat at a courthouse most of the morning on Friday. (whomp, whomp, whomp) I was called for Jury Duty, and am basically at their beck and call for two weeks. I have to call every day at 4:30 so see if I need to attend the following day. Talk about NO NOTICE! Kinda crappy, but hey. What can you do?
Anyway, as I said Friday morning in my
Follow through Friday linkup, my package for the
Resolution Revolution that Jess has started sponsoring showed up on Thursday evening. I was so excited!
This special little package had so many fun little goodies! Jess really outdone herself with our first package.
We have everything from the member shirts, to Spark, to Jelly Beans! Yes, I said Jelly Beans! I've decided that I want to review each item in the package that she sent, and let you know what I think, as someone that is actually trying all of these things for the very first time.
This bad boy right here was really yummy. I needed something sweet Friday night after dinner, and so I turned to this. It has fruit, nuts, and oats and stuff and I really enjoyed it. According to their website, heres their description:
"Chewy and naturally tasty, our granola bars satisfy your sweet and wholesome sides. With whole, roasted almonds, succulent, sun-dried fruit, toasted sunflower seeds and a touch of wildflower honey, our Trail Mix granola bars have 4g of fiber* and 6g of protein.
Naturally, you won't find any partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial anything but what you will find in our chewy granola bars is just what you'd expect from Kashi® — pure ingredients, and natural goodness you can see as well as taste"
While I agree that it was tasty, and it does taste natural, it wasn't exactly what I would call chewy. Yes, I had to chew, no I didn't have to crunch down on it. It was still very good. Just enough "chew" to make me not regret opening it, and solid just enough that it felt "healthy" to bite into.
As for the nutrition info, here is the breakdown:
As someone that is doing the counting calories thing, I would definatly sacrafice 140 calories for this again. It was yummy, satisfying and well worth it. I even like how they print the "Exchange" rate on the package for Diabetics. Very handy.
Next up is the Mango Strawberry Spark by Advocare.
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While I do not know a ton of stuff about Spark, I do know that it has been around for YEARS... I remember my mother trying to make me drink the stuff when I was around 10, and at that time, they only had an orangy-citrus flavor. And it. was. terrible. HAHA! I do have to have to admit that this was much more appetizing than it used to be. The directions say to mix it with 8oz of water or juice, and mix well. I like a little bit of a strong flavor, so I only added 6oz and while I enjoyed the flavor (and so did my 8 year old) it didn't quite have the kick that I was looking for on Friday. In taste or energy. There was no "grit" when drinking it, nor was there an aftertaste at all. I REALLY liked that. However, at 5:15 in the evening, I found myself lacking energy, and realized that I dozed off. That's really the only, but main, downfall in my opinion. Here is the description from the
Advocare website.
"AdvoCare Spark Energy Drink Mix is a unique multi-nutrient system that was developed as a nutritional source of energy and enhanced mental focus.* It's a sugar-free drink mix that has more than 20 vitamins, minerals and nutrients that work synergistically to provide a healthy, balanced and effective source of energy that won't overburden or overstimulate your body like other energy drinks on the market.* This amazing product serves as an all-in-one solution that gives you a quick boost of energy that lasts for hours.* With eight refreshing flavors (Watermelon, Mango Strawberry, Pink Lemonade, Grape, Mandarin Orange, Fruit Punch, Cherry and Citrus), you're sure to find one that's perfect for you. And the best part? Only 45 calories in each serving!"
I currently take a simmular vitamin supplement by Zeal for Life.
Zeal Wellness is a vitamin supplement taken once daily, usually in the morning, and it gives you your daily value of needed vitamins and minerals. And for the extra "energy" kick that everyone needs, it's got Guarana in it. A natural supplement like caffine, but much healthier.
Here's the vitamin breakdown of the two side by side.
| Ingredients/Facts | AdvoCare Spark® |
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| Serving Size | One Pouch 8 fl. oz. |
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| Servings per Container | 1 |
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| Calories | 45 |
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| Total Fat | 0 |
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| Saturated Fat | 0 |
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| Cholesterol | 0 |
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| Sodium | 0 |
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| Potassium | 0 |
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| Total Carbohydrates | 11g |
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| Sugars | 0 |
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| Protein | 0 |
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| Vitamin A | 20% |
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| Vitamin C | 300% |
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| Vitamin E | 100% |
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| Thiamine | 200% |
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| Riboflavin | 200% |
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| Niacin | 300% |
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| Vitamin B-6 | 750% |
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| Vitamin B-12 | 750% |
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| Pantothenic Acid | 500% |
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| Zinc | 20% |
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| Total Caffeine | 120mg | |
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Amount per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 48
Calories from Fat 12
Total Fat: 2g 3% Saturated Fat: 0.33g
Trans Fat: 0.00g
Sodium 1mg 0%
Potassium 109mg 3%
Total Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 3.5g 14%
Sugars 3.5g
Protein < 1g 1%
Vitamin A 5,000 iu 100%
Vitamin C 60 mg 100%
Iron 15 mcg 1%
Vitamin D3 1,000 iu 250%
Vitamin E 30 iu 100%
Thiamin (B1) 1.5 mg 100%
Riboflavin (B2) 1.7 mg 100%
Niacin 10 mg 50%
Vitamin B6 8 mg 400%
Folic Acid 200 mcg 50%
Vitamin B12 96 mcg 1,600%
Biotin 300 mcg 100%
Pantothenic Acid 10 mg 100%
Phosphorus 54 mg 6%
Magnesium 12 mg 3%
Zinc 1.5 mcg 1%
Manganese 224 mcg 10%
Tocotrienols 700 mcg +
Omega 3 Fatty Acids 60 mg +
Omega 6 Fatty Acids 1,155 mg +
Inositol (IP6) 10.5 mg +
Gamma Oryzanol 17.5 mg +
Phyto Sterols 29.4 mg +
Beta Sitosterol 14.7 mg +
Okay... maybe not side by side, but close enough. I'm not as good at cutting and pasting just yet. LOL.
Anyway, draw your own conclusions. I'm not pushing anything on ya. But... I'm probably going to stick with my Zeal. Even though I love that Spark has so many more flavor options. Zeal only offers Mixed Berry (what I drink) and Grape. (what my son prefers)
I also received my water jug that I won from Valerie last week! Whoot! Talk about some serious drinkage! Lol! Ive started using it this week, and my goal is to be up to one whole jug by this weekend. Wish me luck!
More on the goodies I received and about the weekend later, but for now... What motivates you to get your water intake each day? What pointers can you give someone who NEEDS to drink it, just isn't motivated, or hates water?
