dr oz – GRIT By Brit

Dr. Oz Weekend Juice Cleanse Confessions

July 21, 2013 1 Comment

Hey gang! So a few days ago I completed the Dr. Oz & Joe Cross 3-Day Weekend Juice Cleanse. This is the second cleanse I’ve tried this year, and overall, I had pretty positive experience. I only lost 1 pound, but I do feel clean and lean. Here are my confessions…

For starters, this cleanse was A LOT harder than the than the Dr. Oz DRINK cleanse. During the day, I was quite hungry which kind of sucked. As I mentioned in a previous post, juice has hardly any fiber and lots of sugar which triggers hunger. Controlling my hunger during the day was really hard on the first day but got better on the 2nd day. On a positive note, it made me drink more water and realize that I don’t really need that much food to get through the day. It’s crazy how often I eat just because I’m bored, not because I’m really hungry.

On that note, the cleanse allowed for 1 solid food meal for dinner every day. The meal could only consist of fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, I tended to go to overboard on this meal (yikes). I think it was because I was hungry and eagerly anticipating real food. Needless to say, my portions got a little out of control. I probably would have had better results with the cleanse if I ate a smaller dinner and didn’t stretch out my tummy so much.

juice cleanse

Since I was traveling for work and had to buy my juices, I had to be very conscious of choosing “good juices.” Just because a juice is “all natural” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you. Also, veggie juice is MUCH healthier than fruit juice – it has more fiber and protein and less sugar. If you are interested in doing this juice cleanse, but don’t have the time to go shopping all the time, then it might be a good idea for you to check out something like this Cashcoup site. However, just make sure to double check that the juice will be okay for you and your cleanse. I had to make sure my juice purchases met my 3 criteria:

All natural
No added sugar
Fresh pressed/squeezed (not from concentrate)

Believe it or not, it’s REALLY hard to buy juice off-the-shelf meets this criteria. BUT, I did find one that passed the test and also tastes great. It’s “Sweet Greens” by Evolution fresh – I highly recommend it!

All in all, the juice cleanse was an interesting experience. Will I do it again? Probably not. But I may start substituting fresh pressed juice for a meal every now and then, as it can be a good way to slim down quickly for a big event or something. Have you a done a juice cleanse before? What was it like for you? Please do share your words of wisdom 🙂

Hope you have a great week ahead. Love you tons! xoxo, Brit

Just for Fun

Dr. Oz 3-Day Weekend Juice Cleanse Challenge

July 14, 2013 6 Comments

Image source: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/joe-cross-juice-cleanse-recipes

Today is my 29th birthday – woo hoo! I’m so blessed to have completed another year of life and am grateful for good health, a great family and a hobby that brings me so much joy! In honor of my b-day, I’d decided to bring in my 29th year on a FRESH and CLEAN note. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I’m starting a new cleanse, which was inspired by the Dr. Oz Weekend Juice Cleanse with Joe Cross. Since I had so much success with the Dr. Oz Detox Cleanse (you can CLICK HERE to read my full review) , I decided to keep the momentum going by trying another cleanse.

Unlike the Dr. Oz Detox Cleanse, this cleanse is a JUICE cleanse. That means I need a juicer, as I can’t use my blender for this cleanse. HOWEVER, today I went to Target to buy a juicer and realized they were out of price my range right now…the cheapest one I found is $79.99. What if I don’t like the cleanse? Then I’ll be stuck with a juicer that I never use.

SO, I made up my own version of the cleanse using some ready-made, all natural, no sugar added juices and I also plan to buy some fresh squeezed juices from Whole Foods or Central Market over the next 3 days. Essentially, I plan to have 4-5 servings of juice each day to replace my meals. Then for dinner I’ll have one solid meal every evening, just like the Dr. Oz cleanse. However, dinner must consist of only of fruits and vegetables. And as icing on the cake (mean joke – I know) , I’m going to make sure that my dinners are RAW! So I’ll only eat fresh, raw produce and maybe steam my veggies if I want something hot.

As a fitness professional, I wanted to share a few facts with you about Juice cleanses vs. Smoothie/drink cleanses.

Juice does not contain the skin of the fruit or vegetable
Smoothies have more fiber and tend to be more filling
Juices tend to be high in sugar and low in protein and fiber (which I’m a little nervous about)

Now let me be clear, I’m typically an “anti juice” person because I believe that juice is nature’s reward for EATING your fruits and veggies. However, there are many benefits to juicing. Just a name a couple…

Juice absorbs in the body faster, so it’s an efficient way to get vital vitamins and minerals
Juice is a tastier way to consume fruits and veggies that you don’t typically like
Juice is less likely to cause upset stomachs, like smoothies which sometimes have too much fiber

For more information about differences between juices and smoothies, check out this post by my “Fit Friends” over at Sporty Afros: http://sportyafros.com/nutrition/differences-in-juicing-and-smoothies/

Grit by Brit WARNING – Juice cleanses tend to have very little protein. So, I’m not going to lift weights or do super high intensity workouts over the next 3 days while I’m on the cleanse, as I don’t think my body will have enough protein to repair my muscles. If you engage in high intensity workouts and weight training, like me, you may want to do the same.

This is my first time to try a juice cleanse. Hopefully, some of you decide to try it along with me! Have you done a juice cleanse before? How did it go? I’ll be back in a few days to share my results. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @GRITbyBrit for progress updates! Until then…

Wishing you health, happiness and BIG RESULTS! xoxo, Brit

Inspiration & Motivation

3-Day Detox Cleanse by Dr.OZ

May 12, 2013 36 Comments

So, some of my best friends have been ranting and raving about the great results they’ve had with the Dr. Oz Juice Cleanse. Have any of you tried the cleanse before? Were you successful? Obviously, I have serious FOMO (fear of missing out) and have to try it for myself. I already went shopping and bought all of my ingredients (see pic below).

I’m especially excited about bathing in Epsom Salt every night! Growing up, my mother (a true country woman) would ALWAYS make me bathe in Epsom Salt to help soothe mosquito bites, achy muscles or open scrapes from playground accidents. No matter the issue, an Epsom Salt bath was her go-to cure.

What’s really interesting about this “cleanse” is that the drinks actually include A LOT of food. I spent $90 at Central Market today buying all of the ingredients. If you look closely at each of the drinks, they each include almost 4 full servings of fruits and veggies – that’s AMAZING! I have a feeling that the drinks are going to be very filling 😉

Also, I’m infatuated with Coconut Oil right now. I like to use it on my skin and in my hair for deep conditioning, but never have I ingested it. This will be a first. Last, the almond butter, almond milk and flax seeds are nice additions to help ensure I get sufficient protein Altogether, this cleanse is HEALTHY, BALANCED and LEGIT according to GRIT by Brit!

Follow me on Twitter @GRITbyBrit for my pictures and progress updates over the next 3 days. Also, please share your cleanse stories if you’ve decided to try it too!

Hope you had a great weekend – CHOOSE to have a great week ahead!