Detoxing With The Blueprint Cleanse
Last week I did something so unlike me. I decided to go on a three day juice cleanse. Now I’m not a fad diet person and I don’t typically jump on the bandwagon when it comes to trends but this one sucked me in. Why? Well I’ve been hearing about this company called Blueprint Cleanse on various blogs for over a year now and I was curious but not enough to order. I’ve often pondered the benefits of juicing, I used to love those Jack Lalanne informercials, but my lack of willpower kept me from finding out more. It wasn’t until I read about my pal Heather Park’s journey with BPC that I finally took the plunge.
Heather wrote on her blog about a feeling of clarity and lightness. She talked about how the cleanse changed her relationship with food and how it made her want to research becoming a raw foodist. For a carnivore like her, that’s a huge statement. All these things intrigued me and became the final push I needed to place an order. I realize that this isn’t a typical post for me but so many people on Twitter and Facebook showed interest in hearing about my experience that I decided to share it here. If you scroll past this post, you won’t hurt my feelings but those of you who are curious, read on! |
A little background
Due to a back injury when I was 23, I’ve been very limited in the types of exercise I can participate in. Therefore my health and weight rely heavily on my ability to regulate my diet. That means my head and stomach are in charge, two things that are diametrically opposed. I never had a particularly healthy diet but thanks to staying active I had an average, athletic build. Over the years my lack of cooking skills and motivation in the kitchen have contributed to added pounds. So now I’m a bit more, um, wobbly than before. In the past year I’ve incorporated more fresh fruits and veggies to my diet but I needed a kick in the butt to make a permanent change. It was my hope that doing a cleanse would help jump start that.
About Blueprint Cleanse
The main point of a cleanse is to help detox your system and unlike a lot of cleanses I’ve read about, BPC is all juice, not days of water with lemon & cayenne pepper. Blueprint Cleanse is a six juice per day cleanse that can be ordered in varying lengths and levels. They sell cleanses in 1-3 day packages but you can also order a month unlimited. The three levels can be thought of as beginner, intermediate and advanced and their website does a nice job of breaking down the type of person who should order each level. Being that red meat was a regular staple in my diet, I chose the introductory level, Renovation.
Now let’s not kid ourselves, a cleanse like this is EXPENSIVE. Granted they’re putting twenty pounds of produce into each day’s juices and overnighting the shipment but this is definitely not for the budget conscious. In fact, even though I’ve been curious to try this cleanse in the past the boyfriend was not on board with the cost. It wasn’t until I received a one day cleanse gift card at an event last February that he finally caved. ps this is not the boyfriend being controlling. We share money and make decisions on spending together.
The Pre-Cleanse
BPC suggests you cut out meat, dairy, starchy carbs and caffeine a few days before starting the cleanse to prepare your body. They even warn against “adios to meat” dinners the night before your juice arrives saying you’ll be an unhappy camper if you do. That scared me enough to stick to it and since I’m a big fan of green veggies and fruit anyway it wasn’t hard for me to do. Plus, I gave up caffeine years ago so I didn’t experience any withdrawal symptoms. For two days prior I ate spinach salads with avocado, watery fruits like watermelon and some lightly steamed veggies, drinking plenty of water and decaf green tea in between. I was ready to get to cleansing.
The Cleanse
My BPC package arrived bright and early at 9am, all the juices packed with gel freezer bags to keep them cold. I unpacked my 18 juices into the fridge and got to it. BPC recommends starting your day with a glass of warm/hot water so I already had that in my system when the juices arrived. Here’s what a day on the Renovation level looks like.
from l-r: green veggie juice, pineapple apple mint juice, green veggie juice, spicy lemonade, beet juice and cashew nut milk
You drink the juices in their numbered order leaving at least an hour between juices and drinking a glass of water or tea in between. You should finish your last juice at least two hours before bedtime so your body can process it properly.
So what do they taste like? The main flavor in the green juice is cucumber even though there are other veggies and some fruit to sweeten it. Even though I HATE cucumbers the taste wasn’t horrible though I took Heather’s advice and added some ginger to it. That made such a difference plus it helps with digestion. The pineapple and lemonade are the best tasting in my opinion. Really delicious and a welcome break between the veggie juices. The beet juice was downright horrid. Tasted like dirt. I’ve never had a beet before and I won’t be trying them anytime soon thanks to that juice. It took all my might to get it down. The cashew nut milk is like dessert thanks to the vanilla bean, agave and cinnamon though the nuts give it texture which takes some getting used to.
Day One of the cleanse was a breeze for me. I was so hydrated and full from fluid that I couldn’t even think about eating. I was actually really proud of myself for getting through it so easily and amazed at how satisfied I felt.
Day Two sucked big time. I felt like crap the entire day. The green and beet juices were really hard to get down and even the cashew milk was a struggle. I’m assuming this was the day my body went into full detox mode. I drank a lot of ginger tea to help the nausea. The worst part of day two was that it coincided with Cinco de Mayo (poor planning on my part) so I had to watch the boyfriend and my neighbors having margaritas and enjoying the Mexican chocolate brownies I made but couldn’t eat. Boo!
This is a bit TMI but at the recommendation of BPC I took an herbal laxative in conjunction with the cleanse to help flush my system. They really prefer people get a colonic before, during and after but… um… yeah, that was NOT happening. I will say taking the supplement aided in the overall process.
Day Three left me feeling a million times better though not 100%. I think having my eye on the prize and seeing the number of juices in the fridge dwindling down made it all the better. The green juices went back to tasting decent but the beet juice just got worse. OMG I don’t know how anyone purposely eats a beet. My palate was just not built for them. At the end of day three I felt this amazing sense of accomplishment but I never experienced that clarity my girl Heather experienced.
Post Cleanse
The post cleanse process is basically the pre-cleanse in reverse. You slowly add back foods starting with watery fruits and veggies. You have no idea how good a piece of cantaloupe tasted that morning. For the next day and a half I lived on the same foods I was eating for the pre-cleanse and I started to feel pretty amazing. Just healthier and more alert. Maybe this is what Heather was talking about.
The real challenge was when I went out Saturday night. I knew there would be beer and snacks around but the fear of how my body might react kept me from indulging, for the most part. I did have a light beer and I’ll tell you what, I paid for it. I felt like ass the next morning because of it. I also had one of the brownies I made for Cinco de Mayo the next day and that just about laid me out! It’s like my body was scolding me for eating crap. When I went to dinner with my Mom for Mother’s Day I chose a vegetarian meal and felt great again.
Of course I haven’t been an angel this week and every time I’ve had something really bad, I’ve felt the effects. So if nothing else, I’m eating better in order to escape the wrath of my own body. I feel good keeping up my water intake and choosing fruits and veggies over meat and carbs. I’ve been making myself grab a piece of fruit or a bag of red pepper slices before I let myself dig into a bag of pretzels and it’s been working for me.
The Results
Overall I think doing the cleanse was beneficial. I think it taught me a lot about what my body does and doesn’t need. It helped me learn the difference between satisfied and disgustingly full. I did lose about five pounds on the cleanse but since weight loss wasn’t my goal it ended up just being an added benefit. Oh and my mother said my skin looked better, more radiant, and that could just be her blowing smoke but I’ll count a better complexion as another plus to the cleanse.
Would I do it again? Hmm. I’m honestly not sure. I’m not rushing to do another cleanse but I don’t regret this one in the slightest. Feeling like total hell on day two was worth it for what I’ve learned about myself. I’m sure there are people who think cleanses are bullshit and to be honest, I was one of them, so if you wave it off as overpriced nonsense you won’t offend me.
So what about you? Have you done any form of cleanse before? Which one? What did you think? Would you ever try something like BPC? Do you juice at home? I’m really considering investing in a juicer now.
Disclosure: I received a gift card from Blueprint Cleanse at Robert Verdi’s Luxe Lab for $75 and used it towards the purchase of a 3-Day Cleanse. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
What a great post! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s amazing what crap we put into our bodies on a regular basis without even realizing it.
How much was the 3 day cleanse? Does everyone drink the same juices during the cleanse or is it tailored to your body and system?
Hi Andi! The 3-Day cleanse costs $255 for nationwide shipping so with my gift card I paid $180. The juices are the same for each level but the other levels include more green juices and fewer fruit juices.
Thank you Michelle for posting your journey with BPC! I don’t know if I would ever try the entire process because of some meds I take daily, but it does have some health benefits. I can’t stand to be sick at my stomach and I’m afraid that would happen to me but thanks again!
I usually love this blog but, come on – you’ve got kidneys and a liver for a reason.
Yes, and we put so much junk in our bodies on a daily basis that our kidneys and liver are working overtime. Unless you’re eating a perfectly healthy diet all the time, then there’s nothing wrong with doing a healthy cleanse.
Beets are the worst thing known to this earth. And it’s sad because they taste JUST LIKE IT. Blech. I try them again & again at each family function too just to make sure, and yep! Still taste like dirt. The only thing worse would be a smoothie that tasted like olives.
Bravo on completing the cleanse though. I couldn’t never do this. I love my solids and caffeine.
Ew. Did I just type “couldn’t never”? REVOKE my professional writer title.
oooh, I accept your challenge! How about a smoothie that tasted like liver? blek!
I love beets. I eat them as a snack, but I’m not sure about this cleanse. Why not wean your body from the crappy food. I’ve done it for years and feel great.
your experience sounds interesting. i’ve sort of been reading about juicing, but not sure how to go about it. i really wish i could try ouy BPC, but i’m allergic to cashews, so i don’t think it’d be beneficial for me.
Candi –
I’m going through my own BPC right now. I did a LOT of research before blowing $200 on it…. On the BPC website they do have a drink substitute for people allergic to cashews! So if you’restill interested you should definitely try it out.
Thanks for posting about this! I really enjoyed hearing your process. I feel that cleanses of all sorts can be beneficial. To the commenter who says your liver and kidneys are supposed to do this….sometimes a cleanse just gives you an excuse to eliminate all chemicals and processed foods from your diet. Our kidneys and liver did not evolve in the presence of preservatives, chemicals, and processed foods…so they really can use a break from those things, whether you’re drinking juice, or eating plain rice, or just whole foods, it can be very beneficial for your whole system.
It would be great if you could improve your health just by detoxing – unfortunately that’s not how the body works. Our liver and kidneys evolved to cleanse the body whether it be dangerous by-products from the process of breaking down food (processed or not) or preservatives. There’s virtually no need to detox unless you have a problem with your liver and kidneys, but by then you’d be in the hospital anyway.
I’d rather save up for nail polish.
There is no valid scientific or medical basis for cleanses or detoxes whatsoever. They are a complete scam, and not only do not help but can be EXTREMELY dangerous. You should really do more research before you support such a questionable practice! http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/detox.html
I never claimed that the cleanse I did had a scientific or medical basis but if you are going to link to an article with one person’s opinion who is not even a doctor, perhaps you should read what Blueprint Cleanse is before categorizing it with the types of detoxes/cleanses that article mentions. This wasn’t a water/supplement type cleanse. It was all fresh, healthy produce. If you don’t believe in cleanses, that is fine, but you should also research what it is I’m writing about before you judge it.
Very interesting! I’ve never tried a cleanse, but I’ve heard such good things about them. I just started Weight Watchers 6 weeks ago, and I’ve lost 10.8lbs as of today. I think that once I’m down to my goal weight (35lbs left to go), I’ll try a cleanse just to put the icing on the cake!
I actually have tried a cleanse. a really popular one called The Wild Rose Cleanse. I blogged about it here:
http://stringtheoryknits.blogspot.com/search/label/wild%20rose%20cleanse
dude, it was nasty. I don’t know how people make it through the whole thing. but at least I tried..
Yes, our kidneys and liver are the detoxifying organs of our system. But they also work way overtime trying to deal with all of the processed and chemically-altered foods most of us eat, which contain ingredients we were never meant to ingest. I don’t see how cleansing and purifying your system could ever be considered a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing anytime we can give our organs a little break and a boost of help.
Thanks for the info and the answer to my Q
Ahh cleanses… such a controversial topic! I’ve thought about them a few times but for me $200-$300 for 3 days of “food” is a bit more than I can do
I think there certainly can be benefits though; for instance, I eat way too many rich foods and the more I eat the more I want. I would assume a cleanse would be a crash course in cutting those out along the same lines as quiting smoking cold turkey. The key, in my opinion, is to remember this is not what one should do if one was looking to lose weight. Thanks for sharing this Michelle, I found it quite interesting!
thanks for posting this! I did one before a couple years ago where you ate only apples for three days. I don’t even remember what the purpose was but I did lose about ten lbs and it wasn’t hard for me at all because I looooove apples. I don’t think they’re bullshit though, like what can be wrong about putting good natural juices into your body? I think the people who knock ‘em are the same ones who are all of a sudden concerned about vegetarian’s protein intake when they don’t even pay attention to their own diets. Not saying that’s you! It just seems like everyone has an opinion and are all of a sudden nutritionists when you do something drastic in your diet. I think if I had a juicer I would definitely try this but I’d never pay this much money for it.
Thanks for sharing!! I’m so into it… I think I may have just convinced my hubby to do this with me in a few weeks (after a vacation we have coming up). The only problem with that is, double the price. eek. My brother did the master cleanse last year and I totally do not get that. He’s not overweight and lost 15 lbs in one week. I don’t see how that can be healthy and it really bothered me that he was doing it. But this sounds so nutritious and I’m really intrigued. I may want to do the JTD plan instead though. I’ll come back to this post if we do it and update.
Here is a doctor’s take on all this:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-diets/pay-no-attention-to-that-man-behind-the-curtain/
Very interesting. Thank you for the post. Maybe I will be brave and try it out sometime. It might do me some good
-Amanda
(The Pretty Pauper)
Sounds similiar to the run-up to my colonoscopy last year…
Years ago I was training for a triathlon and the program included a heavy juice diet made from onions, beets, ginger, orange and grapefruit I believe. It was disgusting but I did have a lot more energy (beets have a lot of sugar in them I’m told). I’ve tried other cleanse but I never felt much different before/after. If you do want to tried this there are hundreds of great recipes online as well as books and you can get a good juicer for much less that $275 (Juicemans are about $100). You have to deal with the clean up but you’ll be able to juice whenever you want for however long you want. (I like to juice ginger the freeze cubes for summer drinks)
juicing is soooo good for ya! i have a jack lalane juicer and juice only organic produce. i also subscribe to the paleo diet – all organic meat, fruits veggies and nuts. i feel great and i have enough energy to do 5K’s 10k’s and triathlons!!
I’ve just got to comment quickly in support of beets! LOL I was kind of wary of them myself for a long time, but if you get fresh beets, boil them up, drain & then add butter & a little salt, I swear to you they taste like corn on the cob. Weird but true, at one point my mom fed me one with my eyes closed & I had to conceed it was delicious. Pickled beets on the other hand have a whole other taste, which I’m still on the fence about, and I have to admit I’ve never tried beet juice. I wonder if they juice the entire beet, like without peeling & the greens of it also? Might explain the dirt taste.
I also will speak up in support of beets (and I am drinking the BPC beet juice as I type this!). Get fresh small ones (you can try the yellow ones, they are sometimes milder), roast them, chop up and serve warm with goat cheese and a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Dessert.
Thanks so much for sharing this. The information is really great. I’ve considered it, but never actually done it. I still don’t know if I would, but it’s so helpful to hear a normal person’s experience. Thank you!
P.S. Colette’s post above mentioned beet greens. I wouldn’t have thought of that. I love beets but really don’t care for beet greens at all. They’re supposed to have tons of vitamins, whereas the beets themselves have lots of natural sugar.
I call bullshit! I just don’t think that foods like meat and ‘junk food’ are bad for you. Sure, in large amounts, but not in moderation. Feeling like ass was probaly cause you introduced something other than liquid into your stomach after you’d been fasting. Alcohol on an empty stomach never feels good.
Beets are amazing roasted too. Just sayin’.
Is it wrong to ask you for your Mexican brownie recipe? Sounds yummy!
I would never try to take away from one persons experience, so if your friend said it changed her whole view on food – well good for her! However, I think that realistically, most people are not going to be changed by a cleanse like this, unless that change is that their bowels are quite a bit lighter afterwards. One needs to truly examine their own eating habits long term to really appreciate and understand their relationship with food (I say this as someone who has been working on that themselves for so long!).
Having spoken with dietitians most of my life, I worry about this sort of thing making it’s rounds because many women (and men!) jump into this without ever speaking to their doctor first. Juice diets or “cleanses” can be catastrophic for some people. It’s important to get an “okay clear!” from a doctor. I hate to sound like an infomercial for some diet product when they then quickly add that results are not typical and consult a physician but… seriously. Please talk to a doctor you guys!
Congrats on doing something you think makes you feel better! Looks like a nice side effect is you putting more effort into eating healthy!
Any update now that a few weeks have passed. Do you still feel any benefit to doing the cleanse?
I do! I haven’t had red meat yet and I’ve been drinking a lot more water and making sure I eat veggies and fruit before giving into carbs so for me it was worthwhile.
i’m not really going to get into my opinion on cleanses (because it would just take too long and i’d get ranty).
i WILL say that beets are amazing! i love them!! but i hate cauliflower and most people love it! we all have our things but i just needed to stick up for beets
xo
sara
Beets are amazing roasted too. Just sayin’.
Very cool post, thank you! It’s funny, but I recently gave up processed foods and most meat, and experienced the same thing you did, in that a lot of things that are bad for me actually don’t make me feel good now. I wonder if the cleanse did it or if you would have had the same effect if you’d just limited yourself to eating clean, whole foods for a few days?
A word of advice: If you want some help keeping up with your new diet and making sure you’re getting all your essential nutrients, and some ideas for yummy creative things that fit in to your dietary goals, check out http://www.sparkpeople.com. I’ve been a member for a few years and I love it. :0)
Beets are disgusting in any form. Only food I wasn’t required to eat as a child because I would promptly regurgitate.
Since the liver originally was removing things like the poisons from semi-rotten meat and various almost poisons from fruit/vegetable matter back in the days when we couldn’t be so picky about what we ate to stay alive, I don’t think that it’s nearly as overworked as some people would have you believe. I’m not surprised you felt like ass on Day 2 after making such a major and abrupt change in your diet, nor am I surprised you also felt lousy when adding certain things back in. Your poor system was probably feeling thoroughly confused and abused.
Nothing reasonable is ‘bad for you’ when used in moderation. Too many people want a fast fix though and lots of companies are making a mint off of that. There are no quick fixes.
I just logged on here, and I am doing the Blueprint Cleanse for the third time. I agree that there are no quick fixes and that our bodies cleanse naturally. BUT, believe me when I tell you that on day three/four, when you are literally glowing and your skin looks fantastic, and you have energy and feel awesome…you can immediately see that cleanses must do something positive. Unless you have done it, you won’t get it. It’s fresh, raw, super-nutrient packed juice. WAY better than most of us are used to eating. Not a freaky supplement starvation thing. Just good stuff. And it works, and really, it SHOWS on your body, your skin and your clear headedness. True story.
I am sure. I reaped numerous benefits by simply incoporating the two green juice drinks into my diet (drinking one-third of a bottle three times a day)and regularly practicing Bikram yoga. I plan to do the full cleanse and suspect that my experience will mirror yours.
Though I haven’t done the three-day cleanse as yet (I’m working up to it), I have tried the two green juice drinks and they are WONDERFUL. I was introduced to them at my Bikram yoga studio–Bikram Yoga Grand Central–here in NYC and, after reluctantaly trying them, was surprised to wake up the morning after having tried one of the green juice drinks (the one with ginger) actually *craving* the juice. Mind you, in the weeks before I tried the juices, I took it upon myself to clean up my diet–for two weeks eating only foods that I prepared (including bread)and not eating any fried foods and drinking lots of water (as is my norm)–which may have accounted for the craving. The interesting thing is that I found that just by eating ‘normally’ and incorporating the juices into my day naturally (and also taking Bikram yoga 3 to four times a week), I have reaped nearly the same benefits as did All Lacquered Up. Again, I only had the green juices–the ingredients of which are romaine, celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, green apple, spinach, lemon (and the ‘other’ green drink, with the aforementioned ingredients and ginger (included in BluePrint’s excavation cleanse))and drank the 16-oz. bottles over the course of two days (approx. one third of the bottle three times a day). With that,my elimnation has improved (and it was good/healthy already), my skin is clearer, and my waist a bit smaller. Considering this, I’m really looking forward to doing the full cleanse and seeing what other benefits I will yield. Thanks so much for this post, All Lacquered Up.
I tried doing the same cleanse but did not make through the second day. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for this brilliant in depth post. Like one earlier comment, said it is amazing what we put in our bodies, without realizing it. But when i try to be vigilant i struggle!
I have tried such cleansing and it is difficult to stick to, i’m rubbish when it comes to strict dieting!