Blueprint Cleanse Review

A little history on why I decided to do a cleanse, and how I ended up with Blueprint:

In no way shape or form was I doing this to lose weight. If that happened, wonderful, but honestly I did this to challenge myself and detox my body for a few days. I knew 3 days would be too much for me, so when a friend accidentally ordered a 3-day Blueprint Cleanse from Gilt, I offered to buy 2 days off of her. Worked perfectly!

I started out doing a detailed recap for each day, but it basically became a repetitive list of how hungry I was for 48 hours. I thought you would all appreciate this general overview, instead :)

{Day One}

I woke up excited and ready to start this little challenge o'mine. I had planned two things in advance: that I would be able to drink 1/2 a cup of coffee each morning (there was no way I was going to have a headache for two whole days), and a rough schedule of when I would have each drink. 7:30/9:30/12:30/2:30/5:30/7:00. I know my body, and know that I'm hungriest late morning/early afternoon, so I intentionally kept those drinks 2 hours apart.

I had my coffee, mixed with some of Drink #6 in it, instead of half-and-half. After I was finished, I started with drink #1 (Green Juice)... it was decent, but pretty acidic, and left me with a parsley taste that I didn't particularly care for. Drink #2 (PAM) was much better, and helped me over my mid-morning hunger pains. Drink #3 is the same as Drink #1 (Green Juice), and was definitely easier to drink at 12:30. I was still pretty hungry though, and definitely felt the urge to munch on something (as the cleanse warns you ahead of time).

My day got very busy, and I almost forgot that I had another juice at 2:30, and ran to grab it before my meeting started. Drink #4 is a spicy lemonade, and was my favorite thus far. Again, a little acidic for an empty stomach, but was still pretty tasty. On the train ride home I drank #5 (Berries), which was slightly thick and tasted like a smoothie. Once I got home and it was time to feed A, I started to feel a little weak and tired. I'm never tired at 6:30 so I knew it was from not eating, and decided to have a banana with Drink #6. Drink #6 is the heaviest of them all - a mix of coconut and agave nectar. Everyone said this one was the best, but honestly, it was a little heavy and too creamy for me. But that drink and the banana tied me over until the next morning.

All day I drank as much water as I could, mainly to distract myself from feeling hungry.


{Day Two}

I woke up feeling much much better than I did when I went to bed. I felt energized and totally capable and going all day without eating. I also felt much less bloated and considerably thinner, which is to be expected. Had my 1/2 cup of coffee and Drink #1 without a problem. I stuck to my schedule today and had drinks #2 and #3 right on time. We had our first "Summer Friday" at work, so I got a little thrown off with having drink #4. Once I made it home I immediately had drink #4, which seemed to really upset my stomach. I think because I waited too long between drinks (over 3 hours) and Drink #4 happens to be especially acidic. I decided to cheat a bit and have a mini corn muffin, just to get something starchy in my stomach and not feel so sick, and immediately felt better.

By this time I pretty much knew I was going eat dinner. I saw no reason not to eat, and it was Friday, and I also wanted to relax on the couch with my hubby and a glass of wine while we watched a movie. I had drink #5 on time, and then for dinner had 1 egg scrambled with mozzarella cheese on a whole wheat wrap. After that I was totally full and couldn't even manage to have drink #6 or a glass of wine, so just continued with water for the rest of the night. I still felt pretty good despite eating, and noticed when I put on my favorite pajama pants that I had to roll them over once to stay up.


{Day Three}

While Friday was the officially "end" of my cleanse, the day after is meant to be a reintroduction day to food. You are supposed to take it easy, and try to stick to raw fruits and veggies. In the morning I had my coffee with some of Drink #6 that I didn't have the night before, and my regular smoothie that I split with A in the mornings. I felt fine, and pretty much assumed that the whole reintroduction thing was more for people who did a 5-day fast, and that I'd be fine doing whatever the rest of the day.

For lunch I had a tortilla with grilled chicken, avocado and cheese, and felt fine. I tried to have a beer, but felt really really full and could only have half of it. Then we were off to the circus, and of course, had to split a funnel cake with A. And by "split" I mean he had 4 bites and I ate the rest. I had been craving a cheeseburger for two whole days, and we decided to go out to dinner. I ordered a beer with dinner, but could only managed a few sips and half my burger. Again, I thought maybe it was my stomach just adjusting to the food.

By 9:00 that night I felt SO ill. I actually thought I had food poisoning. I went to bed early and managed to sleep all night but ended up getting sick by 5:00 in the morning. Since C and I both had burgers, I figured it wasn't my meal, and after doing a little research figured out that it was my stomach not adjusting properly after the cleanse. They aren't kidding when they say your body needs a reintroduction period! Too many fatty foods the next day means your body feels the need to clean out, and so, that's just what it did!


All in all, I was pretty happy with the cleanse. I would do it again, but probably during a time when C had to travel for business. It is much easier to stick to not eating solid food when I'm the only adult in the house! The last few days I have felt pretty good; I don't think I lost any weight, but that wasn't really my intention to begin with. I'm definitely more aware of food in general, and what I'm choosing to eat everyday. I've also realized that Pinterest is a bad, bad place when you are trying to juice. Just sayin'.

Oh, and not that you would think otherwise, but Blueprint has no idea who I am... this was purchased by me and I all opinions are my own.