BluePrint Cleanse - Pre-Cleanse Weekend

Why, hello. I guess it has been a while. Oops. Between work travel, summer vacation, and then the holidays I, err, went a bit off the vegan path.


And by a bit I mean COMPELTELY. But that’s OK. I’m back, at least for a little while.

As usual, January brings with it a time for reflection and re-evaluation. Did I really need to eat all that beef brisket over Christmas? Was being in Spain for vacation really an excuse to have cava with every meal? (To which the answer is still yes, but you get the point)

I also start feeling the pressure to train for my annual 10mile race at the end of March. Due to a sprained ankle last fall I took some time off running….and now I have my work cut out for me getting back in shape.

So to kick-start my healthy new year I signed up for the BluePrint Cleanse. Outrageously expensive and with mixed reviews from other bloggers and friends, the BluePrint Cleanse is a pre-packaged, easy-to-follow vegan juice diet. My sister and I both signed up for the three day cleanse. We picked different levels, she went for the Renovation Level and I for the Foundation level. The only real difference between the two is one juice swap – while I get three “green” juices each day she gets two “greens” and a beet/carrot/apple juice. More on the juices later though….

The cleanse recommends a “pre-cleanse” diet for the days leading up to your juice cleanse consisting of raw vegetables and fruit. Basically a raw vegan diet for three days pre-cleanse….which is a cleanse in itself to me. Pretty intense. My pre-cleanse phase started last Friday. I stuck to vegan choices on Friday and Saturday but I still ate my fair share of cooked vegetables, grains, tofu, and even a glass of (gasp) wine on Friday night with dinner. Sunday I did eat more strictly according to the BPC guidelines – I had fruit for breakfast, raw veggies and hummus for lunch (I doubt the hummus was allowed…but good enough for me), and then raw veggies on a salad for dinner. My sister and I chose the option to pick up our juices rather than have them delivered, as the timing worked out better for us. We got the juices together Sunday afternoon, loading them into my sister’s car since they were too heavy to walk home. “There is 450$ worth of juice in the trunk right now”…. a comment you don’t hear that often.

Anyhow, I did miss my Sunday night tradition of cooking a large meal…but my salad was pretty satisfying. I ended my night with a cup of herbal tea and a very early bedtime. And I woke up this morning starving…but ready to start the BPC.