It's official. I'm a crazy cleansing hippie. Just kidding... I'm actually just someone who needed a dietary change and fast. This last month or so, I've either been incredibly busy, traveling, or surrounded with graduation cake so needless to say, my eating choices have not been stellar and I've paid for my choices. I've been really tired and had more headaches than usual. Curious to find out whether I have food allergies, I decided to do a cleanse to find out.
Since I'm not a masochist, the Master Cleanse (water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for ten days) was out and I couldn't find any local juice bars that offered a cleanse, leaving me to turn to trusty Google to find one. After a few days of research, I settled on the Foundation Level
Blueprint Cleanse.
Blueprint has three different levels, which vary by how many green juices taken in daily. The Renovation Level, which is equivalent to level one, is the exact same as the Foundation Level cleanse I chose (level two) except that drink 5 is a beet based juice. Since I gag at the though of beets, that level was ruled out. Their Excavation Cleanse, or level three, is supposedly the most difficult because it has four green juices a day. I wasn't feeling that brave so level two it was.
Thus far, after completing day one, I don't really notice any difference. Now while that might sound negative, especially after the investment I made to do this cleanse, I'm actually really happy about that. You see, most people get headaches, starve, and feel nauseous as their body adjusts to a new, cleaner diet. Whether or not those side effects will show up on the other three days of my cleanse is still unknown but for now I'm happy they aren't here.
Here is my review of the drinks:
1. Green Juice
Made up of romaine, celery, cucumber, apple, spinach, kale, parsley, and lemon, this just easily is made up of more greens that I've eaten this year. The taste is really hard to describe. It's not sweet, not grassy, and doesn't taste more like any one particular ingredient than another. While that description isn't helpful, I can tell you it isn't bad, and that's coming from a girl who has never been able to eat her veggies. It's actually kind of refreshing.
2. Pineapple Apple Mint
Holy sweetness! While this drink was overall more palatable than the Green Juice, I was really surprised by its sweetness. It was almost too sweet and acidic for me. With that said, tomorrow, when my sugar addiction kicks in, I'm sure I'll guzzle this stuff.
3. More Green Juice
Quickly learning this stuff is best served
cold.
4. Spicy Lemonade
I was really surprised by how much I liked this stuff. I'm not typically a lemonade fan because it's so tart, but the agave nectar and slight spice in this lemonade made it delicious. And in case you're wondering, it's really not spicy at all and that is coming from someone who has a hard time tolerating mild salsa.
5. More Green Juice
6. Cashew Milk
While not something I'd call a dessert under normal conditions, this drink is easily the most tasty of the six. It's thicker consistency helped me feel less hungry and I was happy to have anything even close to creamy line my stomach. It'd been a long day of acidic drinks.
More updates to follow each day - only three more to go!
