Juicy - My Attempt at a 3-Day Juice Cleanse

My diet over the last month has been... less than ideal. Needless to say, the number on the scale is not what I hoped it'd be by this time, and I'm feeling a big slow, sluggish and bloated (and don't even get me started on my conscious). Who's to blame? Well, I am, of course! An endless number of holiday parties, plus my sister's visit to NYC for her birthday (hello, Babbo!), and a nasty week-long cold that left me unable to go to the gym and unwilling to cook my own food, have reminded me of a fact I absolutely know to be true - when you eat crap, you want crap. And it's really tough to break the cycle.

Fast forward to now: I'm in a wedding next weekend for which I hoped to be about 5 lbs lighter. Also? I have lost that lovely vegan glow, both inside and out, and miss it desperately. Now, I have no illusions that I'll be able to follow a perfect vegan diet while I'm in New Orleans (for, by the way, what is guaranteed to be the wedding of the century). But nonetheless, in an effort to revive my pasty, lumpy bod, I've decided to embark on a 3-day juice cleanse a la Blueprint, an NYC favorite.

I've never done a juice cleanse. Heck, I've never even fasted (I once attempted a 24-hour fast and gave up about 3 hours in). But I've heard wonderful things about them (and I've also heard not-so-wonderful things about them), and I'm willing and ready to give it a shot.

Blueprint offers three levels of cleanses: Renovation, Foundation and Excavation. I chose the Foundation level since I wanted a little more variety than the Excavation, but I also wanted at least half my day to be green juice goodness. Here's what my daily menu looks like:

1 - Green juice (a mix of greens + apple + lemon)
2 - Gold juice (pineapple + mint)
3 - Green juice (repeat)
4 - Yellow juice (a spicy lemonade)
5 - Green juice (one more time!)
6 - White juice (cashew milk + vanilla + cinnamon)

Basically I'm just supposed to drink a juice, in the order shown above, every 2 hours. The last juice is actually a milk, a heavenly thick and delicious cashew milk that tastes like a really healthy and good-for-you milkshake. I'm really excited about ending my day with one of those babies.

I've read several reviews, and everyone says the same thing. Day 1 is kinda cool. Day 2 blows. You're never hungry, but you desperately miss chewing. And by Day 3, you will be thinner, glowier and have a sugar ton of energy. Now, I know me, and I know what I'll miss is the savory. These juices are all sweet, and I have always preferred savory over sweet. The smell of baking bread, a sizzling hot pizza, a steaming bowl of chili... those smells will be tough to ignore. Also? It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Who wants to drink nothing but juice on a cold, snowy day?? Le sigh. The things I do...

Anyway, I plan to blog about the cleanse because well, I'm sure I'll have a lot to say (or scream). Feel free to juice cleanse with me! ;)