Real Beauty Detox Dares: BluePrintCleanse

Name: Ariana Finlayson, RealBeauty.com Associate Editor

Detox Dare BluePrintCleanse

My lifestyle: During college, I was probably one of the healthiest students on campus. An average night's dinner for me consisted of grilled chicken from the Student Center, accompanied by a block of spinach from the supermarket. Fitting in two hours a day, six days a week at the gym wasn't a struggle in my super-busy schedule. Making healthy decisions in terms of food and fitness was a part of me ever since high school, thanks to my hardcore track coach.

Fast forward a few years post-college, where I live in the land of take-out. Although I have the convenience of living within a few blocks of where I work, it's a dangerous walk home that consists of passing multiple pizza parlors, Thai restaurants, and bodegas chock full of candy and chips. And as much as I enjoy cooking, there are some nights when speed-dialing my go-to Thai joint 15 minutes before I leave work is a lot more doable. Not to mention, up until a few months ago, my gym attendance had faltered.

Besides being tempted (and succumbing) to take-out, I also have a boyfriend and have most definitely fell victim to the, "Is your relationship making you fat?" bit. As you can imagine, what a 6'3" dude consumes is not what a 5'4" girl should eat. But sometimes I match him, if not bite-for-bite, then for general cuisine, which is usually a far cry from anything healthy. So, once I noticed these new eating habits were catching up to me, I dug out my running shoes, tried Spin and Pilates, and have now combined them all into a regular routine. But even with having a balance of strength-training and cardio, I still needed help in the nutrition area, since another bit I've adopted is the, "Have great workout; eat whatever one wants." With that said, my goal for this detox is to get my mind back on track to choosing healthier food options and gaining back the willpower to have portion control. Read on to see if I actually made it through, Pad Thai-free.

DAY ONE

I should let you know that I was the editor who pitched the idea of getting 14 different staffers to try seven different detox programs and diets. So as the organizer, I had to come into this with a strong mind. It also helped that editor Colleen had started Cooler Cleanse two days before me, and seemed to be doing more than just fine. We also have a staffer on our floor who's tried BluePrintCleanse's Renovation Cleanse but told me that the beet juice "was like drinking blood." Like drinking what? No thanks—I opted for BluePrintCleanse's Foundation Cleanse, which substituted the beet juice with a third green juice.

After trying multiple times to come up with a schedule that would fit in all six juices, I cracked open juice #1, Green Juice (romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, and lemon). It looked like a bottle of Naked Green Machine (which I love), but upon first sip, my spirits dipped. My taste buds were expecting sweet and fruity, and instead they got green and veggie. It took me an hour to down juice #1.

My building has an amazing cafeteria on its wide-open third floor, which you get to glance at right before you hop onto the elevator. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I was totally bummed. But before I knew it, it was time for juice #2, Pineapple Apple Mint (PAM for short), which was sweet and tasty. I skipped out on my "lunch hour" to take a Yogalates class downstairs in our gym and felt 100 percent fine throughout. When I got back to my desk, juice #3 (another green one) was anxiously awaiting me, and this time I poured it over ice and drank it through a straw. Verdict: still not yummy. Next up was juice #4, Spicy Lemonade (filtered water, lemon, agave nectar, and cayenne), which with the tang of the lemon, didn't taste very spicy at all. At this point, it was 6:30 p.m. and I decided to take Yoga to avoid going home where there's a refrigerator that has chicken tenders inside. Now, I'm on juice #5 (the last freaking green juice of the day), and I am happy to report that I'm finally getting used to the taste. The veteran BluePrint Cleanser told me, "It's delicious! Definitely my fave out of all of them. I would start every morning with Green Juice if it were up to me." That's some testimonial, so things are looking bright.

Overall, I felt fine the entire day. I was hungry, but it was probably my mind telling my body that it was angry over the absence of its 3 p.m. sourdough pretzel bites. One thing to note is that I don't feel famished or weak, nor do I have a headache or stomachache. In fact, I do feel like I could hop on the treadmill, but I don't want my post-workout appetite to get the best of me. One of my biggest concerns going in was not being able to drink coffee, so I took care of that by cutting out my (strong) java fix over the weekend to avoid the dreaded caffeine headache.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to hear how juice #6 went down, and how I fared in the last few waking hours of the night. (P.S. I told my boyfriend that I wasn't available until after my cleanse is over. I'm afraid that if I smell a carb on his breath, I may scratch his skin off.)

Looking for another juice cleanse option? Read about editor Colleen's experience with Cooler Cleanse.

Next: Day Two