Real Beauty Detox Dares: BluePrintCleanse - Day 2

DAY TWO

I ended up staying at work until 9 p.m. last night, for fear that I would dig into the croutons that were tucked away in my kitchen cabinet. (I'm not even a huge fan of croutons, but I was about to get down with them.) Thankfully I was greeted by my roommate who was lounging on the couch watching TV and we chatted for awhile as I sipped juice #6, Cashew Nut (cashew nut milk, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and a touch of agave nectar). I didn't want the juice to end—it was milky, nutty goodness that was refreshingly different from its cleanse counterparts. My roommate even tried it and said, "That's the bomb." I hit the hay around 12 a.m., which is a rather early night for me.

This morning I woke up feeling a little groggy and dry, and immediately vowed to drink more water during the day. Yesterday I barely drank any water and kept making unsweetened green tea, which would end up sitting untouched. I had a meeting at 9:30 a.m. and brought juice #1 (Green Juice) with me, which stemmed inquiries from the people in the room. While discussing BluePrintCleanse, I realized that I no longer was dreading the Green Juice, and was halfway through the bottle 15 minutes after I had cracked it open. And it was at this point when I realized, I was DOWN to DETOX!

The afternoon flew by, and I took Pilates during my lunch break. I was really surprised at my energy level and how happy I felt. My roommate joked that this cleanse was "miracle juice' after I told him, "I love everyone." (Not a typical string of words that comes out of my mouth everyday.) Yesterday I felt like I couldn't keep up with all the juices, and as soon as I was finished with one, my schedule told me I needed to drink a new one. I felt like my entire day was to the tune of Jay-Z's "On to the Next One" where it repeats "I'm on to the next one," fifty times in a row. Today was much more organized, and I was able to rest between juices and drink water, plus a few cups of unsweetened green tea to keep my body temperature up. Yesterday I was freezing. It felt as if an angry menopausal woman had control of the thermostat on my floor.

I'll be honest, I was still sad when I thought about the sushi station downstairs and that once again, I was not eating a spicy shrimp roll. And I was sad when I came back from Pilates and wasn't able to have a snack as a "reward" for taking a spontaneous hour-long class. This had me thinking about how often I reward myself for a workout well done, or for anything really. When did I adopt similar habits to my cousin's dog? As in, do a good thing, get a treat. Some people treat themselves to Louboutins, but since my bank account does not allow for $500 shoes, I tend to opt for the egg roll and the scallion pancake, along with my main meal.

So I'm trying to look at overzealous snacking like this: "Spin class felt fantastic and I'm happy I made it through, and although my heart rate monitor tells me I burned about 500 calories, if I eat this enormous amount of fries, it'll negate my workout progress." It's like buying THE perfect dress that you're crazy about and sat on a waiting list for a month, but then returning it. Qu'est-ce que le point? (That's French for, "What is the point?" Sometimes, I like to talk to myself in French.) This structured schedule of juices has helped me stay in tune with my body and listen to it for signs of hunger and thirst.

I'm off to finish my last two juices (Green Juice and the Cashew Milk) of the day. My stomach is now growling, probably because I just wrote about two Chinese food appetizers. :grumble grumble:

Check back tomorrow for how my last cleansing day went, and to hear my overall takeaway from the experience. For now, I'll leave you with this:

NEXT: DAY TWO