You’ve all asked for a discount and now I’m so happy I can answer with a code you can use whenever you are ready to start juicing.
You know how much I love it, and I believe you’ll enjoy the experience and the impact it has on your lifestyle too! Juicing is not a quick fix starvation diet. It’s a way to flush out the impurities we consume in processed food and refresh our bodies to crave real food as it exists in nature, without the extra crap. In one day, drinking one bag of 6 juices from BPC gives you the nutrient equivalent of eating 24 pounds of vegetables!
Afterwards, fruits will taste so sweet, and fiberous veggies will be filling in a way you only thought you could be satisfied after eating starches. You won’t crave cake or cookies, you’ll want natural sugars instead.
Before you cleanse, do your research, and consult a doctor to make sure it’s right for you.
I’ve written a few pieces on prepping, cleansing, colonics (which I highly recommend on day 2 or 3) and obviously given you insight into each of my experiences on different cleanses which I hope you also find helpful.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO BluePrintCleanse.com and review their 3 Juice Cleanses (I love the Foundation Cleanse) and the now popular Juice ‘Til Dinner (dinner is delicious!)
YOUR DISCOUNT CODE AT CHECKOUT IS MTMBPC.
Happy Juicing!
(Full Disclosure: BluePrint has generously provided me with juice for free to blog about my experience. I received colonics for free or at a media rate. You can click here to see a comparison of the cleanses I have done – a total of 5 in two years.)
I’m not cleansing, but I’ve missed the juice so much I asked owner and long time friend Erica to send some over last week for NYFW. Honestly, I didn’t think it would make it today, but minutes ago it arrived!!
If I was cleansing, I would greatly appreciate their effort because I would have prepared mentally and organized my schedule to accommodate the 3-5 day juice routine.
You can see from the picture, I ordered Juice ‘Til Dinner – 4 juices from the Foundation cleanse (my favorite), and 2 yummy vegan dishes.
I plan on throwing a juice and snack in my purse to take to the tents so I can stay healthy on the go between meals.
(Full disclosure: Juice Til Dinner provided for free.)
Those of you that have been following along at home know that as part of the Winter Shape Up Challenge, I’m going vegan for this week. You may also know that otherbloggers have also taken on the challenge of going vegan. What you may not yet know: Why going vegan might be a good idea!
As a disclaimer, let me clarify that I’m not trying to preach veganism to any of you. Though much of what I eat is naturally vegan, I’ve only been officially, completely vegan for three days. I don’t think it’s the right lifestyle for everyone. But there are many benefits, and I’m here to highlight those for you.
10 Reasons to Go Vegan:
You’d be giving a little boost to our lovely planet. Producing meat and dairy consumes a lot of fossil fuel. Eliminating them from your diet drastically reduces your carbon footprint.
It will probably save you money. Meat is more expensive than vegetarian forms of protein. Enough said.
It might help you eat more whole foods. Yes, there are processed vegan foods (tons of them). But lots of processed foods are not vegan, so you might be forced to cut many of them out of your diet.
You could lower your risk for chronic disease. Much of the heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity in this country can be partially attributed to our over-consumption of meat and dairy.
Vegan food tastes good! Though your palate might not be used to it at first, vegan food is very flavorful. In fact, in my short experience with veganism, I feel like I’m able to taste the flavors of my food more.
It forces you to get creative in the kitchen. I’ve been in a slump with my cooking lately, and going vegan has really forced me to pull myself out of it.
Going out to eat will only seem desirable when the restaurant is worth it. When you’re vegan, most restaurant food is off limits. You’ll only want to splurge when you know the restaurant will have options for you, and that equals a healthier body and wallet.
As a global community, more people can be fed on a plant-based diet than a meat-based one. The amount of vegetable protein fed to U.S. beef would feed almost the entire populations of India and China.
Eating animal products isn’t biologically necessary! Why spend the extra money if you don’t have to? Why increase your carbon footprint if you don’t have to?
A vegan diet can be just as gluttonous as an omnivorous one. Vegans can still drink beer and eat french fries (as long as they’re not cooked in lard!), so don’t think you’ll be deprived if you go vegan.
All that said, will I be vegan (or even vegetarian) for the rest of my life? Probably not. But I have been, and will continue to be, a LOT more picky about where my meat and dairy come from if I decide to incorporate them into my diet. I’ll try to buy free-range, organic, vegetarian-fed meat and dairy, as well as buying from local farmers when I can. I’ll also strive to keep at least 1-2 of my daily meals vegan, as even decreasing your meat and dairy a little bit can have an impact on the environment (and you’re also voting with your mouth!).
If you’re wary about veganism, try going vegan for just a day… TODAY! Michelle and Katy have declared today Vegan 4-A-Day. Katy says:
On Thursday, November 19, we are asking that you devote one or all of your meals to being vegan. We just kindly ask if you could link back to either my blog or Michelle’s when you make your posts about Vegan Week. We will be compiling a list of all who participate throughout the day, on our blogs under the ‘VeganWeek’ tabs. If you could make sure to either send us the link and/or leave it in the comment section of the ‘Vegan 4-A- Day’ official post on Thursday then we can give you proper accolades.
If you know of any other friends, bloggers or not, who are up for the challenge…spread it around! Everyone who takes part will have a chance at a really cool prize — details of that to come soon!
Last year I had my first colonic ever. And it might be one of the first colonics ever to be widely distributed on the Internet.
As I always say, a cleanse is not truly “cleansing” unless you have a colonic to flush out your system.
So, last week, during my cleanse, I experienced a new type of colonic with the Libbe machine that was….a more pleasant experience, if you wil,l so I thought you might be interested to see how easy this beneficial treatment can be.
**Service provided for free without expectation for press. When hearing about the method, I was intrigued so I brought along my Zi8 in case I found it to be worth your time.
As I wrote in my thank you note to September Death, the founder of Red Carpet, her 3-5 day juice cleanse and raw food menu is one of the most thoughtful I have come across in a while.
Additionally, to tailor the cleanse to your taste, she offers you ingredient lists for the juices and foods so you can opt not to have things you HATE excluded from your personal delivery. By making the menu enjoyable for you, RCC makes it easy to stay on track!
Everyday you have 6 delicious juices delivered to your doorstep by 6am. When you roll out of bed, your eye-opener is the electrolyte lemonade that puts coffee to shame. In the recipe, September uses flax oil to react with the sulpher in the lemon and pears to provide you with that burst of energy.
As with all cleanses, there is a re-occurring green juice component to ensure you get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need while not eating. In fact, you get more than if you were on your normal diet. Green juice is always my least favorite because they use celery and (more importantly for your digestion) parsley. So of course I said, “out with the celery!” Plus she adds probiotics to help restore healthy bacteria in your system after you get a colonic.
The wonderfully sweet protein offerings – a midday banana smoothie and evening cashew milk – come right in the nick of time to keep you smiling in the midst of the tart veggies.
New to me was the “Red Juice” that is mostly composed of carrot juice. I’ve always tried to incorporate carrot juice into my diet because of the benefits for your skin, but unfortunately it hasn’t become a staple. After 4 days of the red juice, I saw a drastic change in my coloring and pores. As one friend said, “you’re glowing!”
Overall, I love the variety and nutritional value of the menu. But more importantly, I was only hungry 1 out of the 4 days I juiced. The combo of veggies, proteins, and superfoods in the mixtures kept me more than satisfied!
I completed 2 days of raw food after a 4 day juice cleanse to ease myself back into eating whole foods without shocking my digestive system.
The menu consists of 3 meals and 3 juices that more than fill you up for the day.
Honestly, I can tell you I would have no idea these were raw and ridiculously healthy meals if I wasn’t told so beforehand. September’s experience in the kitchen really shines in her wraps, salads, and even sweets. Although some don’t look appetizing, I can tell you the actual wrap pictured above is delicious!
If you’re afraid cleanse with straight juice or just need to get your diet back on track, I would highly suggest trying this out for a good detox.
Supplementing Your Cleanse
In order to fully cleanse out your system, I believe it’s important to exercise lightly (yoga is especially helpful for deep cleansing and blood flow), sleep at least 8 hours a night, schedule a colonic, and if possible get a massage.
I know you’re hesitant to do the colonic, but it really goes hand-in-hand with a cleanse. The juices release the toxins you store in intestines but can’t fully push them out without the fiber. You also could be storing parasites (especially you sushi lovers), which is not a pretty thought.
For a look at my first experience and reaction to a colonic, watch this video. I’ll be posting a new one soon to introduce you to “the open method,” which I find to be even more gentle. In LA, I went to Healing Waters for this treatment and found it to be very helpful.
In the future, RCC will be offering a package that includes options for colonics at Healing Waters and home massages from Julia (who has remarkably healing hands).
I talk a lot about incorporating more fruits and veggies into our diet. There really is no better way than to do so than in its natural form. But simply cutting up a bell pepper for a snack can get a little boring. And having a raw meal delivered to your door on a regular basis is a bit ridiculous.
Rarely do I get excited about cookbooks. Usually they are filled with recipes that take hours to prepare composed of ingredients I don’t recognize.
So you can understand how a book of RAW recipes for SNACKS fits the bill for me!
Raw Energy gives you 124 options to change it up! Plus, when you make the bars/balls/bites yourself, you know exactly what’s in them and can rest assured they haven’t come in contact with any form of “processing.”
The book offers you recipes on how to not only make raw ingredients more interesting, but also harness specific qualities about how each energize you. Author Stephanie Tourles provides you with a very simple breakdown of the digestive system and a nugget about each fruit, veggie, and nut so you have a better understanding of how they can be useful to you. If you don’t want to take her word for it, she quotes several other experts in the field. It’s the best 101 I’ve seen on nutrition in a while.
Before you begin a cleanse there are few things I would recommend you do.
MENTALLY PREPARE
You need to take time to really think about what you want to achieve with a cleanse. Also, when your body releases toxins, it could drastically effect your emotions. There is no telling what you’ve been storing up. Finally, you should know at some point, you will be hungry and/or just mentally psych yourself into wanting to eat just to eat. How do you plan on overcoming that obstacle and maintaining your course?
ORGANIZE YOUR SCHEDULE
You need to prepare not only mentally, but also in terms of your schedule. Even if you’ve cleansed before, you don’t know how you are going to react this time. So I suggest trying to avoid long interactions, important meetings, deadlines, anything that might make you anxious. Don’t plan lunches and dinners if possible. The food will be tempting and you won’t focus on your company. Also avoid large social situations in case you do feel uneasy or short-tempered. It’s ok to stay busy, but I suggest keeping to yourself,
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A COLONIC
A colonic is necessary in my opinion. Because you aren’t getting the fiber from the veggies to move things along, you’ll need to schedule one on day 3, 4, or 5. Some experts suggest getting 2 to fully cleanse the walls of your intestines.
YOU WILL CONTINUE TO EXERCISE
Plan on exercising. Sweating is another way to detox. And if you maintain the cleanse, you should feel a surge of energy and capable of light workouts. Yoga can be physically and mentally cleansing.
LIGHTEN UP YOUR LOAD
Try to eat light the day before. Don’t shove down your favorite meal in fear you’ll never taste it again. All of your favorite foods will be there on the other side.
STOCK UP ON WATER
In between juices/meals, you should be drinking eight ounces of water. This is actually harder than it sounds, but it will help with your “movements.”
So you probably want to know, what’s the difference, which is the best, is one of them easier?
OVERVIEW
First, review a basic breakdown of the three cleanses. All three use fresh ingredients that only last a couple of days. Deliveries for RCC and OA come daily, BPC can drop off 3 days worth of juice at a time.
(BPC = BluePrint, RCC = RedCarpet, OA = Organic Avenue)
BPC 3 day “Foundation” – 6 juices = 3 green juices, 2 fruit juices, 1 cashew milk
RCC juice cleanse- 6 juices = electrolyte lemonade, 2 green juices, 1 carrot juice, 1 banana smoothie, 1 cashew milk
OA L.O.V.E. Fast- 1 elixir, 1 fruit juice, 1 green juice, 1 smoothie, 1 soup, 1 small salad, 1 coconut milk/water
(All three companies offer other cleanses as well.)
WHY?
You also need to know my goals in cleansing:
Detox my organs
Repair my diet
Restore a normal appetite
Decrease cravings for processed sugar
SO WHAT DO I THINK?
Following are my conclusions on the three cleanses.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
While OA has the most hearty offerings, it incorporates many veggies I really can’t stand. However, there is no way I could ever finish all of the stuff they sent for one day because it was so substantial. So if you’re a veggie lover, this would be the easiest cleanse by far because it’s closest to a normal diet.
BPC and RCC both offer 6 juices a day. RCC is a little easier because like OA it offers a sweet smoothie mid-day that is delicious. That boost in energy and moral keeps you motivated until your nighttime cashew milk. OA’s smoothies are by far the best because they offer a variety that often includes chocolate.
Both OA and RCC (soon BPC) offer raw food cleanses as well if you are fearful of going to straight juice on your first attempt.
THE GREEN FACTOR
Obviously green juice is the a big component of the cleanses.
Hands down OA’s is the worst, but you only have to drink it once a day (and it’s followed by the smoothie).
Most people would say BPC offers the best green juice because it’s sweetened with green apple. I like it as well, but the celery sometimes gets to me.
RCC gives me the option to exclude ingredients like celery in all of their juices so it was more enjoyable.
Out of the 6 juices offered by BPC and RCC, I usually only drank 5 because the green juice twice in RCC and three times in BPC per day became redundant.
COST
OA L.O.V.E Fast = $450/week ($90/day) including delivery in NYC
BPC = $65/day (for 3+ days including delivery in NYC), $85/day including overnight shipping to anywhere in the US
RCC = $90/day (including shipping in LA)
Honestly, if you’re serious about cleansing and getting your diet back on track, I think it’s worth the investment. You receive juices and recipes you can’t replicate on your own, the support of a nutritionist, and everything you need for the day so you don’t have to think about what to do next.
PORTABILITY
BPC is by far the easiest if you’re on the go. They have a cute travel bag with a little ice pack to keep all of your juice cool. RCC offers a cooler tote, but it’s a lot more cumbersome.
OA comes in glass bottles so it’s not easy to throw in your purse (although I have).
THE GOOD STUFF
There is always one juice in a cleanse that I crave months later. In OA, I love the smoothies so much that I go buy them separately when I’m in NYC. They have chocolate, mint chocolate chip, goji berry, and blueberry flavors for these nutrient-packed mixtures. Delicious!
Both BPC and RCC offer cashew milk at the end of each day. Such a treat after a long day of veggie juices. I prefer BPC’s – it’s like a vanilla milkshake. RCC’s is good as well, but not as thick.
RCC’s midday smoothie tastes the best, but I feel like the electrolyte lemonade you drink first is the most notable. According to September, the combination of the flax oil with the sulpher in the lemons and pears energizes you instantly. RCC also uses hexagonally structured water and adds probiotics to the green juice to generate good bacteria in your body.
SHIPPING
At this point BPC is only one that ships, although I believe OA will do upon request. RCC should be shipping soon!
DIY CLEANSING
My first attempt at cleansing I tried to do it myself and it didn’t work at all. I was starving and had no idea how to nourish myself properly despite the fact I was following a menu I found online.
As I stated before, I think it’s important to have the support of a nutritionist to help explain your body’s reaction and how to cope with hunger. September from RCC will be offering coaching soon so you can do it yourself with assistance.
BOTTOM LINE
I enjoy them all for different reasons. When experiencing each, I received the positive effects of cleansing and felt rejuvenated by the end.
If I had to choose ONE – I think for me RCC would be my favorite because I like all of the juices they provide in the day, and I need the midday smoothie and the evening cashew milk to keep me mentally satisfied.
You need to asses what your goals are and then review the menus to see which will help you accomplish them. On any cleanse, I suggest getting a colonic and maintaining a light exercise regimen to fully detox your body.
You’ll find there are so many benefits to cleansing. Notable improvements will occur in your health, skin, emotional well-being, stress level, and sleep schedule.
**Full Disclosure: BPC and RCC were provided for free. I received a 10% media discount for Organic Avenue.
“Holy hell does this look amazing!! I’ve been wanting to do a cleanse.. but there aren’t any vendors in Michigan I checked out Blueprint and it’s so expensive to ship.. just not in my budget at the moment.
Mary – any shipping friendly suggestions!? or places you know of?” — Blogger Kristin
Unfortunately cleanses are expensive. There’s really no way around it. But let me explain what you pay for:
A guarantee you are getting all of the vitamins and nutrients your body needs when not eating food.
Delicious juice that isn’t thick. If you’ve ever tried to make a tasty green juice, it’s not that easy. They also have special machines that cold press the fruit so you get just the juice with all the nutrients without the pulp.
You don’t have to THINK about what comes next. There is a set schedule to keep you on course because at times you will want to deviate.
After you buy all of the ingredients that goes into these juices, it probably would cost about the same. All of the fruits and veggies are pesticide-free and organic.
Nut milk, which isn’t the easiest thing to make, is very necessary on a cleanse so you get protein and fat.
Personal Support. In each of these cleanses, I have always been able to reach out to a nutritionist in the company to ask questions and get advice on how my body reacts to the cleanse. This is priceless! (And if you’ve ever been to see a nutritionist, you know their service is expensive!)
At this point, BluePrint is the only one of the cleanses that ships. (They offer free shipping to one state per month. Right now it’s Illinois. And if you get a group, the rate per day decreases as well.) Organic Avenue says they can, but I haven’t tried it that way yet. For first time cleansers, I would definitely make the call to investigate. September from Red Carpet has been taking meetings to get shipping started ASAP.
In the meantime, September will be starting cleanse coaching packages so you CAN do this on your own. She is also very attentive and always reachable via email to answer questions and offer support.
Although I make cleansing seem easy, it takes strength of mind to complete. And you really need a schedule and counselor to support you.
I checked out Blueprint and it’s so expensive to ship.. just not in my budget at the moment.
