DIY BluePrint Cleanse

I am attempting to stand on the shoulders of others who have pioneered the Blueprint Cleanse, as well as those who have ingeniously hacked the cleanse before. And, in the vein of over-sharing as is customary of the times we live, I want to document my 5-day cleanse. The main objective will be to see if the cost/effort really is worth doing it yourself.

Now, mind you, I live in NYC- land choice and convenience. But does it warrant $65/day to have freshly squeezed juices delivered to your door? We will see my friends, we will see.

Just a quick, friendly shout out to our friends at Blueprint Cleanse: You are amazing. Your juices are wonderful, your service is fantastic, and every time I've done a cleanse, I was able to reset my old ways and move forward a little healthier (and a little lighter). 

For those of you who have not tried BPC, I highly recommend it before attempting to do it yourself. That way, you get a feel for how your body is on a cleanse, the ingredients will be carefully regulated (organic, etc) and when you hack your own cleanse, you have a proper benchmark for success (how it should taste, how you should feel).

Materials for my little experiment: 

1) $100 Breville Juicer  
Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700-Watt Juice Extractor

This litle baby is the perfect introductory juicer, and it's highly recommended. I am planning to make my own breakfast juices once the cleanse is through.

2) Groceries/Produce (Recipes below)
I believe HomeFitnessmanaul.com was the first to really reverse engineer the BPC, so hats off to you! I also referenced recipes from delicateprincesstummy.com.

3) Time and a whole lot of patience (and maybe some extra rolls of paper towels for cleanup)

Recipes for the Cleanse:

I recommend checking out the BluePrint Cleanse site for some education on the levels (blueprintcleanse.com).  

Now mind you, there are varying levels as others have mentioned, and for this exercise, I've chosen the Foundation Cleanse for the first 3 days. I will then be upgrading to the Excavation Cleanse for Day 4 and 5. I am avoiding the Renovation Cleanse, mainly because it contains the universally dreaded beet juice, which tastes like you juiced a gravel driveway and some peet moss. Gross.


Recap of 1 Day's Juice Regimen per Cleanse Type:  
Foundation: Green - PAM* - Green - Lemonade - Green - Cashew Milk
Excavation: Green - Green- Green - Lemonade - Green -Cashew Milk

* [PAM stands for Pineapple/Apple/Mint]

And finally, the recipes:

Green Juice Ingredients (Per bottle):

• 5 ribs of celery
• 1 cucumber, halved
• 2 large green apples
• 3 kale leaves
• 1 lemon
• 1 handful parsley
• 3 romaine leaves
• 1 handful spinach

PAM Juice Ingredients (per bottle):

• 1/3 of 1 pineapple
• 2 large green apples 
• mint (small handful)

Spicy Lemonade (per bottle):

• 14 oz of water
• 3 medium lemons
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar

Cashew Milk Ingredients (per bottle):

• 5 oz raw cashews
• 16 oz filtered water
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Note: This is apparently made in a blender, not a juicer. 

 
I found that it was also helpful to build out a shopping list, so you're not acting like a crazy person in the grocery store, trying to piece together items from each drink.

Final Shopping List Per Day, for all drinks:

• 15 ribs of celery (appx 2 bunches)
• 3 cucumbers
• 8 large green apples
• 9 kale leaves (1 large bunch)
• 6 lemons
• Parsley (1 bunch)
• Romaine leaves (1 large bunch)
• Spinach (I bunch or bag)
• 1 medium pineapple
• 1 small bunch of fresh mint
• 5 oz raw organic cashews (1 box/container)
• 16 oz filtered water (if you don't already have a Brita)

And here are one-time purchases for the entire cleanse (which you may have in your pantry already):

• Cinnamon (powder)
• Vanilla (I'm using organic extract)
• Cayenne pepper 
• Agave nectar

Now you're probably wondering- what is all of this going to cost? I mean, that IS the main reason as to why you're doing this right? 

The cost for 1 Day of BPC is $65/day. For the DIY Cleanse, it's going to obviously vary, based on where you live, where you shop etc. 

For me, price-gouging in a requisite to live in my pricey city, so you may find your totals less than mine. And if you have farmer's markets available, by all means go to them- they're cheaper and you'll be able to support small farmers. Two birds, my friends, two birds...

The total shopping cost as follows for DIY Cleanse:

Day 1--

• Produce: $35
• One-Time Ingredient Purchases: $18
• Grand Total: $53

Keep in mind, the one-time ingredients (agave, cinnamon, etc) is just that...one-time purchase. And you probably already have at least the cinnamon and cayenne pepper in your home already. 

But also notable is that some of the ingredients (like the pineapple, the celery, romaine, etc), will tide you over for a couple of days. I certainly had excess for Day 2 and possibly Day 3. 

I will continually update the pricing and have a tabulated summary post-cleanse.

I think I've covered the basics, so run to the grocery store and report back!