How To Do the Blueprint Cleanse At Home

Juice fasts and detox cleanses are very popular these days, thanks in part to celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles who credit juice cleanses with helping them to lose weight fast.

One of the best-known and high-profile of these cleanses is the Blueprint Cleanse, a New York company that has created a standard 3-day juice cleanse program. The Blueprint Cleanse starts at $60 a day for six 16-ounce juices and can cost as much as $95 a day if you have your Blueprint Cleanse juices overnighted to other parts of the country.

Many people love the promise of the Blueprint Cleanse, but can’t stomach the idea of shelling out $60 to $95 a day for a three day fast. They want to recreate the Blueprint Cleanse at home, but don’t know how.

It turns out that, armed with the right equipment and information, it is very easy to recreate the Blueprint Cleanse at home for a fraction of the cost of ordering it from the company. The founders of the Blueprint Cleanse have even published a book that how to make your own Blueprint Cleanse at home. They believe that juicing and periodic cleanses are so important to overall health that they share their program even though it could cost them customers. They realize that enough people will want the convenience of having someone else make the juices and simply having them show up, ready to drink, each day.

For those interested in making their own juices for the cleanse, here’s a template of how to make your own healthy juice cleanse at home.

Consuming nothing but juices for three days can be a jolt to the system. To limit feelings of hunger and some of the more unpleasant side effects such as headaches, is best prepare your body for the cleanse by minding your eating habits for a few days prior to the cleanse itself.

If you are a regular coffee drinker or soda drinker, start to taper your caffeine consumption. This will help caffeine-withdrawal headaches form becoming too severe. It also is a good idea to eat a vegetarian diet at least the day before you start the cleanse, and maybe even two or three days prior to starting the cleanse. The day before you start your cleanse, try to eat only fruits and vegetables. This is easier on your digestive system and will help you reap maximum benefits right from the start of the cleanse. It also will shrink your stomach some, which will reduce feelings of hunger while doing the cleanse.

The foundation of the Blueprint Cleanse (and all the juice cleanses based on the Blueprint Cleanse) is six 16-ounce drinks a day. One of those juices will always be a nut milk, which provides essential protein and fats. It usually is the last drink of the day, and I find is a nice ritual to recap a day of mindful drinking. It also is yummy and rich, a delicious send off to the Land of Nod.

The other five juices you consume in a day will be fruit juices and green juices. Whether you drink two green juices a day or three green juices a day depends on how hard core you want your cleanse to be, and also how healthy your diet was before starting the cleanse. If you have never done a juice cleanse before, or if your diet consisted mainly of burgers, fries and beers, you will want to have more fruit juices, since these are more palatable to some people who have never before tried a green juice. Some people think the green juices taste gnarly, but they are the most detoxifying juices in the cleanse, and also provide protein.

You sip these six juices over the course of a day. As I mentioned, I like to end the day with the nut milk, but you do not need to save it for the end if you would prefer to drink it first or in the middle of the juices. I am seldom hungry when I juice. I find all that liquid fills me up. I also like to pour a portion of a juice into a cup and then add water. This stretches the juices out so each lasts longer, but that is a personal preference.

While you are doing the juice fast, do not eat any solid foods, even fruits or veggies. You can drink as much water as you would like, and herbal tea is also allowed. Coffee is obviously a no-no.

After completing your juice cleanse, whether it was a 1-day cleanse, a 3-day cleanse or a longer cleanse, it is important that you return to solid foods as carefully as you went off them. Eat a vegetarian diet for the first post-cleanse day at least; stay vegetarian for 2 or 3 days if you can.

The first day you return to solid foods and start chewing again, start slowly with a piece of fruit. Remember, your body hasn’t had to break down solid food for a few days, and doing so will be a shock t it. Take it slow.

Other tips to Enhance the effects of your cleanse

• Exercise. You many think you won’t have the energy to exercise while you cleanse, but I have found this is not the case. In fact, breaking a sweat is an important part of any cleanse. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and we are designed to sweat out toxins. While exercise is great to do when cleansing, be sensible. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, stop and take a break.
• Exfoliate. Again, because your skin is your largest organ, it is important that you help it perform its best and sweat easily. Each day in the shower, use a loofah, washcloth or other coarse sponge and rub your skin vigorously until it is pink. This will slough off dead cells and energize your skin, making you skin more efficient.
• Steam. If possible, take a 10 or 15 minute steam each day you cleanse. A steam is an easy way to break a sweat if you do not want to exercise while doing the juice cleanse at home. If you do not have access to a steam room, draw a hot bath and soak in it.
• Colonics. Many experts recommend doing at least one colonic while on a juice cleanse to clean out your lower intestine. Many day spas offer colonic treatments, essentially an enema that comes with a light stomach massage. Colonics are not painful and help speed your body's elimination of toxins, amplifying the health benefits of the cleanse.
• Detox wraps. Another day spa treatment that complements a juice cleanse is an herbal detox wrap. The aesthetician will tightly wrap your underwear-clad body in long cloths that have been soaked in an herbal tea; you end up looking something like a mummy. You then lie on a massage table covered by a thermal blanket for about an hour, allowing the healthy, detoxifying and rejuvenating herbs to soak into your body. You may also lose a few inches from the detox wrap; it is great for short-term firming.

Fruit Juices

Lemon, Apple, Ginger

• 2 apples
• 1 lemon
• 1-inch cube ginger
• Handful mint

Wash all the ingredients. Keep skin on the apples and remove the outer lemon peel. Peel the ginger. Run ingredients through a juicer. Take the expelled pulp and run it back through the juicer a second time to extract all liquid. Serve and drink

Fruit Basket

• 12-15 grapes
• 6-8 large strawberries
• 1.5 apples
• 1pear
• Handful fresh mint

Wash all the ingredients. Keep skin on the apples and pear. Run ingredients through a juicer. Take the expelled pulp and run it back through the juicer a second time to extract all liquid. Serve and drink

Cucumber Fruit Juice

• 1 cucumber
• 1 apple
• 1 lemon wedge
• 12-15 grapes

Wash all the ingredients. Keep skin on the apple, cucumber and grapes; remove the outer peel of the lemon. Run ingredients through a juicer. Take the expelled pulp and run it back through the juicer a second time to extract all liquid. Serve and drink.

Green Juices

Greens And Apple

• 3-4 ounces spinach
• 3 stalks of kale
• 2 golden delicious or gala apples
• 1/2 cucumber, skin on
• 5-7 sprigs of parsley
• 1 lemon

Put all the ingredients through your juicer. Run the pulp by-product back through the juicer to extract all the liquids.

Should make about 2 cups.

Simple Green Juice

• 4 ounces spinach
• 3 stalks of kale
• 1 handful parsley
• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 one-inch cube of ginger

Wash all ingredients. Run them through a juicer. Any pulp should be run through the juicer a second time to extract all juice from the vegetables. Serve and drink.

Antioxidant-Packed Green Juice

In this recipe, antioxidant-rich blueberries turn the green juice purple, and add a fruity sweetness.

• 1 cup spinach
• 1.5 cups blueberries (If you use frozen blueberries, make sure they are thawed)
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cucumber

Wash all the ingredients. Run them through a juicer. Take the expelled pulp and run it back through the juicer a second time to extract all liquid. Serve and drink.

Find more green juice recipes here.

Nut Milks

Cashew Nut Milk

• ½ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in water
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1½ teaspoons extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom

Place the ingredients in a blender and blend until the nuts are totally puréed. This may take a few minutes, and you may need to start and stop the blender a few times. Also be sure to keep your hand on top of the blender lid so it doesn't come off and cause a huge mess! Strain the nut milk through a cheesecloth (or nut milk bag) if you want a pulp-free protein juice; leave the pulp if you want extra texture.