If you read that headline and you're feeling skeptical, I want you to know that I went into this skeptical about juice cleanses, too. Extremely skeptical.
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Getty ImagesAs juice cleanses have gained popularity over the past couple years—thank you, Hollywood!—countless brides have asked me, "Should I try a pre-wedding juice cleanse?" My answer was always this: "I don't know. I prefer to chew my meals."
Look, I like juice as much as the next girl who grew up having a glass of OJ with her Cheerios. But I eat—a lot. And I exercise a fair amount. So I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that a few bottles of juice were supposed to keep me going for a few days.
I had friends who did juice cleanses, but if I needed to squeeze into a dress—wedding or otherwise—I'd run a few extra miles and spend another few hours in Pilates. I never had anything against juice cleanses, I just felt like they weren't my thing.
Still, more and more brides have been asking me about them lately, so when they were handing out juices from the BluePrint Cleanse at the New York Magazine Weddings Event I attended a couple months ago, I was still skeptical, but I figured I'd give them a taste.
And they were good. Not "good" like, "I can choke this down if I have to." Good like, "This is tasty and refreshing and I'd gladly drink it." Even the green one! (I swear on my wedding dress! Petra took a sip—hopefully she'll come over here and vouch for them!)
While I was knocking back shots of juice. I chatted up Julie, their on-staff nutritionist, who explained the difference between a fast and their cleanse. A fast, she said, meant drinking just water or tea ... and getting very few calories. On the BluePrint Cleanse, you take in a whole bunch of calories (the final juice of the day has almost 20 grams of fat!) but every last one is packed with nutrients.
