I wish the ending of this story was that I bought a juicer, made some amazing homemade juice on the cheap, and kept right on cleansing but that’s not what happened.

The situation on the morning of day four was I had decided to extend my juice cleanse, I had no BluePrint Cleanse juice left, and I needed to be at work early for a meeting. So I cheated by having some fresh pineapple and a Vitamin Water. I also hit up One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market (did I mention Chelsea Market is Snackish heaven??) for a fresh-pressed juice. The Thai green juice with greens, pineapple, cilantro and lime was amazingly delicious but it was—hold onto your seat—$10. I realized I couldn’t sustain this cleanse for much longer, not for hunger reasons, but for financial ones.

Later I located more BluePrint Cleanse drinks at Whole Foods in Tribeca. These seemed to be a different batch from the ones I had delivered. I really liked the addition of ginger to the green juice, and the thicker, shake-like consistency of the cashew milk. Since they were $9-$12 each, I bought just enough to get through 24 hours and decided to break the cleanse on the evening of day five.

Otherwise, I was doing pretty well. I felt more relaxed and energized than I had on days one through three, even though I was at work. My mood had lifted, my skin was clearer, and I had lost four and a half pounds. These effects were fairly subtle, and I think cutting out caffeine and alcohol, getting lots of rest, and starting up my exercise routine had something to do with it. What was more striking was that my body seemed mostly accustomed to its new super low-calorie diet, and when I did think about food, I was craving fruits and vegetables instead of carbs and fatty snacks. Overall, I’m happy I did it. If you’re thinking about doing a cleanse and have no health reason not to, I’d say give it a try and BluePrint Cleanse is a good place to start. Prepare for a rocky day or two, but it does get better.

For the next couple of days I’ll be easing back into eating with lots of vegetables, fresh fruit, and soup. I still have no desire to drink beer or coffee. Who knows how long that’ll last but I’ll stretch it out as long as I can. And now, while I enjoy the most exciting bowl of broccoli I’ve ever had in my life, I’ll be perusing Bon Appetit‘s amazing-looking Food Lover’s Cleanse from 2011 and 2012 for ways to keep the healthy eating going now that I’m back in the Wild West of solid food. Who’d have thought?

(Update 1/19/12: A BPC rep reached out and said the juices sold at Whole Foods and those delivered at home are the same. I definitely noticed a slight taste difference in the two I mentioned above, after giving them an adequate shake, but that may not be the case for others. I thought both versions were pretty good, and picking up a juice at Whole Foods would give you a good idea of what you’d get if you order home delivery.)

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