Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead – The Movie That Turned Me Into One of Those Juicer People


Have you seen the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead? If not, watch it! I am by no means fat, sick or nearly dead (at least I hope not!), but I am so glad Jeff and I watched this inspirational and uplifting film about healing yourself with food...or lack thereof.

Joe Cross, an Australian business man who had spent years and years living it up, eating whatever he wanted, slowly packing on the pounds, while at the same time dealing with the debilitating autoimmune disease chronic Urticaria, which required him to rely heavily on steroids. One day, he just had enough. He heads to the U.S. to meet with Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who you may remember from his best-seller Eat to Live. Dr. Fuhrman suggests 60 days of nothing but plant-based green juices with the hopes of getting Joe's weight in check as well as getting him off the steroids and other medications he was taking.

As we watched, I was like, there is no way in HELL I could ever do that. I would go crazy! I would stab someone! Probably many people! Well, Joe does it successfully and while on his journey he meets a lot of interesting people and urges them to try to do the same. When he meets Phil at a random truckstop somewhere in the middle of nowhere and discovers he too suffers from the same autoimmune disease, the movie takes a really heartwarming (awww!) turn. You just have to watch!

The best part about it is that it doesn't come off as the least bit preachy, which some "health" documentaries can do, nor does it bombard you with images of the horrors of the meat and dairy industry. It's not even about that. It's about reversing a lifetime of bad food choices by eating nothing but plant-based foods and in doing so, discovering true wellness, both physically and mentally.

When we were done watching it, I turned to Jeff and said, "So, where are we going to put the juicer?" And little did he know, I wasn't kidding. Within three days we went to bed Bath & Beyond, with our 20% coupons in hand and bought our first juicer. We got the Breville Juice Fountain Plus. It isn't the $300 fancy-shmancy one, but the $150 one and it had Joe's picture on it so I was sold. We then popped into Trader Joe's and spent about $40 on veggies (a LOT for TJ's) and headed home.

At this point I didn't really have a plan. I knew I wasn't going to do the complete juice fast, and certainly not for 60 days. I decided to go all juice, all day with a healthy dinner for the next 5 days to see what happened. I am on day 4 right now, and I feel pretty darned good! I have lost 5.2 pounds so far and have a ton of energy. I thought it would be hard to do my normal run route, but it was great! I did feel a little fatigued lifting my normal weight yesterday, but I think that was a fluke that I'm blaming on "lady" issues. Blah. Overall, I would have never tried this if it weren't for watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. And though I don't suffer any debilitating illnesses and am pretty fit, I am glad I gave it a whirl! Particularly since I will be on a beach in Mexico next week for my 40th birthday! Hey, every little bit helps, right?



I have made Joe's "Mean Green" juice several times which contains:
6 Leaves Kale
1 Cucumber
4 Stalks Celery
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 Piece Ginger
It's really good...really "clean" tasting. 
The "Mean Green" Juice...my first juice!

But my favorite is one I just made up (it's not even remotely green in color, though it is "green"). Let's call it Heavy Beets:
2 large pink lady apples
1 lemon
4-6 stalks celery
1 beet
2 carrots
6 leaves kale
thumbprint-sized chunk of ginger

Juice and pour over ice and enjoy! 

Heavy Beets, boyeeee!

A few side notes: Before you give this a try, if you're going to go full-bore and are on medication(s) or have any health concerns, please check with your physician to make sure it is safe for you to do so.  Also, be prepared to go through a LOT, I mean, a LOT-LOT of fruits and veggies. Luckily they are cheaper than the processed crap I was eating at breakfast and lunch anyway. Surprisingly (or not), there is a TON of vegan junk food out there. When you juice kale or any other leafy greens, I suggest using the whole leaves, not the pre-chopped stuff. After making my first one, I had bits of kale everywhere! Oh, and you can't juice bananas. D'oh!

Anyway, I hope you watch this movie! And if you feel as inspired as I did, give the juicing a try and let me know how it goes! 

As that Hippocrates dude once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Smart guy, that Hippocrates.

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