A couple of weeks ago, Cindy and I watched a documentary on Netflix called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It’s about an Australian guy bloke named Joe Cross who is overweight, and suffers from an autoimmune disorder called chronic urticaria. Sick and tired of being in such lousy shape, he comes to the United States to do a 60-day juice fast so he can lose some weight and get off the steroids he has to take for his hives. He spends the first 30 days in and around New York City, and the next 30 travelling across America, meeting people and talking about what he’s doing. Along the way, he meets truck driver Phil Staples, who weighs more than 400 lbs. and also suffers from chronic urticaria.
This is their story. Well, it’s mostly their story. Joe also meets a woman named Siong who suffers from debilitating migraine headaches. She takes on the challenge of a 10-day juice fast to see what effect it has on her life.
The idea of juice fasting for 60 days is just incredible to me. I was fascinated by it, but at no time during the movie was I tempted to try it, you know. However, when we got to the part about Siong and her struggle to deal with a mere 10-day challenge, I asked Cindy if she wanted to try it…together. 10 days. I could try 10 days.
So, yesterday I ordered a Breville juicer, much like the one in the movie, and it arrived today. After dinner, we made an impromptu juice (didn’t follow a recipe, but it’s close to things I’ve seen people juice) of 1 lemon, 4 celery stalks, 1 cucumber, a handful of spinach, 2 granny smith apples, 2 carrots, and 1 kiwi fruit. It was not bad at all. Next time, I think I’ll sprinkle in a little black or Cheyenne pepper.
So, while Cindy is away this weekend at BlogHer in San Diego, I’ll be making a solo trip to the farmer’s market to buy (I’m guessing) 5 times more fruits and vegetables than we’d normally consume in a week. She’ll be back on Sunday, and on Monday, we’ll start our own 10-day juice fast challenge.
Cindy thinks we should keep a video journal of how we feel from day to day, so I’ll dig up the Flip camera before she gets back.
We’ll both talk about this again later — how it’s going, what we hope to get out of it, what we plan on doing after it’s over, etc. — when we actually start the fast next week. (I’ll tell you something right now though: I’m not giving up coffee or tea.)
In the meantime, if you want to see the movie yourself, it’s available for streaming on Netflix.
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Have you heard of Matcha tea? Its supposed to be a good pick me up without the crash let down, healthier than green tea (because it is green tea in a sense but you’re actually consuming the leaves, powdered)… Anyway, its supposed to be a healthy way to get a perk, without a crash.
Brainwave wise, its one of the few foods that place the brain into the alpha brainwave state… so not just a chemical alteration, rather a brain enhanced state of well being as well, if that makes sense..
In Texas our international food store had it. Not so in Maryland. But there’s tons of info. online. Way back when I’d bought it I also grabbed a liquid stevia sweetner. Xylitol is also supposed to be healthy sweetner choice atleast in a germ killer rather than teeth decayer kind of way.
I have heard of Matcha tea, and I’ve been tempted to pick some up, but I never do. We already have so much tea in the house, but now might be a good time to try it out anyway.
Wow. I’m going to add this to my queue. Since it doesn’t seem like you two eat many processed foods, and Cindy is already a vegetarian, I’m curious to see how it affects you guys. For me, I think the hard part mentally would be getting past the all liquid – all the time, no texture or chewing.
Well, we eat well, but I wouldn’t say I’m a healthy eater. I eat healthier versions of processed foods, and on occasion indulge in some good-but-not-good-for-you foods. When we switched to more organics/fewer processed foods, I dropped about 30 lbs. in a couple of months without much exercise, and I’ve just plateaued at my current weight for a couple of years now (still, with not much exercise). So, because my body has never experienced a micro-nutrient-rich diet for any extended period of time, I’m hoping it’ll give me a jump start, and break that plateau.
I’m usually game for a good cleansing diet, but I almost said no to this one because of the no texture/chewing thing. I decided to look at it as practice for when I finally get around to fasting for Ramadan. Plus, I’ve dragged Chris into so many of these…I guess it’s my turn to be dragged. It will be fun! It will be hilarious.
I think this is a fantastic idea, (one I’ve had myself but never go around to). I also really like Cindy’s idea about keeping a daily video journal. For me the hardest part of doing this is the “inconvenience” of the juicing itself. I have thought about making juices the night before so it’s ready for work, but as soon as you juice, it starts losing it’s nutrience (so says Jack LaLanne).
Also, I have a serious emotional attachment to food. For the past 2 weeks I’ve cut my sugar intake (exponentially) and have had only salads for lunch (which I’ve never done in my life), and I like the way it makes me feel. Giving up the act of eating would be a huge challenge for me, but I might just give it a go.
If you guys get a juicing routine going that works for your schedules, let me know and I might take on the challenge as well!
Good on you both!! Love you!
Yeah, from everything I’ve read, Jack LaLanne is right about juices starting to lose some of their nutrients just minutes after being made, but from what I can tell, the main culprit of degradation is air. So, if a juice changes its color or taste, that’s a sign it’s starting to oxidize. But, I wonder if you kept the juice refrigerated in an insulated container, if it wouldn’t last 8 hours. Also, you guys have a vacuum food saver, and I’ve seen jars and containers made for those things. I wonder if you could vacuum seal a few jars for use that day.
I remember when I cut sugar out of my coffee (the only New Year’s resolution I’ve ever kept). I lost something like 7 or 8 lbs. Of course, I was basically putting 2 teaspoons in each mug of coffee. And you know how much coffee I drink. That’s a lot of sugar!