Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

March 18th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin'

Have you seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead?  It was released in 2011, but I just watched it over the weekend.

Holy Mother of Green Goodness this was an inspiring film!  If you’ve never seen it or haven’t heard about it – Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is about Joe Cross, an overweight Australian man with an autoimmune disorder.  It’s a documentary about Joe’s 60 Day juice fast which lead to his losing 82 pounds and completely turning around his unhealthy lifestyle.

During his 60 day juice fast, Joe spends 30 days in New York City and then the next 30 days traveling across the US talking to people about juicing, juice fasting, our health as a nation and the Standard American Diet.

(I’ve made a small edit to this post at the suggestion of a friend, to keep the ending a surprise for those of you haven’t seen it!)

Nothing in this documentary was news to me and probably won’t be news to you either – Joe lost weight because he significantly cut his calorie intake by consuming only juice.  His health improved because he dramatically improved the quality of his diet.

But still, to watch his transformations, both physically and mentally? It was very moving to say the least.

And every time I watched this dude walk around sucking on a big glass of fresh juice, all I could think was,

“I want. juice. right. now.”

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead was the reason I made green juice for breakfast today – my greens for Day 18 of The Greener March Challenge!

Green Juice Sick Fat and Nearly Dead

(Joe has my exact juicer!)

Just my classic green lemonade today – romaine, cucumber, apple, lemon and ginger. A few stalks of celery was among the ingredients today too.

Green Lemonade

Juice for me, plus a glass for Zak that I put a lid on and stuck in the fridge for him until he got home from work.

This film is the reason why there was juicing over the weekend as well.  As a part of my plan to expand my leafy green horizons for the second half of this month, I juiced some dandelion greens on Sunday.

Dandelion Greens

Even Kaz tried it. (And gave me the side eye…)

Green Juice Baby

Maybe putting green juice in a sippy cup would save him from the green mustache?  Maybe a sippy cup would save me from a green mustache too.

Green Juice Baby

If you decide to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, be warned: you’re going to want a juicer by the time it’s over.  You don’t need a juicer to eat better, to lose weight or to improve your health – but I won’t deny that it sure is a fun, tasty way to get started!

Have you seen this movie?  What did you think?  Did it make you run out and buy a juicer?  Do you think you could drink only fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days straight?

(Know that Joe was under medical supervision during his fast – just in case you get any crazy ideas!)


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12 Responses

  • Devann says:

    I watched it last April, after “Hungry for Change” and the two of them changed my life

  • Pat says:

    Yeah yeah juicer. I want to pick Kaz’s cheeks! What a doll!

  • Courtney says:

    OK, you’ve convinced me. I’m watching it right now.

      • Courtney says:

        That was truly inspiring. I love the ‘pass it on’ aspect of it all. Now, I want a juicer.
        I already have a VitaMix blender and make green smoothies. Can you tell me the difference between juicing and blending? Is the flavor better with juicing? Healthier? It seems juicing would remove a lot of the fiber where blending would keep it all in? Since I have a blender I can’t really justify a $150 blender to my husband right now. But maybe next month……
        Thanks for your fun and inspiring posts about eating healthier.

        • Devann says:

          Yes, juicing removes the fiber, hence making digestion easier hence cleansing the body more. I do so much better with smoothies than I do juicing. Other LOVE it!

          • The other thing about juicing is that because it removes the fiber, there’s less volume, which means you can pack a lot more vitamins and micronutrients into juice. So 8 oz green juice will have more nutrition than 8 oz of green smoothie, but that;’s because you had to use more vegetables to get that 8 oz juice.

            If you already eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, the lack of fiber won’t be an issue. You can’t really go wrong with either, both can be great for you! It comes down to what you want/need from your green beverage of choice, and the cost could be a factor cost as well. (The cost a juicer, for one – like you mentioned! Plus the cost of more fruits and vegetables.)

            When I make “green lemonade”, I can pack way more kale/romaine/greens into the juicer than I could into the vitamix – and I do prefer the texture of juice (which is like water) when I use green lemonade ingredients over those same ingredients in a green smoothie… it’s too thick to be enjoyable. But I love a handful of spinach or a little kale in with my regular smoothie ingredients.

            I’m glad you enjoyed it!

  • Courtney says:

    Thanks for all the information on juicing. It seems like it would be easier to get kids to drink juice rather than green smoothies. My kids won’t touch a green smoothie, only yogurt and fruit smoothies ;). I just might give it a try.

  • Lancy says:

    So, I’m not trying to promote anything here, but we got these for xmas for Mira and seeing how you are also a Mason Jar queen I think you should get them for Kaz (and the girls)!! :) Yum yum yum for green juice!
    http://cuppow.com/

    • That. Is. So. Cool. There’s a retailer right here in Rochester, I might hunt them down. Thanks!

      (And I totally know you’re a Cuppow promoter in disguise… you can’t fool me!)

    • Devann says:

      I just got something similar for my 3 year old. It’s a lid that looks like the cuppow lid but has its own ring and it also has a rubber cozy to make it less breakable. Fits on the 8 oz. mason jar. I go it on amazon.