Watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Hello!

I just finished a film entitled "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."  I had heard of it before but never took the time to watch it.  I was referred to it through an article on "green juice."  Before this, I thought that green juice was just a smoothie that you would put kale or spinach or something to turn it green, but it turns out that it has a specific recipe (although I'm sure that minor modifications are allowed):

* 2 large cucumbers (peeled if not organic)
* big fistful of kale
* big fistful of sweet pea sprouts
* 4–5 stalks celery
* 1–2 big broccoli stems
* 1 pear or green apple (optional)
* 1 inch of ginger (or less)

This recipe will produce about 32 ounces which is enough for two people.  The film was about a man who, due to an autoimmune disease, weight gain, and dependence on medication, decided to make a drastic change to his lifestyle beginning with the way he ate.  He bought a juicer and went on a juice fast for 60 days which meant that he would eat nothing and only drink juice and water.  Now, the juice that he was drinking was not something you could buy from the grocery store.  Whatever "juice" we have been accustomed to has lost most of its nutrients through processing and just sitting there, if it is truly juice in the first place and not sugar, food coloring, and water.  The juices he was drinking were whole fruits and vegetables he pulverized and blended together to make a delicious and nutritious shake that was full of the micronutrients that his body was craving.

Most would say that this is extreme and even "crazy," but it's not.  What is crazy is the amount of people who can acknowledge that they would probably benefit from changing the way they eat but simply do not because of lack of willpower or motivation.  The world needs people like this to show them the way.  It takes one to pave the way and then many will follow.

The man who made this film's name is Joe Cross.  He is an Australian but was raised as a child in the United States.  For his fast, he decided to return to the U.S., spending the first bit in New York City and then driving across the country to San Diego.  He needed to unplug from his mind and remove himself from the family and friends that would bring him down with their eating habits.  This continues to be one of the hardest hurdles for anyone on any type of restrictive diet to overcome, is being exposed mercilessly to those foods that are being eaten by the people around them.

This film was so inspiring and motivating, I think that I would benefit from a juice fast, maybe 10 days.  I don't need anything drastic, but it is true that I have missed my daily smoothies.  I feel that something is definitely missing and I know that Andy is open to a change.

I want nothing more than to reach optimum health and help other people get there as well.  While Joe Cross was driving across the country on his journey, he happened to meet a man who had the same autoimmune disease that he had.  This disease is so rare that Joe had only met two other people with diseases similar to the one he had, but never the same disease.  The man he met was a truck driver who was over 400 pounds.  Joe invited him to his car where he had his juicer and invited him to try it.  He said that he liked it.  Joe then encouraged him to buy a juicer and gave him his number in case he ever was serious about taking a juice fast.

A few weeks later, Joe finishes his fast and returns to Australia.  He is "rebooted" - he has lost a significant amount of weight and his skin is glowing and clear.  He receives a message from Phil, the truck driver.  He says that he wants to make a change.  Joe realizes his responsibility to help this person and flies out to encourage and guide him on his journey.  (If only others had such empathy!)   10 months later he weighs 227 lbs. and has lost 202 lbs.  202 LBS.!!!!!

This is crazy.  If there was one thing this movie did, it was that it showed me that people can be open to new ideas.  I get really depressed when I think about the cynical nature of the people we are surrounded with, when I think of their resistance to change.  As Joe said, what he (and I) don't understand are the people who will scoff at or discredit something without even trying it.  Nobody has to go the full 60 days.  If you try it out and just go for 7 days, well, at least you tried, and your body will be better for it.  It surely is better than never trying it at all.

I hope that Andy is open to this.  I am also looking into becoming a yoga instructor.  Andy and I went on a walk around our beautiful apartment complex (it is, you have to see it), and he told me something very important.  He told me that I was focused on the wrong things and that is why I don't know what I want to do with my life.  I have only been focused on the fame and the recognition, focused on the money.  I was not looking into myself to see what my passions are, I had to literally put aside those things to figure out what it was that I really wanted to do.

The answer is help people.  I know that it involves healthy living and music, and they are all connected, aren't they?  I want to help people remember who they are and help them to live life to the fullest.  In this way I will be living life to the fullest.  I feel so alone right now but I know that if I put myself out there and try to help people in this way that I will never be short of friends.  And, what's most important, I will be setting a good example for my daughters on what is the good and most pleasing way to live.  A life that is gratifying and fundamentally satisfying.

I hope you will take this journey with me, I am very excited to start.