6/27 All Juiced Up
Last week I read an article about a movie called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. It is a documentary about a man named Joe that cures his debilitating autoimmune disease, becomes a rock solid athlete, completely over-hauls his own life and the lives of thousands of people around the world by undertaking a 60 day juice fast. I was intrigued so I added it to the ever growing list of movies to see, books to read and ways to improve my life….you know the list.
A few days later we met a friend of ours for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. They have vegan club sandwiches, breath stealing desserts and some of the most luscious Sangria I have ever had. Yes please. We were lounging on their deck enjoying a brilliant, Michigan Saturday afternoon…the kind built for Sangria sippin. All of a sudden I heard myself ask the waitress, “May I please have a fresh juice….cucumber, watermelon, grapefruit and ginger?” What? Am I channeling someone? I want Sangria. I have never, ever ordered a fresh juice without its less aggressive counterpart “smoothie” in the name. I had no idea in that moment that it was just the beginning of this juiced up journey.
Later that afternoon, I signed up for a complimentary trial run of Netflix to see a particular show. Come to find out…the show wasn’t even on Netflix. No need to waste a perfectly free trial run, so I found Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. We watched, lives were changed…..a juicer was born.
The movie follows Joe Cross, an Australian man in his early 40’s that comes to the U.S. to find wellness and heal himself of an auto immune disease that has turned his life into a prescription drug filled and painful pit of despair. He believes as I do, that our bodies have the desire and capacity to heal themselves. In the movie he uses this great example to illuminate the point. If I fall down and scrape my knee, I know it will scab over and heal. There will never be a point when I look down at my knee and question whether or not it will heal itself…I know it will because it always has. Knowing that to be true, it isn’t difficult to see that if the outside of our bodies can and do heal themselves all the time, then so will the insides of our bodies. We simply need to provide it with the fuel it needs and protect it from the things that prevent healing.
In the movie, Joe embarks on a 60 day juice fast to reclaim his health and his life. He calls it a Reboot. A way to recalibrate your body and mind. He is endearing, honest and relatable. You fall in love with him, root for him and begin to believe that you too can heal your life and your body with a juicer and a handful of greens.
As I watched the movie I immediately knew that I would be on a juice fast before Summers end. I was inspired, excited and encouraged by the idea of healing my body and rebooting my connection to it with food. I could feel the burn of Sandy’s gaze searching, seeking a sign that I had been sucked in. I waited until the powerful end to this fantastic movie to share the great news. I am so doing this.
I too have am autoimmune disease. I haven’t shared it on the blog, it is not debilitating, but I would prefer to live without it. I am also living, running and surviving with really horrible joint pain in both of my feet. Together these things can make me feel broken and sad. Sometimes I can’t understand how I can be vegan and still have dis-ease and chronic aches and pains but the truth is….I am not living on just whole foods and veggies. I seek out vegan cupcakes, vegan meat replacements and vegan fill in the blanks because it feels novel and exciting. But what I have realized over the past several months that would truly feel novel is to be as pain free, vibrant and healthful as I know my body wants to be. These snack foods and vegan novelty foods can certainly have a place in my life, but they are not welcome to hinder my healing and perhaps right now they are. I can and will “reboot” with juice fasting to see if I can find a better balance for my body and me.
There was a point in the movie when they were introducing you to a woman that had met Joe and decided to do her own 10 day juice fast. They were interviewing her husband and at one point he is looking at the camera describing the state of despair his wife has felt in her body and about her body. It really resonated with me and the thought washed over me…that is exactly how I feel, I feel despair. I knew in that moment that I would try.
Sandy is going to join me on this juicy voyage. As soon as we pick a start date I will share it with you. In the meantime, I will keep you posted on our progress. Do you have any juicy knowledge you can share? Tips, recipes, the right juicer to purchase? I am a juicing wannabe and would love your input.
If you are in the United States you may watch the film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead here for free.
Have a delicious day.
Image courtesy of rottentomatoes.com.
Tags: compassionate eating, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, going veg, Joe Cross movie, juicing movie, plant based diet, vegan, vegan experience, vegan wannabe
