Joe Cross is an Australian who went on a juice fast to lose 100 pounds and hopefully decrease the medications he was on. Now an advocate of juicing for general health, he spoke with West London Mum about his documentary and upcoming book.
What inspired you to make the film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead?
When I woke up on my 40th birthday, I looked in the mirror and saw a different bloke staring back at me. I was about as unhealthy as a 40-year-old could get. I was massively overweight—141 kilos, 309 pounds—with an excruciatingly painful autoimmune disease called urticaria. Between my weight and my urticaria, it had become just about impossible for me to do many of the things I most enjoyed in life, like playing golf with my dad or picking up my nieces and nephews to give them a hug. I couldn’t even wear a snug-fitting shirt without breaking out in terrible hives.
I contemplated how I let myself get to this point. Deep down, I knew it was the junk food, the booze, the late nights and the partying. The light bulb went off and I began to suspect that if what I was putting into my body had caused the disease, then the solution might be equally straightforward. If it was true that you are what you eat, well then I’d better commit to healing my body in the best way I knew I could—which meant consuming the plant-based foods our bodies are designed to ingest.
So, I decided to drink only the freshest juice from fruits and vegetables for 60 days. This was a real last-ditch attempt for me to get well. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead was created to document it because I thought, well, if this works for me, then I reckon it will help other people too and I want to share my journey.
Why did you decide to follow a juice fast rather than a diet?
I was desperate for a circuit breaker, and one that would give me results fast. I had beat up my body for so many years—the least I could do for it was get it back to health in the fastest way possible. By drinking only juice, I would be ingesting phytonutrients directly into my body to speed up and enhance its healing process. If I ate fruits and vegetables, I reckon it would have done the same thing for me, but it would have taken longer. When our body digests whole foods, it spends less time healing areas of your body that need the most attention. I was desperate, so a juice fast was, in my opinion, my only option.
How have you changed your day-to-day eating habits and how often do you do a juice fast “Reboot”?
I drink juice every day, I eat tons of fruits and vegetables, and I eat mostly plant-based foods. For dinner, I’ll enjoy grass-fed beef on occasion or wild fish and I always load my plate with lots of vegetables. I’m not perfect, I still enjoy my favourite chocolate ice cream and a burger here and there, but 80 percent of the time, I eat a well-balanced, high-nutrient diet.
A 60-day juice fast is a huge commitment—did you do anything to prepare and how did you stay motivated to live off juice alone for the duration?
That was one of the biggest mistakes of my Reboot, I didn’t prepare at all! I didn’t even have a juicer until the day before I started. And to top it off, I ate a giant burger with a side of fries and a soda as my final meal before I started juicing. Let me tell you, that was not a good idea. The way I treated my body before the Reboot made my first three or four days almost unbearable. I could hardly get out of bed. Now when I Reboot, I transition in properly by loading my body with plant-based foods for at least five days prior. The flood of nutrients you consume while on a Reboot is less shocking to your system if you prepare the right way.
How has juicing changed your life?
The end of my 60-day juice-only Reboot was just the beginning for me. Once I made it through the first few days, my mind became astonishingly clear and I began to plan how I would move forward from there. The Reboot returned me to the driver’s seat, in control of my lifestyle. It made me the CEO, the VP and the president of my own health, and it has changed my life forever. I still juice every single day, I’m able to make much better food choices, I have a smaller physique that doesn’t have people asking me when the twins are due, I enjoy exercise, I’m no longer taking any medications, my mind is clearer, and I’m overall a happier, healthier person.
What are some of the best fruits and vegetables to juice?
It’s best to start with a vegetable that produces a high juice yield like celery or cucumber. Then I add heaps of leafy greens like kale, spinach or silverbeet (Swiss chard) to up the phytonutrient intake. I also like to add an apple to provide a sweeter taste, a lemon for some zest and ginger. I love my ginger!
What tips do you have to maintain a healthy eating plan after the fast?
Continuing to consume juices on a regular basis will help sustain the amazing benefits you’ve just rewarded your body after a Reboot. You’ll notice that your body will start to crave juice because it feels energized and powered by all the liquid sunshine you’ve been consuming. When you reintroduce food back into your body, do it slowly. Stick to only fruits and veggies the first few days and then gradually start to add in more whole foods like nuts, beans, and seeds, and eventually add in the foods your body enjoys eating. You’ll notice you may not want to eat that burger and fries and if you do, you might feel like rubbish. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
How often do you recommend doing the Reboot and for how long?
A Reboot is a good idea whenever you feel like you need that circuit breaker to help your body get back on track, crave healthy foods, and break the cycle of eating too much junk food. I typically do it every season as a way to enter into a new phase of the year with a fresh start, but if there’s a time in between when I know I really need it, then I’ll Reboot for a few days. It’s amazing what even those few days can do for your body, both mentally and physically. The length of a Reboot is up to you. Commit to three days and check in with your body to see how you feel. If you’re feeling mentally supercharged to continue I encourage you to keep going. If you decide to go longer than 15 days, make sure you pay a visit to your doctor.
What is your favourite juicer?
The one I used in Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead—the Sage Juice Fountain Plus—is still my number one choice.
What’s your favourite juice recipe?
My Mean Green is what got me through my 60-day Reboot and I still enjoy it almost every day:
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 apples
6 to 8 kale leaves
1/2 lemon
big hunk of ginger
What are your tips for juicing with kids?
The great thing about juicing with kids is it’s an excellent way to sneak into their diets a few vegetables that they may not typically enjoy, such as leafy greens or veggies in the cabbage family. Apples, pears, pineapple, watermelon and oranges are a great base for mixing in kale, spinach, celery, red cabbage and carrots.
Let your kids help out in the kitchen too. They love pushing the fruits and veggies through the juicer. The more kids are involved in the preparation of the food, the more interested they become in eating or drinking it. You can even let them make up a name for the juice and let your kids decide what ingredients to combine.
We understand you’re working on a book, can you tell us a little about it?
Yes, The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet—I actually have an exclusive copy in my hand as we speak and I’m so excited about it. It will be on bookshelves in the UK in January. You can order it now online at Amazon and Waterstones. It’s filled with tons of information around juicing, Reboot plans with detailed shopping lists, my favourite recipes, eating healthy after a Reboot and everything to help you feel and look amazing. There should be tons of exciting things happening around its launch so stay tuned to our website www.rebootwithjoe.com for more info.
Where’s the best place to watch your documentary?
In the UK Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is available from Netflix and the DVD is available at Amazon.
Finally, have you kept in touch with Phil [who appears in Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead with many of the same health problems] and has he reached his goal and kept the weight off?
Phil and I have stayed in touch. Like most people, Phil has to continue to be diligent about his health and well-being. He’s in a great place now, and we’ve actually done follow-up interviews with him which form a part of my next film, to be released in 2014.
