Hi friends!
As a few of you have commented on, my blog got a bit of a makeover over the weekend. I’m loving the new look, and will be working to change a couple of other things soon!
I just got back from a bike ride with my hubby. It was perfect weather for an outdoor workout, but the ride didn’t go as planned. The trail we chose had a super steep incline, and I was huffing and puffing like a mad woman within a few minutes. My legs are still sore from last Thursday’s leg workout (plus Friday’s hike probably didn’t help my achy legs recover to recover quickly!), and weak legs are never a good thing when biking. It makes a ride feel so much harder! We quickly realized that this trail would not work out, so we opted for an easier trail… too easy. I feel like I barely got a workout in except for the first 7-8 minutes when my heart rate was through the roof. Oh well, the blah workouts make you appreciate the really rockin’ ones right?
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
Being the health nut that I am, I really enjoy watching movies and TV that touch on related topics. When someone recently mentioned watching the movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, I looked it up and realized that I hadn’t seen the movie yet. I became interested, and with a few clicks on my Netflix account, the movie was en route to my house.
The movie is about an Aussie named Joe Cross who is very overweight and suffering from a rare autoimmune disease. After as he puts it, “focusing on wealth instead of health” for years, Joe 
decides to make a major lifestyle change. The documentary chronicles his journey in coming to the U.S. to consume juice and only juice for 60 days in hopes of regaining his health. Joe travels cross-country during this time, meeting some interesting people along the way.
While watching the movie, I honestly felt a bit embarrassed for America. Health-wise, our country is in shambles, and the comments that the film captures exemplify just why. Many called Joe crazy for juicing for 2 months and said that they could/would never do it themselves, a ton of people admitted to horrible eating habits but showed no initiative to improve their lifestyles, and as I jotted down in my iPhone notes, someone declared, “I don’t know but I hope that God has ribs in heaven.” Yikes.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead offered a few stats that I found scary but unfortunately not surprising. 61% of the American diet is processed and refined foods, 30% is animal products, 5% is whole grains and white potatoes, and just 5% is fruits and other veggies. FIVE PERCENT?! The film also notes that 70% of diseases are caused by lifestyle choices.
In the end, Joe makes it through his juicing fast and changes his life for the better. While I wasn’t a fan of the cartoon animations that pop up throughout the movie, I really liked the rest of the film. Joe is a great example of what we already knew to be true — that there is an vital connection between what we eat and our health, and that’s a fact that can’t be ignored. That might seem like a DUH thing to say, but it seems that our fast-food society has lost the importance in that connection, and our nation’s health is certainly suffering because of it.
The movie talks about micronutrients vs. macronutrients. Micronutrients are fruits, veggies, nuts and beans – what us Americans need to consume more of for optimal health. Other people in the movie who tried juicing noted their elevated energy levels, and I think this struck a chord with my hubby. Before the film, he shunned my green monster juices and proclaimed them to be disgusting. Post film? He’s now making juices too, and has been taking an apple, banana, and orange with him to work as snacks. Yes!
I’ve talked about juices on here a lot lately, as I got over my distaste for green monsters a couple of months ago and have been making them on most days for breakfast. In the spirit of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, here’s my latest favorite juicing concoction:
Berry Cucumber Apple Juice
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1 medium apple I like Pink Lady
- 1/2 large cucumber
- A few handfuls of raw spinach
Instructions
- Juice all ingredients.
- Chill in the freezer for at least a few minutes, then drink on the rocks.
Thanks for the review! I have heard a lot about this movie and have been wanting to watch it for a while now.
Thanks for reading! Yeah, I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
Your blog’s new appearance looks great! I watched this documentary too and also thought it was interesting.
Thank ya! 🙂
I love health-related documentaries too. I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead about a year ago and thought it was really interesting. The whole juicing thing really intrigues me, but I’ve never tried it! That recipe looks pretty good though.
Hi Katie! I hear ya, I was interested in juicing for awhile before actually making them myself. The thought of juicing veggies freaked me out a bit, but I got used to it and like them now! You should experiment with it and see what you think.