Recently my husband, Adam, and I just completed a 5-day juice cleanse. We had just gotten back from a wedding where we’d done some “20% living” and felt it was a great time to jumpstart our summer health.
I live by the 80:20 rule and usually practice my ABC’s (“Always Be Cleansing”) so I know how to get back on track very easily. But this time around I felt like an infusion of micronutrients sounded to be just what the integrative doctor ordered! While I’m obviously a huge proponent of whole foods based cleansing, I also see value in juice cleansing.
And so the juicing began! We consumed 96 ounces of fresh pressed veggie juice per day. Adam became the “Chief Juicing Officer,” or what I like to refer to as my mean green juicing machine, pumping out inventive and tasty juice from our Huron slow masticating juicer. One of our favorite juices became the Green Machine.
So how did we feel?
Mostly great! Although on day 3, I could feel my husband’s enthusiasm starting to wan as he dreamed of buttered popcorn and chicken wings, so I decided we needed to tap into a little inspiration.
Enter Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.
I’d seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead when it first came out a few years ago and remembered how powerful Joe Cross’ 60-day juice transformation had been. So we spent our Friday night cuddled up on the couch, drinking green juice, feeling humbled and inspired by Joe’s journey.
Not only was this movie a strong testament to the power of food as medicine, but it also got my husband through the last 2 days of our own juice cleanse!
A juice cleanse is definitely more physically intense and sometimes grueling than a whole foods based cleanse like the Conscious Cleanse. And Adam also wanted me to be sure to mention that if he didn’t have the time off of work, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the cleanse and spend all the time it takes to juice. Although, a juice cleanse might not be the right fit for everyone, adding in a cold pressed veggie juice to your diet is a great supplement to healthy living.
We were psyched when Joe and his team contacted us about reviewing the movie in honor of their 2nd anniversary. Here’s what we loved about the movie and why we think you will love it too!
- Joe ate only foods rich in micronutrients – vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. Experts believe micronutrients reduce the risk of weight gain, obesity, and chronic disease.
- Juice cleansing can be an entry point to living a healthy lifestyle. Both Joe and others he inspired used juice fasting to radically change their diets and health, even long after the juice fast was over. It was not a crash and burn mentality, rather the intention was to create long-term sustainable changes.
- Joe’s focus on the body as self-healing. Our natural state is not sick. In fact when given the right nutrients, our body will heal, lose weight (if that’s what needs to happen) and get healthier. This is right inline with our belief at the Conscious Cleanse that we can, if given the right ingredients (good nutrition, regular exercise, sunshine and fresh air) actually get healthier as we age!
- It’s incredibly inspiring to see people taking control of their own health. Joe and another guy named Phil, suffered from chronic illness where they were prescribed to take daily steroids. By the end of the film, both had eliminated or reduced their medications all together.
Seems to me that whether through juicing, eating a whole foods based diet, or some combination of both, food is in fact our medicine!
Check out the full movie here! And be sure to let me know your thoughts and comments below.
