MovieChat Forums > Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2014) Discussion > Just saw this on NetFlix, have to think ...

Just saw this on NetFlix, have to think about it

posted 12 years ago by bruce-129
16 replies | jump to latest

--- had a chance to look at this, and this is some kind of clever way to get an infomercial designated as a documentary … Joe Cross ought to be indicted for fraud the rat bastard. He sells the juicers he uses on his website. What a piece of human garbage … a big piece. ---

This was an interesting movie, but it was not what I would really call a documentary, it was more of a entertainment-umentary. There was not really much science or technique in it, there was nothing scientific or even much that was documented.

The idea that all one has to do is to buy a juicer to lose 80 pounds in 60 days is implied, but I do not think that is true.

Here are some of my thoughts on this:

1. I have no idea really what Joe's history was. I have no reason to doubt his story, but it was not really scientifically documented. He could have been very fat and decided he needed a way to lose weight and the investment of time, money and energy into the documentary gives him motivation that is going to be different from anyone else who tries this after they see it.

2. The documentary did not talk about juicers, the different types, prices, how they work. I have a juicer and it is hell to use. It's very easy to get some juice out of, but it also is hell to clean up. I takes a lot of time and water to clean it is, and God help me if I don't clean it right away and the vegetable matter dries onto it.

3. There was a few ideas about what to put in the juice, but nothing really like a recipe of guidelines for juicing.

4. How much did Joe actually eat in a day. He may have lost so much weight because though he smiled in the video everytime he took a big swig of that stuff he really could not stand it and spit it out or did not eat much in the whole time. 80 pounds in 60 days is a lot of weight.

5. How much exercise did he do?

6. How about long term, what is he doing now, or the women or the truck driver guy?

7. Does Joe either own or invest in either of juicer machine companies or farming?

These are just some of the ideas that passed through my mind as I watched this documentary. It was interesting, but I have seen the same thing on the Jack LaLanne informercials for the Jack LaLanne Juicer.

I am all for this stuff, I just think this documentary was less than rigorous, even if a Russel Crowe lookalike was the star.

[–] lartrak 12 years ago

The thing I find more bizarre is just the amount of weight. If I water fasted I wouldn't lose weight at the rate he does... Probably do about 5 pounds a week on a water fast. Could MAYBE get this up to 7 pounds a week if I did 2 hours of hard cardio six days a week.

That's the thing I find hardest to believe, that people can lose over a pound a day on a juice fast.

[–] Technomage001 11 years ago

On the biggest loser people lose over a pound a day with just calorie counting and exercise. On the survival reality shows they lose must more then that. Out of the wild: Venezuela comes to mind.

Also you can go to Joe's webpage and talk to people on the forums who say they are losing or have lost weight at that rate on a juice diet. I don't think they're all lying.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jayehawk 11 years ago

Amen to that.
No one, including Joe Cross, is trying to force you to do this. Seems to me he was just saying this is what he found that worked for him.
Personally, I was impressed by his story and although I wasn't sick or nearly as overweight as the guys were here, I could stand to lose 30lbs, so I went out and bought myself a juicer. I still eat some food everyday (not doing so would just make me miserable and I would end up quitting or binge eating), but I also make a glass of juice everyday. Four weeks later I'm down 15lbs and feeling pretty good.
Sure, cleaning my juicer is a pain, but probably not much worse than washing all those pots and pans I'm no longer making dirty everyday from cooking big meals.
It seems to work alright for me. Maybe it's not for you. If not, then don't bother and move on with your life...we won't object.

[–] jackfrusciante80 11 years ago

I watched this tonight, after someone at work starting talking about juicing. Toward the end the documentary, the thought infomercial crossed my mind, and seems like I am not the only one.

The first warning sign was when the main guy said he was a floor trader at the Sydney exchange, I don't trust those people. I don't trust anyone who can quit his job for 2 months, fly to another country, do a cross country tour and not be broke by the end. It's a feel good movie, sure.

Not saying it is all a waste a time. It serves a purpose for some people. But portion control plus more moving plus time equals weight loss for sure.

[–] dhenderson-2 11 years ago

Yeah, I was a little bit wary of him as soon as he identified himself as an ex-trader - the milk of human kindness doesn't flow much from them at all, in my experience.
Otoh, he was quite open about it - sold up, got out and sitting on a pile of money; left before it all went to sheet, by the looks of it, so good on him.
Maybe he's now getting a bung from Breville, I don't know and I don't care all that much, to be honest. The evidence of my own eyes was there and even allowing for some possible film trickery, the results were real - and Joe and Phil aren't the only ones I've come across who can testify to that.
However, like any rapid loss diet, the trick is to keeping it off and the bounce-back-up factor is very real - I know, been there, done it, got the pounds back, after an Atkins experience.
The second time around I was much more prepared for it and used a rapid-loss programme to kickstart my efforts, then slowed it right down and consolidated losses in steps.
I think Joe is alluding to this kind of thing when he urges people to see a medical professional before embarking on any crazy-ass scheme to lose the pounds. Doctors and nutritionists are well used to seeing people who've been suckered by diet plans and bounced back up, way beyond what they started at.
As ever; Caveat Emptor, but best of luck mate, you'll need it.

[–] jackfrusciante80 11 years ago

Call me a skeptic, but I don't believe in quick fixes for problems that have been years in the making. If someone got to 300 lbs in the course of 5 years, he isn't going to lose that extra weight in 5 months. It is not healthy. I lost my weight by exercising and eating less. That first year was hard, but it got easier from there. I am not "juicing" to lose weight, f that.

Also, this documentary reminded me of Exit through the gift shop btw, where it starts as one thing, and than half way it switches up on us, and another character becomes the focus. Add the infomercial aspect to it, and someone made some money out of this thing.

[–] peachtea18 11 years ago

Jack, you missed the point entirely. The documentary wasn't about juicing to lose weight, it was about juicing to become healthier. The weight loss aspect was just a bonus.

And yes, it is possible to lose weight quickly through fasting/detox. There's no "rule" that says because it took you X amount of years to put the weight on it'll take you that same amount or longer to get it off. That's totally discouraging, and if it happened that way I bet a lot less people would bother losing weight.

And I'm not knocking your methods, either. If you lost weight that way, good on you. But fasting is just as difficult and rewarding. There's no easy way to undo years of damage that you've done to yourself, no matter how quickly the weight comes off.

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves.

[–] forthesafetyofpuppies 11 years ago

This.

The main aim was to cure his autoimmune disease, or rather relieve all symptoms (and, importantly, get off the meds). And it seemed to work. Not too shabby. Particularly considering I too have an autoimmune disease, and all the doctors essentially say its incurable and that there's "no evidence" diet has any impact.

___
Loneliness has followed me my whole life

[–] flickfix 10 years ago

The documentary, Food Matters seem to support this. What's reversible where the medical society had been saying is irreversible, is more astonishing in that film. It's incredible how good our body is at repairing itself. Its auto-repair system just need to be working properly.

Also, in a bunch of TED talks on research in aging, it seems our body can repair itself well into a thousand years. Not that we can become Yoda freaks, but we can stay young for far longer than we think. It's just a switch in DNA that stops this self rejuvenating system. Kinda of like there are dog years, human years, and so on aging at different rate. It's that switch that's turning our self rejuvenating capacity off when it still works just fine. We can age pretty slow because our body's capacity to regenerate new healthy cells is incredible. So, if what they are doing works, future generations will experience being in the 20s for 40 years, 30s for 30 years, 40s for 20 years, and so on. Anyway, point of derailing the topic is, our body is incredible at preserving health, repairing and rejuvenating itself, automatically. Far more so than we think it is capable of.

Many nutrition scientists are making the case that bad diet is damaging our body's built in repair system. A repair system strong enough to fend off almost all health threats. And the results they are getting to make their case is just mind blowing.

[–] flickfix 10 years ago

The film had some people saying juicing is not for them. That in their opinion longer life span would be meaningless if they can't enjoy the food they want. There are also people who managed to live to really, really old, and didn't care for it.

You won't see those in an informercial.

[–] LadyofAzul 10 years ago

Exactly. I don't see how anyone would think this was an infomercial. If it is, it definitely isn't for the Breville Juicer he's using. Watching the film, I didn't even know what Juicer he was using (I had to go to the website to find that out). They barely did close ups on it or mentioned its name. It was hardly shown besides when he was making juice, and he didn't even talk about the juicer and its features. Really guys, if he was doing this to sell a juicer, wouldn't he have mentioned all the great features of his juicer?!?! Wow, that's some way to sell a product. What he is selling people onto is juicing. But he's not being aggressive with it. There were people who were disagreeing with him, told him they wouldn't do it, that he was crazy for doing it, saying it wasn't worth living if you couldn't eat what you want. Like Flickfix said, no commercial would put people in it that were telling them they were wrong or that they weren't necessary. I'm just saying.

[–] Devans00 10 years ago

Thanks for sharing your experience, jayehawk. I'm also thinking about buying the Breville JE98XL, one of the juicers used in the movie. I don't want to do an exclusive juice fast, but I do want to work juicing into my diet.

The thing I like about Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, it makes you want to at least give it a try. Phil is very inspiring. I wish we could get any updates on his brother.

No two persons ever watch the same movie.

[–] otterprods 10 years ago

I have a Breville juicer and it's great for an occasional lunch or other meal substitute. It's also a really good way to use up a lot of produce at once before it spoils. I like the flavor you get by just mixing a bunch of produce together and juicing it out. So it's a perfectly valid and valuable thing to own. But I tried juice fasting at first and I don't recommend it at all based on my experience...

- You're not getting any insoluble fiber with the juice which is a really important part of any long term diet.
- You will lose weight but not sustainably, because as soon as you come off the fast (even if you could take it to the extreme 60-day level) you will gain the weight right back if you haven't made any significant lifestyle changes to keep you from relapsing to old habits. That's called 'yo-yo' dieting and it's a really dangerous thing to do.
- It gives you the runs chronically because it's basically a liquid-only cleansing diet. If you just want to cleanse, there are better ways (look up 'The Master Cleanser' or 'Lemon Detox').
- It may give you an intense headache, especially in the first few days. Joe says this is just part of the 'detox', but that's an oversimplification and it's never good to shock your body into big changes.
- It will likely leave you light-headed and very low on energy. This alleviates a little over time, but not entirely. The fact is that 600-800 calories per day (assuming you're having 3-4 'juices' per day) is not nearly enough to sustain energy and good health, even for very obese people.
- It is not a balanced way to eat. The human body needs other things besides just micro-nutrients.

A much better approach is to reduce your portions, increase your intake of fresh, whole fruits and vegetables (which can include, but should not be limited to 'juicing'), get a good balance across the food groups and stay away from heavily processed foods. Then add in as much exercise as you can make time for and enjoy. The key is to change your LIFE, not just lose pounds temporarily. Learn to LOVE a giant salad (skip the the dressing), limit your carbs and protein to a reasonable degree, and find fun ways to exercise outdoors, and indoors, year round for AT LEAST 30 minutes per day. Intensity helps but you should know your limits and stay within them. When you do get sick, take it easy for a while then get back to it ASAP.

That's the secret to fitness, preventative care, and longevity. The ONLY secret. Skip the juice fast and go directly to HEALTH.

Otterprods, to keep those aquatic Mustelidae in line.

[–] jayehawk 10 years ago

No, fasting is not the way to go. It is all about a lifestyle that you can maintain. Anyone can probably commit to a couple weeks or a month of nothing but juicing and will end up losing a lot of weight but will be miserable the entire time.
I went with a plan of juicing once a day but also trying to eat a little better for my other meals; healthier choices and smaller portion sizes, but occasionally allowing myself some treats. Of course, trying to get out and be a little more active helps as well. That is a lifestyle that I can sustain because it doesn't make me feel deprived.
To that end I lost 22lbs and felt a lot better about myself and my energy level.
There's no miracle cure to it - it simply takes a bit of effort and dedication. Everybody's different, but I just know for me trying to make the changes too dramatic would only lead to eventual backsliding.

[–] fortheunderdogs 7 years ago

- You're not getting any insoluble fiber with the juice which is a really important part of any long term diet.
- You will lose weight but not sustainably, because as soon as you come off the fast (even if you could take it to the extreme 60-day level) you will gain the weight right back if you haven't made any significant lifestyle changes to keep you from relapsing to old habits. That's called 'yo-yo' dieting and it's a really dangerous thing to do.
- It gives you the runs chronically because it's basically a liquid-only cleansing diet. If you just want to cleanse, there are better ways (look up 'The Master Cleanser' or 'Lemon Detox').
- It may give you an intense headache, especially in the first few days. Joe says this is just part of the 'detox', but that's an oversimplification and it's never good to shock your body into big changes.
- It will likely leave you light-headed and very low on energy. This alleviates a little over time, but not entirely. The fact is that 600-800 calories per day (assuming you're having 3-4 'juices' per day) is not nearly enough to sustain energy and good health, even for very obese people.
- It is not a balanced way to eat. The human body needs other things besides just micro-nutrients.

A much better approach is to reduce your portions, increase your intake of fresh, whole fruits and vegetables (which can include, but should not be limited to 'juicing'), get a good balance across the food groups and stay away from heavily processed foods. Then add in as much exercise as you can make time for and enjoy. The key is to change your LIFE, not just lose pounds temporarily. Learn to LOVE a giant salad (skip the the dressing), limit your carbs and protein to a reasonable degree, and find fun ways to exercise outdoors, and indoors, year round for AT LEAST 30 minutes per day. Intensity helps but you should know your limits and stay within them. When you do get sick, take it easy for a while then get back to it ASAP.

That's the secret to fitness, preventative care, and longevity. The ONLY secret. Skip the juice fast and go directly to HEALTH.

This is good stuff. Thanks for posting.