Is Anyone Familiar with "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead"? ETA

Updated on May 16, 2016
E.B. asks from Virginia Beach, VA
9 answers

It's a documentary short movie by a man with autoimmune issues, skin issues, and a serious weight problem.

Just wondered if anyone knows anyone who's tried it. I've begun investigating it and what appeals to me is that although they have things for sale (cookbooks, CDs, etc), they don't require you to buy anything or pay a fee. And the recipes looked really good. Also, it's not filled with "magic" powders or pills, or just the same old kale smoothie day after day. He does sell a protein powder but it's pea protein and includes very few other ingredients, like a vitamin or two, and that's it. I stay away from all those protein powders with tons of ingredients. And they advocate juicing and then eating lots of real, whole foods, not making them into cupcakes or pancakes. Just real recognizable food.

Just curious. Thanks.

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So What Happened?

We (meaning my dh and I) eat healthy, clean, real foods. The only canned things we ever use is San Marzano tomatoes, and occasionally canned organic plain beans if I didn't have time to cook them in our rice cooker (dh calls it our bean cooker because it rarely makes rice but is always busy making pinto beans or black beans or chick peas - best bean cooker ever!), and tuna. Our ds is a vegetarian and eats extremely healthy, and cooks his own foods, loves vegetables and tofu, makes his own seitan, and is healthy and active. I am not overweight, and my dh is a tall, big guy naturally but could stand to lose 20 pounds or so. So nothing too serious there. Our cholesterol/blood pressure are good.

But our dd is quite overweight (40 pounds or more), and obviously she's sick and at times has been nearly dead, quite literally. Her eating habits are awful. Regardless of what we cook, even if we tailor it to her tastes (not too spicy, etc), she's "too tired" to eat, or doesn't feel like having chicken or any one of a number of excuses. She survives on ramen cup of noodles junk, and boxed processed microwaveable things that make me shudder. And of course, she's a young adult. So I can't dictate what she eats, and she has her own money which she receives from SSI due to her disability, so if I'm at the pharmacy window, she goes to the ramen aisle and the canned soup aisle and the junk aisle and is at the checkout buying the stuff before I know it. She just doesn't have the willpower to change her eating habits, and she is terribly fatigued and weak, so I know it's difficult. She has about 6 or 8 major diagnoses.

And one of her constraints (medically ordered) is that she significantly limits fiber. It's called a low residue food plan. Her digestive system cannot handle fiber, so she's not supposed to have smoothies, or whole grains and nuts and seeds or brown rice or unpeeled vegetables. She has Delayed Gastric Emptying Syndrome with Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction - that's why her GI doc and her nutritionist have told her to eat very little fiber. We've been doing the low residue plan for about 2 years (for example, if I'm including carrots in a soup, I peel them carefully, when normally I would just wash them well), and it has improved her nausea and digestive issues noticeably.

So this juice "re-boot" as they call it, sounds good. And if we pay $150, she will get a private nutritionist for 2 weeks, and a virtual support group, and we feel that maybe she'll feel better and be motivated. Her dad and I have talked until we're the proverbial blue in the face, and she sees us making everything from scratch, using whole real foods, but I am thinking that maybe she needs a 15 day kick in the pants from someone else.

Featured Answers

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S.L.

answers from Savannah on

I'm okay with some juices/shakes/smoothies. But what people forget is that there are calories in them & you can still overeat, even in liquid form.

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Recognize an infomercial when you see one.
It's main purpose is to separate you from your money.

2 moms found this helpful

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

I liked that movie...but I have never tried it. I could not give up eating real food. But I could see doing a healthy juice or smoothie for breakfast every day. If I had a good blender that is...I keep meaning to replace ours. I think I would not be motivated enough to put in the work of making all those smoothies/juices day after day.

1 mom found this helpful

D.D.

answers from Boston on

I watched the documentary before it was 'a thing' and really it was so not worth watching. Middle age overweight guy who eats crappy stuff, doesn't do anything physically, drinks and smokes is like 'OMG I'm obese with health issues:. So he turns to juicing and instead of drinking a thousand calories in booze and 8 thousand calories in food he's drinking 2000 calories of fruit and veggie juice made fresh and SHOCKINGLY starts to lose weight and feel better.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

I saw it, and I tried juicing a bit but it just made me feel sick. Honestly, when you juice you take out all the fiber from the veggies and you end up getting more calories then if you just ate the veggies whole. I think just trying to eat better most of the time is better then any fad.

I just read your so what happened and you say you want this for your mildly overweight daughter?! (yes, 40 pounds is not a big deal). The quickest way to create lasting food issues in children is to make food an issue. If you are not careful in how you approach this you could give your daughter a lifetime of body issues. She does not need to juice, just keep junk out of the house and do active things all together as a family.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Portland on

My parents drink the vegetable juice blend every morning. They seem to like it; I can't stomach it, literally. My daughter loves grandpa's juice. Just be cautious, it can have a laxative effect. I watched the documentary in college-- before it was a thing. The basic premise is eat well, feel well. He did not reinvent the wheel. Before making any major dietary changes-- if you have any health concerns-- consult your physician.

I agree with Diane-- humans require complex diets and nutrients. If his protein has limited ingredients, I would be cautious. Certain minerals and vitamins need to be placed together i.e. vitamin c helps with iron absorption. Plus, unless you are willing to make a drastic permanent change in your lifestyle, this will not be the cure all, but it could be helpful in jump-starting a journey to healthy living. You could also find whole foods recipes entirely for free on pinterest or by googling the good old world wide Web. A problem my parents had was that they did the cleanses, lost a nice amount of weight-- they are already active and in decent shape-- but then gained it all back when they ate regular food. For diets to work it has to become your lifestyle.

When I was pregnant with our first we switched our eating lifestyle to focus on whole foods. We are four and a half years in and have never felt better-- in fact, when we "treat" ourselves (90/10 good/treat) we feel terrible after. We do it less and less. Best of luck to you. You can never go wrong eating whole foods.

1 mom found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I am not sure why someone would give away stuff for (almost) free - if they offer things for sale but don't require you to pay a fee for anything, how are they making money?

And I'd be very cautious with a protein powder that has very little in it - there's no food science that tells you to add "a vitamin or two" to pea protein. That's not how our bodies absorb and utilize vitamins. So what's the improvement here over, say, eating a serving of peas along with a diverse diet of other items? I haven't seen this program so maybe I'm missing something, but for 40 years it's been well known that comprehensive nutrition is what's used at the cellular level, with over 70 ingredients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, phytonutrients, etc.) needed every day for cells to flourish. So, while I agree that you don't want a protein powder filled with garbage and fillers for ingredients, I'm not sure why anyone would buy one with very little in it. Our diets are compromised anyway, even with whole foods, because they are grown in depleted soils and rushed to harvest (or transported thousands of miles during which time they degrade), so adding nutrients makes sense. But with a single vitamin here or there? I doubt they can produce any food science data to prove that's beneficial.

I agree with you not to take pills, and you may have access in Hawaii to more locally-grown fresh foods year round than most of the rest of us, so maybe the recipes would work well for you.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.H.

answers from Philadelphia on

A few years ago, I began juicing. It works. It removed all of my sugar cravings and I lost several pounds with inches. There are many testimonials on youtube (one of my favorite places to go). You can also google testimonials on the raw eating/juicing lifestyle. It seems to be pretty awesome for many who have found it as the juicing and clean eating has healed them of many diseases.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.Z.

answers from Los Angeles on

Saw the documentary and bought the same juicer to incorporate juice into our diet. We did it more for health reasons rather than to lose weight. I regret spending about $300 on the juicer. I wish I would've saved the money and gotten a Vitamix instead. Juicing is hard because there is no fiber to keep the person feeling full.

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