A month ago on one of those typical cold, lonely Noozhawk writer’s Saturday nights, I was browsing through the evening’s available entertainment (provided by Netflix) and stumbled across an interesting documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Now I have to monitor how many food- and nutrition-related documentaries I watch in any given period because of the high levels of emotion they evoke.

I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and found it to be very inspiring. It’s the story of a successful Australian businessman who is suffering from being overweight in addition to an autoimmune issue that manifests in the form of a painful skin rash.

This gentleman wanted to put himself through the experiment of consuming only freshly juiced fruits and vegetables for 60 days to see if his body could heal itself of these ills. I should probably add that he was also taking large amounts of Prednisone to manage the skin issue and didn’t want to be reliant on the drug for his continued survival.

Off he went on a 60-day tour of the United States, stopping along the way to chat with our fellow countrymen and women on our thoughts regarding food, nutrition, health and the like. I won’t tell you the outcome of the film, but I do implore you to watch it for yourself as it is monumentally eye-opening in addition to its inspirational value.

The 180-degree health shift that the protagonist experienced moved me to quickly beg my business partner, Eric Malzone, to watch the film. He did and then proposed that we both try a 10-day juice fast. This would give us insight into what would happen if two healthy, active individuals tried to live off juice and juice alone, allowing us to have firsthand, personal experiences to share with clients in the future.

Bam! That was all the persuasion I needed. A 10-day juice fast was in the works!

I busted out my trusty juicer, donated a large portion of money to Whole Foods, and was stocked with a fridge full of delicious organic fruits and vegetables and a healthy dose of excitement.

Fast forward to 9:17 a.m. on Day 1. I am hungry. I am very, very hungry. This is not good. The previous day’s excitement has quickly given way to a longing for food that I have experienced very few times before. To be completely honest, the feeling was less a desire for food and more the desire “to eat something.” Yes, it was more the physical act of placing food into my mouth, chewing it and swallowing it that I wanted more than the sensation of being satiated.

I cannot count how many times in the next 72 hours where I stood up to go to a refrigerator or a cabinet with the intention of “grabbing a snack.” I did this in between phone calls, in between emails, when a commercial came on during a football game, when I was bored, when I couldn’t think of the next line in a brilliantly worded Noozhawk article, etc. Eating, I was learning, was equally mental and emotional as it was physical.

Understandably, if you’ve read this far you’re hoping that there is something here for you to walk away with, and here it lies. At the end of five days, both Eric and I were very much alive. We had continued to work out, and although we would need to add some caloric modifications to allow us to further train the way that we do, by Day 5, Eric had lost five pounds (he had lost eight pounds by Day 7 with the addition of small amounts of lean protein) and I had lost three pounds. Weight loss was not our intent or our goal, but it was a very real effect for two guys who don’t have a lot of weight to lose to begin with.

Would I recommend a juice fast to a client or patient who was strictly interested in losing weight? Absolutely. By bombarding your body with massive amounts of phytochemicals, nutrients and vitamins while eliminating unhealthy common food items that keep weight on people, I believe you’ve got yourself a healthy way to drop a few pounds quickly. Get yourself a juicer, some organic fruits and vegetables and a copy of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and give it a try. You know what you have to lose!

Have at it.

— Traver Boehm is co-owner and coach at Crossfit Pacific Coast, has a master’s degree in Chinese medicine, is a licensed acupuncturist at Alki Wellness, and a nutrition specialist. He can be contacted at traver@crossfitpacificcoast.com.