24 hours with Joe Cross, the man who helped jumpstart a global juicing revolution

If it seems like a juicery has popped up in every neighborhood around the city, you can thank Joe Cross for that. The Sydney-sider and filmmaker behind the hit documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead was one of the first pioneers in jumpstarting a global juicing revolution. Back in 2007, Cross tipped the scale at over 300 pounds. Suffering from an auto-immune disease and with his health quickly deteriorating, he embarked on a 60-day juice fast to reboot his lifestyle.

In town recently to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Hong Kong’s first ever juicery Punch Detox and to screen his sequel movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2, Joe Cross talks to Gourmet Skin Bar about how he keeps healthy, groomed and happy while constantly on the road.

SLEEP

I generally get between 6 and 8 hours sleep. When I wake up, usually the first thing I do is check emails because my phone is by bed and I check if there’s anything I need to deal with straight away.

GROOM

Generally that’s not the case so head straight to the shower, brush my teeth. I use La Prairie products. I use the day cream with the 30 SPF. I have an eye cream, exfoliator, cleanser, toner, and what’s that thing you put under the moisturizer? Oh, the serum. They don’t sponsor me but they should. [Laughs]. And I am religious about having a facial every two weeks. I always felt that the largest organ is skin and you’ve got to look after it. I come from Australia where there is high skin cancer rates so I’ve been very conscious of that. So the last twenty years I’ve paid more attention to it.

EXERCISE

Most of the time I don’t work out in the mornings because I usually have to move somewhere, check out of a hotel. If I do have time, it’s usually steep incline walking with 3 to 4 minutes than 1 to 2 minutes of fast running. It’s interval training then a rowing machine. If I don’t have a gym, I go for long walks.

DIET

Mornings I will say that 80% of the time, I’m having a juice to start my day otherwise I’m having water. The other 20% of the time I’ll have an egg white omelette depending on how I’m feeling. I like to have a spicy chilli, onion, mushroom with some avocado and tomato.

I try to stay away from bread but I’m not perfect. If it’s really good bread, I’ll eat it but if it’s just white bread, I’ll pass. If I’m in France and I go past a patisserie, I’ll have a croissant but I’m very conscious of doing it as treats and not the norm. I stay away from pancakes and waffles. Maybe last year, I had French toast twice. If my friend said, ‘This is the best French Toast ever you’ve got to have it,’ then yeah, I’ll try it.

Lunchtime is different but if I’m in my own environment, it’s a salad with a protein. Dinnertime, I’m a big Japanese sushi fan. Last night I went to Zuma and had sashimi, grilled eggplant on the robata, a beautiful spinach salad, asparagus. I’m always trying to get lots of vegetables and the protein is not the star of the show. I don’t eat fast food or drink soda.

UNWIND

I like watching TV--Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and True Blood. I’m up to date with all my shows. I find it very relaxing because I can get lost in the story. I prefer that than watching movies. I like financial news--believe it or not it relaxes me because it’s not what I’m do for a living and I learn as well. I’m not very good at not doing things.

I live on the road. I’ve been in hotels since January of 2011. My bags are spread out in four hotels in the world. I rent houses on Airbnb if I’m going to be somewhere for more than a month but between now and September the longest time I’ll be spending in one city is five days. It’s not easy. I’ve got to work out how to be better at that.

Check out Joe's website, Reboot with Joe, which is an amazing resource on health and wellness (and of course, juicing!).

For those of you in Hong Kong, Punch Detox developed a 3-Day Juice Cleanse program  specifically for us (it gets delivered straight to your door!). It's not only effective (the gals behind the company, Angela Matsuzawa and Ann Cha, assures us it is: "A definite “Before” and “After.” You will feel it and see it. Your friends will too. Even your extended family on Skype will.") but also delicious! Our personal favourite was Citrus Punch.  

What are your experiences with juicing?

Edited from an interview by Tiffany Ap for Gourmet Skin Bar.

Top image credit: The Beauty Chef

Second and third image credits: Richard Lohr Studios