Steve Barney's Juicing and Health Tips

Steve Barney at the Brink Juicing event in Liverpool (Image credit: Michael Cusick)

The day my CATALYST came to town!

Hi everyone, as always, I really hope this finds you well and in good health.

It's been an exciting month for me as I've recently put on my first ever event to share my enthusiasm for juicing with like-minded friends with a 'very special' visitor coming to my home town.

The health/documentary movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is the reason I am posting this blog for you… never has a film stopped me in my tracks to pause and change the direction of my health and life for the better.

Back in January of 2012, I was sat at home with my drums in cases after losing out on a tour - feeling gutted emotionally and bloated/sluggish in body.
Midlife crisis or a wake up call? I, ladies and gentlemen had hit a brick wall.

But, hitting that wall led me to yet another wall ... but this time, a friend's Facebook wall. As I looked at his page a photograph of a glass of green liquid popped out of my laptop screen at me. I was intrigued!

What was it? What was my friend doing? Was he ill?

He explained he'd just watched a fantastic and inspiring movie called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and that I should check it out.

Now, me being someone who never thought about the health consequences of what I was eating or drinking (the only thought I ever gave it was "i wonder what I can eat/drink next?" ) but was often in search of the next diet or diet book to help me lose weight.

But, for the first time I wasn't looking and instead this green juice picture found me and led me to watching the film.

Watching FS&ND (back in January 2012) via an 'unofficial' YouTube link flicked a switch in me that said,"Oi, lard ass! Get ya sh*t together!"

I was so inspired and something BIG changed in me, and more importantly my mindset.

Joe Cross, the man featured in the movie (in which he did a 60-day juice fast travelling around the US with amazing results) had a "bloke next door" approach that resonated with me, and the very next day I went out and purchased a juicer, fruits and vegetables and I haven't looked back since.

Twenty months months later (and 3st lighter), I'm so very grateful to have discovered this movie… which has now finally (and officially) been launched here in the UK on Channel 5 and is available to watch on Netflix (UK) - not to mention, it has been seen by over eight million people around the world !

So after Joe kindly taking the time to guest on my Rhythm blog back in the Summer (July 2013) and us meeting at his UK movie premiere, I said to him that even though I wasn't a promoter or nutritionist (more a juicing percussionist!) if he wanted to visit Liverpool (my home town) to do an event, I would do all I could to make his trip worthwhile and a success.

Fast forward to late September 2013 and I receive a call from Joe's people at Sage appliances (also known as Breville in the US) saying Joe would LOVE to visit Liverpool and could I arrange an event for him.

Like with all "last minute gigs" i put my heart and soul into putting everything together - finding a great venue, promoting it to like-minded friends and not to mention, purchasing a load of fruit and vegetables for Joe and his juicer.

We set ourselves a date of October 6th 2013 at The Brink in Liverpool (dry bar) and before i knew it the day was here and Joe Cross (my catalyst for change) was in Liverpool along with a packed venue of 150 like-minded friends.

(c) Michael Cusick

Before Joe took to the stage, I had to speak to the 'juicy' congregation (not something I'm used to doing) about my journey of how we got to put on this event and my transformation of health challenges leading to health changes!

As I'm a musician, rather than pressing play for some 'walk on' music for him, it felt only right I should play him onto the stage from the drums…

So with that, I picked up my ingredients (kick, snare, hats, cymbal and sticks) and played along to INXS's 'New Sensation' (a track used at the penultimate scene in his movie) while necking a pint of Mean Green juice midway for some extra kick in my MIX !

Joe was beyond inspiring that evening and truly connected with everyone in the room... speaking for almost two hours about his journey, the movie, nutrition and his future plans.

He also did a juice demo of his famous Mean Green recipe in which he got a few members of the audience up who'd never tried one before to taste (including a 14 year old lad, himself an up-coming drummer).

(c) Michael Cusick

After the event, Joe took the extra time to chat, sign autographs and have pictures… making sure everyone left the venue completely inspired and with much to digest.

The next day as he boarded a plane heading for Ireland, Joe said of his visit… "One of the highlights of my UK tour was the event in Liverpool. To see that many people turn up and listen to me for a couple of hours really speaks volumes for the underlying change that is occurring in people's attitude to being more informed and taking back control of their health and wellbeing.

"I've never had a drum roll before I spoke at an event... and to have Steve play INXS New Sensation was awesome! (It may well make it as a scene in my new movie! ) I'll definitely be going back to Liverpool… and next time I want to have a good look around."

I am so grateful to Joe for 'reaching out' and to think all of this happened from me seeing a picture on Facebook 20 months prior… I guess social media can be used for something positive after all.

A BIG thank you to all the people that attended from Barney's Juice group (Facebook) and the 'Reboot with Joe' community and HUGE thanks Sage appliances for making it possible, and to The Brink (Liverpool) for welcoming everyone to their 'home' and special vibe.

The good news is I feel this is just the beginning of more "like-minded" inspiring events I aim to put on. Please bare with me while I intuitively fumble my way to bringing you something equally special soon.

If you're interested in being added to a mailing list to be told of my future events, please email: barneyjuices@gmail.com

As always, thanks for reading…"We love Juice, yeah yeah yeah!"

Steve

JOE CROSS "MEAN GREEN" juice recipe

1 cucumber

4 celery stalks

2 apples

6-8 leaveskale (Australian tuscan cabbage)

1/2 lemon

1 thumb ginger

Wash all produce well

Peel the lemon(optional)

Push everything through a juicer and pour over ice. Enjoy!