Joe Cross talks about movie “FAT SICK AND NEARLY DEAD”

November 30, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Next spring, I will release a documentary film entitled FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD. I’d never made a film before — much less one in which I am the subject. I made it without any previous film experience, not to mention any idea of what I was getting myself into. I had left high school at age 17 and got a job working for a bank on Wall Street (in Australia). After 5 years of learning how to trade the worlds markets I went out on my own and became a day trader, way before it was fashionable. I got bored with that so I decided to exercise my entrepreneurial skills and founded a number of companies, some with success and some without. Then I decided to invest in other entrepreneurs companies with my own money, again some with success and some without. Throughout my professional life I had experienced the highs and the lows but making a film was by far the greatest challenge I have ever faced.

The film is my story – the story of how, by the age of 40 and despite a very close family, a terrific group of friends and a career on the move- I was literally fat, sick and nearly dead. Let me break that down for you: FAT- I tipped the scales at over 300lbs. I wore a size 44 jeans and very rarely ever tucked in my shirt (only if I was wearing a jacket– (you learn these tips when you’re a big man). SICK- Thanks to an autoimmune disease that no doctor could trace back to a root cause, I had taken copious prescription medication (including the powerful steroid Prednisone) for eight years, night and day. The condition wasn’t something you wish on your worst enemy. I would swell up and break out into hives on any part of my body that was subject to pressure, from a hand shake or sitting on a chair to lying in a bed. Anything and all pressure cause red blotches and swelling in the joints with untold pain, and even gravity was my enemy. My hands and feet suffered the most. Normal things like carrying a shopping bag, holding a baby, sex and walking long distances– all could have a huge impact. So thanks to the walking time bomb I had turned my body into, I felt as if I were NEARLY DEAD.

But maybe the worst thing for me was that I’d been saying that I was going to do something about this for a very long time, and as I turned 40, I realized I had done nothing to really change. I had focused my capacity for action, determination and discipline on one thing only: creating wealth. It was time now to harness those skills to create health. It dawned on me that I was not alone. Yes, my disease was rare — but lots of people are sick. And you certainly don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that many of us are fat. So instead of outsourcing my health to some of the smartest doctors in the world, I decided to see if I could take control of the problem, and my own role in creating the situation in the first place. That’s when it hit me that I could make a movie about my journey – selfishly, I knew it would keep me honest and focused on “doing” and not just “saying”.

Drastic problems require drastic solutions. My steady diet of processed food in enormous quantities was clearly a problem. I had turned my back on Mother Nature. Like so much of the population, my consumption of fruits and vegetables was close to zero. What would happen if I turned toward Mother Nature full steam?? What if I “rebooted” my life?

I committed to eat only food that was grown on trees or dug out of the ground, foods made by the sun, water and the earth. Because I’m an impatient man, I wanted quick results, so I decided to only drink these foods for the first 60 days. Not blend, drink. That means extracting the juice, separating the fibre from the plant. For a 60 day commitment to juicing, I needed a doctor’s supervision (enter Dr. Joel Fuhrman who was invaluable to me). That 60 day personal journey gave me the basis for a movie. I hadn’t quite wrapped my brain around how to make entertaining a story about a man drinking juice for 60 days, but then I realized that I could transform the story into a literal journey: I left my home in Sydney for New York and set out on a cross country expedition, juicing my way across America.

I went out and bought a truck to get me from place to place, as well as a juicer, and a generator to operate it for when I was on the back roads. A cameraman and sound guy rode along with me. For the next 60 days, I juiced my way across the USA, and by the way I spent a lot of time in restaurant parking lots waiting for my crew to finish their meals. But I stuck it out– I ate not a single bite of solid food for 2 long months.

Along the way, I spoke to hundreds of people, from all walks of life. We spoke about what they ate, and more importantly, what they didn’t eat. I found a nation full of honest, hard working, friendly and caring people willing to engage in conversation. Sometimes these conversations lasted 10 minutes, sometimes hours. I showed them photos of me taken at the beginning of my journey and as the days ticked by, the physical changes apparent by looking at me in the flesh were nothing short of amazing. After 20 days, I was pretty much unrecognizable, that’s how much healthier I looked. Meantime, I listened, hearing the pain behind people’s stories, and trying as hard as possible to be honest about my own. I was astounded by people’s capacity to be candid with a complete stranger, to tell their stories and to listen to my own. My grandmother had given me some good advice about talking with people a long time ago, “Joe, you have two ears and one mouth. You should listen twice as much as you talk”. I took that advice with me. I heard people who were desperate for a solution–every bit as desperate as I had been.

While we are on family advice, my father used to tell us that to lead you must do so by example. Don’t just tell, do. And leadership is the key to solving our health crisis. But I’m not talking about just one leader here. I’m talking about tens of thousands of leaders. Average people from all walks of life, just like the ones I met on my journey. Just like me. Every person has the ability to reclaim all or some measure of their health. And every person who does that becomes a leader who inspires others. It’s that simple.

Over the next few months, I’ll be blogging here from time to time. I’ve spent the past few years focusing on the problems associated with our lifestyle choices. The fact that 70 % of the diseases in the Western world are caused by our own choices is a double-edged sword, an opportunity -on the one hand it is heartbreaking to see how we are hurting ourselves day after day, but it’s empowering to realize that we are capable of solving the problem ourselves, from the inside out.

The world is facing some huge challenges right now, but I would argue that of all of them the biggest challenge is our poor health. There is no one quick fix or a single magic bullet to solving this problem. It requires each and every one of us to make changes. While it’s fair to expect that government and big corporations can play a constructive role, at the end of the day, the responsibility lies with each of us.

My small contribution is to try to lead by example, inspiring others to follow. What is it that I’m doing that will make a difference? What is that you can do that will make a difference? The answer is simple. Eat and drink more fruits and vegetables. Eat more nuts, beans and seeds. Consume more of what is made directly by the sun, soil and water. You will be amazed at what will happen. I can personally vouch for this. After 60 days of vegetable and fruit juice only, followed by another 70 days of eating just fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds, I was 100 lbs lighter and off all medication. I’ve been that way ever since.

The hard part is in the starting. It always has been, and it always will be. But I’m hoping that my film will help make it a little easier. During the past year I’ve partnered with the mid Atlantic region of Whole Foods Market and shown the film in over 20 of their stores to a very small group of the customers, around 4000. Already over 1000 have joined our community and are consuming more fruits and vegetables….and that’s not the best part. What I have discovered is a nation ready to take personal responsibility and inspire others to take up the challenge to regain control of their health and well being. I therefore find myself using the word “optimistic” on a regular basis, in a world where that word is not used as often as it used to be.

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Filed Under: Diet News Tagged With: 100 plus losers, Clent Manich, dr joel fuhrman, Green Smoothie, green smoothie diet, green smoothie for weight loss, JOE CROSS, Weight loss soups

Bob Harper says you get plenty of protein

November 15, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Plant-Based Men: The Biggest Misconception
By Jason Wachob
The term “plant-based diet” has been injected in the American lexicon, and for good reason. Bill Clinton and Steve Wynn are just two of the many high-profile men who have recently made the switch to eating plant-based and singing its praises. Each day this week, some of the most respected plant-based men will answer a different question about eating a plant-based diet.

MBG: What’s the biggest misconception about eating a plant-based diet?

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-1655/PlantBased-Men-The-Biggest-Misconception.html

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No bones about it: Steve Wynn’s a vegan

November 12, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

No bones about it: Steve Wynn’s a vegan

RYAN OLBRYSH

Steve Wynn can’t just eat. He eats, and he opines.

By John Katsilometes · November 8, 2010 · 2 AM
Steve Wynn is eating. He’s not merely eating, of course. Because Steve Wynn can’t just eat. He eats, and he opines. He eats, and he lectures. He eats, and while he eats he devours information about what he is eating. He digests this information, allowing it to course through his bloodstream until it permeates his brain. Then he shares this invaluable dietary intelligence, imparting his knowledge so persuasively you begin to believe if you don’t eat as Steve Wynn eats, you might well die before your time.

“The notion that you need animal food as protein is one of the great conspiracies of (expletive) by the government,” he says, clinking a spoon hard against a china bowl steaming with steel-cut oatmeal. “Did we not all grow up saying we had to have four glasses of whole milk a day for healthy bones? It’s ridiculous. It’s liquid cholesterol.”

Wynn is speaking casually, freely, during breakfast at his villa at Wynn Las Vegas. His dogs, Tari and Damo, play fetch—retrieving and delivering a moist, well-gnawed rubber ball to the dining table. Outside the residence’s tall, sliding glass doors is the Wynn Country Club—an entirely appropriate postcard of lush green turf—and above loom the famous Picasso paintings “Nature Morte aux Tulipes” and “Le Reve,” for which Wynn nearly named this hotel and which he also famously blemished with an errant jab of an elbow five years ago.

The man who swapped his own “Wynn” for “Le Reve” as the name of the lavish Strip resort dips a spoon into a small cup of walnuts pulverized into a thick paste. Then, deliberately, he pours maple syrup into his oatmeal. Doesn’t spill a drop.

Yes, Steve Wynn is living a vegan diet. And he thinks you should, too.

TOM DONOGHUE/DONOGHUEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Steve Wynn and Andrea Hissom on the Andre Agassi Grand Slam red carpet at the Wynn on Oct. 9, 2010.

“What happened to Gulu?”

There is the great “why” to address in Wynn’s latest lifestyle change. He’s 68 and turns the calendar again on January 27 as he edges inevitably toward 70, so there is a sense that he prefers to remain vigorous and youthful as a septuagenarian. He certainly looks closer to 50 than 70, his hair a lighter shade of brown and his skin smooth and radiant. But aging is inevitable for everyone, even billionaire resort magnates. Wynn sees it in his longtime friends, colleagues, mentors, anyone he’s known or conducted business with over the decades. He recalls seeing Kirk Kerkorian at last month’s Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children and notes how his onetime doubles partner at Las Vegas Country Club has slowed with age.

“He’s not the Kerkorian who boxed and jogged, that I know,” Wynn says.

Wynn was in his mid-20s when he and Kerkorian swatted tennis balls, and he surely yearns to remain vibrant, if only to keep pace with his striking girlfriend, Andrea Hissom, who is 20 years his junior and terrifically fit. (Hissom has lost five pounds eating as a vegan, and it is unfathomable to figure out just whence that weight was shed.)

Wynn says he feels great, and his appearance bears that out. He doesn’t weigh himself, but he’s lean and glad to note his 32-inch waist. “Or it’s 33, depending on who makes the jeans.” His cholesterol, for years managed with the help of the prescription medication Lipitor, is at 140, down from 180 before he changed his diet.

“Another thing the government says is it should be under 200,” Wynn says. “You can go into cardiac arrest under 200. One-fifty is the number.”

Aside from his chronic eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, which significantly limits his peripheral and nighttime vision, Wynn is in good health.

But Steve Wynn, giving up meat, always and forever? Boy-howdy. This is a man whose hotel boasts a high-end steakhouse bearing his initials, a man so immersed in the culture of red-meat-eatin’ Old West culture that in his younger days he competed in steer wrestling competitions on the ranch of Ralph Lamb. Recently, he booked country music hero Garth Brooks into Encore Theatre, luring thousands of Brooks’ fans to Wynn’s Strip resorts.

And members of the international Brooks Brigade like their steaks thick and juicy, bleeding even.

Wynn’s vegan epiphany took hold on June 22, specifically. By the morning of June 23, Wynn and Hissom were Vegans for life. In a wedding-gown-white pantsuit, Hissom also sits in on the conversation, providing pertinent patchwork in the form of facts and elaboration.

The Wynn-Hissom life change unfolded as the couple was in St. Tropez, visiting heiress and socialite Carol Asher and her boyfriend, Bombay-born multimillionaire Gulu Lalvani, founder and chairman of Binatone, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of digital cordless phones. The foursome was to dine together when Asher showed up with a man Wynn did not readily recognize.

“I said, ‘Hey, she’s got a younger guy,’ ” Wynn recalls. “That’s not Gulu. This guy is 50 years old.” When asked how old Lalvani is, Hissom replies, “Let’s just say 70.”

“But he comes closer,” Wynn continues, “and it is Gulu, and Andrea says, ‘What happened to Gulu? Has he had work done or what?’ He’s lost 30 pounds, his eyes are all clear, he’s got a spring in his step and he’s lost 20 years. I thought, he’s been to a doctor.”

When the foursome sat down, Wynn asked, “Gulu? What is it, my man?” But Lalvani just laughed. Wynn pressed, “Well, who did you go to?”

“Nobody,” Lalvani responded. “I have a present for you.”

Lalvani reached into his pocked and pulled out the DVD Eating, the most recent installment of the dietary educational series directed by, and starring, medical researcher Mike Anderson, pioneer of the “rave” diet program.

“Promise me you’ll look at it,” Lalvani said to Wynn, who responded, “Okay, Gulu, okay.”

The DVD was not an instant hit.

“We started watching it, and after the first five minutes, I’m saying, ‘What is this about? A diet?’” Wynn says, laughing. “Then we watched the second five minutes, same thing … but a half-hour into it, I’m saying, ‘Jesus, I didn’t know that.’ Ninety minutes later, I shut off the TV. The next morning (claps hands) it was over. I never had another meat.”

The video extols the virtues of a vegan diet, or “rave” diet, which is a vegan diet (no animal-produced products or foodstuffs whatsoever) with a higher concentration of raw foods and a more stringent limit on processed fats and sugar. Wynn has essentially adopted a rigid vegan diet and is very nearly a true rave dieter, but does occasionally allow for a little olive oil in his food.

It helps, of course, that Wynn is a very wealthy man who employs some the best chefs in the world to prepare his meals.

“To be perfectly candid about this, it was very easy for us to do this because I called the chef on board the yacht in the morning and I said, ‘Katie, this is what we’re doing now.’ She said, ‘No problem, Mr. Wynn.’ She got a cookbook out and we were eating great, instantaneously. We had a walk-in cooler in the bottom of the boat that was full of steaks that I had bought for the trip. That went for naught. We gave it to our guests.”

And it wasn’t enough for Wynn to keep this pronounced lifestyle change to himself. He wanted the change to be immediate and far-reaching. Every Wynn employee was given a copy of the Eating DVD. “I’ve had 10,000 made, and I’ll make more,” he says. Wynn also called Andrew Pascal, president of Wynn Las Vegas, and said, “I think it would be great if we gave everybody a choice in the staff dining room.” Pascal raised his boss, saying, “What if we gave everybody a choice, period?”

So it is that today that all of Wynn’s restaurants offer vegan-friendly menus.

“Now, I’m not going to say there’s no more animal-based food in the staff dining room. I’m not closing SW (steakhouse) … you can still go to SW and order a New York or a porterhouse,” Wynn says. “What I am saying is that wherever you go in this hotel, there’s a vegan menu, in every single restaurant.”

At Le Staff Café (the fancy name of Wynn’s employee dining room, which Wynn brags is as nice as the coffee shop at Caesars Palace), you’ll find such offerings as zucchini lasagna and vegetable and tofu stir fry with brown rice. Even the Buffet at Wynn Las Vegas is vegan-friendly, with wok-seared tofu with black bean sauce and four-bean and brown rice enchiladas amid the options.

In all, 18 restaurants (in addition to the buffet and employee dining room) at Wynn and Encore are on board. At SW, you can order a melon duo, tofu salad and grilled royal trumpet mushrooms with polenta. At Sinatra, try the black lentil salad, couscous with poached veggies, pineapple carpaccio with pistachios and coconut ice cream. Tableau offers creamy corn soup, roasted beet salad, napoleon of savory tofu and almond or soy milk latte.

“And if you go to Wing Lei and order, just tell them you want Steve’s food. Our chef (Xian Ming Yu), has mastered summer rolls and various other dishes,” Wynn says, clearly energized about these summer rolls. “He is the king for having mastered this. All the chefs got very competitive, including Alex Stratta, and it’s all great. But Andrea and I are eating at (Wing Lei) three out of seven nights a week.”

As if on cue, Wynn gives his now-empty oatmeal bowl a final swipe with the spoon. “Clink!”

TOM DONOGHUE/DONOGHUEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Steve Wynn on the Andre Agassi Grand Slam red carpet at the Wynn on Oct. 9, 2010.

“Who had four operations on L-4 and L-5 last year?”

Though he says he was ultimately inspired by the apparent Fountain of Youth tapped by his buddy Gulu Lalvani, who “has beautiful gray hair” and “looks like he’s in GQ,” Wynn did experience a powerful, life-changing health crisis last winter.

Physically active for his entire life (he even worked as a ski instructor in Sun Valley, Idaho, in his late 20s and early 30s), Wynn has suffered chronic knee pain and weathered a series of surgeries on those joints. He has also experienced degenerative damage to his spine.

The back pain in particular also played into his decision to alter what he puts into his body, be it food, liquids or prescription medication.

“Listen. Who had four operations on L-4 and L-5 last year?” Wynn asks. Before he can answer himself, Hissom calls out, “You!”

“And I can’t understand why!” Wynn continues. “It turns out that one of the things that goes along with an animal-based diet is disc disease. … I had a very difficult winter. I had a disc giving me a lot of trouble, and I had four surgeries. Then I had a staph infection, so they had to open me up five times in four months. … It was in the bottom of my back, the same incision. They should have put a zipper on it.”

Four of those surgeries were conducted between December 18 and February 8. “I was getting a lot of pain, so I was prescribed (an adhesive) patch of Fentanyl, and then right after the surgery they gave me Dilaudid. Now, those are very heavy-duty painkillers.”

As Wynn notes, the physician who prescribed Fentanyl did not know he had been prescribed Dilaudid. “I thought you could take both,” Wynn says, disclosing a dangerously inaccurate assumption.

Las Vegas entertainment observers know of Dilaudid as a contributing factor in the death of Wynn’s friend and Encore headliner Danny Gans in May 2009. (Elvis Presley, too, was known to use the drug.) Fentanyl is highly addictive and particularly dangerous because the patient often doesn’t feel its numbing affects.

“I was addicted, but I didn’t know I was addicted because I didn’t feel high,” Wynn says. “So when Eddie Nathan, who is a local doctor, who I grew up with, took out my stitches, that night at 7 o’clock I went upstairs in the bedroom and said, ‘Great!’ and ripped the patch off and threw it in the toilet.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

No, it was a bad idea, as Wynn had acted without consulting a physician. In an hour, he had buckled under the effects of severe chemical withdrawal.

“I was in hell,” he says. “It’s impossible to describe the feeling, but when you take a heroin junkie, and it’s either cold turkey or the alternative, you understand why they commit crimes.”

To combat his agonizing sweats and trembling, Wynn embarked on a routine of climbing into the shower, then returning to bed.

“You know that movie, Man With the Golden Arm? That’s what it was like,” Wynn says, referring to the 1955 film featuring Frank Sinatra’s famous heroin withdrawal scene. “The only way I could survive was to tell Andrea she should not stay with me, to go downstairs to the other bedroom and not touch me—but she wouldn’t do it. But I would get up every 45 minutes and go in and stand for 15 minutes under the hot shower, and that calmed me down and stopped the crazed, tumultuous feeling I had inside. Then I would be able to go sit in the bed or lay upright for 45 minutes, and then it would come back again.”

Wynn finally contacted a pain doctor, and told him he still had a Fentanyl patch in his possession. The doctor told him to cut the patch in half and put it on his shoulder, explaining with great urgency, “What you’re experiencing has just started. In the next 30 hours, this is going to get real serious.”

Wynn laughs.

“Real serious? Are you kidding me? I’m ready to kill myself!”

It took Wynn three weeks and a physician’s assistance to get off the pain medication, and he is still detectably affected by the experience.

“I said to my surgeon, ‘If I ever have another operation, I don’t care what technique you use, I am never, ever going to take a pain pill again as long as I live.’”

Viva Las Vegan

There’s no question that when Steve Wynn makes such an abrupt lifestyle change, one that resonates through his entire resort empire, the world takes notice.

Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams are Wynn frequenters, and the two hosted a Twitterati event at Blush nightclub just last month.

“They’re friends with Andrew (Pascal), they’re about the same age as him, and they were having lunch together,” Wynn says, referring to a meal the group shared over the summer. Pascal excused himself to go try some new menu items, explaining, “Oh, well, Steve’s coming home tomorrow and he went vegan, and so did a bunch of others.” Among the “bunch” was Pascal, who tried the vegan diet for about a month.

Pascal also told Stone and Williams about the change in the menu in the employee dining room and the plans to add vegan items to every restaurant’s menu.

“So Evan says, ‘Steve Wynn went vegan? That’s big news!’” Wynn recounts, smiling. “And Andy says, ‘Why is that?’ And Evan says, “Because in the vegan movement, if there is a high-profile person who goes vegan, that’s big, big news.’ ”

The next day, Pascal met up with Stone.

The dietary world had changed.

Evan had tweeted about Wynn’s new diet and his resort’s vegan menus. The news, Wynn says, “was all over Twitter.” All over, indeed.

“My phone was blowing up,” Wynn Vice President of PR and Advertising Jenn Dunne says. “Every newsletter, publication and magazine that has anything to do with vegetarian or vegan wants to know about this.”

After an hour, breakfast is over. As Wynn walks to the villa’s entrance, he says, “I think it’s a good idea to talk about this, don’t you? I think I can help a lot of people.”

He’s spreading the word, is Steve Wynn, champion of the Strip and now of the meatless and dairy-free diet. For him, it’s a cakewalk—a vegan-friendly cakewalk, naturally.

Coincidentally, five days before Steve Wynn adopted his vegan diet, John Katsilometes also embraced the dietary lifestyle. From June 22 to September 23 (with a few relapses), he ate a strictly vegan diet. Read about his experiences, and his chat with Wynn about the process, in The Kats Report.

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Casino Mogul Takes Gamble on Vegan Dishes

November 12, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Reprint from August 2010

Casino Mogul Takes Gamble on Vegan Dishes

Updated: 81 days 10 hours ago

Casino Mogul Takes Gamble on Vegan Dishes
Casino Mogul Takes Gamble on Vegan Dishes
Updated: 81 days 10 hours ago
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Steve Friess
Contributor
LAS VEGAS (Aug. 23) — The staples of Vegas cuisine are so famous they’re part of nearly every punchline about the city: 99-cent shrimp cocktails, midnight $2.99 steaks, the gargantuan feeding frenzy known as the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Now we may have to add to that list grilled royal trumpet mushrooms with polenta, tofu napoleons and (doesn’t this just sound divine?) fava bean puree.

Those are just three of the dozens of vegan dining options now available at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas, two resorts operated by mogul Steve Wynn, who recently decreed that every restaurant at his Vegas properties would provide several vegan choices. That includes, yes, even the lowly buffet, which now has a vegan dessert section.

Bruce Bennett, Getty Images
A scenic view of the Wynn Las Vegas on March 24, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In doing so, the 68-year-old Wynn — strongly rumored to have gone vegan recently himself — is executing the most significant embrace by the mainstream of the no-meat, no-animal-byproducts eating style. Up to now, veganism in pop culture probably was limited to a handful of celebrities and an occasional challenge (bemoaned mercilessly by contestants) on “Top Chef.”

“This would be like having vegan menu options at every food outlet at Disneyland,” said Elizabeth Turner, editor-in-chief of Vegetarian Times. “I wonder if Steve Wynn is really vegan, but even if he isn’t, he’s sort of recognizing that this is a growing need.”

Whereas many vegetarians will eat eggs and milk, vegans eschew all animal products, including honey. A Harris Interactive survey taken last year found that 3.4 percent of Americans were vegetarian, while 0.8 percent said they were vegan. The Western United States, which included Nevada, had the highest concentration of vegetarians, at 5.4 percent.

Wynn was unavailable to discuss the decision and the resort’s publicists declined to confirm his dietary choices. Yet David Snyder, executive chef overseeing all Wynn and Encore eateries, said the move was simply a formalization of the fact that many of the restaurants had already offered vegan items. “It’s printed on the menu now,” Snyder told AOL News on Thursday. “It’s a little more in-your-face that we’re doing this.”

It’s also not the easiest thing to do, given that fine cuisine goes hand in hand with butter and cream. “Our chefs took it as a new challenge — and it definitely has challenges — but we’ve found almond milk and things like that work well as substitutes,” Snyder said.

The announcement drew raves from Las Vegas Sun columnist John Katsilometes, who is chronicling his decision to go vegan for the summer in a series of blog posts. He’s come upon a variety of vegan options in other resorts, but they’re not as easy to find as what Wynn and Encore now offer.

“I swear to God, I was thrilled” by Wynn’s announcement, Katsilometes said. “The places that are really vegan-friendly in Vegas are nowhere near the Strip. … This very well could have a domino effect. You could see the other resort chains announcing, ‘We’ve got vegan menus, too.’”

The vegan dishes at Wynn and Encore won’t be cheap, however. At the steakhouse Switch, the tofu carpaccio appetizer is $14 and a mushroom polenta cake entree is $32, both in line with meaty menu options. A three-course vegan tasting menu at Alex, the fine dining restaurant with a Michelin rating of two stars, costs $80 per person, and includes a marinated heirloom tomato and cucumber salad, crudites of summer vegetables with zucchini sauce and a saute of vegetable fricassee with black truffles. Dessert is coconut tapioca.

Other properties are adjusting to veganism’s popularity surge with a patchwork approach. A publicist for Caesars Palace, which has restaurants from stars like Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay, could cite a handful of examples, mostly limited to veggie burgers.

“Serendipity 3 will wrap the veggie burger in lettuce to make it vegan,” said Caesars spokeswoman Celena Haas, who acknowledged guests are increasingly asking for such options. “Other Caesars restaurants will accommodate but [vegan dishes are] not on the menus currently.”

All of this represents a sea change for Las Vegas, which has become a culinary destination in recent years but still greets millions of tourists seeking a great piece of meat. Famed seafood chef Rick Moonen, owner of RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, admitted years ago he was forced to include steak options on his menu despite his devotion to fish because of customer demand.

E.C. Gladstone, who writes about the Vegas food scene for Orbitz.Com, doubts Wynn’s decision will bring in hordes of new tourists. But he also doubts that’s why the resort is doing it. Wynn has a long history of providing amenities that enhance the luxury experience at his hotels without generating direct revenues, most obviously the famed fountains outside the Bellagio.

Gladstone wonders if there was more pushback from some chefs than Snyder is willing to acknowledge, and notes that some of the ingredients required to make creative vegan dishes could be more expensive.

“Obviously, this lends itself in a positive way to Wynn’s legacy as a trendsetter in the culinary field in Vegas,” Gladstone said. “And any chef worth his salt loves the challenge of cooking vegetarian. Perhaps doing vegan can be a little harder.”

Turner is impressed by what this says about Sin City’s evolution. “Ten years ago, the buffets were just horrible cheap food, but Vegas has really evolved to be a cool place to eat,” she said. “It’s sort of the next step. It gives you the choice to eat things you can feel good about in between all those free cocktails in front of the slot machine.”

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Steve Wynn becomes a Vegan

November 12, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Steve Wynn goes vegan

“I’m not about to croak,” hotel mogul Steve Wynn told me, “but I have changed my will.” My mind immediately raced as to whether things were really heating up with beautiful Andrea Hissom, who was on his arm at Tony Hawk’s Stand Up for Skateparks at the Wynn on Saturday.
Steve’s will must fascinate every inquisitive journalist worth his salt and had my eyes a-popping and my ears open larger than normal. A world scoop was the immediate thought! I hadn’t seen Steve in a few weeks, and when we greeted each other, I told him how fit and well he was looking. I thought to myself, “This love match with lovely Andrea is getting serious.” Somehow people do look better when they’re in love and having fun together.
“I’ve actually lost 15 pounds since I’ve gone vegan,” said Steve, as Andrea told us she’s 5 pounds lighter. “We’re not doing this trying to lose weight. We’re doing this because we both want to get really healthy and live longer.” He even pulled up his shirt to show me his toned and tanned abs on his new washboard stomach.
Senior Editor John Katsilometes’ fascinating new Las Vegas Weekly cover story details Steve’s new food decisions and how he became not only a believer but also a preacher with a mission.
“It’s very simple,” Steve continued. “I’m killing two birds at once, so to speak. Animal-based food kills people. This way by going vegan … we get healthy and save animals. I’m being selfish, too, because if I can get my employees healthier, we cut down on sick days and gain more productivity. Our plan to take care of ourselves this way has blended right in with our staff. Our chefs have really gotten into it with special vegetarian and vegan dishes on each one of our restaurant menus.
Tony Hawk’s 2010 Stand Up for Skateparks

“We take pride in our steakhouses here because customers want that. There will always be a steakhouse to serve the best meats, but if people follow this vegan plan, we’re going to cut down on obesity in America, and mothers won’t have to worry so much about their kids being overweight.”
Steve is so evangelical on the subject that he’s given every one of his executives, chefs and employees a book and a DVD on the subject. He’s even converted the staff cafeteria over with a vegan-based menu — and it is reportedly popular. When I dined at his new Lakeside Grill from chef David Walzog and ordered his menu items, I was so impressed that before seeing him, I went online and ordered the book and DVD.
“I’d have given you one, Robin. I’m giving every one a copy. I really believe I can make a difference and get people younger and healthier again. Once you know and understand, you’ll start giving all your friends a copy.” I told him I’d ordered 12 for the upcoming holidays.
“When people see the changes that are already happening to us, they want to join in — and when they see it happening for themselves, they’ll have everybody else joining in,” he added.
And that’s what led to the subject of his will when I asked just how committed he was to the program. I wondered if he would lead the charge here in Las Vegas, maybe Nevada, maybe the entire country?
2010 Andre Agassi Grand Slam at Wynn

Before I could pose the question, he gently interrupted the thought and said: “I don’t want any more concentration camps for animals that are cruelly treated, force fed to fatten themselves up for our consumption.
“I’ve become an animal rights activist. I’m taken care of myself for the rest of my life. So I decided to change my will the last few days in case I croak. I’m not about to, and I’m not planning on that for a long time. But I’ve changed my will to show my concern for animal rights. Andrea is in full agreement!”
I wanted to follow up with the details of how much and what parts of the will had been changed, but before I could get too personal, the protective arm of the PR people was lowered, and he was whisked away to a less intrusive questioner on the subject of skateboarding. I plan to follow up the next time we run into each other. I’m certainly going to chronicle his progress with his vegan diet.
I really got the feeling we might see another vegan restaurant and maybe a vegan store in the not-too-distant future at the Wynn and Encore. That would really prove he means business about his change in lifestyle.
Steve concluded: “I just wish I’d come to all of this earlier in my life instead of later. Who knows how much it would have changed everything?”

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Biggest Loser Bob Harper talks Vegan & The China Study

November 10, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Bob Harper Biggest Loser vegan
Bob Harper from the hit NBC show The Biggest Loser talks Vegan

November 9, 2010 10:48 AM
VegNews Interviews The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper, Winner of Their Veggie Awards 2010 Person of the Year

Though he’s best known as one of America’s toughest trainers for kicking people into shape on the hit reality show The Biggest Loser, it’s Bob Harper’s compassionate side that makes him 2010′s biggest winner. The 45-year-old motivator made waves this year by formally announcing that he’s a loud and proud vegan. Through the launch of his branded website, posting videos encouraging veg eating, and working with groups such as Farm Sanctuary and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Harper’s making America a healthier, happier, more compassionate place. Between shooting a brand-new series of workout videos, penning a forthcoming book, and spending quality time with Karl – Harper’s recently adopted pooch – Harper found time to chat with VegNews about all things vegan.

VegNews: You went vegan after reading The China Study. Was it an “ah-ha” moment or more gradual?
Bob Harper: I’ve been in the (training) business for a long time, and I’m always looking at diet plans. I was at a friend’s house and it was right when Skinny Bitch came out. And she was like, “You need to read this book.” The title totally threw me off; I said, “I’m not reading some book that’s called Skinny Bitch.” But I took it with me on vacation, and I was really interested and blown away by it at the same time. Then someone told me about The China Study, and when I read that I had a full-on “ah-ha” moment. Because I understand so much that you are what you eat. That’s the bottom line.

VN: And you were recently Farm Sanctuary’s nationwide spokesperson for the Walk for Farm Animals.
BH: Absolutely. I feel there are vegans out there who would say that I was not a vegan, because I did look at it from a health perspective, but then when Farm Sanctuary came to me it just made sense. I grew up on a cattle farm, ironically, and all of a sudden things started falling into place – just trying to live a kinder life.

VN: Are animal rights becoming more important to you?
BH: Yes, it’s really starting to creep into my life. I was talking to Ellen DeGeneres of all people about this, and she told me that I needed to watch this documentary called Earthlings. It was one of those things where I didn’t have the strength to watch it. I started watching the first 15 minutes and I was like, I can’t do that. I know what’s going on, I know how the kill floor works, I just can’t see it – I can’t have those visuals in my head.

VN: How did the training community react to you going vegan?
BH: Of course those die-hard fitness guys are like, “You gotta eat steak, you need to eat your chicken breast every day or your body’s going to just waste away.” My body did go through a period that was really interesting because I evaluate people for a living and all of a sudden it became self-evaluation. When I first went vegan I did lose a lot of weight. I got really thin, but then my body just needed to go through a transition period – it was reconstructing. I’m a big believer in trying to be as age-defying as possible and how you live your life will help or hinder that. And I really believe that living more on a plant-based diet is turning back the clock on me, or I like to say that it is.

VN: Judging from the success of shows like The Biggest Loser, people now want purpose and focus in their lives. Why do you think that is?
BH: I believe there is a storm of change out there, and I want to be on the forefront of that. People now are realizing that how we live affects our children, and our children are now dealing with Type 2 diabetes and obesity. We can no longer just close our eyes and wish that it’ll go away. We all have to do something about it. That’s why I love magazines like VegNews. It’s out there preaching in a way that’s more respectful.

VN: One of the main things that you stress is recognizing small accomplishments. How has that been effective?
BH: It’s hugely successful. I truly believe that it’s about finding that inner strength. Any change is difficult. You can overcome an old behavior, and what better cause for celebration? It really just feeds the self-esteem; it feeds that inner resolve. I also believe too, and I tell this to people all the time, that life is a process. Life is how a surfer thinks of the waves, there are ebbs and flows. So if you mess up, you know what? Today’s a new day. And I really think that it gives people not necessarily freedom, but it gives them forgiveness. Because I’ve worked with people now for so long who are so quick to condemn themselves. “Oh look what I’ve done; I’ve already made these bad choices so eff it, I’m going to go back to eating whatever I want.” You know what? You made a mistake; you messed up. It’s over.

VN: Is there a cultural shift away from people wanting a certain size of body or weight and toward people just wanting to be healthy?
BH: I hope that to be the case. People really need to try and be the healthiest they can be, and not try to look like what they think they should look like. That’s an important message to get out there. I tell people all the time, don’t try to look like the girls on the covers of these magazines – they don’t look like that anyway! I just did a photo shoot recently and the guy said, “Look how great these look, and they’re still untouched.” They should be untouched! I want to see me.

VN: Do you feel pressure to be healthy?
BH: People are always asking me, “What’s your thing when you want something bad?” And I say, if I want something, I’m going to have it, but I have to be wise about it. Dark chocolate and peanut butter are two of the best things ever in the entire world – so if I want that, I’m going to have it. I’m just not going to have a truckload of it and I’m not going to have it every single day. Give me guacamole, chips and salsa, and a margarita, and I’m as happy as I can possibly be, but I’m not going to do it every day. I love to talk to people about that because they think that I’m this super hero, and I’m just a man. When you pull that curtain back for people, it makes them feel better. We’re all human, and we’re all just trying to do the best we can.

Check out the latest issue of VegNews at VegNews.com.

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Film union crew shuts down biggest loser shoot

November 9, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Bob must be pissed as the crew that works on the hit NBC Show Biggest Loser is now game playing and asking to become a union shop!
EXCLUSIVE: Production on NBC’s veteran reality series The Biggest Loser has been put on hold following a walkout by the show’s crew in an effort to unionize. I hear that representatives from IATSE, the union that represents most film and TV crew members, showed up on the set of The Biggest Loser last night and led the crew off the set. As a result, filming on the show was suspended. The Biggest Loser also didn’t shoot today, while representatives from IATSE and Reveille, which produces the series with 3 Ball Prods., have been discussing a potential agreement. There have been ramblings that the walkout was the culmination of ongoing efforts by the Biggest Loser crew to go union but show insiders tell me that the producers were not aware of such attempts and were surprised by the labor action last night. I’ll be updating the story as it evolves.

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Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof

October 28, 2010 By juneluvselan Leave a Comment

Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof
Interview with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr.

Heart disease is the number one killer in America today. This is an interview between Dr. John Westerdahl, Director of the Castle Wellness Center and host of Tasty and Meatless with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., renowned physician from the Cleveland Clinic, and a pioneer in heart disease reversal research. Dr. Esselstyn talks about his research that shows how people can make themselves heart attack proof.

Dr. Esselstyn: We have over 500,000 people who will die this year of heart disease. There are 1.5 million people who will have been diagnosed with a new heart attack. There will be 3 million so-called “silent heart attacks.” They will have severe ingestion and this will be when the heart attack occurs. The exciting thing is the lesson we learned from World War II, when the powers of Germany occupied Norway. They took away their livestock, their chickens, goats, lamb, and sheep. As a result, from 1939 to 1945, these countries were largely subsisting on a plant-based diet of grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. There is documentation in Norway on how deaths from cardiovascular disease from stroke and heart attacks during this time plummeted. If we adapt the plant-based nutrition of these countries and if we achieve the same low blood cholesterol and blood fat levels that means we also ought to be able to arrest this disease. That was the basic thesis behind the research that I started in 1985.

Dr. Westerdahl: I’m very excited about the research you’ve been doing because you have conducted the longest running study showing that heart disease is reversible through a healthy meatless diet. Tell us more about that.

Dr. Esselstyn: Back in 1995 after my wife and I had been eating a plant-based diet for a year and our cholesterol levels had plummeted, I went to our cardiology department and proposed a study that would take patients with severe heart disease and see if we can reduce their blood sugar, blood fat, and blood cholesterol. They were enthusiastic and we ended up with a group of 24 patients who were so severely ill with this disease that a number of them were advise to go home and get ready to die. We put them on a plant-based diet with no dairy or meat protein and we experienced exciting results. Their angina began to disappear, their heart pain lessened, and they lost weight. After 5 years, we repeated a number of their angiograms, which shows the outline of their arteries, and we found striking results. There was dramatic reversal of the heart disease and this was so empowering to these patients.

Dr. Westerdahl: So if we have a viewer today that may have heart disease, arteriosclerosis, or high cholesterol, what things do they need to do? What kind of results can they experience on this meatless diet that you recommend?

Dr. Esselstyn: If they are absolutely eating a strict plant based diet then they really can abolish heart disease. They need to check their cholesterol on a regular basis (every 2 to 6 weeks) and make sure that their total cholesterol is under 150 and their LDL, the bad cholesterol, is under 80. I have an example of a young surgeon who replaced me as chairman of the Breast Cancer Task Force. In 1996, at age 44, with cholesterol of 156, he had a heart attack after finishing surgery one day. His angiogram and his coronary arteries were actually quite good, but the lower part of the main artery and the front of the heart was completely diseased and it was too long a segment for those common interventions. He couldn’t have a bypass and he couldn’t have an angioplasty and he was very depressed. My wife and I had him out to the house and we counseled him about changing his diet to a meatless one. He decided to do it and decided not to take any cholesterol lowering drugs. He became the absolute personification of commitment to this program. 30 months later, he got another angiogram and that diseased segment of his coronary artery was completely healed. His disease was gone and now his life is so solid, so empowered because he has absolute zero fear of this disease. He has made himself heart attack proof.

Should people who don’t have heart disease also go on a plant-based diet? Absolutely and this is why. We did autopsies on the deceased bodies of the battle casualties of the wars in Korea and Vietnam. These young men were an average age of 21 years at the time that we examined their coronary arteries and already 80% had gross evidence of coronary artery disease. Of course a doctor had not diagnosed these young men with coronary artery disease but their arteries were already loaded with it. What was going to happen to them 20 or 30 years later?

Another consequence of eating the Standard American Diet is that at the age of 50, most Americans begin developing unidentified white spots in their brain that we now know are tiny little strokes. We see this repeatedly when people come in for MRI tests. Even if someone doesn’t have symptoms of coronary heart disease, these little strokes can begin to develop until the memory goes sour when they reach age 70 and they lose their cognition. These strokes come from too much cholesterol and fat from meat protein and dairy. There are so many other diseases besides heart disease that you are going to encounter if you continue to eat the Standard American Diet. Why do you want to have the opportunity to go into your senior years and not have all your cognition, all your intellect right on top? Why would you want to be someone who has severe personality changes, multiple strokes, in a rest home or nursing home? Eat a plant-based diet so that you can be there to enjoy your family, your children, your grandchildren and ideally your great great grand children!

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Vegan Recipes from Biggest Loser! Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser

October 13, 2010 By Billy 3 Comments

Hey everyone! Here are the recipes from last night’s Biggest Loser. Lets thank my friend Brooke Larson for sharing these awesome recipes with us, she is amazing!

Roasted Cauliflower

Serves up to 4 as a side dish 2 heads of organic cauliflower (I get mine from the farmers market, you can get purple, orange, or white)

Core and cut cauliflower into uniform pieces.
Heat oven to 400 degrees
2 Tablespoons good quality olive oil
5 sprigs of organic thyme(picked/pulled from stem)
2 garlic cloves (smashed and skinned)
2 Tablespoons Red wine Vinegar sea salt and cracked black pepper
You will need 1 large baking tray/sheet tray
Arrange cut cauliflower onto sheet tray and sprinkle with olive oil,red wine vinegar, thyme, smashed garlic, and season with salt and pepper(don’t like salt don’t add) gently toss and place into hot pre-heated oven.
Roast cauliflower until golden brown and soft.
Check after 30 minutes. Everyone’s ovens are different. If it needs more cooking time give it more time.
The cauliflower will taste nutty and the acidity from the red wine vinegar adds a beautiful tart yet sweet flavor!
Enjoy! Ps- you can also do this with Carrots, potatoes, onions, broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc.
Roasted Wild Mushrooms with Shaved Fennel Salad

Serves 4 people (side dish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees you will need a variety of mushrooms, about 4 different types, a good large handful of each variety. Shitake, Morel, Oyster, and Hen of the woods to name a few.
Make sure your mushrooms are clean of dirt. You can do this by Gently wiping them with a paper towel/kitchen towel. Don’t submerge them in water! Mushrooms are like a sponge and absorb water, you won’t get a good roast on them if they are full of water!!
The mushrooms need to be cut into the same size… Sometimes it’s easier to pull mushrooms instead of cutting them. How ever you can or what ever is easiest for the “cook” portion the mushrooms and place on a sheet tray.
3 tablespoons of good quality olive oil
4 smashed garlic cloves( skinned and smashed)
1 leek (washed, cut lengthwise, and sliced into 1/2 moon shape)
1 large shallot minced/finely diced 5 sprigs of fresh thyme pulled from the stem
Salt and pepper to taste
Add all of the above ingredients onto the portioned and cleaned wild mushrooms gently toss with your fingers.
Once evenly coated place into a 400 degree oven.
Roast mushrooms until golden brown and slightly crispy.
Check after 35 minutes. If they need more time, leave them in a little longer!
Also as a cook it is a good idea to get in the habit of cooking with your nose! You will be able to smell the mushrooms when they are roasted and ready… once ready pull out of oven and let “rest” until you can handle then…
*Note* you can use what ever mushrooms are available to you. I make this with only button mushrooms and it is delicious!
For the shaved Fennel Salad- 1 large bulb of fennel(cut in half) plus a few fronds for garnish
1/2 a lemon(the juice)
2 Tablespoons of good quality olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash/sprinkle of fennel pollen (Whole Foods and any specialty spice shop will have this, kinda pricey but oh my SO good)
You will need to shave the bulb of fennel you can do this by using your chefs knife or I find it easier to use my mandolin. Please watch your fingers and be very careful!!
Once shaved place into a mixing bowl and add oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, fennel pollen, and fronds. Gently toss with your fingers.
Season to your liking and let sit for 10 minutes.
To assemble: Place roasted wild mushrooms into a serving plate or bowl. Put the shaved fennel salad on top of the roasted mushrooms and drizzle the extra liquid/vinaigrette over the top. Sprinkle with a little more fennel pollen and fronds.
Ps- you can eat this dish room Temperature or you can use the mushrooms while there still warm, up to you. I like room temperature.

Chopped Broccoli with Pine Nuts

Serves 4 people (side dish)

1 large stalk of organic broccoli (florets and stem cut into uniform pieces)
3 Tablespoons of pine nuts (toasted)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 garlic cloves smashed and skinned
1 large shallot sliced
1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (less if you don’t like spicy)
1 Teaspoon of chopped and grated lemon zest
Salt and pepper
Heat a large pot with olive oil, add the pepper flakes, garlic, shallot, and season with salt and pepper.
Once the garlic and shallot are “soft” add the portioned broccoli. Stir until evenly coated.
Add 1/2 a cup of water and put a lid on the pot.
Cook the broccoli until the water evaporates about 6-8 minutes.
Once water is evaporated add the toasted pine nuts and lemon zest.
With a old school potato masher” mash” the broccoli. You can also use a Cuisinart with the blade attachment, it will only take a few pulses or you can use a food mill.
*Note* don’t put into a blender! Enjoy!
Tags:biggest loser, vegan, Vegan recipes

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A Simple Shopping Cart Modification Makes People Eat Healthier

August 12, 2010 By Billy Leave a Comment

Designating a part of a shopping cart specifically for fruits and vegetables boost purchase of these healthy foods.

Researchers from New Mexico State University‘s College of Business used a strip of duct tape to make a line through the middle of shopping carts in a Las Cruces, N.M., grocery store.They also posted a sign on each cart that recommended that fruits and vegetables be placed on one side of the line. Shoppers who had one of the special carts bought 102 percent more fruits and veggies than those who had regular carts.

Despite the change in shopping habits, the special carts didn’t change the amount of overall money the shoppers were spending.

While this study could be probably be used to help make America less fat, we suspect, instead, we will soon see a Coca-Cola section in our shopping carts.

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