Shifting Deeper into Truth...

The Juice Feast retreat is going SO well, I’m delighted – today was their last full day of juicing and everyone seems to be feeling so well, losing weight, looking brighter, less ‘puffy’, calmer, more relaxed…it is wonderful to witness…and we will definitely be doing this all again – from September the 12th to 19th, I’ll be back on juicing duty here in Michigan with another group of beautiful women…if you want to be part of that, just let us know ;) (See http://www.rawnora.com/)

Yesterday – April 29th – I had:

600ml water
400ml peppermint tea
1 tbsp bee pollen
shot of wheatgrass
1 litre coconut water with greens
300ml water
1 litre ‘5000 volts’
200ml water
1 litre pears/chard/romaine juice
1 litre apples/spring greens/radish/spinach
600ml water

A highlight of today for me was a singing/drumming circle we held in the evening time…wow…music and singing move me so much at this time in my life…I love it…I sang a lot when I was younger, in shows, on stage and so on, then…kind of neglected it all for some years, but it has been definitely resurfacing for me as a passion these last few years…when I used to live in Iceland a few years back, I recorded some songs with a wonderful songwriter and now am getting more and more into women’s song circle songs at the moment – it just creates soooo much flow for me through my being…I get out of my head and thoroughly into my heart space and body instead…mmmmmmmmmmmm… :)

Today I have had:

500ml water
400ml peppermint tea
shot of wheatgrass
1 tbsp pollen
1 litre greens/apple/ginger juice
250ml water
1 litre orange juice w/ hemp oil
1 litre greens with pineapple
250ml water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 litre coconut water with romaine/dandelion juice

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Full Moon in Scorpio...I am EXCITED - it is a POWERFUL time of shifts and truth-telling and not only is it the last full day of this women's retreat, but we're going to be breaking the Juice Feast AND ending the day with a sweat lodge...wow...here's some of what Lisa Dale Miller has to say about this full moon - to read the whole piece, go here: http://www.astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm

"This is the truth or dare Full Moon; a time to honor the transformative power of truth-telling...Scorpio seeks deep truth by peeling back layers of lies and half-truths-within us and without us. This is a Full Moon to see things as they truly are, not as you wish them to be.
The Full Moon in Scorpio is the night for full disclosure. It is the night to empower ourselves by naming our truth and shouting it from the rooftops. This is the Full Moon to celebrate our right to know. Though your merriment can take many forms, it should be done with others. It may only take one person to uncover a secret, but it takes many people working together to break the spell of illusion and denial. The Full Moon in Scorpio is a time to release attachment to old pain and arise like a phoenix from the ashes of burned off karma; freed from narcissistic self-obsession and ready to help others heal their own pain."

WOW...what greater night for a sweat lodge to complete a transformative, healing women's juicing retreat...? It's amazing...I love the way the universe flows...this was not 'consciously' planned at all that the end of the retreat, lodge and full moon would all co-incide...it just unfolded that way itself...beautiful ;)

ENJOY :)

One love,

Angela. xxx

Juicy Details...

Alright, you asked, we delivered...there has been such a huge, wonderful amount of interest in Juice Feasting of late and so many of you have been asking to hear the playback of the first, free JF teleconference call that we held a few weeks back. Unfortunately, the recording feature was not working at that point, so there was no playback available. Well, now we've remedied that. The wonderful Michelle and I did a re-record this evening and it is now available for your listening pleasure, by calling this number:

Playback Number: (641) 985-5000

and entering this access code: 355313#

This is a one-hour, FREE intro talk all about Juice Feasting and is available for you to listen and re-listen to as it suits you - Enjoy ;)

If you would like to participate more in such calls, we are delighted to announce that we will be holding a 4-week series of Juice Feast teleconference calls, starting Monday May the 7th (US: 6pm PDT, 9pm EST) and running for 4 consecutive Monday evenings. For more details about this and to sign up, please see here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/


Yesterday - April the 27th, I had:

500ml water
500ml tea
1 litre celery/red pepper/garlic/hot pepper/orange juice
250ml water
1 litre carrots/kale/spring greens mix
200ml water
1 litre strawberries/cucumber/chard/pear
200ml water
1 litre pineapple/romaine/mint
300ml water

I am feeling so great back on juice and all the women here on retreat with me in Michigan seem to be having a wonderful time of it too - we are so blessed - a wonderful group of goddesses, many of whom have never even HAD fresh juice before, all living a liquid lifestyle and loving it - we're into day 3 of this Juice Feast and it is all flowing marvellously...in fact, one woman who had never really even heard anything abt raw foods before joining us here, announced today that she might continue after the retreat for the full 92 days... ;O wow...lives are truly transforming here in front of our eyes...and it is beautiful...

Today I have had:

600ml water
400ml orange juice
1 litre pineapple/greens
1 litre romaine/dandelion
200ml orange juice with hemp oil
1.5 litres green juice
500ml water
1.5 litres greens with carrots
250ml water

It feels as if a canker sore is working its way out inside my lower lip, so I moved over to mainly greens today. It was soooo great to have the OJ/hemp oil combo again though - wow, I'd totally forgotten about that - used to have that almost every day while doing the 92-Day Juice Feast...feels soooo good to me...
A local herbalist came and led us on an herb walk today in the glorious spring sunshine - it was SO great - I love seeing the greenery through the eyes of someone who knows what they're looking at...to me it is often just a beautiful blur of green, but seeing it all with someone who can describe the different properties of the little beings we're encountering is wonderful...we are on Native American land and were watching out for encounters with any power animals too - the first one I met was some outlandish-looking BRIGHT green little bug - it was so bright it almost didn't look real - like a cartoon or smthg...hmmmmmmmmmm, I'm not sure what that says abt me... ;)
So, we're getting PLENTY of greens in here, but how about you? Remember that the RawReform giveaway this month is all about greeeeening ourselves up, with a giveaway of a free canister of green powder - to be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is email your answer to the following question to angela@rawreform.com...

How do you enjoy your greens?

Best wishes and all blessings for now,
Angela.
xxx

Juice Feasting Retreat...

I am holding a women's' Juice Feasting retreat in Michigan this week, so am not going to be writing much - just wanted to do a little update for now...
We're through our first day of juices here and I'm so pleased to say that it is going REALLY well - I am soooooo thrilled to be sharing this amazing healing tool directly with people...yesterday was our last day of solids - this is how it looked for me:

April the 25th I had:

500ml water
500ml tea
1 litre veggie juice
400g pineapple with goji berries
500ml water
1 apple
crackers with seed cheese
500ml water
seed cheese stuffed peppers with salad, 'key lime pie' and strawberries - 'The Final Supper'
500ml water

and so, back to a liquid lifestyle...it flows very easily for me now...as I wrote a few days back, after 92 days on juice, 5 days feels like a little 'drop in the juicing ocean' ;)

On April the 26th I had:

500ml water
500ml tea
1 litre celery/cucumber/apple juice
250ml water
1 litre romaine/spinach/carrot juice
250ml water
1 litre watermelon juice
1 litre kale/dandelion/apple/ginger juice
500m tea
500ml water

What an amazing retreat we are sharing here...a wonderful group of women, coming together in sisterhood to support each other on our next level of cleansing/detoxing/taking the next big step. There are some wonderful stories to how these beings ended up gathered here, from cancer survivors to someone who flew here at the last minute after picking up a magazine with an article about my story, many hundreds of miles away down in North Carolina...LOL ;) How blessed we are...
The women aren't hungry, which pleases me so much - they all seem happy and feel like juice feasting is so far easy and are excited to have massages and colonics etc from local practitioners...juicing a gallon a day for around 25 women involves a LOT of woman-power - we are fortunate to be a strong group of able women who flow together and are seeing wonderful shifts unfold ;)
We are enjoying the beautiful nature here, yoga sessions, talks, sharing circles, singing and talking a lot about enemas/bowel movements... ;)
FUN :)))
All love,
Angela. xxx

Way out in the country... ;)

Alrighty then...I moved on again...out in Michigan now, for the amazing Womens' Raw Retreat we're about to start here tomorrow. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I am so delighted to be out here at Ronora Lodge, in the countryside again - Chicago was wonderful, yet I really resonate with being out here in the greenery and luscious open spaces...this land is BEAUTIFUL...
I am so excited abt this retreat, I am almost bursting with energy right now - yeeeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) A wonderful opportunity to share...

On April the 23rd I had:

500ml water
700ml veggie juice
500ml water
700ml green smoothie (banana, strawberry, spinach, kale)
500ml green smoothie
1 box of organic strawberries
1 apple
1 litre water
flax crackers with seed cheese and arugula
500ml water

My intake is very happily light at the moment...enjoying having almost totally water-rich foods...this feels especially good as we're about to enjoy a 5 day Juice Feast on this retreat - winding down towards a liquid lifestyle...funny, 5 days seems so incredibly manageable now - like a 'drop in the ocean' of juicing compared to...well, 92 days ;) Amazing how much our perspectives can change...prior to my full-on Juice Feast this winter, even 3 days living on just liquids would have seemed like quite a lot...

on April the 24th I had:

750ml water
slice of watermelon
250ml water
1 litre green juice
flax crackers with hemp seed cheese
1 litre water
1 litre green juice
seed cheese with crackers, arugula and carrots
500ml tea
slice of pineapple
handful of goji berries
500ml water

For anyone who has not yet made the 'big leap' into organics, I am really happy to include this info here on ten top reasons why it might be a wise move... ;) Written by the wondeful Ysanne over on OrganicFoodee.com and forwarded to me recently, this is a great piece to share with sceptical rellies in particular, plus the bonus fruit/veggie pesticide-load charts at the end are VERY useful... ;) Enjoy...
One love,
Angela. xxx

10 Organic Reasons
(and there are many, many more!)
by Ysanne Spevack , Editor Organicfoodee.com
1. Organic produce is not covered in a cocktail of poisonous chemicals. The average conventionally-grown apple has 20-30 artificial poisons on its skin, even after rinsing. Trust your instincts, and go organic!
2. Fresh organic produce contains on average 50% more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients than intensively farmed produce. Science says that it's good for you.
3. Going organic is the only practical way to avoid eating genetically modified (GM) food. And by buying organic food, you are registering your mistrust of GMO's and doing your bit to protest against them.
4. If you eat dairy or meat products, going organic has never been more essential to safeguard you and your family's health. Intensively-reared dairy cows and farm animals are fed a dangerous cocktail of anti-biotics, growth promoting drugs, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines on a daily basis, whether they have an illness or not. These drugs are passed directly onto the consumers of their dairy produce or meat., which must be a contributing factor to meat-related diseases like coronaries and high blood pressure.
5. About 99% of non-organic farm animals in the UK are now fed GM soya. And there has never been a reported case of BSE in organic cattle in the UK. Common sense says that organic is safe food.
6. Organic produce simply tastes so much better. Fruit and vegetables full of juice and flavour, and so many different varieties to try! There are about 100 different kinds of organic potatoes in production in the UK, and that's just potatoes!
7. Organic farms support and nurture our beautiful and diverse wildlife. Over the last thirty years, intensive farming in the UK has led to dramatic erosion of the soil, a fall of up to 70% of wild birds in some areas, the destruction of ancient hedgerows, and the near extinction of some of the most beautiful species of butterflies, frogs, grass-snakes and wild mammals.
8. Organic food is not really more expensive than intensively farmed foods, as we pay for conventional foods through our taxes. We spend billion of pounds every year cleaning up the mess that agro-chemicals make to our natural water supply. And the BSE crisis cost us 4 billion pounds. Go organic for a genuine more cost-effective future.
9. Intensive farming can seriously damage farm workers' health. There are much higher instances of cancer, respiratory problems and other major diseases in farm workers from non-organic farms. This is particularly true in developing countries, and for agrochemical farms growing cotton. So go organic if you care about other people.
10. And if you simply like the idea of your children and grandchildren being able to visit the countryside and play in the forests and fields just like we did when we were young, go organic for the sake of all of our futures.

15 Fruits & Veggies with the Highest Pesticides
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes - Imported
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes
Carrots
Green Beans
Hot Peppers

15 Fruits & Veggies with the Lowest Pesticides
Watermelon
Winter Squash
Cauliflower
Blueberries
Papaya
Broccoli
Cabbage
Bananas
Kiwi
Sweet peas - frozen
Asparagus
Mango
Pineapples
Sweet Corn - frozen
Avocado
Onions

GREEEEEEEEEEENed to the MAX...

What a phenomenal weekend this has been for me in Chicago…I had no real idea what this city was all about before coming here, yet have found it thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable ;) It's simply buzzzzzzzzing with raw activity and green fun…in fact, I heard today that it has been ranked as the 2nd 'greenest' city in the world, after Amsterdam…wow…I definitely landed on my feet this week ;) Friday night was the surprise 60th birthday party for Karyn Calabrese, local raw food educator who has been sharing the raw/healing message with diners here at her restaurants for decades…she looks beautiful and inspires so many here on their path to greater health…it was great fun to share in the surprise celebrations at her place, with exquisite raw cuisine (catered in part by Juliano) and wonderful company, with lots of raw foodies from both near and far in the city for the weekend's Green Festival…

On April the 20th I had:

500ml water
700ml green juice
700ml durian/cacao shake
500ml water
handful of dulse
500ml water
600ml green juice
plate of raw party food at Karyn's - rawviolis, salad, pizza, chocolate brownies
400ml amazing green mint drink - mint, rejuvelac, honey lemon - yummmmmmmm
1 litre water

Green Fest this weekend at the McCormick Centre in Chicago has been completely amazing...in fact, it was the first Green Fest held in this city and the organisers said they'd never had such an incredible turn-out or energy for a first event...my highlights included:

*seeing such a BIG raw presence there - many raw booths and people, including David Wolfe, who gave a very entertaining speech about cacao on Sunday...
*the fact that I literally didn't see an unhappy or moody person the entire time - everyone seemed happy...
*perusing the incredible eco-clothes - made mainly from hemp, cotton and bamboo - mmmmmmmmmm ;)

*hearing Howard Lyman (the raw/vegan cowboy) share on the importance of taking care of topsoil - aaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I hear that message SOOOO clearly - composting and organic growing are so dear to my heart...compost compost compost. please. just do it. He shared that in the last couple of hundred years, 75% OF THE TOPSOIL has been depleted in the US...PLEASE COMPOST...do your part in your area...(composting is only part of the solution of course, but the part that resonates most for me...)

On Saturday the 21st of April I had:

1 litre water
500ml cacao/banana smoothie
greeeeeeeeeen platter of romaine, sunflower greens, sprouts, dehydrated marinated eggplant and raw dolmas
300ml water
Bits of raw smoothies and cacao
piece of raw lasagna
raw cheesecake
1 litre water
3 cacao smoothies
2 litres water

Ok, this was SUCH a crazy day and night in terms of cacao intake for me...it went on literally alllllll day...the vibe at the Green Fest was so high and I was so totally BUZZED off the cacao too - it turned into one of those days where the veils of reality got so thin I felt like I could literally almost see spirit from the corner of my eye...it was an amazing day...the after show party at the Social Butterfly club was SO much fun...Wolfie served up intense cacao blends from behind the bar all night and I danced like a BANSHEE on the dance floor - I LOVED IT so much - after a day of talking to people and being much more 'in the head', it felt so incredibly GREAT to disconnect from speaking and get into my body and dance...the cacao craziness was all through me though and sleep didn't happen until the wee small hours...

On Sunday the 22nd I had:

1 litre water
shot of wheatgrass
intense veggie juice with hot pepper and garlic
peppermint tea
1 pear
2 satsumas
1 papaya
bunch of grapes
1 litre water
400ml veggie juice
kale salad with dulse, olives and avo
1 litre water

After the madness of saturday, this day was all about water-rich foods for me...all the fruits and greens felt very good and cleansing...NO cracao today... ;)
So, today - Monday the 23rd - a radio interview I just did with Dagger of High Vibe radio is on air...it goes out 9am and 7pm EST today on Tribeca radio, plus is available all the time, free, as a podcast from their website...Dagger is another fantastic interviewer who I really love to share with...he asks great questions...ENJOY ;)
All blessings for now,
Angela. xxx

Eat Raw Live Long ;)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeew, the windy city has me almost blown off my feet with activity this week – so much going on right now - I had SUCH a great time speaking at Cousin’s restaurant a couple of nights ago…what a wonderful place and thanks to all who turned out for the event…Mehmet Ak, the owner, used to run 4 ‘standard’ Turkish restaurants in Chicago, then went raw, lost 90lbs and now runs this amazing raw Turkish-inspired restaurant/shop/event space…amazing exotic food, lovely staff and it’s all painted a beautiful greeeeeeeen colour ;) Mehmet was telling me about all kinds of raw food things that are unfolding in Turkey at the moment – wow, who would have thought it – not me…wouldn’t be the most obvious place to me to set up raw endeavours, but apparently there’s some amazing things kicking off over there…might be time for a visit back that way sometime soon… ;)

On April the 18th I had:

700ml water
400ml tea
700ml green juice
apple-flax meal with gojis and cacao
700ml water
hemp/acai shake
500ml green juice
500ml water
500ml clove tea
sample platter of salads at Cousin’s IV raw restaurant
samples of Cousin’s cheesecakes – strawberry, French vanilla and beetroot flavours ;)
500ml water

Thanks to all of you who have been checking out the video I did with Jinjee and sending me in your comments – YES, it was a really great experience for me…glad you’re enjoying it too ;)
Also, ‘M’ left a comment here on this blog a few days back asking for examples of people who have been raw vegan for a long time – over 10 years – and whether this lifestyle seems to serve our wellbeing in the long-run…well, I would say Storm and Jinjee and their amazing family of 5 little raw people would definitely be a case-in-hand of how this lifestyle can help people to shine and thrive…Storm’s been raw for around 30 years or smthg astonishing like that…and he’s HUGE and ultra-healthy, very active…they made a whole documentary about their lives in fact – Breakthrough – if you haven’t seen that already – it is beautiful…raw vegan kids are quite AMAZING ;)
Other people I know who have been in this game a long ol’ time and are thriving include:

Magic Kate
Fred Bisci
Happy Oasis
Paul Nison

My feeling is that RAW FOOD can work for all body types – wherever you’re living, whatever you’re up to, whatever age you are, etc etc – whether that’s raw VEGAN food or involves other products, that’s up to you…it seems to me that the main KEY is that the food is RAW rather than processed/cooked – just like the way all the other animals eat. There are tribes all over the world that lived traditionally on raw food that was not vegan and have impeccable health records – e.g. the Inuits with their seal meat and blubber, the Masai who sustain their kids for days at a time on mixtures of raw blood and milk and so on…is this stuff OPTIMAL for the human system…? Well…perhaps not...but we humans did a pretty great job spreading ourselves out all over this globe and some of us ended up in places that don’t have the greatest access to…goji berries and fresh pineapple ;) so, it seems to me that as long as the foods we take in are RAW, we’re on a healthier path than dealing with processed things…as for me, I have been on this path for 5 years, and 100% raw/basically vegan (sometimes have bee pollen and honey) for 2 years now…and I feel GREAT ;)

On April the 19th I had:

700ml water
500ml tea
400ml green juice
leftovers from Cousin’s Restaurant – dandelion salad, flax crackers, marinated egg-plant, wild rice salad, etc
500ml water
coconut/cacao treats
1 litre water
400ml tea
2 litres water
1 apple

I discovered that there is an infra-red sauna in the house I am staying in…woooooooooo-hooooooooo ;) I LOVE these things…intense heat, incredibly good for sweating out toxins…I sat in there for a good long time and felt really ultra clean and shiny afterwards…yummmmm…my body moved into a state of just wanting liquids as a result – huge amounts of water…there was actually a durian open in the house, but I didn’t even touch it – my body felt so great to be in a cleansing state and I just stayed with that instead… ;)
I am excited about Green Fest this weekend here in Chicago – it is going to be huuuuuuuuuuuuge…hope to see some of you there if you can make it… ;)

All love for now,
Angela. xxx

NEW: Full-length video interview out now...

I am sooo excited...today saw the release of a 53-minute video interview that I did with Jinjee Talifero. I REALLY enjoyed this interview - Jinjee is such a great question 'mistress' ;) and asked me some really inspiring things, beyond the reaches of the common interview questions...I especially enjoyed sharing about the more emotional/spiritual aspects of my transformation...(definitely no 'where do you get your protein from?' Qs here - guaranteed ;)
Below is a beautiful trailer she put together for the longer piece - check it out and then you can sign up on her site - The Garden Diet - to see the whole 53-minute piece...ENJOY :)




All love,
Angela. xxx

Raw in the Windy City...

Alrighty, I am now rawking it big stylee in Chicago :) WOW, this city is buzzzzzzing with raw activity…amazing…speakers, pot lucks, 2 raw restaurants…and it’s so far NORTH – it’s not the likeliest of raw locations after all – great work, people ;)
I headed out here yesterday from Michigan, on the train. It was fun – it was a long time since I’d been on a train and I do love that form of transport…it lulled me to sleep and in between snoozing I saw beautiful scenery…Michigan reminds me very much of England…it is soooooooo different to California, where I’ve been for the last month…here it seems like it’s all greens and flat corn fields and big stark heavy trees…whereas Southern Cali seems like all deserts and palms and orchards…I LOVE all the old houses I see over this side of the country too – sooooooo sweet, all the old farm houses and town houses- I’ve never noticed the contrast so clearly before between these areas that were settled so much earlier and the ‘baby’ west coast cities in comparison…

On April the 16th I had:

1.5 litres water
bowl of rawldorf salad with crispy kale croutons
500ml veggie juice
400ml green smoothie
500ml water
500ml hemp shake
2 apples
300ml water
nori rolls with spicy sunflower seed pate and salad
300ml Treasure Tea
400ml water

I stopped by Karyn’s raw restaurant in Chicago in the afternoon, which was fun – this place has been going for many years it seems, in different locations and forms…and is now a thriving, beautifully presented place…with some really pretty packaged raw foods and some of the most amazing looking raw desserts I’ve ever seen – like in a bakery – big stacked-up cakes with icing ontop that looks like doughnut icing ;) nice work…

Today I have had:

1.5 litres water
300ml Treasure Tea
500ml water
600ml green veggie juice
avo blended with basil, hot pepper and lemon with nori and flax crackers
500ml water
big slice of watermelon
500ml water
2 apples
500ml water
300ml tea

I’m really into liquids right now…my body doesn’t seem so interested in anything heavy, even though I’m in a colder place…it’s all about simplicity right now…I think the foods I had in Cali for the last month were often so complicated that my body is enjoying some ‘downtime’ right now ;) I LOOOOOOVED having straight green juice again today for example – I’ve been having my greens with carrot a lot lately and forget just how much I love the straight greens on their own…yummmmmmmmm…
Don’t forget, this month’s RawReform Prize Giveaway is all about the greens too – if you’re interested in winning a stash of yummy green superfood powder, just email angela@rawreform.com and answer this Q :

How do YOU enjoy your greens?

We ALL need plenty o’greens for balancing, alkalising and re-mineralising…so let’s share some tasty ways to pack them into our days…
I spoke at the beautiful Yoga Now studio in Chicago tonight – it has a lot of lovely cob artwork inside…very nice people and great atmosphere…we sat together on cushions and I spoke about my journey, top tips for being raw healthily and Juice Feasting – three members of the audience were all Juice Feasters – very cool ;) I love connecting with this community...
Tomorrow I speak at Cousin’s raw restaurant, which will be another exciting new experience – hope you can join us there from 6.30 if you’re in the area…
By the way, in case you didn’t catch it, today was the new moon in Aries – according to the fabulous astrologer Lisa Dale Miller this is the new moon for…

"…fresh starts, turning over a new leaf or starting a new phase. Aries is all about adventure and the indomitable spirit of the adventurer. This is also the New Moon to reinvigorate your lust for life. Go on an adventure, be spontaneous, or just do something wild and crazy. There is a time and place for play, and this is the New Moon to remember that all work and no play make us very dull people! So use your ritual to figure out how to bring more fun into your life! After all, life is just a big adventure."
"One more thing: Aries rules sports and exercise. Spring has arrived and if you have been couch-potatoing all winter long, it's time to get out and start moving your body! This is the ideal New Moon for starting an exercise program and making it a natural part of your daily routine. Just taking a 30-minute brisk walk each day can increase your health dramatically! For those of you who are already active and may want to take on a special challenge, this is the New Moon to initiate that dream of doing your first marathon or triathlon. One thing Aries knows for sure: life is what you make it! So make it exciting and full of joy!"

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm-hmmmmmmmmm…amen to that, sister ;) If you want to read her whole wonderful article about this moon, please visit: http://astrowisdom.com/thisnewmoon.htm

All love,
Angela. xxx

Healing CHI style...

I awoke around 7am this morning to the sound of people enthusiastically exercising outside the room I am staying in at the Creative Health Institute. I literally had NO idea where I was…traveller’s blur had me firmly in its grip and I lay there in a daze, trying to figure it all out…who were these people and what were they doing whooping and bounding about, right outside this room I was in – and where WAS I, anyway…? It all became clear after a while of course and unfolded into a simply wonderful day for me, playing on the re-bounders too and giving a talk here at this centre that promotes ‘teaching healing that works’.

Today I have had:

2.5 litres water
plate of CHI amazing buffet food, with celery soup
slice of lemon cheesecake
2 litres water
1 cup rejuvelac
bowl of ‘waldorf salad’ with crispy kale croutons
1 litre water

I was mainly into water today. Huge amounts of it. The food at CHI is absolutely WONDERFUL though – the Sunday buffet was a great experience…I love being at these healing centres where soooo many greens are grown and served…the crispy, dehydrated kale ‘croutons’ were a new treat for me that I really enjoyed – great idea…
I REALLY enjoyed talking here too. The audience of over 50 people seemed very interested in raw foods and it was wonderful to share my story, answer peoples’ questions and enjoy the atmosphere in this healing, tranquil, restful sanctuary space…this place has been helping people heal since 1976…wow…since before I was even BORN…what a legacy of transformations…this is also the place that the Boutenkos helped out at for a long time – the raw family whose book inspired me to turn MY life around and here I was today, to pass that message on…it felt great…
I spoke a bit about Juice Feasting and people seemed to be really into that idea too - I have in fact JUST had the first run of PRINTED versions of 'A Juice Feaster's Handbook' made and this audience nearly bought me out of them :) wow...it keeps on amazing me how interested people are in this form of healing...the printed versions of this book are now also up for sale on the RawReform site, here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,37/category_id,6/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

Tomorrow I’m off to Chicago for talks there – Yoga Now and Cousin’s IV Restaurant, tues and weds nights…yeeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) off to the windy city I flow/go/blow…
All love,
Angela. xxx

Gotta Have JUICE...

Wheeeeewww…big travelling day today…up at 5.30am and on the road/in the air most of the day…all the way from LA to the Creative Health Institute in Michigan…yeeeeeee-HAH :) Very happy to be here – it seems like a wonderful place and very greeeeeeeeeen…
I saw some amazing scenery on the way here – spectacular views of the Grand Canyon…then the desert gave way to rivers and tundra into mountains and snow and forests, then flat farmland and more desert…so many contrasts and SOOOOO much space and wilderness…very dramatic and beautiful for me to witness…
I felt sad to be leaving somewhere again – SoCal has been a great ‘home’ for me for the last month, with wonderful friends and community…I felt in a sleepy, hazy daze most of the day today while travelling and disconnecting myself from all that – like I was mainly in the lower ‘reptilian’ part of my brain. It was quite a blur and my energy felt mostly inward – it was challenging for me to try to ‘take much in’ beyond the bare minimum essentials of where to put my feet next to get to the right gate on time and when to get off planes, etc…and arriving into grey clouds, drizzle and the cold of the north felt like quite a shock to the system…;) I think I’ll be needing to get some more appropriate warm clothing over the next few days…it’s definitely cosy here at CHI though and I’m looking forward to speaking here tomorrow…

Today I have had:

1 litre water
2 apples
500ml water
spinach/cilantro/lime/avo/dulse
banana/chocolate chews
500ml water
blended fig/coconut/dulse mix with spinach and nori
500ml water
handful of goji berries
1 litre water

Today was the first day in a loooong time that I had no juice all day. Feels kind of strange. I got a nice little message from the universe abt it too, as I sat waiting in an airport lounge between planes today – a guy came over to plug his phone into the wall for charging and commented to me ‘gotta have juice’ :) He was speaking in regard to his phone needing energy, but I got the bigger message… ;) I don't know any airlines that serve green juice...YET ;) One day a raw airline fuelled on...hemp oil...will exist, with cushions and chaise longues for seating, no armrests or seatbacksuprighttraytableinpositionplease announcements, green juice on tap and space for the flight attendants to hold yoga classes...but for now, just getting onboard with some water seems often like a big enough challenge... ;)
Speaking of Juice – we will be doing a lot more of that again, starting this Monday, with the Juice Feasting Conference Calls…there is still space to join us for this 4 week series of talks on all things juicy and abundant ;) The themes for the 4 weeks will be:

1. Practicalities
2. Hopes and Fears
3. Social Issues
4. Breaking a Juice Feast

...4 hours of quality liquid-based conversation, with all your Qs A-ed, for just $70 (abt £35)…bargain (plus you get to listen back to it whenever you like) …;) You can read more abt it all and sign up, HERE:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

Hope you can join us ;)
All love,
Angela. xxx

Connections and eruptions...

Juice Feasters

Visit this group

OOoooooooooo, it’s FUN – people are already tapping in to the new Juice Feasters’ Google Group that was opened this week and are posting all kinds of msgs and Qs there…it is so nice for me to see that there is a place for people to easily connect abt this now – HURRAY :) Check it out here:

http://groups.google.com/group/juice-feasters

On Thursday 12th April I had:

500ml water
300ml coconut water
500ml tea
700ml veggie juice
meal of blended fig/coconut/dulse with banana/choc crepes
500ml water
500ml tea
500ml veggie juice
romaine/spinach/avo/pea salad with nori sheets
800ml water

One thing I’ve noticed since Juice Feasting and coming back here to California is that my skin seems to be much healthier and clearer in general – the skin on my face has been very expressive since the age of about 9 when I started to develop acne. Many of my ‘before’ pictures show how much I used to be affected by skin eruptions all over my face. This cleared a huge amount from going raw, but my skin would still let me know often that it wasn’t happy. These days, after all the cleansing of the Feast, it seems like I have cleared to a space where my skin is much healthier looking, MOST of the time – I still get a few things coming to the surface now and then, but mostly it seems very clean. This is a big turn-around for me after nearly 20 years of feeling like I pretty much always had spots on my face…it’s a very nice new experience…all the veggie juice is definitely helping I feel, along with getting such a HUGE variety of different greens and other produce here in California – like fenugreek, turnip greens, dandelion, fresh sprouts, different varieties of spinach and so on…I love it…I feel almost like my skin looks healthier every day at the moment…


Today I have had:

500ml lemon water
700ml water
200ml coconut water
500ml veggie juice
1 tsp bee pollen
meal of blended fig/coconut/dulse with banana/choc crepes
500ml water
500ml tea
500ml veggie juice
500ml water
salad - spinach, peas, avo, nori
800ml water

Tomorrow morning I leave California for Michigan….brrrrrrrr…am feeling quite sad to be leaving here and heading up into the colder climes…it is absolutely beautiful here right now – gorgeous warm days and blissful sunsets…I have had a wonderful time here since I got back from Costa Rica…the abundance of fresh produce at farmers’ markets especially is raw food heaven for me… ;)
I’m going up north to start my next talk tour – first event is at the Creative Health Institute in Michigan this Sunday, then I’ll be speaking at Yoga Now and Cousin’s IV in Chicago next week – Tusday and Wednesday nights. Green Fest in Chicago the following weekend is going to be HUUUUGE fun, then the week after sees the start of the women’s Juice Feast Retreat I’m facilitating at Ronora Lodge in Michigan…check out the RawReform events page for details of all these talks and more, here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/option,com_events/task,view_month/Itemid,1/month,04/year,2007/

This evening I visited some natural hot springs – it was wonderful…now I really ‘smell like the devil’ though, as my friends in Costa Rica put it…hmmmmmm…might not be so appealing for people travelling next to me tomorrow, stinking of sulphur… ;) reminiscent for me of attempting to travel anywhere with durian…though now of course there are the odour-free durians to take out in public... ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Calling all Juice Feasters... ;)

Yesterday saw the first ever Juice Feasting Teleconference Call. I really enjoyed it and MUCH has unfolded today as a result…one of the most exciting things being that I have now created a FREE Google Group called ‘Juice Feasters’ for connecting. I am really excited about this – I have been looking for a user-friendly way to help people connect around Juice Feasting for the last couple of months and this seems like a great solution to me.

You can see the group and join up here:

http://groups.google.com/group/juice-feasters?hl=en

Here are some of the features I’m impressed with so far:

We can:

*post messages/ask Qs

*upload files and pictures to share
(I have already uploaded a few items)

*co-create and add to web pages within the group space (VERY cool). Everyone can participate in this – I have already put up permanent pages today for links, recipes and top juicing tips. We can create pages on anything related to juicing and anyone can add.

*easily follow conversations, which are grouped together logically

*create our own profiles for each user, with picture, info, location etc – so you can see who else is onboard and in your area/time zone to connect with…

*receive new messages by email to stay updated or just go and catch up online whenever you choose to.

you can visit http://groups.google.com/group/juice-feasters?hl=en, register yourself and start connecting in today with others on this path…HURRAY :)

I am also REALLY happy to say that following on from the free Juice Feast Conference Call yesterday, next week I will begin hosting a NEW 4-week long series of Teleconference Sessions on Juice Feasting.
The sessions will be on Monday nights, starting on April the 16th…
To read more about the calls and sign up, see here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

On Tuesday April 10th I had:

500ml water
500ml tea
sliced apples topped with goji/strawberry/lime juice/figs sauce
700ml veggie juice
800ml water
banana/chocolate crepes with coconut ice cream
800ml water
500ml celery/red pepper/garlic/hot pepper/orange juice
500ml tea
kale salad
600ml water

In the afternoon I went running for the first time in a loooong time. It felt really great. I love the feeling jogging gives me of everything being given a huge shake up. It feels really rejuvenating to me, especially here out in the warm sun…love it…

Today I have had:

500ml water
500ml tea
700ml veggie juice
500ml water
700ml veggie juice
meal of durian blended with fresh vanilla bean and coconut water, stuffed in romaine lettuce leaves with banana/choc crepes
500ml peppermint tea
1 litre water
500ml water
500ml peppermint tea
500ml water

The durian meal in the middle of the day today was enough solids for me for the whole day, Durian is SO dense for this body to handle…LOVE it though – and WOW, combined with a fresh vanilla bean, it was totally lush…here’s a bizarre article a raw foodist recently forwarded me about genetically modified durian – yes…someone has cross-bred the smell out durian…

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/world/asia/08durian.html?
ex=1176782400&en=278734180b9e1b6a&ei=5070&emc=eta

Hmmmmm…I am fascinated that a man would choose to devote over 3 decades of research into removing the smell from a fruit…lol…wow…humans are so fascinating to me…
Here’s a great line from the article:

"There is probably no other fruit that elicits such passion — and revulsion — as the durian."

And another:

"Rarely does durian season pass without newspapers somewhere in Southeast Asia reporting a durian death. The fruit, which is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fat and sulfurous compounds (thus the smell), is said here to be “heaty,” and can therefore be deadly for those with high blood pressure…"

Lol…the article also concludes that he is now trying to breed out the spikes from durian too…hmmmmmmmm… ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Hunts and Hoops...

This was a wonderful Easter Sunday for me :) I woke at about 5am, excited to get up and prepare Easter Hunt Trails for my two housemates :) As a child, my dad always prepared these for my sister and I at Easter – it was one of the highlights of the year for me. I would awaken on Easter Sunday morning, so excited, looking for the first of many clues that would lead us on a trail all over the house and garden, searching for our hidden stashes of chocolate easter eggs…all the clues would rhyme and lead us from one place to another, until in an excited frenzy we would throw open the door to some cupboard or the washing machine or something, to reveal sweet stacks of chocolate treats…it was SO much fun ;) wow…we received and ate such incredible amounts of chocolate back then – up to maybe 15 different packaged easter eggs from the big commercial companies, complete with sugary sideline sweets in the box…it was definitely a sugar frenzy for days on end at Easter time…needless to say, I LOVED it ;) and not a raw cacao bean in sight back in those days (got some in this year though ;)
So, this year I decided to pass that tradition on (minus the cooked cacao/sugar/dairy concoctions), with my lovely housemates…I prepared their treats and trails before dawn and set everything up…then it was so much fun once they arose to watch them scurry around the house, trying to find their stashes…they both seemed to enjoyed what they found and I got to relive those magical Easter moments and share the joy…YAY :)

On April the 8th I had:

500ml water
1oz shot wheatgrass
500ml water
6 satsumas
700ml veggie juice
3 nori sheets stuffed with hemp seed/flax oil/Himalayan salt mix
1 apple
500ml water
Au Lac meal – mix of Humanese soup, ‘De La Mamma’, salad and mock salmon roll, ‘green balls’ and chocolate/chai pie.
1 litre water

In the evening we were at Au Lac restaurant in Orange County, for a raw food presentation. It was a great event and frankly, any reason to visit this restaurant is an opportunity not to be missed ;) Ito’s creations are just amazing and the mysterious new ‘green balls’ are like a raw food phenomenon…no-one seems to know what’s in them, but they are green on the outside, dusted with coconut crème powder, with an incredible, sweet, chewy, warm, brown centre…served warm from the dehydrator, they are just divine…little plates of them will appear from the kitchen, inspiring intrigued onlookers to order more…and there seems to be something almost clandestine about them – they’re not on the menu and no-one really knows what they are it seems, but…it really doesn’t matter – they taste so great and when they’re being made by Ito, you know there’s just a WHOLE lot of love in those little green balls… ;)

Today I have had:

500ml water
700ml tea
700ml veggie juice
bunch of loquats
500ml veggie juice
500ml water
figgy/halvah coconut wrap with coconut ice cream and raw chocolate
500ml cinnamon tea
500ml water
herb salad/raw hummus/black olives
water of one young thai coconut with green powder
400ml water

Mmmmmmmm, loquats are in season…bought mine from an outrageously sweet little old Chinese couple at the Farmer’s Market who told me that the loquat season is short, so it’s a great idea to grab them while they’re available…which indeed I did…wow, they’re so delicious – little orange droplets of soft-fleshed, peach-like yumminess…(see pic above)
This evening we went to visit Storm and Jinjee’s beautiful new retreat space – they’re holding space for individuals/groups to gather there and share being 100% raw vegan together. It’s a beautiful setting – the grounds have massive scope for exercise, as would naturally be the case around Storm ;) We went out to explore and I ended up playing basketball for the first time in perhaps…10 years…it was soooooooo much fun – and I found I was surprisingly accurate with my shots, which never used to be the case as a teenager – I LOVED basketball back then, but was far from being considered a great shot ;) tonight I was making about 90% of all shots I took…wow…yet another benefit to attribute to the raw food lifestyle ;)
All love,
Angela. xxx

(BTW - for years now, I have signed off all my messages with 'xxx'...tonight a new friend here in the States just shared with me that in the US, 'xxx' is one of the ratings given to pornography ;) lol...apparently it is in fact the most 'hardcore' rating given...hmmmmmmm...soooooo...for all you readers out there in the US who make this association too and have perhaps been wondering why I sign myself off this way...these three little xs are, to me, KISSES :)...nothing more suspicious than that, I assure you ;) so...now I'm wondering if I will perhaps begin using smthg else instead...but mostly feeling resistant to changing it, so...hopefully this little message here will suffice for now to clear this matter up...and we can keep the kisses flowing ;)

Easter-time Explorations...

Public Service Announcement: it has been decided that the term ‘blog’ is a little too unpleasant sounding to convey the beauty of sharing one’s personal truth with the rest of the universe. Thus henceforth, the title ‘E-Journal’ will be used in preference (at least here and in my head, if not elsewhere… ;)

On April the 6th I had:

500ml water
500ml herbal tea
700ml veggie juice
bowl of ‘Apple Flax’ – shredded apples combined with ground flax seeds, goji berries, spirulina, mesquite powder
500ml herbal tea
bowl of raw ice cream
500ml water
700ml veggie juice
bowl of salad with avo, olives and tomato. Flax crackers with seed cheese.
2 homemade raw chocolate balls
1 litre water

Spent a great evening with lovely new friends this night...it was interesting, as most of us there were people very immersed in a raw food lifestyle, yet one of those gathered is new to the idea. It struck me that our meandering conversations about nutrients, eating styles and fast-breaking techniques perhaps seemed quite peculiar to him…which he did indeed later confirm ;) He likened the experience to how he imagines the ‘average woman’ feels when he speaks about football moves…lol ;) It felt refreshing to hear this ‘outside’ perspective on such an occasion…I spend most of my time surrounded by raw food people/places/events etc and to share space with someone for whom it is an oddity rather than the norm was eye-opening…

Today I have had:

700ml water
700ml veggie juice
bowl of amazing apple ‘pasta’ with sauce of blended young coconut meat/water, cinnamon, raisins, goji berries, chopped figs
500ml water
500ml herbal tea
700ml veggie juice
serving of ‘rawvioli’ made with seed cheese wrapped in a ‘skin’ of coconut meat blended with salt and cayenne pepper (see pic above). Salad of spiral sliced jicama/turnip/carrot/beetroot with a sundried tomato sauce.
Bowl of raw coconut ice cream
1.5 litres water

We have been having massive fun with the Spirooli slicer today. This style of spiral slicer is sadly no longer in production, but produces the BEST noodles from any hard veg like carrots, squashes, jicama etc. The noodles come out in these INCREDIBLE thick, crunchy long strands that you can cut down into shorter pieces if you like, or leave in outrageously long threads to enjoy with a loved one ‘Lady and the Tramp’ style ;) Using apples in this slicer was new for me today and seemed like it would be a GREAT meal to use for kids especially…fun and sweet and tasty and simple…YUMM ;)
THANK YOU to all who participated in last month’s Prize Giveaway from The Raw Chocolate Company. Up-for-grabs were 3 CASES of phenomenal raw bars from these outstanding raw chocolatiers, based in Brighton, England. Handmade with love and only the finest raw ingredients, there are currently five different bars in their range: Cacao Bar, Vanoffe (my personal favourite raw bar ;), Sunberry, Pith Dark and ‘Bonkers’…
To enter the giveaway, readers submitted their answers to the following question:

What is your favourite home-made yummy raw treat…?

And WOW…what a treasure-trove of responses we received… ;)
There could only be three winners though, drawn at random, so, here they are…

(DRRRRRRRRRRRUMMMMMMMMM RRRRROOOOOOOOOOLL ;)

Rosemary Hudson Jocelyn K (from AZ)

And

Lauren Sina

CONGRATULATIONS, GALS ;)
Your chocolate treats will be winging their way to you soon…

To see the amazing homemade treats these women prepare – Rosemary’s ‘Avonanamon’ pudding, Jocelyn’s incredible Choc-o-Nut Brownie and Lauren’s ‘Mango Heaven Tartlets’, visit the new RawReform Readers’ Recipes page, here: http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/290/

Even if you didn’t win a prize this time, if you’re around in the UK, you can actually learn how to make your own incredible raw creations with the Raw Choc masters themselves in Brighton. Their next workshop is on Saturday 12 May 2007 from 10-6pm, with head chef Amy Levin. For more info, call 01273 677821 or contact more@therawchocolatecompany.com.

Happy Easter to all who enjoy this holiday ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Back in the 'real-world'...

Ok...I'm out of the blessed sanctuary space of 'retreat-world' now and back in the 'real-world'...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek ;) There are MEN in the 'real world'...and hotdogs that turn on rotating spits...and big cities...;) and yet we can of course choose to be at peace with it all and at every moment...and I do...

On May the 3rd I had:

1 litre water
250ml orange juice
750ml celery/chard juice
400ml water
400ml hot water with lemon
slice of watermelon
400ml water
1/2 bowl of spring greens with avo/oj/lime juice dressing
500ml veggie juice
1 litre water

On Monday we're starting up the 4-week series of Juice Feasting Teleconference calls - yeeee-HAH ;) I'm excited...I love this new communication medium for sharing the message with many people at once, without us all having to be in the same place ;)
Somebody recently left a comment on this blog actually, asking why use juices rather than smoothies? i.e. why remove the fibre? Well, I see JUICE like medicine - it's like an elixir. You take a big pile of vegetables and ALL the nutrients in that whole stack get condensed down into a glass for you to drink. ALL those nutrients can then enter directly into your body and bloodstream in the most easily absorbable, assimilable way...Whereas, if you took the same stack of veggies and blended them together into a SMOOTHIE...for a start you are going to have a HUGE smoothie - a lot of volume to consume - either that, or you use fewer veggies, which of course then means less concentrated nutrients available for your body. Then, when you take the smoothie into your body, it still has the fibre in it, so it is more work for the body to use it efficiently. You are still activating a lot of energy for digestive power - whereas juices are very undemanding in terms of digestive power. The whole idea with Juice Feasting is that we're taking a BREAK from solids - we're moving the emphasis from digestion to elimination for the body's energy. So, that is why we use juices and not smoothies. The only real exception to that tends to be for those who are diabetics or have blood sugar issues - they can benefit from leaving some of the fibre in, especially at the start, to help soften and slow the impact of any sugars into their system. Hope that all makes sense ;)
So, if you have questions like that you want answered about JF, do join us for the 4-week teleconference series - you can read more about it here:
http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/


on May the 4th I had:

1 litre water
750ml veggie juice
400ml prune soak water
6oz soaked prunes
500ml water
150g watermelon
500ml celery/carrot juice
1 litre water

Right now I feel the most unwell that I have at any point in the last 5 years since going raw. Before I went raw, I used to ALWAYS be unwell, moving from one illness to another to another. These days, I just don't usually get illnesses. Right now my tonsils are swollen, my sinuses are draining in every direction they can and my voice is crackly. Wow. It is SO strange to feel so ill again and to remember that this is how I used to feel pretty much ALL the time and just accepted that as my normal state of health. So, why is this happening...? Well, it all started with a harmless little detox process of ear candling. I had never had this procedure performed and was fascinated to see what would happen...a friend administered the wax ear-tubes, which are lit at one end. As they burn, suction is created inside them and it helps to draw out any old wax and toxins lodged in the ears and sinus cavities. (See picture above to get an idea of the results - NOT mine by the way - drawn from Google.) All well and good. I had the treatment and it was absolutely amazing - the stuff that came out of me just blew me away...suddenly I could breathe more easily, my hearing was clearer and here were this inch-long RODS of old orange earwax on a plate before me that had been drawn out of my body. I was very excited. I have known for a long time that there was a blockage in the sinus tube that runs under my right eye and I hoped that this finally would help that heal. Off I went, lavender cotton buds in ears to aid their healing, feeling very pleased. The next day however, I took two planes. Hmmmmm. Sinus cavities and planes don't tend to mix so well together on the best of occasion and mine were now in a delicate state. They did not seem to appreciate the trips. I arrived to Kansas feeling immense pain in my head and sinus cavities, very weak and completely dis-embodied. It literally felt like my being was a couple of feet above my body and I could not get it down. I could barely comprehend what people were saying - my head swam. I went to the home of my host and laid down. Everything felt completely surreal. I awoke the next morning hardly able to swallow, as my tonsils were so inflamed. I coughed up a lot of mucus, yet swallowing is still an issue. When I was growing up, I often had tonsillitis. I usually used antibiotics to suppress the symptoms. It seems a lot of those old toxins are working their way out of me now...for which I am of course grateful - better out than in - but it sure is painful right now to even swallow - that's why my intake has been pretty much liquid the last couple of days...I can't handle anything else - my body is trying to heal...so, would I do ear candling again? YES, absolutely, I would just make sure I'm not going on any planes soon after ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Away-days and Almonds...

The last couple of days have been pretty full-on for me with filming for two different TV shows…it’s been LOADS of fun ;)

On April the 4th I had:

500ml water
600ml veggie juice
800ml veggie juice
3 apples
1.5 raw Thai spring rolls
1 litre water
400ml ‘elixir’ tea
kelp noodle ‘Pad Thai’
coconut/chocolate mousse dessert
450ml spice tea
300ml water

This was a really fun day filming in lots of different locations around LA, including some great raw food hangouts – I LOVE Erewhon, the huge natural foods supermarket – their raw section and promotion is just phenomenal – we picked up some pre-prepared Thai raw spring rolls there that I’d never seen before and they were DELICIOUS – the ‘skin’ of the spring roll was young Thai coconut meat blended and dehydrated into sheets, sprinkled with black sesame seeds and wrapped around veg…very very yummy and felt very ‘clean’ and easy to digest too – lots of high water-content veg in there… in the evening we visited one of the lovely Leaf Cuisine establishments too and their new Pad Thai meal with KELP noodles was SUCH an interesting experience for me…I am fascinated to know how they made them or where they’re from…I’ve never seen them before…it was extremely reminiscent of eating pasta…great stuff...

Today I have had:
500ml water
2 apples, 1 kale leaf
500ml water
300ml almond milk
Handful of soaked, sprouted, dehydrated seeds
400ml water
½ avocado w/cilantro, basil, sauerkraut, grated carrot
1 banana, 1 tbsp hemp seeds, handful of figs, 2 tbsps coconut ice cream
700ml green juice
500ml water

Filming started early today and has been a hilarious whirlwind of activity all day – wow, TV studios are such a different reality for me – the make-up and hair spray and lights and so on….it’s good fun to play those games for a while ;) I am so very unaccustomed to wearing make-up now though – I feel as if I look like a bit of a ‘drag queen’ with TV make-up on…they assure me it all looks natural on film… ;) we’ll see…
I made almond milk in a food demo today and it went down really well with the people on set…then I used the pulp to make some little ‘truffle’ treats for them too…the world of raw almonds is being pretty severely rocked around at the moment though, with bizarre threats bouncing about that all almonds must be pasteurised from now on in California…hmmmmmmm…seems very curious and undesirable to me…and there is currently a petition building to protest about this – if you haven’t accessed this already, you can see it and sign it here:

Online petition - Mandatory Almond Pasteurisation is WRONG ;)

All blessings to all,
Angela. xxx

Liver Cleanse - RESULTS Day...

OWwwwwwwwowwowowwwwwwwwwwwwww…
SO, today was the ‘results’ day after this 4-Day Juice Fast Liver Cleanse…and it’s been a pretty intense time ;) here’s a little Google vid from this morning… http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2907709016184333803

Yep…it was not the greatest feeling this morning for me…me and Epsom salts don’t resonate so much…I spent most of the morning in fact feeling weak, tender, bloated, fragile and low in energy…and it didn’t seem as if anything was actually coming out of me in the way of little green stones…I have done numerous liver cleanses over the last 5 years and never seem to get the expected results – always just some kind of non-descript sludge exiting my body…and it seemed like this time was no different UNTIL a little later in the morning, my bowel movements started to finally reveal some of those anticipated results – small green ‘stones’ could be seen floating in the water…WOW…it was surprising and they really didn’t look ‘stone-like’ at all – more rubber-like in consistency, BUT, green objects exiting my body none-the-less…they were barely perceptible in the water, which had me wondering if perhaps I HAVE released such things before on liver cleanses and just never realised…I’m not sure…there is also the theory that this green stuff is just the congealed olive oil mixture leaving the body…I found the olive oil with grapefruit juice last night quite yummy by the way…anyway, whatever it was that left me today, it felt like something significant and there was the strong smell of sulphur too…hmmmm…wondering about that…perhaps durian remnants leaving my system ;) I suspect more though it was just some kind of release from an over-worked liver…I have often experienced in my life that when I have eaten too many fats or a quantity of food that my body cannot easily process, I experience ‘burps’ that feel sulphurous, spreading up from my abdomen through my body – like an ‘eggy’ sensation rising through my tract – now today it seemed like the same kind of releasing happening…

Today I have had…

200ml epsom salts/water
200ml Epsom salts/water
700ml water
700ml veggie juice – spinach/romaine/carrot/fennel
5 apples
500ml veggie juice
5 figs with coconut ice cream
1 litre water
small green salad with avocado and lemon
5 figs
300ml water

My body was really not interested in food today until about 3pm, when I mono-mealed apples. Until then I felt just very bloated and uneasy, mainly…have been running backwards and forwards from the bathroom all day…I am still releasing green 'stones' now, by the masses, at nearly midnight...I had considered breaking this fast too with prunes, but am now glad I didn't, given the amount of times I have been running to the bathroom today regardless...my energy steadily picked back up through the day though and I even participated in Passover celebrations this evening ;)

Lots of questions have been coming in today about Liver Cleansing – here’s a summary of my responses to hopefully cover the bases…
We used the book: 'The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush' by Andreas Moritz....he recommends using either grapefruit juice OR orange and lemon together with the olive oil - it seems perhaps that orange juice on its own would be too sugary...then for the Epsom mixture, we used 4 tablespoons of epsom salts in 24oz of water. That was then divided into four jars - 6oz in each and taken on 4 separate occasions - 2 before the olive oil drink and 2 the next morning.
If you find the Epsom salts really unpleasant, you can use Natural Calm instead:

SO, this has been a great experience overall and I’m DELIGHTED to have finally seen the ‘green stones’ result after all these years…I don’t feel any real clarity about whether this has perhaps happened before and I didn’t realise, or why it DID happen now if not before…(perhaps Juice Feasting…) but regardless of any of that, the point for me is that some more healing seems to have happened for me during this cleanse…I do sense though that for this body, if I were to do such a cleanse again, I would use the Natural Calm rather than the Epsom salts, as they feel SO harsh to me – or perhaps just a weaker dose of them…

In case you didn’t already see – I will be holding a FREE conference call on Juice Feasting next Tuesday – April the 10th, at 9pm East Coast US time/6pm West Coast. To REGISTER your interest in this conference call and receive the number and access code to dial, please email angela@rawreform.com.

All love,
Angela. xxx

FREE JUICE FEASTING CONFERENCE CALL

Join me for a FREE introductory one-hour, live conference call on JUICE FEASTING, on Tuesday April the 10th at 9pm East Coast US time/6pm West Coast.
Get YOUR juicy questions answered and connect with other people on this path.

What is it REALLY like living on just juice for 92 days?
Will you have enough energy?
How much juice to drink and when?
And a whole lot more…

Bring your questions and a notepad ;)
To REGISTER your interest in this conference call and receive the number and access code to dial, please email angela@rawreform.com.

It is strongly recommended that prior to joining this Conference call, you read ‘A Juice Feaster’s Handbook’, so that you have a good sense of the basics of Juice Feasting. You can order this e-book here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,34/category_id,6/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

Hope to speak to you on April the 10th :)
All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Liver Cleanse Day 4...

Tonight is the full moon in Libra – the Full Moon of ‘All Our Relations and our ability to relate and listen deeply to them’, according to Lisa Dale Miller –

“A Full Moon in Libra asks each of us to practice one particular relational skill: listening attentively with an open heart, an open mind, and without interruption or feedback. Think of this day as an invitation to enter into a sacred circle with every one and every thing you encounter. Talk less, listen more and learn from every word, every movement, every intimation, and every action.
This is the Full Moon to gather with others and celebrate togetherness, commonality, love and peace. It is important to fully experience how your actions affect the people in your life. Libra perceives the differences, but understands that our underlying commonality makes it impossible to do unto others without simultaneously doing the same to ourselves.”

Read her whole beautiful piece on this full moon, here: http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm

Today has been a wonderful mix of delightful juice and less-than-delicious Epsom salts…see this YouTube video to hear more…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU_Hqo46jDc

Today I have had:

500ml water with lemon juice
500ml orange juice
200ml intense dark green juice
1 litre apple/celery/cucumber juice
500ml water
700ml carrot/beet/cucumber juice, with 2 tsp Greener Grasses powder
800ml carrot/romaine/spinach/apple juice
200ml water with Epsom salts
500ml water
200ml water with Epsom salts
300ml water
½ cup olive oil with ½ cup grapefruit/orange juice

WOW...I have truly felt like multi-coloured bodily function girl these last 4 days…all kinds of coloured things coming out of me – greens, reds, blacks…and tomorrow morning will just be adding to it, all being well – green and yellow bile stones from the liver and gall bladder are due to rain out tomorrow morning, after ingesting more of the Epsom salts…hmmmmmmmmmmm…

See you on the other side, beautiful people ;)
All joy,
Angela. xxx

Liver Cleanse Day 3...

Day three of liver cleanse juice fasting today and it’s been another great day in this liquid landscape…some ups and downs along the way, but feeling grand overall - here’s a little video about today’s adventures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz91N-sHOGc

Today I have had:
700ml water with lemon juice
200ml Satsuma juice
juice of one Thai coconut
200ml watercress/dandelion/turnip greens/radish greens/parsley
600ml spinach/carrot/sunflower greens/romaine lettuce/peagreens/Jerusalem artichoke
1 litre apple/celery/cucumber juice
700ml beet/carrot/cucumber juice
water of one Thai coconut
800ml carrots/Jerusalem artichoke/spinach/fenugreek/celery/sunflower sprouts
300ml water

Hmmmmm…I’m noticing that the Thai coconuts really aren’t feeling that great in my body compared to the fresh ones I was enjoying in Costa Rica over winter…these ones here seem to leave a slightly ‘harsh’ plastic-y feel in my mouth and throat…they definitely don’t feel as ‘alive’ or vibrant to me as really fresh cocos…
I’d also love to share that I’m also taking a little probiotics and digestive enzymes while on this juice fast…to support the colon and increase the cleansing power…and the protocol we’re following is more-or-less that outlined by Andreas Moritz in ‘The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush’.

Things I am grateful for and happy about today:

*starting a compost heap in the garden here – HURRAY…I find it very challenging to live in places without composting, especially in a house full of raw foodists...so it was such a joy to me today to dig out a space to deposit all our lovely outcastings, back to the earth…

*I’m feeling SO energised and healthy and GREEN-ed back on juices…my skin seems to look healthier than ever before to me…wow, I feel doing a juice feast here in Southern California would be amazing…such an abundance of fresh organic produce – especially greens…and indeed, our delicious housemate here is just starting to Juice Feast…today was her first day and she has begun a blog which you can check out here: http://lettus.wordpress.com/

*…it’s very interesting for me to see someone else Juice Feasting, right here in front of me – people email every day saying they’re juice feasting, which is SO wonderful and to now actually see someone else doing it right here is really inspiring ;) It also means we are now a completely liquid household – all on juices right now…high vibes going on…and I LOVE that the juicer is just working all day – no cleaning it in-between – it just keeps on going, which is so nice – cuts down on so much cleaning time…

So, today marked the start of April and the last few days of the Raw Chocolate Company’s delicious chocolate giveaway…they are offering three CASES of their amazing treats to three lucky entrants, drawn at random…all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning some divine chocs is email details of your own favourite homemade raw treats to: angela@rawreform.com and the winners will be selected at random in just a few days’ time…best wishes to all – we look forward to reading about your creations and might even try some out when we’re back into the world of solids again... ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx