Show and Tell...

I’m going to share today a few of the things y’all have been sending in on emails and comments…
Firstly I want to share a few impressive fruit/veggie pics which were sent in recently – some of you have probably seen some of these before on forwarded emails – I have no idea where they originally came from – I just think they’re really sweet – enjoy ;)























on February the 20th I had:

1.5 quarts water
4 mandarins
16oz celery/cucumber/parsley/carrot juice
½ avo mushed with sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic and karengo seaweed, served in lettuce wraps and nori sheets
1.5 quarts water
½ small watermelon
bowl of green smoothie: banana/blueberries/spinach/lambs’ quarters, with extra blueberries and mulberries stirred in
1 quart water

Hope y’all enjoyed the power of that majestic Full Moon in Virgo :)
There were so many sweet messages after my last post, I thought I’d share a couple of comments here:

“All of that news of the Virgo and the Full Moon has given me a great deal of hope. My birthday is tomorrow!! It's a better time than ever to become healthy. S.”

Good for you, S :) I hope your healing is unfolding with grace, clarity and joy and that your birthday was blissful :)
Here’s another yummy comment:

“I love this post, Angela. Especially the part about climbing to the top of the mountain. I'm on Day 19 of my Juice Feast and I've lost 10.5 kg so far (23 pounds) and currently weigh 146.5kg (322 pounds). Every day in Pilates class there is something new I can do. I love it! My husband and I are planning a trip to Victoria Falls in December, which will include lots of physical activities like hiking and river rafting! Previously I would never have considered these things! Every day is a new discovery and brings new hope for a better, healthier life! My husband is already eating high raw and this is how we will be living after our Juice Feast. Life is good! The part about the moon in Virgo was also fascinating. I am a Virgo and definitely believe in natural healing. Thank you for being such an inspiration! H.”

WOW, thank YOU, H for sharing your amazing ongoing transformation – I’m SO pleased for you – enjoy the juicy journey...

on February the 21st I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 mandarins
20oz celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot/cabbage/lambs’ quarters juice
sunflower seed pate (soaked sunflower seeds and sundried tomatoes blended with a clove of garlic), stuffed in lettuce leaves with wakame seaweed, diced tomatoes and mung beans
1 quart water
raw potluck food: pieces of dried durian, a few hand-picked morton bay figs, little bowl of fruit salad, piece of mango/coconut cake with 'figgy pudding'
1 quart water

Agam wrote in recently saying:

“please do a blurb on b12, it's unclear to me weather it is needed if one takes 1T/day spirulina. how much b12 do we really need? and can you really feel the difference when you take it? what are the signs of deficiency? much love, agam”

Ok, here’s some B12 blurb I wrote recently – hope this helps ;)

What about Vitamin B12?
B12 deficiency tends to be a big health concern among vegan raw fooders.
This vitamin is essential for red blood cell formation, energy and nerve function. It is found primarily in western food sources in meat and dairy produce, so vegans often have low levels of it. Deficiency can lead to exhaustion, dizziness and blackouts. Other symptoms of B12 deficiency include anxiety, pale skin, blurred vision, poor memory, constipation and in severe cases, anaemia and nerve damage. It’s a controversial issue and some suggest there are in fact no reliable vegan sources of B12.
As for me, I feel like I do now get some B12 from the foods I eat - (algaes, seaweeds etc) PLUS I rarely wash my fruit and veg - I like having some soil/micro-organisms in there to help my system produce B12 and thrive ;) I also take good care of my colon, through both consuming probiotics and doing colon cleansing, which means my internal flora produce B12 for me too. To be certain I’m getting all that I need, I also take a B12 supplement regularly, which I feel is like my ‘back up’ in case the foods and internal flora really aren’t working. (I take the Hallelujah Acres Sublingual Tabs – see HERE.)
A couple of years into my raw journey, I actually experienced a serious B12 deficiency. At that time, my food intake was quite unbalanced, I was doing no colon cleansing and taking no B12 supplement. I was pale, dizzy and low in energy and ended up having blood tests to determine the cause, after a fainting spell. After discovering I had a low B12 count, I started taking supplements and my health improved rapidly.

To your vibrant, bouncy, shiny self :)
Ms. Stokes. xxx

Reflections and Rejoice...

WOW...one year ago tomorrow – February the 20th 2007 - I broke my 92-Day Juice Feast...this was my last day in liquid world and this time last year I was busy breaking out the prunes to soak for the next day ;) Here’s a little of what I wrote that day:

"Over the last three months I have lived and juiced through the ups and downs of green juice rejection, pancreas issues, sugar withdrawals, massive mucus expulsion, intrepid hiking trips, housing upheavals and more… You could probably fill a swimming pool with the amount of
juice I’ve consumed…and going by the theory that we ‘go back in time 120 days for each day of juice feasting’, I have gone back in time over 30 years now…which means…I am pre-birth again I guess… ;) well, that’s nice…time to rise like a phoenix again then…"

…wow ;) You can read the whole of that post HERE. It seems I’d also JUST finished editing the Juice Feaster’s Handbook that day too – that crazy juicy energy was obviously working its magic…and what a long way the Juice Feasting world has come since then ;) There are an astonishing number of yumsters out there living la vida liquid at the moment and with the official kick-off of the GLOBAL JUICE FEAST on March the 1st, I suspect supplies of mason jars may very well run dry in N. America ;) To see who’s juicing what, check out the ‘Ultimate List of Juice Feasting Blogs’ compiled by Heidi and Justin over at RawFoodRightNow HERE.
The delightful masters of juicy ceremonies, David and Katrina Rainoshek are doing incredible web-weaving to bring this whole event together and EVERYONE is welcome ;) Just check out juicefeasting.com and you’ll find all the ‘juicy’ details there...(tee-hee ;) BTW – people keep asking if I’m going to JF again now with the global waves...hmmm...to be honest, I’m not sure yet...might be...might do one juicy day a week...I’ll see how it unfolds as the time draws nearer... ;)

on February the 18th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 quart celery/cucumber/zucchini/radish/carrot juice
bowl of mulberries blended with veggie juice, stirred with fresh blueberries and more dried mulberries to chew on ;)
2 cups water
2 cups rooibus tea
1 cup green smoothie: banana/spinach/weeds
7 little mandarins and 2 nectarines
1 quart water
little bowl of avo mushed with sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic and karengo seaweed, served in lettuce wraps and nori sheets
3 cups water

Tomorrow - Wednesday, February 20 – also happens to see the Full Moon in Virgo – time for health and healing with a total lunar eclipse, according to the lovely lady of lunar forecasts, Ms. Lisa Dale Miller. Here’s a little of what she has to share about this occasion:

“In truth, we all express our Virgo side when we strive to be our best. Virgo is the healer, the doctor, the nurse, the teacher, the therapist, the worker, the researcher, the scientist, and the engineer. Virgo is the true healer of the zodiac because in its mind, if it causes pain, it warrants attention and a cure. For Virgo, caring comes in the form of finding workable solutions to everyday problems.
This is the Full Moon to celebrate the body and take responsibility for our health. If you are currently dealing with a serious health issue, don’t take anything at face value.
Become an active partner in your healing process. Read the research, ask lots of questions and engage your practitioners in dialogue about your progress. Virgo wants to understand the mechanics of illness so that it can better affect a cure. This kind of questioning may include opening yourself to alternative treatments or new approaches.
By the way, this is the ideal Full Moon to start a weight loss or de-tox program... the Full Moon in Virgo reflects a tremendous desire to throw off unhealthy habits that create sickness and sadness in our lives.
This Virgo Full Moon also gives us all an opportunity to make friends with our inner critic; that slave driver who can be either a helpmate or a hindrance. For those of you with strong Virgo in your charts, this is the Full Moon to tame the perfectionist living inside your head. You know… the one that says, “Nothing I do is good enough.” Those inner voices of self-doubt block the ability to act with conviction. This is the time to talk back to self-doubt and take control! Use this Full Moon to say, “This is good enough!” and get your talent out there.”

Oooohhhh, thank you for that last paragraph, Lisa ;) If MY Virgo has its way, I don’t think ‘Raw Emotions’ will ever be ready for public viewing ;) Breathing deep and extending a friendly hand to Virgo here... ;)

on February the 19th I had:

1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/radish/lettuce/cabbage/carrot juice
bowl of magical berry mush: dried mulberries blended with banana and blueberries, with more mulberries and blueberries stirred in
2 quarts water
big handful of cherries
½ a big watermelon
handful of wakame seaweed with pumpkin seeds
1 quart water

Today we walked up Mount Maunganui near Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty. WOW :) Here are a couple of pics I took from the summit. It was a glorious day for it and so beautiful to see the shimmering waters, the fern-clad hillsides and all the sweaty, smiling joggers ;) The mountain is out on a spit, surrounded on three ‘sides’ by water and there are paths around it, as well as up to the summit. This was an especially yummy trip for me today, as when I was last here, I was not really able to reach the summit. Back in the year 2000 I weighed nearly 300lbs and was staying in this area as a volunteer on an organic farming homestead. On my day off, the ‘grand-dad’ of the family I was with suggested I might like to visit the mountain, then hastily added, ‘you won’t be able to walk to the top though’. I wasn’t sure why...perhaps it was closed that day or smthg...? Then his daughter asked him to clarify why and he bluntly said ‘well, look at her...’ I felt extremely uncomfortable and shamed. Indeed, I didn’t climb to the summit on that day 8 years ago. I did today though ;) ...and it was glorious...and I am grateful...

All love,
Angela. xxx