With Gratitude...

We’re on Koh Chang now, a little Thai island near Cambodia. After arriving and spending our first night in a slightly bizarre place here, where the windows didn’t open, the air conditioner blasted smoke and I woke up with a cat next to me in bed...we moved on today ;) The universe graciously led us instead to a simply GORGEOUS raw food/health spa resort...WOW...green juices, a whole raw food menu, colema boards in the bathrooms, salt water swimming pool, massage & steam room onsite, meditation/yoga classes, free bikes to borrow, videos such as ‘What The Bleep’ and ‘The Secret’ showing daily – this place is a modern raw foodist’s dream ;) YUM. The eatery here was actually featured as one of the ‘Top 50 Restaurants in the World’, in the international magazine Restaurant. Yeeeee-HAH :)
I’ve been reflecting a lot the last few days on how Thailand often appears to me like a country caught between ‘tradition’ and a more ‘Western’ culture that seems to permeate in many-fold manifestations... It is a land RICH in interesting raw foods, for example – durian, mangosteen, rambutan, coconuts, various greens and so on, yet there are shops everywhere RAMMED with ‘plastic’ packet foods, candies, cakes and so on. I ventured into one supermarket to discover an ENTIRE AISLE of boxed baby milk/formulas… :O Literally DOZENS of different pasteurised, packeted, homogenized, filler-packed brands of expensive, mucus-forming cow’s products to clog your kids up with. Shocking. Familiar big-name company logos abound and there seems to be a national fascination with plastic bags. Pretty much anything you purchase will be handed to you in a plastic bag, even if it’s already IN a plastic bag to begin with... ??? ;) People even drink their SODAS from plastic bags...lol...vendors like to keep hold of the glass soda bottles, to send them for re-filling (hmmmm...nice, kind-of ;), so they pour out the customer’s sugary acid-forming concoction into a little plastic bag, throw in some ice and a straw and off they go...quite remarkable... At the same time, you’ll see roadside stalls and markets STACKED with fruit, everywhere you go. One thing I personally find a little challenging to integrate is that in the fresh street markets, there rarely seem to be specific areas set up for different kinds of food products, e.g. a veggie stand area, a meat/fish area etc – everything is just intermingled all over the place, so in-between the luscious jack fruits and mangosteen, one readily comes face-to-face with live frogs, eels, crabs and so on, along with various entrails and untold macabre scenes (to me), from which I avert my eyes and nose...just really not my kind of thang ;) Hence I’m feeling very grateful and blissed to have landed up today in a place that serves yummy, organic raw vegan foods and juices and seems to be more eco-focused than other places we’ve stayed so far...yummm... :)

on April the 30th I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts
big bag of rambutan with a few pieces of papaya, jack fruit and a lady-finger banana – YUMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water
water of 2 young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
6 durian pods, 2 mangosteens and 1 rambutan
2 cups water
little bowl of 2 mushed lady-finger bananas with spirulina and a small handful of pine nuts/goji berries mixed in = yummm :)
1 quart water

on May the 1st I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
a handful of rambutan, 4 mangosteen a lady-finger banana
2 cups water
smoothie of coconut meat, lady-finger bananas and spirulina
2 cups watersmoothie of coconut water/meat, leftover dried mulberries, karengo seaweed and spirulina – YUMM :)
1.5 quarts water

Some of you wrote to say that you had difficulties with the links for the ChiDiet site that I posted a couple of days ago – I’m sorry to hear that. If you would still like to enter the giveaway contest to win one of the two free ‘Raw Food Home Study’ kits, you can click HERE.
Better get over there quick though, methinks, as I suspect they’ll be choosing the winners soon...

on May the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
water of 3 young coconuts with green powder
bowl of smoothie: banana/coconut meat/spirulina, with karengo seaweed on the side ;)
1.5 quarts water
½ a small durian, 6 mangosteens, a lady-finger banana and a dragon fruit
1.5 quarts water


on May the 3rd I had:
1 quart water
water of one BIG young coconut with spirulina
big bag of rambutan
glass of greeeeeeeeeen juice
shared meal of raw dishes – lasagne, veggie terrine, nori rolls, followed by banana ice cream with cinnamon/honey sauce = YUM
1 quart water
INTENSE shot of gotacalla juice (said to be GREAT for aiding memory/brain-function)
Yum bowl of blended bananas/coconut meat with spirulina and a little karengo seaweed
1.5 quarts water

BTW, for anyone who has never seen the Monarch and myself speak in public and is maybe wondering what our events are like, here are a couple of sweet little recent reviews from 2 yumsters who attended our Melbourne event:

Here’s a snippet from Helena’s post:

"When I first heard that Matt and Angela were coming to Melbourne I did what most people do and googled them. After watching Matt’s vids on YouTube, and reading about Angela on her blog. I was doubtful about spending an entire afternoon listening to a young guy from California, sporting dreadlocks and a tanned body, talk about his great adventures eating raw. Angela; well, her story sounded good, but I didn’t have a weight problem and have always been wary of D*** word..."

You can find out what she thought of our talks and read her whole in-depth piece HERE:

It was lovely to meet Joanne from RawMom.com too at this event – here is a snippet from her write-up:

“The afternoon was utterly inspiring. Matt was down-to-earth, intelligent and intense, telling us of his experience and that of others, but also going into the science behind eating raw. He didn’t hold back from frank discussion about – ahem – colonics and gas, and other not-oft-mentioned unmentionables! Angela glowed (as evidenced in the photo of her and I), and gave a personal account of the physical and emotional changes she underwent on her raw journey, during which she lost 160lbs/72kg and gained a whole lotta health and happiness. Gosh, they’re really a lovely couple, and I just love that they want to make the world a better place.”

Awwwwww ;) You can read all of Joanne’s musings HERE:

THANKS to you both for sharing your reflections, lovely ladies ;) ...and hopefully one day we will connect with YOU too, dear reader, at another venue in space and time, if thou dost desireth it...

One love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaa. xxx

Emotional Eating Stops HERE... ;)

OOOOOOOO, I’m so excited – I have a VERY yummy new announcement to share. Myself and those raw-markable Raw Divas, Amy and Tera, have teamed up to bring you the *ULTIMATE*, complete package for dissolving cravings and emotional eating patterns...

This ‘Diva’s Guide’ Pack contains more than 10 components, including:
*a complete copy of my latest E-book, ‘Raw Emotions’
*an hour long interview between Tera and myself, exploring my emotional detox and raw journey, along with guidance for others
*a full transcript of the interview between myself and Tera
*’The Empowered Diva’s Food Journal’ – guidance to track YOUR eating habits
*an hour-long tele-seminar on using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to eliminate cravings (I used EFT extensively myself at the start of my raw journey, as you can read abt in ‘Raw Emotions’.)
*a full transcript of the EFT teleseminar
*a fully-illustrated guide to using EFT for yourself
*’A Diva’s Guide to Cravings and Emotional Eating’ E-book from Tera and Amy, including explanations of WHY different foods are addictive
*’Busting Free’ – a companion workbook for taking action on emotional eating patterns
*interviews and reports on different cleanses (e.g. Master Cleanser, Mono-Mealing) that can help you release food habits

Written by three raw women who have been through the wibbles of emotional detox and come up smiling, this is a truly unique offering and surely the most loved-up and GENUINELY effective programme for handling cravings, bingeing and emotional eating ever seen... ;) (…and it doesn’t have to just be for women, by the way ;) There is a WEALTH of knowledge, experience, research and inspiration offered in this programme and we’re delighted to share it all with you. If you’re ready to jump in to some ext-RAW-dinary transformation work, we’re right here to show you the tools and tips that worked for US. You can access the whole programme and read more about it HERE.
ENJOY :)

on April the 23rd I had:

1.5 quarts water
1.5 quarts watermelon/orange juice
1 persimmon, 1 apple
1.5 quarts water
little meal of mixed sprouts with karengo/wakame seaweeds
1 quart water
little pot of magical Monarch ‘leftovers’ cake – an extraordinary creation produced using all the random leftovers from our stay in NZ – like dried papaya pieces/diced figs/dried cherries, flax/almonds/hazelnuts – a whole cornucopia of things = YUMMM
1.5 quarts water
mug of ‘bedtime’ tea

We are now in Melbourne and feeling very blessed to be staying in a GORGEOUS cedar house complete with clean air, Eucalyptus trees all around, an extremely sweet cat and dog, beautiful merry birds chirping in the garden and lovely hosts. YUM :) The Monarch and myself went on an INTENSE 1.5 hr bike ride around the area yesterday evening, including a visit to the most amazing kids’ playground I’ve ever seen. It was huuuuuuuuge, like a big wooden house or castle or something, with all kinds of different play areas. We had great fun climbing up the rock-climb walls, then sliding down the fireman’s pole, over and over again ;) One of my favourite ways to release energy is going to playgrounds and playing on the swings, or swinging on the monkey bars or smthg...I love playgrounds and think it would be fun if more adults played in them too. It often seems like there’s a cultural assumption that only children would want to play and have fun outside... I like the quote ‘we don’t stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing.’ Adults frequently seem to stand at the edge of playgrounds looking bored or anxious ;) Hmmm...how about joining in? While the ‘ideal’ of course might be that we’re all so engaged with our gardens or jungle treks that going and playing on a pile of metal and wood seems absurd, for most people at present, a trip to play at the local playground might be just the ticket for some fun exercise ;) LOL...
We speak here in Melbourne tomorrow – Saturday the 26th, from 1pm – more details HERE, we hope to see you if you’re in the area ;)

on April the 24th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups pineapple juice
2 DELICIOUS ‘custard apples’
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
2 cups spinach/carrot juice
little bowl of outrageous yum: soaked goji berries blended with pine nuts (so rich that I couldn’t finish it ;)
1 quart water
2.5 cups celery/spinach/romaine/fennel/cucumber/zucchini/carrot juice
1 quart water


on April the 25th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups pineapple juice
1.5 cups celery/spinach/romaine/fennel/cucumber/zucchini/carrot juice
1 ‘custard apple’
2 cups water
2 cups spinach/celery/carrot juice
bowl of kale salad: ‘dinosaur’ kale finely sliced down, with mushed avocado, grated cucumber, finely diced tomato/spring onion/olives and lemon juice, followed by a little cacao ball treat ;)
3 cups water
3 cups celery/parsley/cucumber/romaine/fennel/spinach/carrot juice
bowl of buckwheatie grawnola with pecan/dried fig mylk
3 cups water


Three Yummy Thoughts For Today:

It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
- Ursula le Guin

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Anais Nin

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life, which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
--Henry David Thoreau

YuMmMMMMMmmmmmmmmm :)
All love,
Angelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Tweet-tweet... :)

I did it :) After countless promptings, I’ve jumped in and joined Twitter – eeeeeeeeeeek ;) For anyone who isn’t familiar with this service, it’s a way of keeping in contact with all your favourite online peoples very quickly and easily, via the web or your phone by text, by posting short little summaries of what you’re up to, which other people can ‘follow’ and you can ‘follow’ them too ;) In many ways it’s similar to sites like Facebook, MySpace and so on – yet somehow like a mini/condensed/very current version of that kind of interaction. You can go and write a few words there at any time you feel inclined, to connect with others in your network – I think it’s rather sweet and does definitely conjure images in my mind of many little birds all perched on telephone wires, chattering away to each other ;) You can check out my profile at http://twitter.com/RawReform - just click the ‘FOLLOW’ button under my name to get my updates, or if you’re not yet a member, you can sign up for a free account first ;) Tweet-Tweet ;)

on April the 17th I had:

1.5 quarts water
½ a watermelon
little meal of mung bean sprouts, wakame seaweed fronds and pumpkin seeds – yummmm ;)
1 quart water
1 pint celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of graaaaaaaaaawnooooooooola with sesame seed/dried apricot milk, swirled with cinnamon and vanilla powders = yum
1.5 quarts water

on April the 18th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice
handful of fresh figs straight from the trees, plus some outrageously divine concord grapes
1 quart water
big handful of mung bean sprouts mixed with wakame seaweed fronds and pumpkin seeds = yummmmm
3 cups celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice mixed with wheatgrass powder
½ a watermelon
1 quart water

We’re in Wellington now on the Nth Island of NZ and WOW it’s REMARKABLY cold here at the moment...I haven’t worn so many clothes at once in many, many months. I seem to have about half my wardrobe on most of the time right now – so much for raw foodists not feeling the cold ;) There are times I’ve felt that kind of energy – this is not one of them though – I’ve been such a cold-climate-dodger the last few years, it feels absolutely absurd to me to be in cold places now ;) I think of Anastasia living virtually naked out in the forest in Siberian winters and...shudder ;) (BTW - the '9th' Anastasia book is out now - 'Rites of Love' - seeHERE. We're on book 6 at the moment...)
We spoke here in Wellington a couple of days ago with a really nice group in a cozy warm room – yumm ;) We’re back off to OZ in a couple of days – we’ll be speaking in Melbourne next Saturday, the 26th – hope to see you there if you’re around...more event details on the RawReform site HERE.
Dear Mr Monarch also just confirmed that he’ll be speaking in LA in June – book your tickets now – it’s filling up fast. He’ll be speaking on June the 14th at 7pm in LA – see this link for all the details: http://rawfood.meetup.com/202/calendar/7749240/


on April the 19th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups spinach/dandelion/carrot tops/parsley/Jerusalem artichoke/ carrot juice
fresh apples/feijoas/persimmon/grapes from the orchard
handful of sunflower seeds and wakame seaweed fronds
2 cups spinach/dandelion/carrot tops/parsley/Jerusalem artichoke/ carrot juice
1 plate of yummmmmy, simple raw potluck food – mainly veggies, a couple of chunks of coconut flesh and amazing coconut-chocolate :)
2 cups water
3 little apples and 3 little feijoas
2 cups water


on April the 20th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 persimmon & 2 feijoas
1 tsp green powder
3 cups celery/dandelion/spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
big bowl of buckola cereal, with sesame/dried apricot mylk, plus almonds and mulberries = yummmm. I LOVE grawnola :)))
1 quart water
3 cups celery/dandelion/spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
2 apples, ½ an avocado and masses of seaweed – karengo and wakame
1.5 quarts water

There are some very exciting raw unfoldings happening of late in ol’ London town. There are now apparently THREE new eateries serving raw food – WOW :) Must be time to head back to Blighty soon, methinks ;) First up is the surely sublime ‘InSpiral’ – where Master Alchemist Joel Gazdar seems to be creating merry raw mischief in the kitchens. Joel is without question one of the most talented and innovative raw chefs I’ve ever met – he is also one of the first raw foodies I ever met in the UK :) I’m so excited for him and all else involved, that this new project seems to be unfolding with grace, yumminess and joy in Camden... They are hosting a series of lectures called ‘New Horizons’ every Tuesday, during which Joel and others share cutting-edge info for a loved-up, mineralized and exceptionally vibrant life...joining the New Horizons line-up on Tuesday April the 29th is none other than Miss Magic herself, for the London launching of her new book, Raw Magic. Kate will be giving a talk, signing books and making outrageously divine cakes, as she is wont to do ;) You can join in the magic munching at InSpiral Lounge from 7.30pm on Tuesdays for the New Horizon talks. Dear Suki has very generously been filming many of the talks so far and posting them to YouTube – you can check them out HERE: youtube.com/sukixocolatizoe. You can also see more about New Horizons on MySpace HERE: myspace.com/ournewhorizons. Enjoy :)
The other two new raw-friendly eateries of note in Londinium are Saf, which is the London branch of the seemingly uber-fabulous Saf raw/organic/vegan restaurants. The first Saf was opened a while back in Turkey, with Chad Sarno heading up the chefs...now it’s London’s turn for the yummy flow. London Saf is in Shoreditch, in the East End and by all accounts I’ve read/heard so far seems to be bringing much yumminess to raw dining experiences there...yummm - I hope to check it out in the summer ;) You can see more abt Saf HERE. Our final London munchy raw space of the day is ‘Alchemy’, not to be confused with a raw place of the very same name that was kicking around last year – this one is hosted in a yoga/holistic therapy studio in Camden and seems to cater for a mainly liquid lifestyle judging by their online menu – juices and smoothies seem to abound – see more abt Alchemy HERE...ENJOY :)

One love,
Angela. xxx