See me on CNN News :)

EXCITED :)))

CNN News just did a 2-minute story on my raw food weight loss - here's the link below - ENJOY :)

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2008/09/23/gupta.fn.raw.food.stokes.cnn

It was shown on TV this morning (Tuesday Sept. 23rd), will apparently be repeated this Friday at around 8.30am US eastern time and will also play on TV over the weekend :)

It can also be viewed on the internet, at the link above :)))
(Here's the 'tiny' URL in case the long one doesn't work: http://tinyurl.com/49rwcl)

A very positive piece, methinks (especially in contrast to the recent raw item on 20/20 ;)...
Thanks, Dr. Gupta and the team at CNN :)
All love,
Angela. xxx

Raw Media Round-Up...

Ok, we’re going to have a little ‘media round-up’ today, as so many raw links have been sent in the last few days...so hold on tight, we’re about to enter a worldwide raw media whirl…
I want to start with an update on the Andressohns, the raw vegan family in Florida I mentioned briefly last week, who lost their baby. After the death, the parents were arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of ‘malnourish-ing’ their children – the rest of whom were taken into custody. Thanks to all of you who sent in updates and news on the family. So, we have GOOD NEWS :) The parents are now out of prison, out of court and reunited with their gorgeous children. I was so pleased to read this – thanks especially to ‘Valerie’, who sent in THIS very informative link from Jim Carey’s Chidiet.com site. It seems Jim, along with Dr Flora Van Orden, have been doing a great deal to support this loving family during this whole process. Dr Flora was assistant to Dr Ann Wigmore for a long time and it seems rallied straight to the support of the Andressohns with this case, putting up her credit card for the bail bond. The family have been slowly getting back to life together and paying off the bail bond since they were reunited, helped by the generous donations of people worldwide. There is, however, still around $2000 left to pay off. We sent a cheque today in support, along with a ‘goodie box’ of raw yummies from our warehouse (shhhhhhhhh, don’t tell them though – it’s a surprise ;) If you feel similarly inclined to send something their way, please do :) Let’s help them get back on their feet asap. This is a loving, beautiful raw vegan family who are doing their best to raise vibrant children and enjoy amazing health and well-being together – we can help support that choice. They were separated from their little ones for over 30 months I believe and put on trial for feeding their children what many of us consider the healthiest food choices on the planet. I consider it an absolute blessing to know they are re-united again now and able to reconnect to their chosen lifestyle again. If you are drawn to send them some support, you can do so in the way of money energy or other loveliness, care of Dr Flora in Florida. Cheques, cashiers cheques or money orders made payable to Flora Van Orden can be sent to: Flora Van Orden, PO Box 900963, Homestead, FL 33090.

We’re going to have a double-whammy of food logs again, to get us caught up to date...breathe deep ;)

On January the 12th I had:

1 quart water
1 mango, 4 little dark plums
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/celery/cucumber/ginger/apple/fennel/sorrel juice
1 pint water
salad of chopped romaine lettuce, cucumber, basil, garlic, tomatoes, ½ a mushed avocado, 2 tbsp hemp seeds, dulse flakes, lime juice – all squished together by hand
2 cups water
bowl of fruit salad: dragon fruit, guanabana, passion fruit, banana
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/celery/cucumber/ginger/apple/fennel/sorrel juice9
3 cups water
10 dried figs dipped in tahini
1 quart water


On January the 13th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart watermelon/orange juice
1 quart beetroot/celery/cucumber/apple/cabbage juice
bowl of mushed soaked dried figs mixed with smashed egg fruit and tahini – absolutely DELICIOUS and VERY bizarrely tasted reminiscent of...baked beans on toast...(???)
1 quart water
3 cups romaine/celery/cucumber/ginger/sorrel/tatsoi/apple/fennel juice
bowl of mushed bananas with ½ a diced green mamey, maca powder, cinnamon and chia gel
3 cups water

Ok, now let’s hop across the water to the UK where a couple of interesting raw media eruptions have occurred in the last week or so.
First came a report in the Daily Mail from well-known British TV reporter Lowri Turner, who tried out eating raw for 7 days...how did she get on...? Hmmmm, well, it seemed Ms Turner was not exactly enamoured with the whole idea...you can read her write-up HERE.
Fortunately, various raw food yummies in the UK wrote back to present a different view, highlighting the potential yumminess and undeniable vibrancy of this lifestyle...’chief rallier’ was the wonderful Sue, who is oft found movin and shakin in the UK raw food scene, frequently in the background – this time however, the Mail loved her letter so much, they published it as another item and yanked her into the spotlight, as can be seen in this picture, pinched from the blog of Ms Suki ;)
Which conveniently leads us into UK raw media spasm number 2...last Friday, Suki, Mr Monarch and me ol’ cake mate Kate Magic and her boys were all featured in a documentary broadcast on national TV (Channel 4) called ‘Health Food Junkies’. We’ve not yet seen the whole thing – we look forward to getting a DVD of it in the post soon – we have heard a LOT of comments about it in the last days though...the general consensus seems to be that raw foodists were portrayed as ‘a bit crazy, lonely and odd’. Eeeeek… ;) Seems Ms. Suki has been receiving muchos feedback from people – many of whom are fellow raw foodies disgruntled about some of the aspects of her life she shared – like juicing, colonics and urine therapy. Yes, these choices might not appeal to everyone – I salute Suki for telling it like it is in her reality though – if you go to THIS LINK you can see a couple of little clips from the show – I love the way Suki keeps so still as she’s explaining her life – no shame, no bashfulness, no apologies – she does what she does, she’s honest about it and willing to share. Beautiful :)
(BTW – for any raw foodies in the UK who would like to reverse their loneliness, while sharing their crazy oddness together, there's a raw food potluck happening this Saturday – the 19th – from 6pm in Newton-le-Willows – check out http://www.purelyraw.com/potluck190108.htm for more info ;)

on January the 14th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart watermelon juice
1 quart beetroot/celery/cabbage/ginger/cucumber/apple juice
bowl of avo mushed with chilli Alive Hummus, salt, lime juice, mung bean sprouts and diced tomatoes, served with cucumber sticks, sunflower greens and romaine leaves
1 quart water
1 mango
1 pint celery/cucumber/fresh foraged wild greens/romaine/ginger/fennel/apple juice
2 cups water
4 tbsp chia gel with bowl of fruit salad: passion fruit, banana, plum, dragon fruit and sliced dates
1 quart water

On January the 15th I had:

1 quart water
Big handful of GORGEOUS cherries
1 quart zucchini/beetroot/apple juice
bowl of avo mushed with salt, lime juice, mung bean sprouts, mixed sprouts and diced tomatoes, served with cucumber sticks, sunflower greens and romaine leaves
1 quart water
1 pint celery/cucumber/fresh foraged wild greens/romaine/ginger/fennel/apple juice
2 cups water
bowl of 4 tbsp chia gel with dragon fruit, passion fruit, banana, plum
3 cups water

Alright, let’s bounce back over to the left side of the Atlantic for the final media melt-down…many of you sent in the following YouTube link which shows a 10-minutes or so clip from the E! Entertainment show some days ago on raw food – with Wolfie, Juliano and so on – I think it’s well made…enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtrZoWwK1pM

The final piece to share today just came in tonight – it’s a report from 6abc News in Philadephia, from a raw food potluck. You can watch it HERE. This seems to start off quite promising, then slides somewhat, into the usual interviewing of obligatory ‘nutrition expert’ who gets in some hilarious comments to the effect of ‘raw food may be dangerous in the long run – there are simply not enough nutrients in that kind of food’... ??? ...???? …????????????? ...and ends with the newscaster refusing to drink a green smoothie ;) Ho-hummmmmm…what to do, what to do...? Just keep on living our truths, growing, glowing and eating with love and embracing the differences with compassion, I guess ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Poi, Passion and Publicity... ;)

OOoooooo, seems like lots of you have been getting inspired about POI dancing – YAY :) That’s great, I’m happy to see that…maybe at next year’s Raw Spirit Fest we can have a big poi dancing session all together ;) Some questions abt poi have been coming in too…
1. Do we have different colours of poi available in the RawReform Store, other than red?
YES, we do – we currently have 5 colours available: black with white, blue with light blue, red with white (shown here), pink with white OR lime green with yellow. If you would like a specific colour, you can leave a note as you order, stating the colour you’d like ;)
2. Can you dance with fire poi?
Yes, I can. In fact, I learnt to poi dance with fire poi. I rarely do it though. I also got many bruises from the fire poi while I was learning, as they are MUCH bigger and heavier than the soft practice poi we sell. I definitely recommend starting out with the practice poi and later moving to fire spinning with GREAT caution, if that interests you ;).

on October the 7th I had:

1 quart water
3 delectable little yellow dragon fruit
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 cups water
bowl of avo mushed with alive hummus, sprouts, chopped tomatoes and Celtic sea salt, served with flax crackers.
3 cups water
2 mangoes
2 cups water
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi /spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3 cups water

NEWSFLASH: There is still space available in the ‘Green Retreat’ house in Ojai, California. This is a fabulous opportunity to share space with loving, open, raw-food-friendly peoples in a beautiful setting…There’s lots more info HERE – and please note, there’s no requirement to be 100% raw to join the fun – just mindful of what you’re feeding your body and mind ;) Please also feel free to pass the info on to anyone else you think may enjoy to know abt this opportunity… ;)

On October the 8th I had:

1 quart water
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 cups water
handful of cherries
chunk of jackfruit
2 cups celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3 cups water
1 egg fruit
2 cups water
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 small mangoes
little bowl of avocado mushed with tandoori spice hummus, diced tomatoes and Celtic Sea Salt, with cucumber sticks and ‘bitter gourd’ salad (VERY bitter ;)
3 cups water

Wooooow, looks like maybe the ‘mainstream’ media in the UK at least is catching on to sharing some more raw foodie info…a few days ago the Guardian published a story titled ‘Is Cooked Food Dangerous?’…To find out what their conclusion was, see the piece in full here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2221384,00.html

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Cacao at the Summit...

Another Public Service Reminder ;)

Raw Summit, the inspiring free series of teleconference calls with 12 of the world’s leading authorities on raw foods, kicks off TONIGHT with yesterday’s birthday boy, David Wolfe…

THOUSANDS of people from all over the world are already signed up – don’t miss out ;) If you haven’t signed up for the series yet, you can click HERE to see the impressive schedule for the next couple of weeks and get yourself on the list…

You can listen to the whole series for FREE and upgrade packages with lots of bonuses are available too… Visit the link that is emailed to you when you sign up to get the dial-in info for each call…
I speak on August the 16th – hope you can make it along for the call ;)

On August the 7th I had:

1.2 litres water
300ml rejuvelac
750ml ‘garden’ juice
big yummy salad – greens, dulse, avo, sprouts, chives, watercress, lemon juice, sauerkraut, with fresh homemade flax crackers
handful of goji berries with pine nuts
500ml peppermint tea
400ml water
600ml celery/cucumber/carrot/ginger juice
bowl of chia seeds soaked in blended pear/lime juice/ginger mixture, with sultanas, maca, lucuma and pumpkin seeds stirred in…WOW…
raw ‘conscious chocolate’ – yummmmm…
1 litre water

So, as the modern-day cacao-king kicks off the Raw Summit tonight, I'd like to, rather 'synchronistically' muse on the subject of raw chocolate...Ok, so I was away from the UK for about a year before coming back now…I was advised beforehand that it had all gone rather ‘cacao-crazy’ in the raw food movement here and well, yep, judging by the number of new raw chocolate bars I see all over the place here in the shops, it seems to me it is indeed all pretty chocolate-covered here now ;) There are many choices for people – and I can see it's a useful way of potentially opening up larger and larger numbers of people to raw foods in GENERAL – get them ‘hooked’ into raw with chocolate instead of the proverbial ‘carrot’ and THEN get them onto the real carrots and other goodies…in a nation of committed chocolate-lovers, it seems like a winning strategy ;)
BTW, it seems some of you could not find access to the link to the chia seeds yesterday…so here it is again in full, just in case:

http://www.rawveganbooks.com/product_info.php?ref=6&products_id=1001333&affiliate_banner_id=1

Enjoy ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Happy Summer Solstice... :)

The Sun Never Says

Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."

Look
what happens
with a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

Hafiz (Sufi poet)

Tomorrow (Thursday the 21st) is Summer Solstice. Yeeeeeee-HAH. The longest day of the year and a true sign, if anyone needed another clue, that summer is definitely with us up here in the northern hemisphere…personally, I am simply LOVING the abundance of fresh fruit and leafy greens, plus playing out in the sun every day… and on summer solstice, we get to spend more time appreciating the magical sun than on any other day of the year…hurray :)

On June the 19th I had:

1.5 litres water
4 peaches
600ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
green salad (arugula, basil, sunflower and broccoli greens, romaine) with lime juice, cumin, avocado, dulse
1 litre water
600ml ‘juicy-smoothie’ mix of romaine/spinach juice blended with strawberries
mini-bowl of strawberry shortcake pie (sans cacao this time ;)
1.5 litres water

I have a new trick. It helps me deal with post-meal sweet cravings. I don’t really want to put sweet stuff in my body anymore after eating savoury things (like salad at lunchtime) and YET, I still have the desire for something sweet... So, my trick is to take a couple of packets of ‘Pro to Go’ – these are little yummy packages of sweet flavoured probiotics that you can just tear open and knock back – I get the sweet hit AND probiotics at the same time. The sweetness comes from xylitol – which wouldn’t be my first choice of sweetener, but is raw and this feels like a great stepping stone for me away from desserts…hurray :) You can see more about Pro to Go HERE.

On June the 20th I had:

1 litre water
2 quarts strawberries
500ml celery/cucumber/ginger/apple juice
bag of ORGANIC CHERRIES (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY - first ones I've found in Canada ;)
½ box of baby spinach
700ml banana/romaine green smoothie with spirulina3tbsps of bee pollen mixed with hemp seeds
1 litre water
700ml green smoothie with spinach, romaine, peaches, banana
1 litre water

To celebrate Summer Solstice tomorrow, the organisers of Raw Spirit Fest are holding a special FREE TICKET promotion. Raw Spirit Fest is being held from October 12th-14th this year, in Sedona, Arizona and is going to be INCREDIBLE :) I am so excited about this event. I will be there as a workshop facilitator, along with many other wonderful raw speakers like Matt Monarch, The Boutenkos, David Wolfe, Viktoras Kulvinkskas and Ani Phyo. Buy your ticket for the festival on Thursday 21st June – Summer Solstice – and you will be in with a chance of receiving another ticket, completely FREE, to share with a loved one. The 1ST and 21ST people to purchase their tickets on this day will receive the free gifts, SO, I suggest you follow THIS LINK and book your place today if you haven’t done so already…See you there… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Berry BLISS ;)

I went strawberry picking yesterday. WOW. I haven’t been since I was about 15 I think…it was GREAT…I picked about 6 quarts of juicy sweet berries and went on to eat them with every meal of the day ;) lol…it was incredible…the cacao strawberry shortbread pie we made in the middle of the day yesterday was outrageously good. I had not had cracao again for about 10 days, so really enjoyed the blissful, opening, love vibe of it. The recipe was SO simple:

Base:
Ground almonds
Lucuma powder (gives the shortbread taste)
Local raw honey
Ground cacao nibs

Filling:
Strawberries
1 Banana

Please don’t ask me about quantities. I don’t know…I just use what works. We used the food processor to mix together the pie base and pressed it into a dish. Then we blended the berries and banana together, poured that on top and decorated with more sliced berries. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY…very liquid – I would perhaps add lucuma powder to the filling as well in the future, to thicken it up…

On June the 18th I had:

1 litre water
about 2 quarts of strawberries
500ml water
500ml green juice
incredible cacao strawberry shortbread pie
2 litres water
750ml ‘juicy-smoothie’ hybrid containing romaine, spinach, lime juice blended with strawberries
1 litre water

I’m excited to say that this evening –Tuesday June 19th – at 6pm PST (9pm EST), Matt Monarch is giving a FREE live teleconference with Mike Snyder. You can listen live through the web via this link:

http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=270678

OR you can also listen live by phone by calling 218-486-3695 and entering access code 408606#.
You can submit YOUR question for Matt on the above webpage too – enjoy ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Fun and Games...

Stumbled across this amusing raw version of ‘I will survive’ on YouTube today: ‘I will Eat Raw’…sweet ;)



On June the 16th I consumed:

1.5 litres water
700ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
5 peaches
green salad (broccoli greens, arugula, watercress, basil) with cumin, lemon juice, avocado, salt (MMMMMmmmmm ;)
ground almonds mixed with lucuma powder and local raw honey
1 litre water
¼ large watermelon
2 boxes strawberries
500ml water
500ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
3tbsps hemp seed with 3 tbsps bee pollen
1 litre water

WOW - the little sweet mixture I made of ground almonds with lucuma powder and local raw honey today was AMAZING...it tastes just like shortbread to me - I'd never tried this combination before, but was inspired to find something to do with some yummy local raw honey I bought this weekend...this was the result - so simple - just 3 ingredients - and SO delicious...wow...my new favourite raw treat... ;)

On June the 17th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
¼ large watermelon
kale salad – kale, avo, lemon juice, cumin, fresh chives, tomatoes, olives, dulse
new yummy shortbread discovery stuff :)
1.5 litre water
1 box strawberries
500ml green juice
small green salad - broccoli greens, arugula, basil – with dressing made from ground flax, bit of green juice, dab of honey and cumin
1 litre water

I was intrigued to receive from Jinjee a couple of days ago the link to a Time Magazine article on ‘What the World Eats’ – this is a photo essay that shows families from all over the world with their typical weekly food intake laid out in front of them. I was mainly intrigued because of the incredible synchronicity I experienced around this. I first saw these pictures about 10 years ago, in another magazine. I have barely thought of them since. The DAY BEFORE Jinjee sent this out, I just began speaking to my friend here in Canada about those exact pictures – they had been on my mind, as I was thinking how I’d love to see my before-and-after shots of a typical week’s food for myself, comparing pre-raw to now…my friend and I were amazed to discover we had in fact both seen these pictures, as it was a long time ago that I had seen that piece…then suddenly up popped the message in my inbox from Jinjee, about the exact same pics…wow…the universe has some interesting little games going on in the collective conscious ;) I’d totally recommend checking out the pics anyway – fascinating stuff…see them HERE...

Enjoy,
One love,
Angela. xxx

Melons, Movies and Movements...

Went to the farmer’s markets here in Canada this weekend…WOW – I got some really wonderful things, I’m so excited – I have a HUGE tub of fresh, vibrant sunflower greens for example, for $2.50 – WOW – one of my absolute favourite foods…plus fresh cilantro, huge cucumbers, magnificent kale…and I tried apriums for the first time – a hybrid between apricots and plums – YUM :) We also bought 7 ENORMOUS watermelons, all seeded and organic (see picture), for $4 each...wooooo-HOO – I am SO excited - we seriously have about 160lbs of watermelon flesh here to consume :))) LOL...AND, I am DELIGHTED to say that there is weekly compost collection at the houses here – how wonderful - all ‘waste’ is sorted and collected – I am very impressed…yes, I definitely like it here already ;)

On June the 8th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml cucumber/celery/apple juice
box of strawberries
500ml water
avocado/lime/cumin/spring greens/nori/salt
1 tbsp goji berries
500ml water
bag of cherries
1 litre water
500ml celery/cucumber/apple juice
2 tbsp bee pollen with 2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 litre water

I have just been updating the ‘Media Coverage’ page on the RawReform website and discovered that one of the segments on me that was recently broadcast on SMTV is now available on YouTube – nice…it is me doing a raw food demo – avo/cilantro wraps and almond milk – check out the interesting make-up I received that day ;) and indeed, the whole piece, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmW_XDWlsVc




On June the 9th I had:

1.5 litres water
big bag of apriums and apricots
800ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
avocado with sunflower greens, cilantro, baby romaine, nori, cumin powder, salt
3 dried figs with chocolate/coco sauce
1 litre water
500ml water
less than a cup of pineapple
1 banana
box of fresh figs (WOW)
600ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger/fennel juice
3 tbsps bee pollen mixed with 3 tbsps hemp seed
1 litre water

I am enjoying being very physically active here in Canada at the moment – I am located next to a beautiful huge lake, with parks all around and it is very inspiring to just get out and get moving…I am running and cycling and spending lots of time in the sun…SOOOOO nice after many weeks on the road recently…I enjoy meeting the animals here especially…there seem to be a lot of them and they seem to be less shy of humans than I am accustomed to – seems like everyone in Canada is super-friendly ;) I am amused to meet these tiny rodents dodging about on the sides of paths – I am assuming they are chipmunks, but am not sure - I was so surprised to see them at first, but everyone else seems to ignore them, so I guess they're common here…today I also met many water-bird babies – baby swans and geese and ducks…ahhhhhh, my favourite…yes, I feel very blessed to be enjoying the serenity here…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Sweet Treats...

Thanks for all your emails that have been coming in for the May RawReform newsletter giveaway…to be in with a chance of winning a WHOLE BOX of raw Lara Bars, all you have to do is email in your answer to the following question:

What has been your strangest detox symptom/experience with a raw food lifestyle?

Send in YOUR answer to angela@rawreform.com - be quick though – the next newsletter is about to come out this week for June, so the winner will be drawn in the next day or so…best wishes ;)

On June the 2nd I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml green juice with carrot
box of strawberries
400ml green juice with apple
mix of soaked/sprouted/dehydrated almonds and seeds with baby spinach leaves, dulse and nori sheets
1 litre water
one big egg fruit
200ml melon juice
bee pollen and hemp seed mixed together
1 litre water

I had an encounter with an extraordinary fruit this day. I was gifted three beautiful canistel or ‘egg fruits’ as they are commonly known, from Florida (see picture above...LOOK at that beautiful heart shape :). I’d never seen or tried one before and was intrigued to hear that they ‘taste like eggs…only sweet, sugary…’ Hmmmmm…ok…well, it was smooth and orangey-yellow, with a sheen on the outside, soft to the touch, like a ripe papaya and as I split it open, it fell into luscious pieces of soft yellow flesh. I took my first bite…and it was definitely a case of love at first bite…WOW…it’s like no fruit I’ve ever tasted…it truly and simply is like eating cooked egg yolks – the EXACT same colour and texture, but such a sweet, soft, delicate flavour – it feels very feminine in its energy to me – absolutely gorgeous…soft, sweet, luxurious…it kind of melts in the mouth, with hints of caramel…and it is HEAVY – like the same kind of fat feeling as eating an avocado or durian…yet not oily at all, just dense…wow…I can foresee a fruit-munching trip to Florida unfold at some point…

On Sunday June the 3rd I had:

500ml water
500ml watermelon juice
500ml green juice with carrot
box of strawberries
1 small egg fruit
hemp seed mixed with fresh bee pollen, with dulse/nori
1 litre water
handful of cherries
750ml green juice with apple
small plate of raw potluck foods
1 litre water

A sweet little question came in by email this weekend about my food intake:

“I love reading your blog! Could you tell me the "recipe" for your avo/lime/nori meal? Do you just mix it up? roll it up? I notice you eat this every day!” N

:) Thanks for the Q…yes, I have definitely been eating that simple meal a lot these last couple of weeks on the road…the way I do it is to just cut the avocado in half, scoop out some of the flesh onto a nori sheet, squeeze a little lime juice onto it, sprinkle on a little Himalayan sea salt (and cumin if I have some – mmmmm ;), add in some young leafy greens if I have some, like baby spinach leaves and then wrap it up and munch…that’s it, no prep, no machines, no plate even, just a knife and a spoon ideally, to deal with the avo…this is so simple and yummy and satisfying for me…also, an even simpler variation is to just cut open the avo, squeeze on the lime and sprinkle on the salt – eat straight from the avo skin, with a spoon – this is SO delicious as a snack – a must-try…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Pushing the limits...

I’m excited to say that the Juice Feast Teleconference Call series finished this week and the playbacks are all now available to access HERE on the RawReform website. We covered four topics in the weekly one-hour talks – Juice Feasting Practicalities, Hopes and Fears, Social Issues and Ending a Juice Feast. Thanks to all who participated and for those who want to listen in now to the playbacks…enjoy ;)

On May the 31st I had:

1.5 litres water
1 litre green juice with apple
avo/romaine/salt/lime/nori
macadamias with honey, maca and cayenne pepper
1 litre water
400ml green juice with apple
blend of coconut meat, Nutiva hemp shake, honey and water
with a sliced apple
500ml water
500ml peppermint tea
1 apple with fresh young greens
few macadamias
700ml water

I’d love to share a couple of recent anecdotes from life on the road as a raw foodist, witnessing some subculture cross-overs… Last week I experienced my first ever visit to a ‘drive-thru pharmacy’…yes…apparently such things now exist ;)…and my friend had something to pick up at one…I sat, smiling in amazement in the passenger seat and peeling a juicy mango I was about to bite into…just then, the pharmacist arrived at the service window, stared into the car at my mango and exclaimed ‘what’s THAT…?’ Just as I’d never seen a drive-thru pharmacy before, this woman had never seen…a mango… :) it amused me to see what different realities we can share…
Another interaction I witnessed this week that surprised me was between a mother and her 21-month-old son…we were waiting late at night for a Greyhound bus…the little boy curiously picked up a cigarette butt from the floor, to which his mother cried out ‘put that down, Kyle, you’re too young to smoke’…and there seemed to genuinely be no irony intended…wow…that nearly floored me…the fact that ANYONE smokes anymore still amazes me and the idea that a toddler is simply ‘not old enough yet’ to smoke was incredible to me… ;O
Travelling around the US on the Greyhound buses has indeed been quite some experience these last weeks and my conclusion is that I will defer from choosing this mode of transport again in the future… ;) I choose not to use words such as ‘never’ too frequently, but I do believe that in the context of whether I would choose to travel with Greyhound again, I would make an exception… ;)

June the 1st I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml green juice
avo/salt/romaine/nori/spring greens
banana mashed with maca
1 litre water
500ml green juice with carrot
strawberries with chocolate/coconut butter sauce
plate of raw potluck munchies like flax crackers with olive tapenade
1.5 litre water

I saw Cirque de Soleil’s Delirium last night in Nashville, TN. WOW. It was utterly, utterly spectacular. I would totally recommend seeing it if you have the chance…it is so incredibly stimulating and visually stunning (see little pic above). The dresses in particular were awe-inspiring…it was like a visual and aural FEAST…I LOVE to see what it is possible to do with these human bodies if we work them – dancers, trapeze artists, hula-hoopists, acrobats – the displays were outstanding and totally inspired me…I remembered a long-standing desire I had to be able in this lifetime, in this body, to do a back-flip…I do believe I possibly had the intention to be able to do that before I was 30 years old too…hmmmmm…well, I’ll be 29 this summer, so let’s see if by next summer I am ready for that ;) I promise I’ll make a YouTube video to share if I am able… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

FIVE YEARS RAW :)))

Today, May the 30th, 2007 – is the 5th anniversary of the day I went raw, back in 2002 :)
I am celebrating with vibrant, beautiful, nourishing, raw whole foods in a stunning mountain location with dear friends…JOY ;)

On May the 28th I had:

1 litre water
700ml green juice with apple
slice of watermelon
500ml herbal tea
slice of raw chocolate pie (WOW)
1 apple
1 litre water
1 peach
600ml green juice with apple
1 litre water

wow, I got SO buzzed from the incredible cacao pie this afternoon made by a lovely friend from the Asheville Rawfood Meetup Group – I hadn’t had any chocolate in a while and cacao OPENS me, totally, to the heart vibration – I get so blissed…I went clothes shopping afterwards and felt so connected to all the clothes and people I encountered – SO much love and joy and excitement…lol…cacao-ed and dangerous (to the bank balance ;)…

May the 29th I had:

1 litre water
500ml prune soak water
400ml green juice with apple
350g soaked prunes
big slice of watermelon
1 litre water
avo/spinach/salt/lime
few goji berries
1 mango
500ml water
500ml green juice with apple
3 sheets nori and a handful of macadamia nuts
400ml peppermint tea
bag of orgasmic organic cherries
1 litre water

I did a photo shoot for a national women’s magazine here in the US this morning…it was…interesting ;) I am simply AMAZED at the amount of time, energy and effort it takes to get – in the end – one shot…my hair/make-up and clothes-styling alone took 2 HOURS… :O
6 people were involved in the shoot and the whole thing lased 4 hours – that’s 24 hours of labour/time/energy…an entire day, to get one shot…wow…this feels somewhat of a challenge for me – it is such a different reality to that which I choose to enjoy most of the time…I see it as service work though ;) This magazine has a readership of over 1.5 million women already and there is the possibility that they might use this on the cover, so potentially many thousands more people may see that and be exposed to the idea of raw foods for better health – this is a big opportunity to spread the message, so, in that regard, definitely worth every second of all our energies today ;) The mag will be out in August - I'll keep you posted...

Enjoy this beautiful day and thanks to all of you reading this for your feedback and support over my last 5 years of raw-dom...HURRAY ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Reversing Obesity...one pot belly at a time...

Many of you have been writing lately to tell me how much you appreciate these e-journals. Thank you. I do not always get the chance to reply to you all individually, but I want you to know that it means a lot to me to hear your feedback. Your enthusiasm helps me to stay motivated with my work and the momentum of spreading this message…and wow, there really is SOOOO much work to do in this field…and I am grateful for every avenue that opens to me to share this message…as I travel all over the States at the moment, I see people dealing with overweight and obesity issues, literally everywhere I go…the MAJORITY of people in this country are dealing with these issues…I look at the people on the streets as I pass along and feel shocked at the numbers of obese people…there is a LOT of work that can be done to help turn this trend around and I feel very blessed to be able to share, as a living example of how we can deal with this situation with healthy, natural, sustainable solutions…thanks for your support :)

on May the 22nd I had:

1.5 litres water
shot of wheatgrass
couple tablespoons of prunes blended with walnuts
1 litre water
handful of spinach
600ml green juice with apple
avocado, lime juice, Himalayan salt, nori
1 date
500ml water
2 peaches
500ml water
1 apple
500ml water

I took some really appreciated ‘down-time’ today…went for a wonderful bike ride around a gorgeous lake, in the sun, did a bentonite face pack, read more of the inspiring ‘Law of Attraction’ book, which I have not made time to connect with since I left Costa Rica…and got to sleep before midnight – yeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) I REALLY appreciated this bit of ‘time-out’ amidst this current full-on tour schedule…I truly believe in the idea that in order to serve others to the best of our potential, we need to take great care of OURSELVES first – that way we tend to be in a great space - open, grounded and more able to allow the energy flow to work through us in love and joy…

on May the 23rd I had:

1 litre water
500ml smoothie - prune soak water, prunes, spirulina, maca, water (YUMM ;)
avo/spinach/lime juice/Himalayan salt/nori
1 litre water
600ml green juice with apple
handful of sunflower seeds with nori sheets
500ml water
500ml water
water of one young coconut
500ml water

I spoke in Fairfax, VA this night to a sweet, mixed group of people, ranging from total raw newbies to those who had been totally raw for a number of years. It was fun. It was in a building where my friend works in a wellness centre – Neck, Back and Beyond – as a colon hydrotherapist. She gave me a colonic in the afternoon and I was HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH afterwards ;) LOL…I have not had a professional colonic in probably about 10 months or so and was very interested to see what kind of results would now occur, after my 92-Day Juice Feast…well, according to my friend, all was in very good working order – no issues really at all. Nice. :) I did feel very light and ‘high’ afterwards though – spaced…I went home and took a lot of probiotics and drank green juice and all was well again ;) JUICE SAVES...

One love,
Angela. xxx

(P.S. This is the 150th post on this e-journal today ;) what a long way we've come...thanks for sharing the joy along the way... :)

On the road again...

It was the third session of the Juice Feasting Teleconference Call series yesterday evening. We had a great talk, based around Social Issues while Juice Feasting. This series of talks has been a joy to give and record. Thanks to all of you who have been listening in and participating so far. If you haven’t been part of the calls and would love to hear what they’ve been all about, you can now listen to the playbacks – access to the playbacks can be ordered through the RawReform website here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.browse/category_id,12/Itemid,55/

On May the 19th I had:

1.5 litres water
600ml celery/apple juice
½ a medium papaya
1 apple
1 avocado with dulse
1 mango
1 litre water
600ml green juice with apple
500ml green smoothie
cup of blueberry/banana raw ice cream
1 litre water

Lots of travelling for me this last couple of days – from NYC down to Lansdale, PA, then from there down to Fairfax, VA. In terms of distance it may not actually be that far (not sure), but it feels like a long haul to me at the moment, travelling with all my stuff and with public transport…this is an area of my life that people often question me about at talks, so I’m going to lay it out here... ;)

I don’t live anywhere. I am from England originally, but have no real ‘base’. I travel more or less constantly and have been ‘on the road’ for most of the last decade. I carry with me all that I really need – basically my clothes, laptop, RawReform booklets to sell, some toiletries and a little food. I love this lifestyle, which has taken me all over the world, into many amazing homes and spaces and to meet many wonderful beings. Sometimes my backpack is very heavy…and yet I used to carry more weight than that AS ME, all the time…I don’t drive…I have a driving license, but I have never felt comfortable driving cars, so mainly use public transport on big trips or bike around for smaller errands. I do not own any raw kitchen equipment, yet am 100% raw and have been on a raw journey for 5 years…I do not have a house, car, mortgage, fridge, tables, sofas or pets either ;) I have a bike…it is in England…

on May the 20th I had:

750ml water
500ml celery/apple juice
1 orgasmic durian pod
cup of banana/carob raw ice cream
1 teaspoon spirulina powder
300ml water
Handful of sunflower seeds and a few sheets of nori
1 litre water
Box of strawberries
2 apples
1.5 litres water

so, that's what eating in the raw on the road looks like for me at the moment…pretty simple stuff - I love it...and here, if you’re curious, is a list of ten things I always have with me on my travels (in no particular order):

Earplugs
Enzymes and probiotics
Spare plastic bags
Plastic cutlery
Water to drink
Face scrub
Green powder
Pens
Camera
Inspirational cards (draw one each morning to set the tone for my day)

I’m headed to Jamaica next after the States this time round – if anyone has any tips on where to stay there, with good internet access, please do let me know ;) – drop me a line at angela@rawreform.com...

Happy travels ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Stuffed...

I did a live radio interview this morning. It was with a show that broadcasts out of Asheville, NC, called Virato Live. It was fun…Virato is apparently a cousin of Viktoras Kulvinkskas…You can listen back to the podcast of our discussion, here: www.viratolive.com.

May the 18th I had:

400ml water
700ml green juice with apple and ginger
500ml green juice
2 handfuls goji berries
1 small avo blended with one banana and maca, with a nori sheet
handful of sunflower seeds
600ml water
500ml water
700ml water
seaweed salad, raw veggie biryani curry, chocolate lava cake/ice cream all from Pure Food and Wine
700ml water

I ate at the divine Pure Food and Wine raw restaurant in NYC on Friday night…wow…this place blows me away every time – outstanding food, immaculate presentation, beautiful lighting and décor…I was there with two people new to raw foods and they LOVED it – hurray ;) By the way, I have recently updated the raw restaurants/eateries page on RawReform – check it out here and if there are other establishments you’d love to see added, just email angela@rawreform.com and let me know ;)

May the 19th I had:

3 litres water
box of strawberries
1 litre celery/apple/fennel juice
handful of sunflower seeds and dulse
500ml water
500ml water
500ml water

...yep…not much food action going on today…after eating raw restaurant food the last two days, this body was pretty much done with solids today…digesting combinations like that seems like a lot of work…my body didn’t ask for solids until around 5pm today and even then it was just fruit…it really fascinates me how things become simpler and simpler in this way…
So, I’m shimmying on out of New York tomorrow and down into Pennsylvania. It’s been a great week – I’ve met loads of great people, had some wonderful raw foods and visited some great places. One of my favourite places I visited this week was the ‘Peace Through Play’ nursery school in Chestnut Ridge, NY. I spoke there a few nights ago and had the chance to experience the beautiful energy of the space and grounds there. It is a wonderful place. They take kids from the ages of 3 to 5 and provide a nurturing curriculum based around encouraging independence, creativity and love. The kids shine – they receive a lot of raw foods to eat, learn yoga and the place is covered in beautiful pictures and inspiring slogans of all kinds such as ‘kids should be seen and heard and listened to’, ‘give peace a chance’ and my favourite:

What if the Hokey-Cokey IS what it’s all about?

Love it :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

NEWSFLASH... ;)

Tomorrow morning – Saturday May 19th – I will be doing a radio interview LIVE on air with popular radio personality Virato in North Carolina. The show starts at 10am Eastern Time and can be heard from anywhere in the world by listening in on http://www.viratolive.com. If you’re in the Asheville, NC area, you can also listen in on 880AM. It is a live interview, so feel free to call in to the studio with any questions – their number is 828-252-4348.
I will also be giving two lectures the following weekend in Asheville – the 26th and 27th of May – you can see more details about those events HERE...
Enjoy ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Metamorphosis...

I went to see the butterflies in New York’s Museum of Natural History today…WOW…they currently have a butterfly conservatory exhibit, which contains hundreds of live butterflies in a warmed, lush green environment…it was a wonderful experience to meet so many of these amazing creatures all at the same time – all kinds of colours and sizes and shapes…stunning…there were some great info posts abt them too…one explained for example how apparently when the caterpillar goes into the cocoon to undergo the metamorphosis into a butterfly, its cellular structure gets completely altered…it sounded in fact as if it pretty much liquefies itself, then restructures into a butterfly…LOL…how incredible…I also learnt that swarms of Monarch butterflies fly THOUSANDS of miles every year from Canada and the USA down to Mexico where they winter…WOW…imagine…those tiny little beings flying all that way, through all kinds of climates and weather…yep, those Monarchs really do get around ;)

On May the 16th I had:

1 litre water
500ml green juice
avo/lime/Himalayan salt/nori
500ml water
1 apple
500ml green juice with apple
500ml water
1 raw ‘California Bread’ from High Vibe
500ml coconut water
500ml water

I spoke at the High Vibe store Wednesday night in the East Village area of NYC. This is Bob Dagger’s place – who has interviewed me a couple of times now on Tribeca radio. It was a pleasure to meet him in person and see his much-loved little store which has apparently been around for about 13 years, providing people with raw food supplies, books, supplements and other healthy living goodies in the city. Dagger is clearly passionate about his work and caring for each and every customer that comes in – it was such a pleasant, calm atmosphere there, with loads of green plants, a little fountain and even a cute little old dog ;) Outside it was POURING with rain and the windy streets were awash with water, yet inside we enjoyed a cozy little gathering of raw food souls :) nice…

Today I have had:

1 litre water
½ a large papaya
500ml green juice with apple
piece of raw pizza and piece of raw pecan pie from Raw Soul
1 litre water
1 litre water
500ml water

Wow, the raw restaurant food I had in the middle of the day today kept me going the whole of the rest of the day – hmmmm…those more complicated combinations just don’t fit this body that well anymore in terms of digestion…I stayed on just water for the rest of the day and that worked great… ;)
Thanks for all the entries we’ve received so far for this month’s RawReform prize giveaway of a whole box of Lara bars…if you haven’t yet entered this free draw and would like to do so, just drop us a line at angela@rawreform.com and let us know your answer to the following question:

What has been your strangest detox symptom/experience with a raw lifestyle?

…and don’t worry about shocking us with your symptoms ;) there have been some pretty amusing stories shared already…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Strawberry Fields Forever... ;)

“There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all…”

('In My Life', The Beatles)


On Monday May the 14th I had:

1 litre water
500ml green juice
avo/lime/spinach/Himalayan salt stuffed in nori sheets
raw date/almond/mesquite bar
1 litre water
1 apple
raw burger with spring greens and sprouts
walnut truffle ball
1 litre water

Top highlights for me of being in New York so far include (in no particular order):
*speaking at Bonobo’s restaurant on Monday night to a lovely crowd of around 40 people…one of whom had just started Juice Feasting that morning ;)
*hearing an amazing group of 5 black guys busking on the subway – they sang ‘My Girl’ and it was just exquisite to these ears. I appreciated SO much the heart space that they busted open down there in the seemingly cold, harsh environment of the subway. People were smiling and enjoying the beautiful harmonies…and I found myself actually moved to tears, I found it so beautiful the way their voices transformed the whole space…
*visiting Strawberry Fields in Central Park today (see picture)…John Lennon was a MAJOR hero for me when I was growing up and it felt nice to go there today and connect in with that energy again a bit. I’d never been to the ‘Imagine’ area before and I enjoyed it…lots of people sitting around and sharing in the nice peaceful energy…the park is really beautiful to see right now with lots of blossom blowing and people enjoying the sunshine…
*enjoying lunch on the roof garden of the apartment block I am staying in, looking out over this whole huge sprawling city…wandering around the roof munching on nori rolls and making sense of this urban landscape…(there is a building on the next block that has a running track around the outside of it, perhaps about 1/5th of the way up the building...lol...WOW...imagine...I guess so that the workers in there can step outside the office in breaks and...run around the building...like little hamsters on wheels ;)
*enjoying the astonishing convenience of everything and anything I may want being available and on hand, just a few minutes’ walk away…wow…there are even about 4 juice places within a few blocks around where I’m staying…amazing…
*discovering today that I don’t need to go all the way up to Harlem to get food from the marvellous Raw Soul restaurant, as there is a juice place on 72nd street called ‘24 Carrots’ that stocks their stuff – NICE :)

Today – Tuesday May the 15th, I had:

1 litre water
2 peaches
700ml green juice with apple
avo/lime/spinach/Himalayan salt stuffed in nori sheets
raw date/almond/mesquite bar
500ml water
500ml water
600ml green juice
slice of raw blueberry cheesecake
500ml water
2 peaches
750ml water

I speak tomorrow night at the High Vibe store on 3rd Street, then the following night out in a little place called Chestnut Ridge, about 30mins north of the city…details on my events page, as always…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Raw in the Big Apple...

WOW…I am in New York City now…I am staying with a friend very close to Central Park, on the 35TH FLOOR of an apartment building…I don’t think I’ve ever been so high up in a building for so long…the city-scape views from here are just…extraordinary to my eyes…I am not used to seeing things like this…it’s like my eyes can’t quite read what they’re seeing…layers and layers and layers upon layers of buildings stretching back and out in all directions…it looks like a TV set or smthg to me… ;)

On Saturday, May the 12th I had:

1 litre water
500ml herb tea
400ml green smoothie
plate of fresh greens, avo, cumin, lime wrapped in nori sheets
1 extremely ripe mango
1 litre water
500ml green veggie juice
arugula (rocket) salad with sunflower greens, red pepper and avo followed by zucchini (courgette) noodles with raw marinara sauce and ‘meatballs, followed by walnut/coconut/chocolate truffles
1 litre water

I spoke Saturday evening at new raw eatery The Stand in Norwalk, Connecticut. What a sweet little place. Run by a lovely young raw couple, this has only been open a few months but is seeing great success already, helping people to cleanse and transition to raw, feed their children more healthily, attend inspiring events and connect with other like-minded people. The event was sold out. They made a marvellous 3-course meal, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all and pretty simple to digest. The portions were HUGE – I got half of mine wrapped to go for the next day ;) The audience were lovely – a lot of people very new to raw – it’s always fun to open up those doorways with people right at the start of this journey ;) I’ll definitely be back there to speak again at some point down the line…

On May the 13th, Sunday, I had:

700ml water
500ml herbal tea
450ml green juice
leftover squaghetti/tomato sauce/almond ‘meatballs’ with green salad and nori
raw date/almond/carob bar
1 litre water
1 apple, 1 mango
handful of dulse and sheet of nori, handful of spinach
2oz wheatgrass shot
2 apples
1 litre water

I went out walking last night in NYC to find some things to juice and on returning back to the apartment I discovered my feet were BLACK with dust and dirt from the city streets here – wow…I was shocked…I wear Crocs shoes, the ones with the holes all over them…and as I took them off, my friend and I laughed in complete surprise to see my polka-dotted black and white feet revealed…HOW did that happen…? I only walked about 5 blocks and back again…city life is definitely an adventure for me… ;)
I speak tonight at Bonobo’s Restaurant on E. 23rd Street, near Madison Square and on Wednesday night at High Vibe down on E. 3rd Street, between 1st St. and Ave A…see my schedule HERE for other dates and more info...
Hope to see you at a talk somewhere soon ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

TV interview and food demo ;)

Today and tomorrow, the 14th and 15th of May, worldwide broadcasters SMTV will be showing two TV segments with me. Monday is an interview I recently did with them and Tuesday is a food demo. The screenings are as follows:

Monday 14th May, interview:
Healthy Living – Angela Stokes, RawReform
Showing at: 4am, 10am, 4pm, 10pm (EST)

Tuesday 15th May, food demo:
A Vegan Lifestyle with Angela Stokes
Showing at: 2.30am, 8.30am, 2.30pm, 8.30pm (EST)

You can see the full schedule here:
http://suprememastertv.com/schedule.php

SMTV show only positive programming. You can watch online at http://www.suprememastertv.com (or if you are in Europe, via Hotbird Satellite 6, at 13degrees East.)

ENJOY ;)