Tag Archives: Raw Spirit Fest

Raw

24 May

Raw Vegan - Rebel with a Cause

“What is a raw vegan?” I get asked sometimes or why I choose to eat a raw vegan diet. So in this post I’m going to describe in my own terms what I consider my diet is.  First, I choose to do vegan diet first and foremost, before organic or before raw, I’m a VEGAN. That means no animal byproducts such as honey, eggs, cheese, etc. Raw means that I choose to eat all vegan foods uncooked or unheated.

Some people wonder what is left to eat if I don’t eat animals. Well, any vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts and to eat them raw means no steaming, stir frying, boiling, roasting, or heating above 105 degrees.  While most people get to a supermarket and head for the frozen section, I head over to the produce and the bulk grains and nuts.

I was a vegan for about a year before I transition to 100% raw, but before I even knew what raw was, I was already eating about 70% raw for years. I started the raw vegan lifestyle inspired by a documentary by Kris Carr, Crazy Sexy Cancer, and haven’t turn to look back since then!

There are many types of raw diets, and what works best for me is a raw alkalarien diet. I use Dr. Robert Young’s pH scale and principles to do a raw alkalarian diet. He basically states that to stay balance and not create an acidic environment in one’s body, one must balance the pH in the body by consuming more alkaline foods and practicing more alkalarian ways of living. Denis and I learned about Dr. Young’s pH diet 7 years ago and before transitioning to raw, we had already been following the pH diet which made it very easy to transition to raw.

As I mentioned, I chose to eat a raw vegan diet for health reasons. However, I now see that this lifestyle fits my beliefs. For example, being raw helps the environment which as you all know I’ve been passionate for many years. I can write a whole new post about the different ways being raw contributes to the environment. It  has also helped me improve my spiritual practice and sculpting my body.

A raw vegan diet is not for everyone and it’s not the solution to one’s issues. As always, when making any changes in my lifestyle, I made sure I monitor my health by visiting my doctors and ensure that the changes I made were beneficial to my body and mind.

In part two of this blog, I will answer the most common questions I get asked about my raw vegan lifestyle. But the most important point I would like to get across in this blog is that everyone is different and while this lifestyle works for me, it may not work for other people at this point in their lives. That’s why is critical to do research and consult a doctor before making any changes.

Here are some tips on how to transition to a vegan diet. Enjoy!

Natural Hair

02 February
My Hair

My Hair

Anyone that has met me in the last 11 years knows how much fun I had changing my hair… color, cuts, and styles. Every month was something different, a different shade of red too.  And I loved every color I tried! My hair stylist loved it when I showed up because she knew she got to do whatever she wanted, and I would have loved it no matter what.

I had been coloring my hair since I turned 18 and after 10 years I decided to stop.

It started when I went to my first Raw Spirit Fest in Sedona about two years ago. I heard Victoria and Valya Boutenko talk about all these products we all use in our bodies and we think we are healthy ‘cause we have a raw vegan diet. Well I was sitting there all proud ‘cause I used organic and/or natural creams, shampoos, soaps, makeup, tooth paste, oils, etc. My ego was going “yeah suckas! gotta go all natural!” nodding my head to their words.

Until they talked about hair dyes; “Oops!” The ego said, “Well I use vegetable dyes from whole foods. That’s not bad!” I knew I was lying to myself. I had only starting using vegetable dyes two years previous to that, but I had about 8 years worth of chemicals in my body for sure. So about a year ago I decided to stop dying it and had to cut most of it out.

It’s been a year and finally all the color is completely out! I can say I’m all natural now!

I wake up and look at my new REAL hair color and it’s not bad and it makes me proud to say it was a big step for me and I’m happy with my decision. I do miss my red-colored hair every now and then. But if I’m going to talk the talk, I gotta walk the walk. Plus there are always wigs… natural ones of course!

More Styles & Colors

More Styles & Colors

Raw Hummus

14 November
Mediterranean Plate

Mediterranean Plate

Whenever I don’t feel like making a complicated dish for dinner or I have run out of greens, I make this hummus I learned at this year’s Raw Spirit Fest in D.C. I also add some cut veggies, usually left over veggies, to make a “Mediterranean” dinner or plate that comes out amazing with very little effort.

1 cup of Sunflower Seeds

2/3 cup of Hazelnuts

1/3 cup of Sesame Seeds

1 Tbs. Raw Tahini

2 cloves of Garlic

2 Tbs. Bariani Olive oil

The juice of ½ Lime or Lemon

Organic Cumin seed powder and Salt to taste

½ cup water

½ cup sun dried black olives

Using the food processor, combine the seeds and nuts; add tahini, olive oil, salt, garlic, cumin, lemon or line juice and begin mixing. After most of the nuts are grind, begin adding some water until you reach the desired consistency. I personally like it very smooth and liquid, but you can decide how much water to add. Add the sun dried black olives and continue to mix in the food processor until smooth.

Cut other vegetables such as broccoli, celery, carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, etc, and serve as a meal. It takes a few minutes and everyone loves the hummus.

The City of Smokers and the Best Food Ever!

07 September

My best friend lives in Washington DC, the city of smokers. Well, at least in my opinion DC is the city of smokers. Every where we went, there were people smoking outside! Anyways, it took 5 years, the Russian Embassy, and the Raw Spirit Fest for me to finally go visit her in DC.

The White House Organic Garden

The White House Organic Garden

We were excited and looking forward to the festival and visiting all the historical places in DC. We first went to the Russian Embassy, which was the main purpose of the trip, to run some errands there. After a few hours there, we went to the White House of course and took pictures like every other tourist there. I even got a picture of the organic garden! We then went to the Sewall-Belmont House and the Library of Congress. We had a lot of fun at both places. We stopped at Java Green for lunch and had some raw goodies! The raw shakes were unbelievably delicious!

The next day we headed to the Raw Spirit Fest for two days and started the morning with Kirtan by Kamaniya & Keshavacharya Das. We then saw many speakers including Dr. Brian Clement, Philip McCluskey, Viktoras Kulvinskas as well as many food demos including Lynda Carter, Rawdawg Rory, Raw Spirit Divas Christina and Kashi, and my favorite Khepra Anu of Senbeb Café in D.C. Music included Here II Here, Singing Bear, Raw Spirit RawK Stars, Brother Northstar and more.

Kirtan

Kirtan

We were glad this year they had green smoothies, salads, and less free chocolate. Last year in Sedona we overdose in all the free samples of chocolate! The vendors had great prices and a wide variety of products. As far as the food at the event, my favorite, and probably the best raw food I’ve had so far, was by Khepra Anu of Senbeb Café. For $12 we got a big plate of kale salad, a sandwich, and a seaweed side dish. Khepra made a spicy sauce for the sandwich that was to die for! I would move to DC just to eat at his café everyday! The food was so good I didn’t even take a picture because by the time I realized, we had inhaled every crumb in the plate! The next day after the festival we went to his café to get some more food and this time we had his lasagna with two salad dishes and it was heaven!

The last day in DC we pretty much avoided the smokers in every building and headed to Capitol Hill for a tour of the Senate and House chambers. We also visited Union Station and did a little shopping there.

Overall we enjoyed DC, the Festival, and visiting my friend. It was a nice busy quick trip. We were able to exercise, learn history, and eat healthy food all in the city of smokers.

At the White House

At the White House