Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #14

Alisa Angelic

age 46

As a child I ate mostly anything my mom, aunt, grandmother prepared. My mom was a single parent trying to raise 5 kids so food was scarce in our household. Sunday’s were like Christmas for us because the whole family got together at my aunt’s house for huge Sunday dinners. Some of the foods served at these dinners were:

Macaroni & Cheese

Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy

Fried Chicken

Greens

Candied Yams

Corn Pudding

Cornbread w/Butter

Oyster Casserole w/Cheese

Ambrosia

German Chocolate Cake

Peach Cobbler

Lemonade / Iced Tea (Loaded with Sugar)

I literally ate this way until I was about 30 years old, at which time I began to pay attention to what I put into my body and began to read labels on the products I bought. However, I was still unaware that the toxins in the foods I consumed were slowly killing me.

At the age of 40 I decided I wanted to enter fitness competitions and adapted to the standard “bodybuilding diet” which consisted of…..

Broiled Chicken Breast

Yams

Brown Rice

Salads w/Apple Cider Vinegar

Tuna w/Lemon Juice squeezed on it

Egg Whites (dozens of them)

Steak (once a week)

Lots of Water w/Squeezed Lemon

Protein Shakes / Drinks

Bodybuilding Supplements (lots of them)

I continued to eat this way for the next 3 years, incorporating a routine weight training and cardio regimen. It seemed that no matter how strict my diet was or how hard I worked out I just couldn’t seem to get my body lean, decrease my body fat and didn’t understand why. I began to get bored of it and started eating the junk I grew up on.

It wasn’t until I met Marcus Patrick in February 2008, that my life began to change in a major way. At first my interest in him was purely sexual; I was focused on “having” him for myself no matter what I had to do. Two months after meeting him at a friend’s bachelorette party, I connected with him again. My mind was still focused strictly on the sexual physicality of Marcus. I found him hot, sexy, beautiful, and intelligent. I had to find some way to get close to him; I had to have this man! My wheels started turning.

I found a way….. April 2008 I employed him as my Personal Trainer! I didn’t realize it at the time, but my life was about to change tremendously. I was literally on my way to becoming immortal. Immediately, he began talking to me about Wheat Grass. I thought to myself, “What the heck? I’m not interested in Wheat Grass. I want this man!” He was about to take me into what I considered another dimension.

As my Trainer, Teacher and Life Coach, Marcus was focused 100% on ascending me higher in frequency and vibration through Spirit, Mind, Body, Diet, Physical Endurance, and Training. He began to fill me with his wisdom / knowledge on foods and the effects it has on the body physically, mentally, spiritually. When I gave him the run down on what my eating habits were, he immediately told me I had to go 100% Vegan to get the results I wanted. With no questions asked, I did just that – not even knowing what a Vegan was. He started taking me to various Vegan restaurants and introducing me to a variety of Vegan foods, he assisted me with my grocery shopping, teaching me every aspect on Veganism. Four months later he introduced me to the RAW Vegan Lifestyle which I immediately adapted to 100%.

Today my diet consists of only RAW, Living, Organic Produce, Nuts and Seeds. I’ve never felt better. I have crazy amounts of energy, I don’t fall ill to colds, flu or any other illnesses I used to. My skin is glowing, I’ve even began to reverse age myself! I’ve recently deleted ALL sugar from my diet having only grapefruit as my “sweet treat.” I’ve also been applying crushed papaya seeds all over my face and body as a chemical peel from Mother Nature. Only difference is that it’s not chemical based, it’s all enzymes.

With nurturing my body on RAW, Living, Organic, Pure Foods and Super Foods it was only natural that my awareness and consciousness levels started to take on a curiosity regarding not only the nutritional aspect of this lifestyle, but also the spiritual, emotional, truthful part of it all. With this thirst for truth and knowledge, I began a journey with Marcus with travels to Egypt, Israel, and Greece in search of enlightenment, truth and more consciousness.

During my life transformation coaching and assisting under Marcus, I’ve literally seen and felt my Body, Mind and Spirit transform and upgrade into a much better Being. My Passion and Desire is to pass on these gifts to others so with my Life Coach Certification and knowledge that has been instilled in me, I’m actively looking for other Beings who wish to share these same results by offering Donation Coaching. If there’s anyone out there who has the desire to change their life like I did, contact me (alisa.angelic@yahoo.com) and we’ll make it happen together.

In closing I’d like to share this with your readers…..

We are children and reflections of God. It’s pretty clear that we were created by God and the Universe as magnificent organisms that have short sold ourselves to fast-food and pharmaceutical medicines. We must respect and nurture our temples as our Father in Heaven nurtures us. We’ve been given all the tools / food / nutrients necessary to achieve optimal health and well-being. Why fill our temples with death and disease? Let’s focus on Positivity, Light, and Ascension.

Love and Light, Namaste……

Alisa

-Note: Alisa's daughters are 30, 27, and 15 years old!

-Watch this great video, called We Are The World, in which Marcus shows off Alisa's glowing beauty :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM4A7Y5Ok60

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Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #14

2011 Intentions

These are my food-related intentions:

- enjoy the raw vegan lifestyle with robust enthusiasm. To feel gratitude toward it for improving my memory, clearing my skin, and increasing my energy.

(not my kids, but cute!)

- get my whole family involved, not just me, in the raw food lifestyle. (Raymond said two things that bugged me. First he said that food comes from factories. Then today he wouldn't finish my homemade salsa because it wasn't real (i.e., the bottled salsa he's used to). I said, I know what your spring field trips are going to be: all the local farms in our county. I'm going to have Raymond and his brother pulling kale out of the ground!)

- complete the 11-week Raw Food Rehab Resolve to Evolve program.

(How to you spell raw food success? S-U-P-P-O-R-T)

- review 2 restaurants in Maryland this year.

- to read Earthmother in the Raw's blog from cover to cover. I discovered her blog two months after she stopped blogging. She is gracious enough to leave her blog up for people to read. The sentence that struck me (and now I can't find it), but it was something to the effect of, "wanting to live in alignment with her deepest values." Sounds like me :-) I'm feeling Earthmother on many levels. Thank you!

- eat at 105 Degrees Restaurant. Even better, to take a class. Even even better: complete the Living Foods Fundamental Cuisine program.

- attend at least 2 raw food meetups in my area. They always look like so much fun.

- blog through my favorite raw food book EVER. I know I've done this before and never stuck with it. The book I'm referring to intimidated the hell out of me forever. I thought I'd "work my way up to it." But that doesn't make a hoot of sense. "Robust enthusiasm" right? One of the co-authors has already said yes.

- complete virtual raw chef training with Carolyn Akens (aka thebomb.com!)

These are different than resolutions. Intention is the guiding force of your life. If you create your life on purpose and with purpose, realizing that your thoughts and actions create your world, you'll live more in alignment with your values.

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Sharon-Salzberg-The-Power-of-Intention

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Setting-and-Achieving-Goals-with-Intention

.

Love,

Althea

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2011 Intentions

2010 Gratitudes

The universal symbol of gratitude.

Thank you Rom, for holdin' it down.

 

Thank you Raymond and Jona, for teaching me everyday how to be a better person and mother.

Thank you to my mom, stepfather, grandmother, and two of my brothers, John and Chad, for being enthusiastically supportive of all my endeavors.

Thank you Amaadi for being a friend (that's her youngest son in the photo).

Thank you Shanna for the ice cream maker. (That's Dr. Renee Parks on the left, and Shanna on the right.)

Thank you Arphelia for being so encouraging.

Thank you Charli for sharing your intentions with me every morning.

Thank you Monica U., Sara C., Marcy C., and Suzanne D. for being my most enthusiastic commenters. They always send me the greatest emails.

Thank you Jennifer E. for being my very first vegan coaching client.

Thank you Tyrah, for telling me two years ago, "I see you doing vegan coaching."

Thank you to people in the following countries who took time to read (I mean really read) my blog: Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Finland, Bosnia, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

And speaking of the USA, thank you lovely California people for reading my blog the most in 2010. Los Angeles and Oakland get a shout out for most visits.

Thank you Lori, Sue, Ellen, Kyle, Eleanor, Amaadi, David, Laura, and Michele for being the crew of my Oprah Winfrey Network audition. That valuable experience set the stage for my intended TV career.

Thank you Mystickal Voyage for four glorious, loving, wonderful, magical, amazing, beautiful years. Lori, you are like a mother to me. Those of us who are in your corner love you forever.

Thank you Tony Pann for being the man with the plan.

Thank you : Bitt of Raw, Green Chimurenga, Chocolate Orchid, Carolyn's Raw Food Institute, Raw and Natural Me, Jack and Jill Politics, and EarthMother in the Raw for linking to my blog.

Thank you Southern DC Mocha Moms, Dr. Daun Sigafoose, D.C., and Eric Smith (acupuncturist) for healing me after my car accident.

Thank you Leah, Nwenna, Terilynn, and Queen Afua for your interviews.

Thank you Marcus and Alisa for your awesome coaching.

Thank you to the fourteen "healthy vegans" who graciously shared their stories (#14 is on Dec. 31st)!

Thank you to Raw Food Rehab for the 11-week Resolve to Evolve program that starts on January 1st.

And thank you ALL for reading each and every post!

What are you all grateful for this year? It might not have been as bad as you think. Take the time...I mean REALLY take the time to sit in silence and think about all the human angels in your life in 2010. You'll be smiling by the time you are done :-).

Love,

Althea

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2010 Gratitudes

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, dear readers! Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, I hope it's a peaceful, fun-filled day.

My husband actually got me what I asked for as a gift! He got me Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob.
He actually switched things up a bit and gave me what I wanted. :-)  I'm excited to take my food writing skills to higher level.

I have to get back to my children and their gifts.....They are having a blast.

Have fun today!
Love,
Althea ◦

Merry Christmas!

Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #13

Marcus Patrick

I ate a lot of junk growing up. It's a wonder I was an athlete with what amount of candy I ate. I was lucky that my father always placed a bowl of raw vegetables in cold water on the table at every mealtime. This was his idea of us all having health and it clearly worked.. What a blessing he was! :)

My turning point was a prayer. I was very unhappy in the world. I saw all the corruption and insensitivity to others and wanted off the planet. I asked God/The Universe to either wipe me out or use me for His work because I personally felt done here on Earth. After that my body began rejecting the flesh and diary or any poison. My life changed, I began to cleanse the vessel that I live in. Almost like I am now here as a living example of living with the laws of truth/God.

I eat raw, vegan, living foods. 90% green leaves and a few nuts and seeds. My focus is alkaline foods. Water Rich. Cleansing. Mineral Rich.


I feel Super Human. Like the Light of Christ is growing in me. The Light is in the foods, it can be seen with a Kirlian Image. I've eaten only that so the Light has grown inside me like electrical watts.

My life changed tremendously. I left all the entertainment business for a focused, humble life of coaching other Beings to enjoy the same success and I feel extremely loving to humanity. I have witnessed many miracles with all who follow the information that I practice. I have so much excitement to be alive and evolve into a healthier, stronger, happier being.

Wisdom is hand in hand with humility. We all need to be studying everyday, the new findings of Science and Scripture from the Spiritual past. This is what I dedicated my life to and when anyone chooses to do this they break out from a fixed, arrogant, mindset, into a flexible, learning, bright, being that can flow with Gods, evolution and changes. God is truth and truth is God, so eradicate all lies from ones life and God shows up as truth and wisdom daily.


Marcus' website: http://www.organiclifeandfitness.com/
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Marcus1974
this link is from a interview just completed Dec. 21:
http://www.box.net/shared/static/hdc5piombl.mp3 ◦

Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #13

Vote for my Blogging While Brown panel

http://www.bloggingwhilebrown.com/vote-the-foodies-workshop/

Hey, ladies & gents. I'd like to ask a favor. Can ya'll vote for my panel at the Blogging While Brown Conference in Los Angeles in July 2011?


It's called "The Foodies Workshop." I was up late on a Friday night, December 3rd to be specific. The evenings are my only quiet time. :-) At 11:15pm, I went to the Blogging While Brown site and saw that the call for ideas ended at midnight DECEMBER 3rd. Oh, it's December 3rd now, I thought. I did a mental tennis match whether I should apply for about five minutes. I decided to enter anyway.

But the judges are the public!

You can vote for me by clicking on the "thumbs up" icon. You can vote once per day per computer/mobile device. http://www.bloggingwhilebrown.com/vote-the-foodies-workshop/

Thanks much!
Love,
Althea ◦

Vote for my Blogging While Brown panel

Self-Love

"There is no substitute for self-love. It is the foundation for all things and the starting point for any change."

Jerome Braggs

December is a natural time to reflect. I love this blog, and I love all of you who read it. I started The Raw Mocha Angel to document my journey to raw vegan. Thank you for all the love along the way. Now, at the end of this year, I've had what I believe is a big breakthrough on this journey.

Love, or love of self, is the starting point for change. I'm listening to Louise Hay's audiobook of You Can Heal Your Life for the 10th time (perhaps 20?). Her bottom line: whenever there is a major problem, it's an act of not loving the self. If that sounds way too simple to you, read the whole book before you judge.

Or as Geneeth Roth writes in Women, Food, and God (and I'm paraphrasing): you can't heal yourself with self-loathing. Loving yourself will heal and free you. (And that sums of my review of her book which I promised months ago. That is the book in a nutshell.)

I subscribe to many blogs. Some of them belong to my readers. I've noticed a theme. Amongst the ones who are struggling with weight loss, I sense their frustration. I've shared the same frustration. I've been "trying" to lose the same 20 pounds for 2 years. So why, knowing I have Candida, was I still eating food that no longer served me? That's a lack of self-respect and love.

That is why people lose weight, then gain it back. It's because they haven't gotten to the core issue: learning to love themselves enough to heal.

When you are changing your diet, examine why you eat food that does not serve you. If you are a vegetarian who eats chicken when she's stressed, ask yourself why. If you know sugar makes you crazy, but you are taking bites of candy bars, what's up with that? A candy bar is not a candy bar when it's used as a Weapon of Emotional Destruction. It's now a poison that alters brain chemistry and sugar levels.

So what do you do? Self-loathing can come from many places: parents, family, partners, teachers, friends. For me, I noticed that I was upset with myself for some decisions I'd made between 2000 and 2010. But I've made some really fantastic choices in 11 years. I wasn't celebrating those choices (like starting this blog, easily in my top 5 best choices of the past decade).

I've worked on Acceptance. I can't change the past. It's over. And mind you, this took a few weeks to grasp. Then I came to Gratitude. I am incredibly grateful for my life, and all the people in it. That led to a Peace inside of me. All is truly well in my world.

I'd also joined an Intenders Circle in December. (And http://www.intenders.com/ and http://www.intenders.org/ are the same people. I am listed as leading a circle, but I'm not right now.) Intenders is all about creating the life that you really want. We'll meet twice a month. My friend Charli, who lives in California and attends an Intenders Circle in her area, and myself now call each other everyday to say our intentions. Having a buddy who helps lift you up daily is a big help.

I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. By March, those have been put to the side of the road. They don't stick because the changes you want to make sound great. You really want to make those changes. But you've got to do a lot of self-work, outer and inner cleansing and purging, and cutting folks from your life. And that takes Courage. Fear, as it loves to do, will stop you before you take Step 1. 

Believe that you deserve the life of your dreams. While this post is short, I hope that it hope it helps you begin to love YOU. 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/14737-unconditional-self-love-and-self-acceptance/

http://www.kalimunro.com/tips_self-love.html

Love,

Althea

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Self-Love

Ellen DeGeneres is a Raw Mocha Angel Healthy Vegan!

Hey Ellen! Be on my blog!!!

You got on the cover of O magazine. I'm going to get you to write for me!!! You are a healthy vegan and I've chosen you as one of the 52 people who are part of the "Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan?" series on my blog! Talk to you soon! ◦

Ellen DeGeneres is a Raw Mocha Angel Healthy Vegan!

Russell Simmons: 'Why I'm Vegan' - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

This is an unofficial "have you ever seen healthy vegan?" post. Russell Simmons was on the Ellen DeGeneres show recently, and wrote a post for Ellen's website about why he is vegan. Since he didn't write it just for me, I'll link to Ellen's site: Russell Simmons: 'Why I'm Vegan' - The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Ironically, I found this while I was writing Ellen asking her to write for my "healthy vegan" series :-). No, it hasn't gone away. Just waiting on a folks to send me their testimonies. If you'd like to share your story, this is what I'm looking for:
-how did you eat growing up?
-what was your turning point in consciousness about food, health, and life?
-how do you eat now?
-how do you feel?
-how has your life transformed because of eating differently?
-what wisdom would you share with my readers?
-3-4 really good photographs that show your glow.
Send it to me at mochaangels@aol.com.

Love,
Althea

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Russell Simmons: 'Why I'm Vegan' - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Tahini-Mustard Dressing

I made a Tahini-Mustard dressing from 30-Minute Vegan. I didn't like it at all. In fairness, this was made with raw tahini, which is nothing but ground sesame seeds. I don't even like homemade sesame seed milk without adding a sweetner. Since I'd made so much dressing, I couldn't let it go. I had to doctor it up a bit.

I thought to make it like Annie's Goddess Dressing. For the life of me, I could not remember the ingredients, but I knew the taste. It didn't occur to me to look up the ingredients (like I did just now!).

Here's the original Tahini-Mustard recipe:
1/2 cup tahini
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used wheat-free tamari)
1/2 cup water or more depending on consistency of tahini
Blend

To that I added:
honey (1-2 tablespoons, sorry I didn't measure)
more apple cider vinegar
about a teaspoon of salt
Blended again. It could have used more honey, but it definitely reminded me of this:

INGREDIENTS: *EXPELLER PRESSED VEGETABLE OIL (*CANOLA, *SOY, AND/OR *SUNFLOWER), WATER, *TAHINI, *APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, *SOY SAUCE (WATER, *SOYBEAN, SALT, *WHEAT, *ALCOHOL), *LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, SEA SALT, *GARLIC, *TOASTED SESAME SEEDS, *PARSLEY, *CHIVES, XANTHAN GUM.*ORGANIC INGREDIENTS.


Mine is oil-free and gluten-free which works for me. Try it and play around with the seasonings and let me know how turns out!

And here's the dressing on romaine lettuce.

One thing I have noticed with raw is that you must eat enough food. The more you eat raw, the less you naturally want to eat. I believe it's because raw food is so nutrient dense. This was my breakfast this morning.

The other two items are carrot tuna and Asian Spinach Salad.
Carrot tuna is just carrot pulp, leftover from juicing. I added sweet relish and Veganaise.

The salad recipe is from The Joy of Living Live by Zahkah:
1 bunch spinach
1/4 cup cold pressed sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup, agave, or honey
2 tablespoons liquid aminos, or tamari
wash the spinach, remove stems, and chop. Mix ingredients and serve.

Enjoy!
Love,
Althea ◦

Tahini-Mustard Dressing

Honeymoon Healer Juice

Transforming my kitchen into a healing space! This is what you'd see as you enter my kitchen. :-)

Yesterday I made a lot of green juices. But since I happened to have oranges and cranberries, I made a juice from Raw Food Real World by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney. (one of my favorite books, btw. I still owe this book a review.)

The finished product!

It couldn't be easier:

Honeymoon Healer
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 peeled lime
2 cups of orange juice
Juice cranberries, lime, and oranges.
Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of raw honey.
You can add another lime for garnish.

It's called Honeymoon Healer because of the amount of cranberries, which are good for urinary tract infections. I just made it because I had the ingredients on hand! It's very tart, so if you like that type of drink, for it!

Love,
Althea

Mocha Angel message: 12/8/10: You are loved, truly, today, tomorrow, and forever more. ◦

Honeymoon Healer Juice

Mocha Angel Chocolate Chip Cookies are HERE!

Presenting my foray into the food business: The Mocha Angel Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are vegan, and they are SPECTACULAR. This is an original recipe, all mine, and is an ancient Chinese secret. They are not gluten-free (haven't mastered that one yet). But they are vegan, kid-tested, mother-approved, ooey, gooey, chewy, and amazing. Easily the best cookies you ever had. Everywhere I take these, people are like, "Vegan? Are you kidding me? No way something this good could be 'healthy.'"

Yes, they are vegan. For real. But they are not crunchy, cardboardy, bland cookies. If my cookies were a website, the url would be: http://www.thebombcookies.com/. (that's not a real url, don't click on it!!!)

Try them, try them. you will see, how tasty vegan cookies can be! I've started with these cooked vegan cookies because I've been making them for years. They are a "transition dessert" for those moving from SAD to vegan to raw.

In all seriousness, I've thought long and hard about where I want to go with my career. My intention is to be a master raw vegan savory and pastry chef. Mocha Angels is a healing and food business. I want to merge my passions and loves into one business. My blog was the start, even though I didn't know it at the time. Selling my cookies is the next move. Adding a Mocha Angel message at the end of every post is yet another step. Things are evolving organically. And I thank you all for coming along for this ride.

The cookies are $12 per dozen. You can buy them here. A PayPal button is on the right hand side of the blog.

Love,
Althea

Mocha Angel message for 12/6/10: Rather than impose your truth on to someone else, the question is, "Are you living your Highest Truth?" When you do, you cease to worry about how others are living. Your internal compass becomes peaceful, loving, and compassionate.
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Mocha Angel Chocolate Chip Cookies are HERE!