Many Journeys, Many Delicious Choices
 ~ My Personal Journey to Conscious Eating and Living a Vibrant Life ~



My own personal journey has led me on a natural progression to follow a raw vegan diet, which for me was simply a process of becoming aware that my body was telling me what my soul already knew and desired. A time for change and evolution was to take place for me. I realized that my body had reacted cellularly, even before it could register mentally. Eating products from animals would affect my stomach, making me feel ill and certain products would also make me cough with extreme congestion. As a sensitive, anything relating to animals would affect me greatly. The more I opened myself up to embracing who I was, acknowledging the path I was on and where it was to lead me, the more it manifested in my life clearly, as to the steps I needed to personally take. This helped to align myself with the choices that were most supportive to living the life that I believed and was born to express. It also simultaneously helped to raise my vibration and provide better clarity and vibrant energy. This was "MY" path and time, for change and understanding on a whole new level, which would start to take
 

Special veggie dish in Aguas Calientes, Peru -
Bird made of veggies too!  Photography by Tania Marie

shape in my dietary choices. For me, my diet, health choices, lifestyle and beliefs were starting to all interweave and become cohesive. And I can't tell you how much my experience of life has changed with this choice. Life is getting to be as bright, colorful, beautiful, succulent, and as vast as the variety and array of raw goodies that are available.
                                                                                                                                                                             Raw chocolate cake  

   
                         
Vegan raw meals featured throughout were created by vegan raw chef, Kundalini Yoga instructor, artist and organic gardener, Fateh Kaur Baser of Cascadas Farallas ~ Waterfall Villas, Costa Rica near Dominical Beach (An eco-lodge retreat specializing in personalized services, custom packages and organic gourmet raw, vegan and vegetarian cuisine healing journeys).
Photography by Tania Marie

To Read More About Traveling In Costa Rica As A Vegan Raw Foodist And Enjoying What Waterfall Villas Has To Offer
CLICK HERE for article by Tania Marie
  
It was just simply time for me to experience life in a different way and to live and choose consciously. I see life to be about consistency and walking the walk and so I do my best not only to be the change I want to see, but to live by what I believe and feel in my heart is right for me. That is what works for me and it's important that I be consistent with the energy I am putting out there and what it is I am sharing with others. So what you see, is what you get. There are no "behind closed doors" behaviors and thoughts in my world.

I feel that part of my journey is to live my life openly so that others can feel safe to do the same. It's not about right or wrong, but about being true to yourself, whatever that means. I feel it is important to listen to what our bodies tell us and to go with what feels natural. Part of knowing and understanding what is natural is to understand what is authentic to you and what is not and to find that right balance. It is increasingly important to become more conscious and to be more proactive in decisions and choices, to listen more to ourselves and to keep informed, but with a wise filter that takes in only what feels right and is not just accepting of whatever the majority is doing. So many of us don't know why we do certain things, we just do it because it's what we've always done, or it's "just the way it is," or it's what we've been shown or taught, or it's what everyone else around us is doing. I follow what I am feeling as much as possible in the moment and if in question as to where those thoughts or behaviors came from, then I ponder their source and explore their authenticity to my life.



This leads me to vary the percentage of raw vegan and cooked vegan foods I may intake at any given time. I have been vegan since 2005 and raw since 2008. I find that I mainly fluctuate between 85-100% raw, depending on how I feel and circumstances I desire to put myself in. That is, I balance raw with vegan cooked foods, but if I do cooked I always try to choose very healthy, light, organic options including things like steamed veggies and rice, tofu, beans, etc. I allow myself a couple of vices too, when I have a craving, and usually if i honor that, then I'm not in need of having it all the time. I find this balance to be very healthy, to feel good and keeps me grounded, as well as maintains a level of tolerance in my body that enables me to travel and be in different social situations when needed. It also supports honoring my body's natural rhythms and needs, which allows me to flow more and to not be so structured. It feels good to keep a balance and to simply listen to what the body needs at any given moment and not what the mind thinks it needs. There are times outside of balancing that I can be very extreme, briefly varying my percentages even more, depending on what my body is relaying to me, if I'm traveling and at social events or outings. I will then supplement the balance of my diet choices with very healthy, vegan cooked foods. Yet, I always make healthy, conscious, preferably organic choices. No matter how I swing, I ALWAYS maintain a 100% vegan diet across the board, which means I never consume any animal products. For me, a high raw diet is what feels most balanced and healthy and I can instantly feel the difference when I stray off of that. I also prefer simple, light raw foods and unless I'm out, I don't do too much of the complex or high nut raw meals. My body operates much more smoothly with low nut density and less complexity, but do enjoy gourmet foods when I'm out or feasting with friends! I follow what my body tells me, consciously, and I find that the less I try to create rules, the more my body falls into its natural rhythm and doesn't have to do the extremes as often. And, if it does, I allow it and by doing so it quickly gets back into finding a new, healthy balance, which is ever-changing as I am, because I honored it.




I've been blessed with friends, such as Laura Bruno, who have truly helped support my choice to go raw and vegan. Laura is very knowledgeable and shares my love for raw vegan gourment cuisine! We can eat anyone under the table when it comes to yummy raw foods. And I am so grateful that Laura has put out an awesome, supportive, informational, and recipe packed e-book, "The Lazy Raw Foodist," with cover, compliments of moi, to help anyone looking to make changes in their own life, or simply to explore new horizons! She offers great nutritional information as well that is hard to come by and offers one an easy "way to raw."

Being vegan, or for that matter a vegan raw foodist, is not as hard or challenging as one would first think. There is always a way to simplify things and there are so many restaurants and services available these days that truly help make life more convenient if you don't have enough time yourself to prepare or shop for meals and ingredients. I find restaurants to be very accommodating if you simply ask! Asking is the key and most chefs are much more than willing to do what they can to help your dietary needs and a lot of times find it an adventurous or exciting task to step outside of their normal routine box of menu items to explore their creativity. Chef and delivery services are another option, as well as local meetups and potlucks.

                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                      Photography by Tania Marie:  Key West butterflies enjoying a fruit delight


One such service I found here in Reno, Nevada is Dining by Design ~ Personal Chef Service by Chef Brandy Hackbarth, Coral Academy of Science Lunch Reform Committee.

http://www.ChefBrandy.com or http://www.facebook.com/ChefBrandy   "Slow food for fast lives!"


Testimonial on Chef Brandy's Services:

"Brandy provides personalized, custom menus to fit any lifestyle and dietary needs at affordable prices. I found her to be an extreme gift in my hectic life, offering a wide range of delicious menu items each week that were tailored to my tastes and sensitivities. As a vegan raw foodist and running my own business, it can be challenging to find time to create gourmet meals, let alone any meal, on a more specialized diet. Not having any local, raw restaurants, having Brandy's chef services was a real gift that saved me time, provided the organic, healthy foods I wanted with exciting variety and delicious satisfaction. Not only did she save me time in preparation, but the fact that she also shops for the items needed, delivered and provided the meals in organized containers that were neatly labeled and easily stored, was really a special service that is invaluable. Thank you so much Brandy!"  Tania Marie


For more information on how you can take advantage of Laura Bruno's wonderful new resource,

"The Lazy Raw Foodist"
                                                                                                                                                                  
CLICK HERE





Includes loads of quick and easy recipes, links to the author's favorite products, nutritional information, 45 + easy recipes from famous raw chefs, and lots of mental, emotional, and spiritual support for anyone trying to lose weight or increase consciousness through food!


Tania Marie's "Tree of Life" design is featured on the cover of this new e-book.


Words from the author about the Cover Image by Tania Marie:

"This 2004 drawing of the "Tree of Life" by Visionary Artist, Tania Marie jumped out at me as the perfect cover image for "The Lazy Raw Foodist's Guide." I love how the figure faces out or in, depending on your perspective, and I love how the arms stem from shrugging shoulders or hands openly receiving - again, depending on your perspective. One person's "lazy" is another's "effortless abundance." Same appearance with an alternative experience and meaning! Tania Marie is a raw foodist who inspires and uplifts with her heart and gorgeous paintings."




There is so much variety to explore out there in terms of food, life and experience. Part of the key is in being open to change and trying new things, to explore new horizons and possibilities and above all to live life with conscious choice. Sometimes we neglect to ask ourselves the questions. Perhaps because we don't want to really know the answers for fear of what that might mean to our lives as we've known them or that we might find ourselves alone. But if we stop to be curious for a moment, we may hear a different voice speaking through that could energetically change the way we see and experience life, may affect our health, draw in interesting synchronicity and like-mindedness from others on similar paths and wave-lengths and expand our awareness in totality.

Laura also wrote an extremely fun and informative article entitled, "Laura Goes to the 9th Annual San Francisco Vegetarian Festival" for www.welikeitraw.com.
 
This article features photos, compliments of myself, as I assisted Laura with a little photography help that day, and documents our
adventures while perusing the festival and more.

It includes lots of info on the raw vendors and products that were featured at the Veg Fest. And as Laura noted, even though this was not a raw festival per say, 2008 boasted a huge raw foodist showing with at least 3/4 of the booth tables featuring something raw. As Laura put it, it was "an amazing raw extravaganza!"

And of course we had to hit one of our favorite raw "hot spots," Cafe Gratitude, (we've shared the last 2 Thanksgiving celebrations together here) where we enjoyed a scrumptious raw gourmet feast of entrees, smoothies, and dessert to soothe the soul and set your taste buds on heavenly cruise control. We were both in raw bliss!

To read about our adventures at the San Francisco 9th Annual World Vegetarian Festival click here:

Laura Goes to the 9th Annual San Francisco Vegetarian Festival  

Because of my commitment to my choices and beliefs, I naturally accepted the invitation to showcase my paintings at The Raw Spirt Festival in Sedona this last September 2008 with great enthusiasm. I truly enjoyed sharing this experience with countless others and of course, majorly feasted on all sorts of yummy raw goodies! I am grateful to all who supported this venture and truly was honored at the reception my creations received.

Everyone has their own journey along the path of life and everyone is operating on their own time, which is EXACTLY as it should be. Yet, everything is happening in synchronicity and cohesiveness. All unravels perfectly and the beauty of life is choice. With choice, there are eternal possibilities and such is ALL THAT IS - it is eternal and ever-changing. What would be the purpose of life if we were all the same? So while I celebrate the beauty of the creatures of our Earth, I also celebrate the beauty of every human who shares it with them.

                                                   
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                 My booth at The Raw Spirit Festival, Sedona, AZ




Photography by Tania Marie: Cafe Gratitude's booth at World Veg Festival, featuring the scrumptious "I AM" raw vegan ice cream bars
(chocolate ice cream between chocolate cookie sandwich is my fav!)

In the words of Cafe Gratitude:

"Café Gratitude is our expression of a world of plenty. Our food and people are a celebration of our aliveness. We select the finest organic ingredients to honor the earth and ourselves, as we are one and the same. We support local farmers, sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly products. Our food is prepared with love. We invite you to step inside and enjoy being someone that chooses: loving your life, adoring yourself, accepting the world, being generous and grateful every day, and experiencing being provided for. Have fun and enjoy being nourished."

Nutrition can be a spiritual experience and enhances your spiritual nature.

Conscious choices are empowering choices.