In spring of 2012 after seeing Tonya Zavasta’s videos I decided to give a raw food lifestyle a try as soon as I finish writing the exams. Although a month or so prior that when I came across the concept of raw veganism I thought it to be too much (that’s not to say that I buried the thoughts of trying it forever).
Tonya radiates life and is simply stunning! She has been on fresh, unaltered plant foods since 1997, so over 20 years. She is turning 60 this January, and you can’t tell that.
No need to say that all this time I’ve been a frequent visitor to Tonya’s website, beautifulonraw.com. I also emailed her a couple times and she and her assistant Natasha always were lovely in getting back with detailed answers.
Here is a mini bio on Tonya
Tonya is Russian and has a background in engineering, physics, and mathematics. A couple decades ago she moved to US.
This strong woman was born with hip issues, which showed themselves in the severe limp (she stopped limping 15 years ago). We can only imagine what it’s like to be a girl and to limp. Her dream was to be able to dance… Long story short. This hip is what ultimately led her to a raw vegan diet.
Tonya has written five books and a couple eBooks. In her works she either talks about raw veganism directly or references it.
I’d say she is pretty strict with herself. She eats only until 2 pm and does her favorite Birkram yoga daily, sometimes for a few hours. She also fasts from time to time, practices cold water therapy, does facial exercise, and other stuff. Of course, she also suggests these practices in her books. For example, in her book Quantum Eating: The Ultimate Elixir of Youth she lays out the reasons why it’s beneficial to stop chewing after early afternoon.
Tonya has a line of skin and body care products and devices, some of which I tried. I guess her educational background helped her to come up with some of them.
She appeared on TV and several magazines a couple times.
According to her last post, currently she is traveling in RV across the States sharing what clean plant foods can do for people’s health and herself being a living proof.
Why am I writing about her?
I think that she has a good deal of potential to give you that final kick to attempt to “survive” on uncooked meals for a few days. Like I said, this was the case with me. Thank you Tonya 🙂
Main references:
https://www.beautifulonraw.com
http://www.thefruitdoctor.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/tonyazavasta-navy-blue-dress.jpg (image)
Hmmm Margarita.
I don’t believe this woman. Regardless. Maybe she is stunning but not beautiful, I feel that beauty is a consequence of love, beauty is the truth and its absolute as it doesn’t change… maybe her diet works for her in her own ways and for a lot of other people in their own ways, but … I feel this “raw vegan”, wave is a trend unfortunately. Just like coconuts, iPhones, Teslas, social media and even traveling and etc. To keep people occupied with something, to focus their energy on and destruct them from seeking their own truth, seems that people are people, nothing more, bodies wasting their lives on maintaining their system, such a mess, no!? To live to maintain your own body!? I know we all have to do that and it is an obligation in fact but the question is to what extent….but I guess all is irrelevant, as why try to maintain something what was created for destruction, to prolong the1
process!? the destination is inevitable, so why not spend that energy on seeking own truth.
Or maybe I am off topic here :).
Hello,
You are looking at raw veganism from a bird’s eye view, so you are on topic. You’ve took it to as far as purpose of life though!
My answer could be as long as a book but it’s unlikely that you will change your opinion about this kind of lifestyle (unless you come to it yourself). And there is no need to. People are different and it’s only natural that there are different opinions about things. If all people were the same, the world would be boring, don’t you think? 😉