Raw Success Story - Kay Brinkworth, 49

Gold Coast

       Before                                5 Months After

My life has turned around in the last 5 months. It all started with a 4 week Rawjuvenate For Life Program, which totally changed my world. In the 4 weeks I learnt so much about real nutrition, how addictive cooked food is and a way of living that turns back the clock.

My skin has improved. I’ve lost 3 inches around my waist and 5 kilos without even trying. After the first class I thought “this is going to be impossible as I not only have to cook for my family but I also cook for my job”! And I loved a glass of wine or 2 at night and usually drank a bottle over the weekend.

I said to myself, I am going to commit to this. Something inside me said it was going to be worthwhile. It turned out to be both possible and worthwhile because I did it an d I LOVE the NEW ME.

My family and friends kept picking on me saying “What are you doing to yourself, eat some real food, you’re losing too much weight”. Unfortunately they haven’t yet discovered what ‘real food’ is.

As the weeks went on I felt so light, fit and happy.

I knew I was onto a good thing. Katya was right, I didn’t need alcohol or fatty and sugary food to be normal. There is so much variety in fresh, live foods. The list is endless.

You can create delicious recipes and they taste better than soggy tasteless cooked foods.

No more reading labels any more because Real Food doesn’t have.

No more hangovers because you are in control.

No more digestive problems.

Katya has showed me how to live a lifestyle that is making me happier, slimmer, energetic, mentally focused and best of all, look younger. This has been a Special Gift for Life!

Thankyou for my Special Gift, Katya - Love Kay

How it began…
2/2/06 - I arrived at Katyas to do my 3 day retreat, bloated and overweight from Christmas holiday eating and drinking plus a relationship break up which left me with low self esteem to rebuild and all in all a very sad, depressed, uncomfortable and fearful state.

The 2day fast was easy for me and immediately relieved the bloated feeling. I got some much- needed rest and nurturing and set about turning my life around from the inside out. At that stage I never even thought I would be going raw after the fast.

Day 3 I started eating fruit and Katya and I made some raw foods for me to take home. My energy was still low but I was looking and feeling better and more positive about life. I decided to stick on raw foods for a few days and to start exercising more to get my metabolism working again so I wouldn’t put on more weight. I remember thoughts going through my head when Katya and I were making food ‘How am I ever going to do this without machines (I had no juicer, no food processor and no blender). I had a pestle and manual grater! Anyway I decided not to worry about that. You soon learn not to look too far ahead when you are recuperating or creating changes in your life. I had food to take home with me which would get me started that would take care of the first few days and let me get organised. First step was to stock up on some organic fruit and veg.

One week later - Surprise, surprise I was still eating 100% raw! Not 100% organic but 100% raw. I had increased energy, motivation and a happier disposition. The raw food had inspired me to be creative about my eating again and I had a more positive outlook about life and the future in general. My gums (which had been bleeding profusely when I arrived at Katya’s) had stopped bleeding.

I had lost weight, my physical strength had increased and I was sleeping well. I found I didn’t really need to eat too much to feel satisfied. And I really enjoyed the food I created which consisted of green juices, fruit, salads and rough hand made pesto of different varieties.

The next week saw me sourcing and introducing more ingredients to add variety to meals. I was given a food processor (from my dear mum who had a brand new one sitting in the back of a cupboard, doing nothing), which allowed me to make better pesto, spreads, tomato sauces, nut milk and smoothies! Wow I was on my raw way - I was excited.

19/2/06 I am still on raw food and I have lost a lot of weight and am feeling really energetic. I am riding my bike at every opportunity and walking a lot. I actually want to exercise and look for opportunities to do so. That in its self is a huge change for me. I have booked myself into courses I have wanted to do and am really getting back into life with renewed enthusiasm.

My skin is good, my eyes are clear and sparkling and everyone is saying how good I am looking. I also feel very calm and at ease. That’s the other change I have noticed. I feel quite peaceful inside and really calm. I have slowed myself down even though I am doing more. I have become very clear minded and articulate. No fear and much more motivation to act on ideas or alternatively not act and say so forthrightly. In other words I feel serenely strong and in my own power. A sense of authenticity is exuding from me and others sense it too. In fact I am really enjoying the raw food. I feel special almost superior at times. Is this weird or part of the raw alignment process? It’s given me a sense of unlimitedness as if I can achieve what ever I want to. I feel it is synchronising me with my universal timing as wonderful chance meetings are happening. I have started to be in the right place at the right time. Life is flowing effortlessly and wonderful, loving people are coming into my life and I am loving it. I have been out to lunch and dinner 3 times and each time I have become more inventive or asked the chef to create something gourmet for me. Each experience has been better with the last waitress actually saying ‘our chef loves doing that sort of thing he enjoys the challenge!’

21/2/06 During the last 5 days I introduced the AFA and Goji Berries.

I can honestly say intuition is heightened and I am laughing a lot more and really loving what each day brings. When I have been out to do dinner I don’t even crave what the others are having. I look and say how is your meal to be polite but it ‘s as if a switch in my head has been turned on and this is what I am doing now.

Katya worked with me on the emotional connections to cooked foods, how to change this conditioning, rebuild personal power and how to set attainable goals. When I was with Katya, I wrote down my goals from the programme and they were: higher vibration, better body, clearer mind, balance, more control/personal power, confidence, health, lighter feeling – as if not carrying emotional burdens. Now just 21 days later I can say I have already achieved these goals and will now keep these goals in place to further improve them from this point on.

What I can tell you is the difference between organic and non organic food is this:
It appears the organic foods are more satisfying - meaning you eat less of it and more sustaining, meaning you last longer on it.

Who knows how long I will stay on a raw food diet, for now it’s as long as I am happy and can see and feel the benefits. I have a loose goal of staying raw until my birthday, which is 27/3/06. I purposely have not renewed my licence yet until I get closer to the date as I want my license to reflect the ‘new’ me. Like a good friend said to me recently ‘’What ever you are doing – keep doing it…..it’s working!” Debbie Shearer.

Kim Stansfield, 47

As a fitness teacher and now a Yoga teacher, I have always had an interest in diets, read most books on them & tried several different theories. I have however, always had a natural preference for salads & enjoy their natural flavours over sauce driven cooked meals.

Now in my 40’s and having spent 8 months of last year travelling in Europe, I found eating out 2 & 3 times a day quite frustrating due to not being able to get the type of foods I preferred to eat. My diet slipped into the restaurant food regime, which also included wine & coffee & not too much exercise. I returned home feeling and looking bloated!!

Reflecting on times when I had felt better – pursuing the ‘Fit for Life’ diet some years ago I decided to find some answers.

‘When the student is ready the tutor will appear’ seemed to immediately come true. I came upon 2 raw food recipe books which showed beautiful photos of how raw foods could be, the next great find was Katya’s business card promoting her Rawjuvenate For Life Program, just what I needed.

I had intended to do a 3 week cleanse course which then extended to being 99% raw for 3 months. This was due to my immediate feeling of well being, losing 4 kilos and receiving many compliments. Compliments ranged from:
My clear white eyes - special glow & attractive regained shape – the latter from my husband Tony. He was so impressed, he too took to the coconut/almonds/raisins/sprouts breakfast & many times will share my totally raw diet for days.

Eating raw & creating imaginative recipes is exciting, although my 12 year old daughter Jessica is especially hard to please & perhaps typical of most children. However, she will persevere with certain dishes offered. The reality of living a Raw foods Lifestyle becomes quickly obvious.
When eating an enzyme rich, raw food diet you simply do feel better, which does improve your attitude and subsequently you tend to have a more optimistic view on life.

NEV Hack 56 - Gold Coast, 15 Months after Rawjuvenating with Katya

I first met Katya, a Raw Foodist, in September, 2004. She looked great – slim, healthy and vibrant. I, on the other hand, was a total mess! I was overweight (105kg), had arthritis in my fingers, gout in my big toe and was constantly battling colds and flu with a head full of mucus. My neck was stiff due to a diving accident I had when I was 21, in which I had crushed three vertebrae. I work in the construction industry but was constantly exhausted. Worst of all though, was the fact that my doctor had told me that my prostate levels were extremely high. That scared me, as my father had died of prostate cancer and my brother also has it. I was depressed and very negative, and was finding it hard to make decisions both at work and in my life. It was time for me to do something about my health – or face the prospect of an early death. So I listened as Katya spoke to me about a raw food diet, and the positive effects it would have on my mind and body. I was reluctant to try it at first: It sounded like a dramatic lifestyle change, and I didn’t know if I had the willpower to carry it through. However, after tasting some of Katya’s food samples, and with her encouragement, I decided to give it a go.

I eased into it. For the first three weeks I simply cut out the greasy chips and hamburger lunches and instead ate the raw food lunches Katya prepared for me. I was also having grilled fish three nights a week and eggs five times a week. I was eating raw food and juices for the rest of the time. Within days I found that I was moving around the construction site with much more ease.

The next big hurdle was my addiction to coffee and Coca- cola and on the third week I cut them out of my diet, cold turkey. I felt absolutely terrible for three or four days, was grumpy and suffered a constant migraine, but once that passed I felt good and clear-headed and was very pleased with myself. After three weeks, I changed my diet to 100% raw food. At this time I started to lose weight at the rate of ten kilograms per month, but at the same time my energy levels were the highest they had been since I was a teenager. I was on a high.

Then at about the eight week mark, my energy deserted me and my muscle tone was diminishing at a incredible rate. I just couldn’t eat enough raw food to keep my energy levels up. This continued for several weeks and then everything seemed to plateau. At this point my life started to change around me: my vision was improving and my neck was freeing up, allowing me full movement without the crunching and grinding I had always heard when I moved it. I no longer had a head full of mucus, but was breathing cleanly all day long. Within four months of eating only raw food, I found that I was alert and experiencing a connection with all of my senses such as I had never felt before. I even seemed to develop an ESP.

But the main positive to come out of all of this was the change in my prostate readings. Before I started the diet the doctors had wanted to do a biopsy on it, with the probability of removing it. I said “No – no biopsy. That would only leave a space for the cancer to grow further” Instead I maintained the raw food lifestyle and went back to the doctor’s for monthly blood tests. Five months later, I had a clean bill of health! The doctor’s couldn’t believe it and asked my secret. I replied ‘Raw foods”. Now after eight months of the raw food lifestyle, my body is slowly re-establishing itself: I am regaining muscle tone and my skin looks great. An unexpected bonus is that my sexual desires have increased out of sight! I no longer have gout or arthritis, I now weigh 85kg and feel so positive that I could take on the world single-handed. I am much calmer and feel connected to the Earth in a way I have never experienced before. Meeting Katya and being inspired by her example has given me a life that I would never want to lose. I know my life is only going to get better and better in every way through eating raw foods.”

Note - On my father’s Death certificate, it is written that the cause of death (prostrate cancer) was due to excess meat consumption.