=Melanie Patching           =Clementine Kyeremateng               =Kelly Martin



Congratulations Clementine, GO! Kombucha half case is all yours!

Clementine Kyeremateng (UK) said: "Turbofire makes me lose all sense of time. The music is catching and Chalene is very motivational."


Congratulations Kelly, a month's supply of Pura Vida's onion bread is all yours!
Kelly Martin (UK) said: "The activity that makes me lose track of time is when I am painting my art. A whole day can go by and the only reason I notice the time is when my body is aching from not moving lol!"







It's that time of the year again, which means sparkly lights, reindeer, bubble wrap, holly berries, outrageous festivities, ribbons, too much shopping, ice-skating, ornaments, chimneys and Better Raw give-aways!

This year I've had the opportunity to work with seriously amazing companies and get to know the seriously amazing people behind the seriously amazing products. There's too much seriousness in that sentence, but seriously though... I am completely behind the incredible products below, use them every day myself and am absolutely over the moon giving you a chance to being a proud owner!





Sun Chlorella "A":  this is my favourite superfood product on the market, it is am extremely high quality and balanced nutritional supplement, rich in various nutrients. Sun Chlorella "A" contains many nutrients found in green vegetables such as essential amino acids, protein, minerals, vitamins, chlorophyll and carotene that are essential to a healthy body. Remarkably, Sun Chlorella "A" contains 60% protein by weight. And because Chlorella pyrenoidosa strain is used, which is cultivated outdoors, this chlorella extract contains a yield of chlorella growth factor (C. G. F.). Their unique and patented technology succeeds in breaking down the cell walls by 95%, thereby solving the only remaining problem of tough cell walls that hinders digestion and absorption. Hence this product will satisfy not only first-time users, but also those who are dissatisfied with conventional chlorella products or other health foods.





GO! Kombucha: this incredible drink boasts an army of probiotic acids (good bacteria), digestive enzymes, antioxidants and B vitamins that work to balance the body's functions and promote vitality and well-being. GO! Kombucha harnesses two decades of knowledge and passion making kombucha tea; always slowly fermented in small batches over weeks, not days, to ensure optimum potency. It is the only organic-certified handmade kombucha tea available in the UK; made with filtered local spring water to ensure utmost purity. GO! Kombucha is bottled in tinted glass to filter out UV light which destroys live bacteria (PET plastic can leach dangerous chemicals due to the tea's astringent acids). I love drinking mine from a wine glass and have as a healthy (majorly healthy, would you believe it!?) alternative to alcoholic drinks at parties.





Pura Vida Food: not only is this one of my favourite raw products out on the market, it is my favourite bread! All Pura Vida products are 100% living, enzyme rich and prepared under 40degrees C to ensure no nutrients are diminished, vegan, sugar and gluten free, organic and hand made with love. What more can you ask for, especially when something is so healthy and filling and scrumptious and is a BREAD! The ingredients are simply sprouted buckwheat (note this is not a wheat product!), extra virgin olive oil, flaxseeds/linseeds and sea salt.




1. Anyone can enter the competition, as I will post Sun Chlorella "A" pack and Pura Vida breads anywhere in the world, but GO! Kombucha is available to UK residents only
2. You must answer the question together with your full name and country of residence to be in to win
3. There are three prizes, so you will automatically have three chances to win. You can increase your chances by mentioning this "Win an amazing Healthy Hamper from Better Raw and receive it by Christmas, enter via www.BetterRaw.com" on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.
4. Closing date for all entries is midnight GMT Wednesday 7th December 2011, winners announced 8th December 2011
5. All winners chosen at random with the trusty random.org

I have a confession to make...

I love anything peppermint, prefer most things over shopping, miss painting murals, could make a good fruitarian, am fluent in Russian and used to be in Japanese, laugh really loud, would rather stay home, facepaint for fun, own more scarves than anyone I know, can make an egg stand on its tip, and am totally terrified of photographers.

Have you ever seen the ‘Friends’ episode, where Chandler Bing acts all normal and relaxed until someone tells him to smile for the camera and he instantaneously screws up his smile in the most awkward ways that you’d think he had serious defects?

Yeah. I totally get him.

If you do as well, even just a teeny tiny dot, you would be VERY interested in whom I am about to introduce to you...

Samjhana Moon (pictured) is the most beautiful inspirational soul behind Goddess Portraiture and the woman responsible for transforming my belief about being photographed altogether.

I met her at a seminar over a year ago and instantly became the number one fan of her work. If I told you how often I visited her site, you’d probably call me a stalker.

It’s true! This woman’s photographs had something extra special in them. They had their very own heart beat, and it was in sync with mine...



Aren’t they something? That’s how I knew that when I man-up enough to update my profile image, she would be the one I’d go to!

And I was not disappointed one bit. Far from it. In fact I was absolutely blown away by the trouble Samjhana went to, making it an incredible experience for me. From devoting precious time getting to know me and you too (my audience) before working out a location, to countless phone calls to various orchards and bio-dynamic farms for status update on the crops, to actually carrying me across a field full of prickles.

Sounds like I am making it up doesn’t it? Oh no. She really got me on her back and crossed a massive yard to the other side so my feet don’t get stung. I am sure she won’t be so keen on word about this one getting out incase you too might expect the same, but I really thought you needed to know how special Samjhana is.

My day with her flew by like nobody’s business and whatever she did to take my mind off being in front of the camera, I will never know. Much of Goddess Portraiture work is to capture natural beauty stripped of all material things, so she has to be good at making you feel at home in the nude and certainly has an extraordinary gift to make you feel completely comfortable in your own skin.

I wish for every woman to experience a day like mine and seriously encourage you to check out more of Samjhana’s work right away...

http://samjhanamoon.com/
http://goddessportraiture.co.uk/

Here are some images from our day together, which I'll use to spruce up this Better Raw website:

A

B

C

D

E



F


And because she is so amazing, she even agreed to give you 10% off when you mention my name ‘Tanya Alekseeva’.

And because you are amazing and I trust your opinion, I want to give you one of my tickets I got to the most awaited event of the year ‘Vitality Longevity and Genius’ worth £95!

All you have to do in the comments below is:
1. Choose whether you prefer photograph A, B, C, D, E or F to be my new profile image
2. Include your full name


Winner drawn at random regardless of photo choice. Competition is open to anyone. Only one entry per person. Winner announced Monday 3rd Oct 2011

Exactly ONE week to go until bloggie blog's birthday, which also means there is only ONE week to go until entries to the Healthy Hamper Competition close! And what better way to remind you of the amazing energising health-boosting delicious superfoods you can win, than use them in the most amazing energising health-boosting delicious recipe...

Elliot fuelling up to train for part of Tour de France race

A little about Matcha:
This finely milled Japanese green tea is a superfood amongst superfoods. Thanks to teapigs I have been able to experiment with all kinds of recipes from smoothies and hot drinks to chocolate and cakes. The available antioxidants are upto 150 times higher than standard green tea. Ingesting a whole tea leaf ground up, means you get mega high potency in catechins, chlorophyll, theophylline, theannine and essential amino acids. All this means, that it boosts metabolism, helps reduce cholesterol levels, energises for an extended period of time and calms the nerves. And the taste is oh so good.

A little about Hemp seeds:
Hemp is another name for the cannabis plant... and now that we have that out of the way, let's focus on its incredible health benefits. Hemp seeds are about 80% essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acids, omega 3, omega 6, etc. This would do wonders to your skin, hair, nails and overall internal organ happiness. There are no known allergies to hemp seeds, even for those that can't tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose and sugar. In addition to EFA, these health powerhouses are high in amino acids, iron, dietary fibre, calcium as well as a vast variety of minerals. I add them to cereals, smoothies, milks, crackers, breads, deserts or just eat as a snack on their own. Delicious.

1 Cup Shelled hemp seeds, soaked overnight
4 Cups pure water
Pinch Celtic sea salt
1 Tbsp Matcha green tea powder
2 Tbsp Raw honey
1 handful fresh peppermint
Ice, as needed

-Blend hemp seeds, water and salt. Then strain
-Watch me demo the making of nut/seed milk here
-Transfer the strained milk back to the blender and blend
-TIP: for a hot drink, leave the ice out and blend for 2-3 minutes on high


You can WIN a Matcha Kit and Hemp Seeds, as well as a whole array of superfoods by entering the Healthy Hamper Competition