Exactly ten years ago this week, I faced all of my fears and jumped out of a plane. Today I am facing my fears and exposing online, things that only my closest friends know about my life.

What’s incredible is how in the very act of doing so (and for a long long time after), it is when you grab those fears by the horns, that your entire perspective on them changes. I never thought that I could go skydiving, but the second my feet touched the ground I enquired about getting qualified so I could do it over and over again. As I nervously publish this post about my personal life, I am reminded that YOU are also a close friend, that you are only reading this because we are supposed to connect in this way and that we are here to support one another. It feels so good to share my world with you and  I’m grateful for you every day.

So ‘fear’, my friend, is just an illusion. We have all come from love, love is what we are and it is where we are going. What ever happens along the way may be out of our control, but the way we react to it and the way we feel isn’t.

So here we go…

28 Things you probably didn’t know about me (in no particular order)…

1. My full name is Tatiana Vladimirovna Alekseeva. My family call me Tata. My sister calls me Bro. To my friends, I’m Tanz, Tootsie, Tits, Tats, Taniwha, T, TanTan, Tanka, Tina, T-dawg and Meatball.

2. I don’t remember my dreams.

3. When I learned to hypnotize myself each night before bed to remember my dreams, I saw all kinds of events which haven’t occurred yet but soon came true, exactly the way I saw them in my dreams. I don’t like knowing my future, so I stopped the hypnosis.

4. I like to eat chocolate first thing in the morning.

5. I coach others to menu plan and shop for groceries one week in advance, but go grocery shopping daily myself. It gets me out for walk and fresh air.

6. Most people aren’t able to guess which is me the first time around:

7. I don’t like labels or dogmas and refuse to refer to myself as a raw foodists, a vegan or a vegetarian. I eat whatever tastes good and is good for me. Therefore, the only label I’m comfortable with (and love) is being a Nutritarian.

8. I was always ‘the sober driver’.

9. If we were granted top health and body no matter what we ate and no animals would suffer for our actions, I’d include tiramisu, milk chocolate, cheesy arancini  balls and red wine to my daily menu.

10. For years I thought that I’d be an art teacher. Now I teach healthy eating and recipe creation is my art. I guess you can say, that I’ve made it! 

11. I used to be a children’s face painter and a balloon sculptor.

12. My fiancé Elliot and I were already living together before we started dating. I suppose if you can be flatmates first, then you’ve got a good platform. I can honestly say that it’s possible to love someone more every day of being together.

13. For nearly a year, I attended two entirely different universities, studying two entirely different full-time degrees, until I experienced what a break-down feels like for an entirely first time.

14. Blonde isn’t really my natural colour.

15. I’m a total homebody. And prefer to work from home, study from home, run my coaching practice from home, develop recipes from home and host parties here too (can you tell that I’m typing this from home?).

16. Travel is my sport. That’s about the only time I’ll refer to myself as very sporty.

17. Elliot and I got to drink tea with the Queen.

18. I wouldn’t trade my life for the world. Unless if my parents asked. I’d do anything for family.

19. I drink at least three cups of peppermint tea at home every day. But if I am out, I’d never go for peppermint, ever.

20. I’ve never missed an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I often fantasise about being Kourtney’s raw food coach, Khloe’s channeller, Kim’s chef and Kris’s best friend.

21. I couldn’t hit a musical note if my life depended on it.

22. If I had to choose one food to live on for the rest of my life- I’d choose avocados. Close second is chocolate.

23. If I had to choose one word to describe myself, it would be loyal. Close second is awesome.

24. I love to have a clean floor. Highly dislike cleaning it though.

25. I never learned to drive a manual.

26. I have one younger sister. She once gave me a birthday card, which on the outside read: ‘To my sister, if you were any cooler…”, then on the inside: “.. you’d be me”. No handwritten message, just a store bought empty card. I thought it would be funny if I gave it back to her on her next birthday. We’ve now been sending each other this very same card for nearly 10 years. Oh and it’s full of little handwritten messages.

27. By the age of 23 I was a property investor for the third time.

28. Apparently I laugh in my sleep. A lot.

So there we are. If there’s anything else you’d like to know or anything you’d like to share yourself, hit me up in the comments below!

Unlucky for my poor fiancé (who spent most of the night hugging the toilet bowl), but lucky for your knowledge bank… Elliot’s unfortunate meal choice yesterday, brings me to share my top food poisoning cure, so you don’t have to suffer again.

Food poisoning sucks! I’ve had it once and that was enough to know that it was the most awful 24 hour experience of my life.

Before I get suggesting what you could eat, I must point out that if your body is doing its mightiest to dispose of the offenders in any which way it possibly can… let it. Poop the night away and don’t even try to hold back the vom. Let it aaaall out.

Our miraculous body does everything possible to fight for us, so when it knows that something within its temple is causing you harm – it will push, shove, kick and scream until the enemy has left the building. But it will probably become weak and exhausted from the fight, so it’s vital that you replenish it with goodness.

There are two ingredients to have on hand:

Aloe Vera
Coconut water (or celery)

Aloe vera is simply a wonder food. It is packed with essential minerals and vitamins, which every one of your cells would be begging for right now. It is soothing on the stomach and has a pain-killing and antiviral effect, all while restoring the balance in your gut.

We have a whole aloe plant growing on our window-sill and I often add it to our smoothies or when doing a juice cleanse. You can buy it from your nearest plant nursery and fillet it yourself (click to see how) or you can stock up on readily extracted drinking gel (purchased here) and store it in the fridge.

As for the coconut water- it is vital for the electrolytes, which you’ll need if you want to regain energy quickly. The word ‘electrolyte’ itself is no different to ‘electricity’ in the way it lightens up and turns on your bodily functions. When you drink coconut water, it acts fast to deliver the electricity to all of your cells. Celery also has plenty of electrolytes, so if you don’t happen to stock any fresh and good quality coconut water, then juice some celery and dilute it with pure water.

Once you have your two magic ingredients, simply blend them together and drink. It may seem impossible to think about swallowing anything right now, but believe me- you will be so happy that you did.

I love me a little cheesecake. Sometimes I love me a lot of cheesecake. But either way, my freezer usually has some sort of cheesecake inside it, you know- for a rainy day.

All you have to do is enter 'cake' or 'cheesecake' into the search box on this site, just to see how many recipes I've already posted here of my sweet creations. But no matter how many flavours I could try, nothing quite beats the original: strawberry is the best ever!

RAW FOOD STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

Serves 12

For The Equipment
Blender
Food processor
Stove + small pot
9 inch adjustable bottom cake tin

For The Base Layer
1 cup pitted dates, soaked for 2 hours if too dry
3/4 cup Brazil nuts
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 tsp Himalayan salt

For The Cream Layer
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
1 cup coconut oil, gently melted
1/2 cup lime juice (about 2-3 limes)
2/3 cup xylotol
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
optional: water as needed

For The Strawberry Layer
1 Tbsp Agar Agar
1/2 cup pure water
2 cups fresh strawberries
1/3 cup coconut oil, gently melted
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 Tbsp coconut sugar

– Make the base first by placing all the ingredients into a food processor with a S blade. Pulse until the mixture starts to form into one big sticky ball. Transfer into a cake tin and press it down with your fist to form a crust.

– Place all the Cream Layer ingredients into a blender and blend to a smooth creamy consistency. Leave the water out if you are using a high speed blender, but for an ordinary blender you may find that it helps the machine to work better with a little added water. Pour the cream over the crust and transfer to the freezer.

– Mix Agar Agar with 1/2 cup of water in a small pot, bring to boil and stir for 2-3 minutes until Agar flakes dissolve entirely. Pour this gelatinous liquid, as well all other Strawberry Layer ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until creamy and pour it over the cake.

– Transfer to the freezer for 3 hours to set and let it remain there if you don’t plan to eat the cheesecake straight away. You can eat it right out of the freezer if you like an ‘ice cream’ type cake, but for the soft creamy version, leave to defrost in the fridge for 2 hours before serving.

As soon as you try the recipe, I think you'll agree with me, that it's just so much... Better Raw.

This site is currently down for maintenance. Please bare with us while we make the changes you’ve been asking for. x Tanya