If you’ve ever wondered how an actress, singer and chocolatier stays healthy, today’s your day to find out. Our lovely friend Rochelle is here to share why and how she stays feeling healthy and fabulous with a busy and varied career. Rochelle is the talented chocolatier behind the amazing Lover Raw Chocolate (I can tell you first hand this chocolate is sensational!) and as a Japanese Reiki Master, she also has an App you can download called 97 Reiki Tips.
Over to Rochelle and her delicious recipe!
What drove you to adopt a healthy lifestyle?
I’ve always been interested in health, as in feeling good! My friend in Australia survived cancer three times, and introduced me to a raw food diet in the 90′s! I was completely baffled by how she could do it and realised at that stage that though I ate good foods, raw foods was probably 10% of it! But in the 90′s raw food was old school, not like the gourmet style of now!! So she introduced me to juicing. I started juicing every day from that time onwards.
Then I moved to England and my health started to decline due to the damp climate and lifestyle. I didn’t notice it to begin with as i was ‘fresh off the boat’ from an amazing upbringing between Austria and Australia! I was born with Oteosclerosis (hardening of the bones in the ears) but due to a healthy lifestyle it didn’t really kick in, until England. Terrible tinnitus, vertigo and hearing loss … I had to relearn how to sing, and learn to be sane with this condition that no one can see, but very much exists. My first doctor told me I was making it up! I went for a second opinion, had tests and it was very clear it was oteosclerosis. Ironically nothing to do with noise damage from being in bands. The doctors said my only option was a serious operation that would leave me in bed for 6 months at a time (6 months for each ear) – and the success rate for this operation was 1 in 100!! At best it would help for a bit, at worst i would go stone deaf! Yippee to options!
I became very depressed and then went to my doctor for pills, instead she prescribed superfoods & sunshine !! She told me to try her list of superfoods and come back in 6 months if that hadn’t worked. That turned my life around … and in that time Kate Magic from Raw Living opened her shop in Brighton.. and since magnesium was on my list of superfoods i went to town on raw chocolate! I bought so much of it I won competition of the month on the most chocolate consumption… they were begging me to make it myself and I was happy to buy it by the slab… until they sent me away with ingredients and told me to go make it! Ha! Which led to Kate and I creating my first raw chocolate bar, The Bullet Ride Bar – it had maca, purple corn extract and rum… intended as band merchandise for my album launch, it was a sell out at Wholefoods in London. This was in the days when raw cacao powder and butter didn’t exist, we were grinding up cacao nibs in Vitamixes! Those precious days planted the seeds for Lover Raw Chocolate.
Health wise, I was completely malnourished in a Western way, I was also touring a lot with the band, on flights daily after little sleep, so through superfoods, superherbs and medicinal mushrooms I completely energised and healed. As I balanced out, my body craved less superfoods and I listened to that. For travel, instead of carrying loads of superfood bags with me, I made slabs of raw chocolate with all the superfoods in there and that made it very easy to stay on top of things on such an irregular lifestyle.
Just before all this, I also got into Japanese Reiki, and am now a Master Teacher, have been for about 8 years.. which is another big story in itself, but I have been practising daily for 14 years. It’s an amazing and very deep practise if taught correctly, the Japanese way.
What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
I still have mild tinnitus and hearing loss, but having seen the medical tests it’s clear my body is healing, and the doctors are very curious regarding what I’m doing. The vertigo is 99% gone, especially since moving to LA and getting more sunshine I can absolutely feel a difference on all levels.
What does your daily diet look like?
I only eat when I’m hungry so i don’t follow a time frame. It depends on where I am. If I’m at home, I like to start with a green juice & 1 piece of raw chocolate (ok – maybe more like 3 pieces)! If i can’t do that then I’ll have a chlorella shot, and make an electrolyte lemonade with the lot. Or an acai banana bowl.
Since Fukushima I now take daily iodine… B12… and in winter I take D3.
Then when I am actually hungry I will make a crazy salad of some sort… or kale chips or miso soup with avocado pieces (the Sea Clear by Shaman Shack – is fermented with kelp & chlorella and is truly divine on anything!), or raw hummus dip with carrots, cucumber, peppers, raw olives etc. I like sprinkling on hemp seeds and then adding sugar free ketchup to hummus – must be an Australian thing!
For dinner I usually have a kelp noodle dish of some sort. Or marinated veggies in the dehydrator is really delish – adding onion and mushroom to that mix always takes it to another level – it’s always different, different sauces and mixtures. I’m 90% raw and I tend to mix raw sauces onto cooked gluten-free things like quinoa pasta, and I add superfoods to everything I eat unless I’m going out. I love Thai food, so if I end up somewhere like that with friends, I’ll have a vegan option of whatever I want. I have been known to sprinkle medicinal mushrooms onto vegan Pad Thai !!
At some stage in the evening there’s a hot herbal tea with some crazy herbal / superfood concoction, chaga, lions maine, reishi, shilajit, Kotuku’s raw chocolate superfood blend (with maca, mucuna and other goodies) … if i am feeling straight I will add a bit of stevia, if i am feeling wild I will add a S**T load of Coconut Bliss icecream and raw chocolate pieces on top, heaven as it melts, love the hot cold thing !
What are the top three healthy habits that have made the biggest difference for you?
Liquids = Good quality spring water / daily green juice
Probiotics & fermented foods
Exercise! That dirty word … Sex, dancing in a club, and walking my dog doesn’t count! So whether it be street dance classes, hiking, skiing, or forcing myself to the gym, it’s about full movement with cardio to get the blood pumping!
I’m gonna have to add a fourth! Colonics!
How do you stay motivated and inspired?
First and foremost I had a disabled brother, Herbert, who was born normal and became brain damaged through doctors botch up. He is my hero.
I have always been very driven. When I was 9 I told my mum I wanted a job and wanted to contribute somehow! So I started working! We all have our problems but I know I am very blessed, and I want to put that to good use. I want everything I do to add something positive to this crazy world, whether it be music or chocolate or something new. High vibe that brings benefit to the world on some level… I love that the demand for cacao means planting more trees, which sustains rainforests, creates more wild life and oxygen on earth. I love that the farmers are building their communities, educating their kids, and creating sports teams etc. I love that in balance it is healthy for people to consume and replaces far inferior desserts.
People like David Wolfe, Shazzie, Dara Dubinet keep me inspired .. not only are they great friends but they are all on amazing missions and enlighten so many lives.
Different cultures and languages, movies, art galleries, hot springs, friendships, nature, synchronicities, adventure … I was recently at Esalen in the Big Sur, soaking in a hot spring under a new moon, the darkest of skies, luckily no mist (!), and I felt like I was being devoured by the milky way, saw 9 shooting stars in 1 hour … inspiration at it’s best !
What is something most people don’t know about you or wouldn’t expect?
Though I was a professional model, actress and dancer at 11, I wanted to be a professional ski racer! Living in Australia meant I would have to move to Europe… but I started out on the ski scene in between jobs.
If you could have just one more meal, what would it be?
Is that a full meal or just a plate?!
It involves restaurant hopping! Juliano Raw’s Bangkok Thai kelp noodle dish! With added Cheesy Endives, Pumpkin Tortellini & Garlic Bread… and his spicy Tom Kha Gai soup…. followed by a Tirumusu & Keylime Pie from Cafe Gratitude, washed down with some Lover Raw Chocolate! I’m sure i have forgotten some things but that’s a good start!
What first step do you recommend our readers take to start experiencing greater health and energy?
Add in the good stuff! Don’t worry about sea-sawing in your transition. It’s a part of the natural process of change. I found I wanted to continue this path because it makes me feel amazing… so in the end, the good stuff won even if I cheat from time to time. I don’t really consider it cheating, but when I wake up with those ‘wheat eye lids’ (puffy!!) I am more than happy to go back to what I love most!
It’s about having fun! When i am home I have a loose routine that I really love, it’s developed over time and works for me. I listen to my intuition so it changes, and I know what I need .. but if I am out I’m going with the flow.
Please share a recipe or resource that you love with us.
Rochelle’s Electrolyte Lemonade
Grab a blender – my preference is a Vitamix!
I have magnets (pointing north, south, north, south) all around my blender – it’s creates a vortex and breaks up the cellular molecules / structure, so you get more bang for your buck !
Basic – Level 1
3/4 blender jug of coconut water / or spring water / and you can add in 4 tablespoons of any medicinal / herbal blend (such as Gyrostemma tea)
Throw in 3 or 4 peeled lemons depending on size
1 apple / pear
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon high quality sea salt
1 teaspoon Camu Camu berry
Go Wild – Level 2
Any and / or all of these…
Fruit of choice – raspberries, strawberries, acai pulp, gojiberries, coconut flesh
Chia seeds (if using these add in first so they have a chance to hydrate)
Irish moss
Tocotrenols
Probiotics
1 inch aloe vera gel (cut open the leaf and scoop out)
Any medicinal mushrooms or A grade herbs of choice, like Chaga / Reishi
Buzz till smooth and enjoy !
Any leftovers go in glass jars for the next couple days.
The post Spotlight Friday: Rochelle Vincente Von K appeared first on Vimergy.