About the Bride & Groom
The story of how Matt Monarch & Angela Stokes met…you can read all about it in a blog entry that Matt posted one day when he invaded Angela’s blog… 
Oh Yes!!!! Finally! WA! HA! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Angela left her blog window open.
Ladies and Gentlemen… Matt Monarch Here!!!
Hello Everybody!!!
Today Angela ate:
- 2 pounds of unripe fig skins (her tongue, lips, and gums started to bleed)
- 32 ounces of strained brine from sauerkraut with a tablespoon of Celtic sea salt and 4 ounces of lemon juice (that didn’t go over too well with her RAW figged-out mouth)
- 1 large red onion (she ate it like an apple)
- 32 ounces of straight ginger juice with 6 tablespoons of cayenne pepper mixed in
- 1 pomegranate seed
Sometimes when I am doing a talk I naturally start to talk about our “relationship” and how much I LOVE that woman. If Angela is with me when this happens, at the end, I ask her if she was all right with that. She says, “sure, but I don’t think they really want to hear about that though.” Judging by how the audience’s smiles light up the room like sunshine, I think it’s a good thing.
I am already going to be up SH!^$ Creek so here we go.
Just about 2 years ago (My 5.5 year mark of 100% Raw) I got an email from a Lovely Lady named Angela Stokes. This email enquired if I would be interested in carrying her wonderful E-books on my website. Rolling my eyes, I clicked the link to her website. The website opened up and I saw a picture of her for the first time ever.
Have you ever seen Bugs Bunny looking at the “HOT Bunny Chick”? Well, this is what happened to me. My jaw dropped to the ground, my eyes popped out of their sockets about 3 feet in front of me, my heart FLEW throbbing to Pluto and back numerous times, as my tongue lied on the cement drooling all over the pavement.
Containing my self, confidently I say, “Well yes Angela, I would love to carry your ebooks on my website.”
She didn’t think anything of it at first. One email turned into many, which curled into an abundance of loving energetic vibrations like flawless shimmering diamonds flying throughout the universe.
Before you knew it, I asked her to come to California and do a lecture tour with me. She did. When we met eye to eye for the first time at the airport, there was something beyond belief about our connection. It was as if I was a child meeting someone without any energetic disturbance. It was pure, unsophisticated… It was home.
The next many months flew by as we would sit on my couch gazing into each others’ eyes for hours upon hours reaching heights of bliss and love as we evolved (or as Angela would say “shifted”) spiritually to unimaginable heights.
“You’re a Fool!” would be common words emanating from this Beautiful Angelic Goddess of a being. I was younger, up and coming, loved to date, and I was pretty much a fool. Continuous dating of other people from both of our sides brought much pain in our beings. Little did I know that the misery I was experiencing was my jealousy and the fact that I was IN LOVE with Angela.
To make a long story short, Angela finally left me and went to Costa Rica for over 3 ~!LONG!~ heart-wearing months and did a 92 day Juice Feast. At the end of her 92 day Juice Feast, I had to pick a friend up from the airport and it just happened to be that Angela was arriving in the same airport 30 minutes earlier. I was magnetized to the arriving terminal of Angela Stokes. I looked up the escalator shaft and there she was!
So, HAVE you ever seen Bugs Bunny looking at the “HOT Bunny Chick”? Well, this is what happened to me. My jaw dropped to the ground, my eyes popped out of their sockets about 3 feet in front of me, my heart FLEW throbbing to Pluto and back numerous times, as my tongue lied on the cement drooling all over the pavement.
Not only did she look “model-like” gorgeous from doing a 92 day Juice Feast but something had shifted in her being. When you do a tremendous fast, such as only consuming liquid for 92 days, massive spiritual growth will inevitably occur. Many lingering negative energies that Angela picked up from being Morbidly Obese, dropped from her being.
Ever since that moment I saw her coming down the escalator in the airport, I dedicated my life to her. Luckily… LUCKILY!!!… She took me back in her arms. Before Angela did her Juice Feast she was already a spiritually progressed being. NOW, I can’t get away with any juvenile actions. I am just holding on to her curtails as we spiritually grow together. I either grow or I will be left behind.
I can’t express how lucky I am to have this Delectable Raw Goddess in my life. When I look at her sleeping, my heart stops, I can’t breathe, as my aching being hungers to put my lips against her skin. I am and will always be in Love with Angela Stokes.
About Angela Stokes
Back in 2002, I was 23 years old, about 19 stone (266lbs/120kg), UK dress size 26-28 and lost in miserable cycles of a non-existent love-life, uncontrollable overeating and complete denial. My pride stopped me discussing my weight with even my closest friends and if anyone tried to broach the subject with me, I strongly resented them for ‘interfering’.
My weight had steadily increased since my thyroid gland went under-active aged 11. By 16, I was 16 stone (224lbs/101kg) and my weight increased with my age, a stone a year, until by age 21, at my university graduation in 2000, I was 21 stone (294lbs/133kg). That was the heaviest I reached and when my health began to suffer so much that I thought I had diabetes, I knew this couldn’t continue.
Two summers later I was introduced to the idea that revolutionised my life. A friend lent me ‘The Raw Family’ by the Boutenkos – a testimonial book about eating mainly or only raw foods for optimum health. I was utterly absorbed – I’d never been interested in diets, health fads or slimming aids and suddenly it seemed the right answer was in my hands. I began the very next day and the improvements in my health over the next weeks were astonishing. You could almost see the weight burn off me – I’ll never forget seeing my collar bone again for the first time in years; my skin and hair quality improved dramatically, my energy soared and I was filled with vitality and a new hunger – for real life.
Within just a month of going raw, I had my first boyfriend in over 5 years – I was thrilled and increasingly inspired and dedicated to my new lifestyle. I found that as I became less of myself physically, I became more of myself as a whole person. I began to open up in ways that I hadn’t found possible before, allowing truth, honesty and trust to develop. I had been locked up in that body for so long and now the real me was appearing and generating much interest, especially from men.
It’s been over five years since I started eating raw and I’m happier than I’ve ever been – I’m now UK dress size 10, can wear whatever clothes I like, eat delicious raw food daily and take great pleasure in treating myself well.
This process of transformation has been an extraordinary learning experience and I would not wish to change what I’ve been through to become the woman I am today.
Check Out Angela’s Site: Raw Reform
About Matt Monarch
Matt Monarch is 100% raw vegan; his diet consists of only raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and seaweeds. He has been eating this way for eight years and enjoys extraordinary good health, bountiful energy, clarity of mind and a deepened connection to nature.
Prior to going raw, Matt worked in a demanding corporate environment and ate a standard American bachelor’s diet, including cooked meats, dairy, bread, greasy foods and candy. Despite this, when he went raw, his overall health was good – other than a few pimples, he was in great shape. Matt did not go raw therefore to relieve any major health issues – he simply received and whole-heartedly embraced the raw lifestyle as something that made complete sense to him. He was particularly attracted to the fact that this lifestyle offered increased longevity and freedom from degenerative disease.
Matt dove head-first into a 100% raw vegan lifestyle after reading Dr Norman Walker’s classic raw food book ‘Become Younger’. His initial detox and weight loss concerned family and friends, but he was fascinated with this new way of living and persisted. Matt’s interest led him to thoroughly research the many different ideologies in the raw movement and delve into his own experiments. He was most impressed by the work of raw food pioneer and 50 year nutritionist Dr Fred Bisci, PhD. After meeting at a raw food festival in Oregon, Matt and Fred went on to forge a strong friendship together. They then co-created http://www.TheRawFoodWorld.com as a resource centre of tools to help people live free from degenerative disease. They are dedicated to sourcing and providing the best products available. http://www.LivingNutritionals.com was also created as a separate venture by Matt to reach out to those beyond the raw community who are interested in nutrition but are not necessarily motivated to go raw at this stage.
After five years of eating a 100% raw food diet, Matt was inspired to write a book called Raw Spirit. He wanted to share information that he thought needed to be out there, reflecting in particular on some of the physical challenges of going raw, along with the amazing shifts he experienced on the spiritual level with this lifestyle. Raw Spirit has become one of the best-selling raw books available: people appreciate Matt’s honest approach and his willingness to discuss aspects of being raw that often go unmentioned. Two years later, Matt wrote his second book, ‘Raw Success’. Matt considers ‘Raw Success’ like his “Bible” for the Raw Lifestyle. The ground-breaking concepts shared in this book have the potential to shift how modern medicine is practiced today.
He is committed to the raw lifestyle and passionate about spreading this message of health to others. Born and raised in California, he now travels all over the world, lecturing on raw foods and exploring the delights of fresh raw produce in different locations. He inspires audiences with his enthusiasm and simple, accessible approach to going raw in a healthy and sustainable way and is sought after as a speaker at raw gatherings.
Matt is currently the owner of three different health-promoting websites: http://www.LivingNutritionals.com, http://www.rawveganbooks.com and http://www.rawspirit.org. He enjoys yoga, being in the sun, spontaneous travel, challenges, open communication and DURIAN.
Check Out Matt’s Site: Raw Spirit
