Interview of Megan

Megan

Title: Owner, Head chef- Decadently Raw Confections/ Raw food instructor.

Megan is the owner of Decadently Raw Confections, a dessert and chocolate company based in Los Angeles. She is a a certified raw, vegan food instructor and is a Mastery Candidate in Vegan & Live Food Nutrition from the Tree of Life. There she is taught cutting edge nutritional and health information. She is available for in-person or over the phone consultations. Consultations are customized to fit the needs of every person.

Website or Blog www.decadentlyraw.com

I was 1 of 11 picked out of thousands of other girls. That honor lead me to my next proudest moment, being awarded a soccer scholarship to Radford University in Virginia.

After 2 years there, I had an ‘ahh ha’ moment and realized that life is too short to be miserable, which I was, so I transferred to Colorado University at Boulder and graduating with a psychology degree from CU is probably my next most important accomplishment.

Becoming Vegetarian then vegan and ultimately raw is one of the most important accomplishments of my life. It was a serious battle and an arduous journey for me.

I was heavily addicted to food and had an unhealthy hedonistic relationship with it so, getting out of the cooked food matrix is something I am very thankful for.

Lastly, starting my business Decadently Raw Confections is one of my top accomplishments. It takes a lot of courage to follow your heart and put yourself out there.

Not to mention all the time and effort that goes into product design and development, pr, marketing, web design, distribution, accounting and countless other task involved with running a business. I am blessed that I am in a position to share my knowledge and sweets with the world!

When did you get interested in raw food and making yummy deserts?

After college graduation a friend and I packed up and moved from Colorado to Santa Monica, CA. We just so happened to move in across the street from Juliano’s Raw (which is now called Planet Raw). After one meal there I was hooked on the concept of eating raw and had to know more.

For the next 6 months I worked at Juliano’s and spent off time reading every book I could find on raw food. I also began experimenting in the kitchen. After years of messing around I found I had more of a knack for making desserts and chocolate than 5 course dinners. I’m not surprised because growing up we (my brother, sister and I) used to watch my Grandmother make the most fabulous birthday cakes, pies and cookies and as kids we used to help out a lot.

I have many fond memories of helping my grandmother in the kitchen. I’m so happy that I found a way to desserts and not feel guilty about eating them!

When did you become a vegan?

After I started the transition to eating 100% raw, there were occasions when I would still cave and eat pizza or fettuccini alfredo.

I would be raw and vegan for a week but after a night of drinking my body would crave greasy cheese and I was too weak to resist. I was very unhappy with this abstinence and binge type of behavior.

I knew the addiction to dairy was physical and psychological and I was determined to overcome it. After 6 months in California I temporarily relocated to a small town in Kansas to help my grandmother. During that time I was still abstaining and then bingeing, until one night I really overdid the bingeing part. My body was rejecting the toxic foods I crammed into it and my stomach began to puff up like a pregnant woman.

I had one of those rock bottom, look what you are doing type of moments. I vowed to myself that from that day on I would take control of my choices. My reasons now for being vegan are heavily tired to the ethical treatment of animals. Salted avocado was my saving grace; it helped me kick my dairy habit.

Any products or services you would like to share? Please talk about them.

Recently I was introduced to a company called Living Libations. They have the best essential oils! I add a few drops of the oil to coconut oil and use that as moisturizer and I also use it on my hair.

I am very into clean, pure water because what you drink becomes your blood. I have spring water delivered to my house in glass. Recently, I took my water to a new level, I received this contraption called a Vitalizer Plus as a Christmas gift. It uses magnets to vortex and structure the water. Drinking structured spring water has improved my health tremendously.

Different colored sea salt from Salt Works.com, is another treasured discovery. You can get red salt from Hawaii, black salt from the Mediterranean, peach salt from Bolivia or pink salt from Australia. My favorite is the sulfur salt from India called Kala Namak.

I am super psyched about Ultimate Superfoods.com. They have the best quality superfoods on the market. Their cacao paste, clear agave, coconut oil and hemp seeds are my favorite products.

How can eating organic, raw, vegan, gluten free candies help with weight loss?

It will stop you from eating all the other toxic stuff. Organic and raw foods are recognized by the body and can be broken down efficiently.

When you eat processed, cooked and non-organic food your body doesn’t recognize the food and it responds by sending white blood cells.

A craving for chocolate can be easily satisfied by eating just one piece of raw chocolate, where it takes a whole bag of cooked chocolate. When you eat raw, nutrient dense desserts you’re body feels satisfied and in turn you eat a lot less.

Please talk a little bit about www.decadentlyraw.com and your mission.

My companies mission is to make delicious, nutrient dense, cruelty free desserts and chocolates.

That way people can have their cake, eat it and be healthier because of it. I want everyone to know (especially all the women out there) that a world does exist where chocolate is healthy and you can eat cake for breakfast.

How long has your website been online?

About 7 months now.

www.decadentlyraw.com