Ani Phyo: Health, Wellness, Raw Food & Detox Expert LIFESTYLE Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Ani Phyo: Health, Wellness, Raw Food & Detox Expert

Dance in the Park in the Sun

Old school friends came down from San Francisco last weekend to host the most wicked day of dance, tunes, and great vibes…and it was the best day I’ve enjoyed in a while! DJ’s Solar (above) and Galen (below) are both Sunset and Pacific Sound crews. (I used to have a multimedia studio back in the day in SF, and we threw a historic NYE party in 1995 together with Sunset). When I lived in SF, all I would do is dance for exercise. It’s the best workout ever! Plus, Solar cooks, and of course loves Raw Food!

Here’s Galen. These guys still look the same as they did back in the early 90′s! And they put so much love into their music, you can feel it. We agreed dancing, good music, and raves are what keep us young! I was just up in SF a couple months ago, and went to the Sunset boat party hosted on a ferry that sails the Bay from 6 to 11pm. A perfect way to finish off the weekend, always.

Since I’m usually in bed by 10pm, this daytime party in the park was exactly what I needed! The sun was bright and warm in Van Nuys where we all laid out picnic blankets, brought food, and danced up a storm. Galen, Solar, and the Sunset Crew are known for their outdoor parties on Sunday afternoons. They’ve been hosting them for probably over 20 years now! We’d all end up at Sunset parties after a long weekend. Great way to taper down off the […]

By admin|October 10th, 2011|LIFESTYLE|0 Comments

A Day in the Sun

To celebrate completing my book, I spent the day on my bicycle. Rode it about 25 miles to and from the ocean, and I was stoked the sun finally came out…even in Santa Monica (which seems to always be overcast, foggy, and cold compared to West Hollywood). While I was in Santa Monica, I stopped at the beach by the pier, where there’s an adult playground with ropes to climb, balance beams, parallel bars, and a row of rings to swing on.

Since I’m a monkey (Chinese year of the Monkey) I was drawn to the rings. It looked hard, but it really doesn’t take strength, but rather, finesse. You just have to get enough momentum, rocking back and forth, to swing and grab the next ring. That said, my hands were killing me, and I was on the kiddie set of rings! The adult set are really high up, and scary. But, perhaps I’ll give them a try next time I visit the coast.

Whenever I find myself West of the 405, which is a rarity, I make sure to stop into see Juliano at Planet Raw for his kick-ass chocolate shake….that revs up my cycle back home. Yesterday, I enjoyed a burrito at Better Life Cuisine, and spent a couple hours catching up with Dr. Z, who owns that building.

Back in WEHO, I stopped at Beverly Juice Club for my favorite green juice shake blended with frozen banana and sunflower seeds (no added sweetener). Had hoped to get to my favorite Koreatown Sauna, but ran out of time. Instead, met my friend and his puppy at the […]

By admin|September 27th, 2011|Fitness, Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE|1 Comment

Kanga’s 9-Year Birthday + Dogversary

Labor Day marks the weekend my Rhodesian Ridgeback, Kanga, and I rescued one another….9-years ago! How time flies. (and yes, I cake sunblock on my face, as you can see).

Kanga had been at the Humane Society for over 2 weeks, and no one adopted her. Surprising, since she is a beautiful specimen of this breed. Plus, she came fully trained, so someone had spent a lot of time and energy with her. She was skin and bone, and 50+ pounds underweight with kennel cough and dusty fur. Poor baby.

Luckily, a truck intercepted 20 dogs on their way to get euthanized, and brought them back to a no-kill shelter in Portland, OR called Family Dogs NW. This was where I found Kanga early the very next morning. I applied the same raw food principles to Kanga as I do for human healing, and over the next month or two she gained 50 pounds and regained radiant health on a Raw Food diet. You can read more about her journey in Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, where Kanga has her own dog food chapter.

My brother Max saw this photo of Kanga and said she looks like she’s “mugging”. I had to ask him what the heck that means. Max said “mugging = posing, like rappers do for pics”. Hahaa. Yup, Kanga is a superstar, and very popular too. Folks always stop us to pet her, especially young children.

Kanga’s from Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and […]

By admin|September 9th, 2011|Beauty, Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE|2 Comments

Ani’s St. Thomas Celebration

My family loves to take our holiday in mid to late January in honor of Mom’s birthday, and after the holiday crowds have dispersed. This year, we found our way to the beautiful island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.

When the water reaches out to the horizon with over 180 degree views, it’s super calming and breathtaking.

The palm trees are over 5 stories tall, and full of green coconuts that I can’t reach. It’s torture, especially since there’s a bunch right off my balcony. It took me several days before locating a coconut to drink. (Though, I think I like Thai coconuts better. They have a sweeter and fuller flavor.) I was surprised at how little fresh produce or raw foods were available on St Thomas. They were serving pineapple juice out of giant cans and were making smoothies using strawberry puree from a box! Thank goodness I packed most of my suitcase with fruits, sea vegetables, nuts, seeds, blue green algaes, and superfoods.

I met a lot of iguanas, they are so cute, and very mellow. Folks seem afraid of them, but they’re harmless.

All I want to do on holiday is play play play. One of my favorite pastimes is swimming in the warm ocean (the ocean in LA is much too cold for me). I’ve been enjoying the sun, lifting heavy weights, and running up mountains. I don’t recommend running here because the roads are very […]

By admin|January 20th, 2011|Fitness, Health, LIFESTYLE, Travel, Uncategorized|5 Comments

Moby at Monster Massive

The weekend before Halloween, Tami Erin and I went to Monster Massive in downtown LA. It’s a huge 40,000 person rave. I think it was probably the hugest party I’ve attended, and it was packed. I won’t bother posting up photos of the crowd, just imagine a sea of people dancing up a storm inside a huge sports arena.

You won’t normally find me at such a high energy event, but since Moby personally invited me, I wasn’t about to miss it. I have to admit, I had a great time. I love dancing, it’s one of my favorite pastimes, great exercise, and Moby rocked the house. I’ve never seen a DJ jump up onto the speakers to dance while spinning records. He had so much energy, a testament to his healthy vegan, whole food, and heavily raw food diet. Moby had the crowd going nuts, they loved him, as we all do.

By admin|November 12th, 2010|Events, Fitness, LIFESTYLE, Music|0 Comments

Walk for Farm Animals with Gene Baur in Santa Monica, CA

I had the honor of leading Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals with founder Gene Baur in Santa Monica. You may remember I was invited during the summer to speak at the annual Hoe Down in Watkin’s Glenn, NY with China Study author Dr. Colin Campbell.

We kicked off the walk with talks by Gene and I. Kanga, my pooch, was happy to be a part of the Walk for Animals.

Tami Erin, who played Pipi Longstocking as a child, was our celebrity who came to show her support.

Gene, Tami, Kanga, and myself lead the walk. We covered about 3 miles north from City Hall through the 3rd street promenade. It was a beautiful sunny day, and tons of cars beeped to show their support as they were driving past.

The walk finished back at City Hall in Santa Monica, where Gene and I signed books. The lovely Jolia Allen and Moira Nordholt walked with us too. It was the largest turnout yet, with over 150 walkers.

By admin|September 25th, 2010|Events, Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE|1 Comment

Feeding My Hair with an Indian Head Massage

I gave my digestion a break today by skipping solid food and drank Energy Soup (inspired by Ann Wigmore) all day. So, I decided to feed my hair instead with an Indian Head Massage.

Our climate’s dry here in Los Angeles (a dessert), and the sun’s been bright this summer, reeking havoc on my locks. My hair felt dry and my ends brittle. So, I took my bottle of organic, extra-virgin, cold pressed olive oil into the bathroom, and poured a heaping tablespoon into the palm of my hand. I massaged the oil into my scalp and hair, and worked it through to the ends. Note to self: next time, pour the oil directly onto scalp…I have a lot of hair.

Our skin is our largest organ, and you know I like to avoid putting things on my skin that I can’t drink since it absorbs into my blood stream. Well, did you know our scalp is one of the most absorbent areas of our skin? Mine drank up more than a 1/4 cup of olive oil, and was happy for the increased blood flow and circulation from the massage.

I first discovered this massage, also known as Indian Head Massage, at a spa in Portland, OR. It alleviates stress and tension, increases blood flow and circulation, and promotes hair growth. Supposedly, this treatment done in the evening before bed helps alleviate sleeping issues, so I’m hoping it will cure the insomnia I’ve been suffering from all week long.

Choose almond, coconut, sesame, and/or olive oil since they moisturize, condition our hair, stimulate hair growth, and have a neutral scent. After your massage, wash your […]

By admin|August 30th, 2010|Beauty, Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE|3 Comments

NYC Raw Food + Friends

I was in NYC last week for my television appearance on NBC at Rockefeller Center and several events celebrating my newest book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. I love how easy it is to get around NYC without a car by walking, taking a train, bus, or subway. I miss great public transportation when living in LA. It’s also surprisingly easy to be healthy and to enjoy raw foods in NYC. I felt super lucky to be invited by the lovely Mia Andres from Organic Avenue and raw model Anthony Andersen for dinner at Pure Food and Wine.

This was my first visit to NYC in 6 years, and my first visit to Pure. I was blown away by the food! It was super fresh, beautifully plated, and really delicious. We enjoyed the S+M salad, appetizers, ravioli, lasagna, but my favorite thing ever was the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sundae! I finally got to meet the heart of Pure Food and Wine, Sarma Melngailis, who’s even more beautiful in person.

The next day, I was invited to Quintessence for lunch with my good friends Dhrumil Purohit and

By admin|August 12th, 2010|Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE, Music, Travel|1 Comment

Moby, Frances Fisher, and DiamondSnake

ani phyo, frances fisher, eva, moby, diamondsnake

Moby was performing with his new heavy metal band DiamondSnake last night in Hollywood, where I bumped into Frances Fisher and Eva. We had a blast dancing up a storm. You can see Moby on stage behind us rocking out to his new Heavy Metal music.

Lead singer Phil Costello’s voice is incredible. They have a song called Rock and Raw, give it a listen on their homepage. These guys are a funny!

It was way past my bedtime of 10pm, and I lasted to about midnight, but left before they finished their set, unfortunately. I hope to get to see DiamondSnake again, maybe along with NYC tour next month.

DiamondSnake was sporting vegan guitar straps, very cool! Choosing vegan has the biggest impact on helping to save our planet and stop animal suffering. Besides, a vegan diet, and especially a raw vegan diet, helps with weight loss, increases health and our immune system, and gives us tons of energy to rock on roll!

It’s official, I now like Heavy Metal music. Moby…I love you!

By admin|July 8th, 2010|Green Living, Health, LIFESTYLE, Music|1 Comment

Community Gardens in South Los Angeles

neelam ani phyo raw food essentials

During my silent 10-day Vipassina mediation last October, I had a vision to work with kids in underprivileged neighborhoods teaching them how to garden, grow food, and make healthy food. These neighborhoods lack fresh produce or healthy food options. The only way to save lives is to teach kids about food, real food. Growing our food builds confidence and self reliance. It’s important for kids to understand where their food comes from.

Neelam Sharma is the Executive Director of Community Services Unlimited, Inc. and is largely responsible for the development of CSU’s food justice and youth training programs. She helped create The Healthy School Food Coalition, The LA Food Justice Network, and the California Food Justice Coalition. An inspirational lady…passionate, intelligent, and beautiful.

garden ani phyo raw food

Neelam and I met at the Expo Center garden, where I first met Dana Clay, the Urban Farm Assistant responsible for this beautiful garden. I found a curry tree for the first time, and the leaves tasted pungent, like curry.

cherimoya ani phyo raw food

They even had a cherimoya tree! Yum. The last time I saw a cherimoya tree was in Baja. I love cherimoya, and just picked up 3 at the local farmer’s market. Visit CSU’s weekly Farm Stand in front of the Expo Center on Menlo just north of MLK on Thursdays from 3-6pm.

Find more […]