What this book is about
If you ever wondered how to feel good for your whole life, remain young and look your most beautiful, then this book has everything you need. Tonya Zavasta has done all the research into what brings out the most beautiful "you" and how your lifestyle and what you eat can either shut it away or allow it to shine brightly. She addresses why we feel we have to resort to surgery to look beautiful (Barbie dolls and air-brushed models) and how to bring out our most beautiful self without it. She also teaches us that beautify is more than "skin deep" and that what we see on the outside is a reflection of the beauty and healthy (or lack thereof) on the inside. A beautiful, healthy outside also means a beautiful, health inside and dramatic healthy throughout.
How she achieves it
Through her own health challenges and many surgeries for a birth-defect in her hips, Tonya sought a way to be optimally healthy and beautiful (her beauty was affected by her diet and the surgeries). She wanted to achieve beauty inside and out. Through her diligent and thorough research into the causes of illness, how foods and habits affect our health and looks, she takes the reader on a journey that leads one from discouragement (when considering the "perfection" of air-brushed magazine models) to hopefulness and ultimate excitement about ones’ future filled with vitality, vibrant health, youth and beauty. Here are pictures of Tonya and her Russian mother, both at the age of 45. Doesn’t Tonya look much younger and healthier?
Topics covered
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Deodorants and Antiperspirants
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Toxins
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Vaccines
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Meat
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Medicine
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Salt
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Cigarettes, Nicotine and Tobacco
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Artificial Sweeteners
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Pasteurization
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – rBGH
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Alcohol
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Antibiotics
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Soda
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Caffeine
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Refined Sugar
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Dairy
- Beauty, Health and Life Draining – Exitotoxins
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Aging
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Pimples
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Age Spots
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Illnesses
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Birth Defects
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Freckles
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Gray Hair
- Signs of Aging and Ill Health – Oriental Diagnosis
- Topic Covered – Barbie Dolls
- Topic Covered – Food Pyramid
- Topic Covered – Hair Care
- Topic Covered – Skin Brushing
- Healthy and Live Giving – Alternative Health Therapies
- Healthy and Live Giving – Fasting
- Healthy and Live Giving – Raw Foods
- Healthy and Live Giving – Sunshine
Sunshine
We all love the sun but avoid it during the brightest hours. We avoid it so much that we need sunglasses even in the winter to shield our unexposed eyes, but we need the sun. Our bodies get natural Vitamin D from healthy amounts of exposure to the sun. Tonya brings up the point that flowers don’t get sunburn or tan and get wrinkled skin from exposure to the sunlight. No, flowers and other plants grow and thrive turning beautiful colors in the sun and providing wonderful nutrients for animals and humans, all from the sun. She states that it’s the toxins and impurities in our bodies that actually burn causing sunburn and tanning.
Exercise
When I saw one of Tonya’s lectures she talked about her exercise routine. In addition to resistance weight training she also does one and a half hours (if I remember correctly) of yoga (the kind you do in a hot yoga studio) each day. She swears by it and highly recommends it. I actually don’t have that much time to spend exercising every day, so in addition to resistance weight training twice a week and 20 minutes of aerobic activity 5-7 days a week I do Callenetics one to three times a week. The one hour Callanetics program is recommended once or twice a week. People achieve amazing results in just 10 weeks or less depending on their fitness condition when they start. The pictures in the original one hour Callanetics program are proof positive of the quick results. Flexibility is also achieved as well as a sense of well-being.
Scientific study recommendations not the same for raw foodists
Studies that offer recommendations on things like how much water to drink were done on subjects who eat a cooked food diet and can’t be applied to raw foodists. She covers this topic so make sure you read how things are different for raw foodists.
The evolution of a raw foodists diet
As you evolve on your raw food diet you will notice that your tastes and your bodies needs change. What you eat during your transition to raw foods will be very different from your diet at 6 months raw, which will be different from your diet at 2 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc. as your body learns to eat and crave more of the foods nature intended.
Inspiring others
From the stories Tonya told in her lecture, it sounds to me like her husband married her to try and save her. He was her "night in shining armor", but as it turns out, she’s saving him from an early grave my inspiring him to live a raw food lifestyle as well. He is getting healthier, thinner and happier. They are both very happy together.
Oriental Diagnosis
I found it very interesting to read what outward signs like pimples and age spots mean, using Oriental diagnosis. Did you know that pimples on the forehead mean intestinal or liver problems?
Food combining note
While writing this review I’m reading Victoria Boutenko‘s book Green for Life, which states that green leafy vegetables should be in their own category and not lumped with vegetables. Green leafy vegetables DO combine well with fruit.
Bibliography
The extensive research resulted in a great book and an long bibliography. If you want more information on any of the topics you can find it in the bibliography.
Conclusions
If you’re looking for a complete book on the ills of modern eating as well as a complete book on why and how to eat raw, Tonya has done all the research for you and put it down in this book for our convenience. If there was only one book my husband would read on raw foods, this would be it. Tonya has gone all out to provide convincing evidence for being raw and taking your external looks as an indication of your internal health and what the future brings for you if you continue on your current path. It’s also a must for those already on a raw food diet and those just getting started as well as skeptics and those curious about the raw food lifestyle. It will leave you inspired, empowered and in control of your health, beauty and life.
View book details at Amazon: Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You