About
Hi, my name is Vlada, and I run Divine On Raw.
As you can guess from the name of my website, I eat a raw food diet (a raw vegan diet, to be exact), however, I am not your average raw foodist. I don’t spend countless hours in my kitchen whipping up complicated recipes that involve oils, cacao, Nama Shoyu, maca powder or other so-called “superfoods”. I certainly don’t go to raw food restaurants to indulge in a rich fare mimicking traditional dishes. This is because I don’t eat copious amounts of nuts, seeds and avocados (even though I like these foods and add them in small amounts to my recipes sometimes). On top of everything else I don’t even own a dehydrator.
What do I eat? Fruit. Lots of fresh, ripe, sweet fruit. I basically live on banana smoothies, greens, and some seasonal fruit thrown into the mix.
If you want to put a label on the way I eat, it is called a low-fat raw vegan diet, also known as 80/10/10RV (RV stands for Raw Vegan). Does it take a lot of effort, discipline and will power to eat this way? Not at all. It takes knowledge and understanding how to make this diet work though. It also takes some time and perseverance to adjust and adapt, and once you’ve done with that part, it gets easier. As far as I’m concerned, it is not a struggle, but rather a very joyful and empowering experience.
I adopted this diet/lifestyle in April of 2010 and never looked back ever since. It feels so natural to me right now that I cannot even imagine having it any other way. Of course, I had my moments, but who doesn’t? 
You can learn a lot about my journey, my dilemmas and challenges from the articles I publish on my blog.
I am an individual with a wealth of knowledge, education and life experience. When people meet me for the first time they usually think I am around 25, a college student working on my Masters (been there, done that) or PhD. However, make no mistake when you look at my picture — I was born in 1972 (you’ll do the math), and I have a 21-year-old daughter. I am an extremely youthful woman, inside and out, and that youthfulness comes naturally from my lifestyle where low-fat raw vegan diet plays a big part.
Mind you, I don’t do anything special and definitely don’t spend hours at the beauty parlor. My recipe is simple: Clean vegan diet with lots of fresh fruits and greens (some veggies too), plenty of sunshine, regular vigorous exercise, good skin care regimen and some relaxation techniques to keep stress at bay. This way I enjoy a truly good health and a state of overall well-being. I never get sick. There are times (very rarely, indeed) when I don’t feel a 100 percent, however, due to my diet and lifestyle my body has an ability to bounce back in no time. My energy level is high and I sleep like a baby too. Another big advantage of eating and living the way I do, is a fit, lean and strong body. As of now, as I am approaching 40, I am in the best physical shape I have ever been in my entire life.
To be fair, I have to mention that it has NOT always been that way. I had my share of struggles with weight loss issues, digestive disorders and depression. I truly feel blessed now discovering this dietary approach and turning things around. I firmly believe that we experience a negative to force a positive into our life, and this is exactly what happened to me.
I started this website as a way to give back to the world, to serve, and to continue growing and learning myself in the meantime. My mission here is to bring awareness and to help you achieve a better health through dietary and lifestyle changes.
I am a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, and I am available for private consultations and mentoring. Please check out my Nutritional Solutions and Mentoring Program.
One last fact about me: I live in North Central Florida where I enjoy a beautiful sunny weather and abundance of fresh fruit throughout the year.
I sure will tell more of my story, so stay tuned, it’s coming! And in the meantime, enjoy your stay on my site.
Dedicated to Your Health and Well-Being,
Vlada
PS: I strive for excellence in everything, however, English is my third language, so pardon me if you see some weird grammar or new words I have come up with. I didn’t really start speaking English before the age of 30, not to mention writing in English. If you happen to find a grammatical error in my writings, please let me know. It will be greatly appreciated!
PPS: This is me soaking up the sun by the pool!
8 Responses to “About”
Eleanor Baumgart on July 14, 2011
Hi Vlada, We spoke on “fit on raw” about how wonderfully you described different fruits and veggies. You invited me to check out your Blog and so I did. Your picture is great. I am happy to see that you went raw and is doing well with it. I too went raw for a short time and lost 14 pounds. My BMI is 21.5 now . I stopped for a short time do to financial difficulties but I am getting set to go full time on raw food again soon. I am planning on reaching a BMI of about 19. I have no problems with eating 80 % or more of fresh foods. I am 55 years old and in excellent health and has had many people surprised to find out that I am that old. Most people think I am in my early forty’s. I enjoyed your Blog very much and will bookmark it to get on again. Eleanor
Vlada Divine on July 14, 2011
Eleanor,
Welcome to my blog and thank you for sharing your experience. It’s funny that you mentioned your BMI — my Chiropractor just put me on a special device last week to measure my weight, BMI, body fat percentage, visceral fat percentage, BMR, muscle mass, etc. Even though I am not very attached to the numbers, it was an interesting experience to find them out. I think you are doing great, and your goal of 19 for BMI is a very good one.
Stay inspired and keep coming back! I have lots of great stuff coming: I just finished working on a 30 pages long Special Report that I will put out for free download when you subscribe to my list. I am currently working with a designer on this. I also have a new recipe book coming soon. Another thing you might be interested in: last week I was in Miami for an International Mango Festival where I learned a lot about different types of mangoes. I am planning to write an article about my experience there as well.
It is great to hear you enjoyed my blog!
Vlada
Bill K on July 14, 2011
Vlada,
It is great to discover another person out there who is following the 80/10/10 diet and shunning all of those gourmet raw foods. I have been on the diet a touch longer than you (about 6 years) and also feel great – no allergies, colds etc. I have gathered a lot of info on different health subjects so let me know if you would like some more reading material and I will send you a CD. Also – I like reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You look fabulous!!
Bill K.
Vlada Divine on July 14, 2011
Bill,
Thanks for your kind words. I am happy to hear that 811RV works for you as well. As far as your CD is concerned, I would like to find out more about what kind of information you are offering. I do a lot of research for my articles and read a great deal on Nutrition & Natural Health always trying to keep my mind open to new things. Please let me know the details about your CD via email.
Vlada
Bill K on July 15, 2011
Vlada,
Thank you for your kind reply. Regarding the CD it is just articles, books and news that I have collected off of the web. It is nothing formal but as I see things of health interest I collect them.
email me if you are interested and I will figure out a way of getting it to you.
Bill K.
Em on May 13, 2012
Hi Vlada – I just found you via Roger Haeske and your Yummy Greens post. I really like the simplicity of your recipes – that’s what’s best for our system, yeah? You are quite an inspiration! And I agree with Bill – you look amazing!
I would love to hear all about the different types of mangoes you uncovered at the mango festival – now that sounds like the type of ‘social’ event I would be thrilled to go to!:) And a banana festival…and a pineapple festival…and a…
Also, if you’re up to it, I’d love to hear how you went with all those measurements taken by your chiropractor…would be fascinating to hear where you sit within the ‘norm’. Course, you may consider that information completely private – which would be totally understandable.
Anyway, two ideas above for two new blog posts!
Oh and don’t worry at all about the very occasional use of ‘creative’ English
(either words or grammar) – it is utterly charming and does not impact on the meaning in an way – and this is coming from a former long-time teacher of university English… 
Vlada Divine on May 13, 2012
Dear Em, thank you for taking the time to comment and for your kind words.
I’ll definitely take your ideas about new blog posts into consideration. In fact, I’m looking forward to the Mango Festival this year and I’m excited about sharing this event with my readers. As for last year’s festival — I believe I’ve covered the most outstanding mangoes pretty well in that article.
I totally agree with you about banana festival or pineapple festival, what a great idea! We need more social events like that!
As for my chiropractor, I haven’t been to his office for a couple of months now. Since I started exercising regularly my need for chiropractic care has been significantly reduced — which is a good thing, as far as I’m concerned.
I was also pleased to hear that “the very occasional use of ‘creative’ English is utterly charming”, especially coming from a teacher of university English! Thanks, Em!
Em on May 13, 2012
Oh , sorry – I didn’t look at the dates – I didn’t realise when this post was originally made – so I thought the mango article had not yet been written…
I’ve just trawled through your blog archives – stupidly, I started with August, thinking it would have taken you some time to write that article! I should have checked July first!
Anyway, now that I’ve found it, I’m going to read it!
With great anticipation
)
Em