Well-Being Wednesdays: Anna Onea

When I tell people that I can eat half a watermelon in one sitting, most are surprised. Many don’t believe me, until they witness me do it in front of their eyes. Eating an abundance of fruit every day without worrying about putting on weight and without feeling guilty about all that "sugar" is a foreign concept to most people. But not to Anna Onea, we all know about Loni Jane and Freelee the banana girl... and Anna Onea has joined them and jumped on "The Banana Girl Diet." bandwagon. Drinking 9 banana smoothies for breakfast, chowing down on 9-10 oranges for lunch, this girl isn't afraid of putting on any weight by eating too much "sugar". A fellow earthling and body-loving expert who is filled with nothing but love and kindness; it's really no wonder Anna has nearly 7000 followers behind her, their mouths watering at each and every one of her vibrant fruit filled posts on instagram. Anna is an inspiration, someone to admire... better yet she is my soul sister and I love her! and I know you are all going to love her too. Say hello to Anna!

Name? Anna Onea (pronounced oh-nee-ah) Age? 17 (18 in two weeks’ time!!!) Where do you live? Melbourne, Australia What initiated your healthy life style? And/or how did it start? I have always been quite healthy and active, but I became more conscious and pro-active about my choices when I decided to go vegan and mostly raw in June this year after doing a lot of research and watching a lot of documentaries. What does health mean to you and why is it important? Health goes so far beyond just eating ‘healthy’ foods, Health is also your relationship with your food. Are you eating this food to nourish yourself and grow? Health is so multi-faceted, and is as much about your mental well-being as much as your physical. Having a positive outlook on life and yourself is so important to keep a healthy and balanced lifestyle. No one person is the definition of health, and we all have different views on what is healthy and what is not, it all comes down to whether you are doing what is best for your own body and soul

When on the run, what are your go to meals and snacks? BANANAS, I love bananas! They have their own little perfect packaging and keep me going all day long. Also any fresh fruits which are in season are perfect for snacking or on the go, I’m loving fresh berries at the moment! What aspects are in-adaptable when it comes to your diet? Being a vegan, my number one priority is not to eat any animal products and to make sure that what I consume is not contributing to the exploitation of people or animals. I always try to eat foods that are a whole and as natural as possible and to avoid foods that have been altered too much by man.

Are there any people who inspired you to make this lifestyle choice and/or who you admire? There’s no one particular person that I look up to, but every day I am inspired by the wonderful people on instagram who are changing their lives and the lives of others. I feel so blessed to be part of such a great community of complete strangers who are always looking out for each other and trying to help others improve their lifestyle and achieve their goals. What is your favourite live-by quote? “Every morning when we wake up we have 24 brand new hours to live… We have the capacity to live in a way that these 24 hours will bring peace, joy and happiness to ourselves and others” – Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s just a reminder that we wake up with a clean slate every morning and each day is a chance to enjoy, live and spread love to others What is your favourite way to stay active? I absolutely love yoga, such a beautiful way to stay fit, work on strength and flexibility and bring inner peace to yourself. Also group sports are an awesome way to enjoy exercise. Start a netball or volleyball team with your friends, it doesn’t matter whether you’re good or not, it’s a lot of fun, a good way to keep in touch with your friends and awesome for your body What are your top 3 tips to stay healthy, happy and positive? 1. STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS. I cannot stress this enough. Seriously. Just stop. Rather than trying to be better than somebody else, just focus on becoming a better version of yourself every day and you will feel much more fulfilled. 2. Eat good, feel good. What you eat has a huge impact on your mood, so think “Will this food nourish my body? Will it help your body heal and give you energy?” Make sure you eat ENOUGH (screw serving sizes) and make peace with your food, a lot of people aren’t lucky enough to have this simple pleasure like we do. 3. Surround yourself with positive, inspiring and stimulating people! Find friends that support you and uplift you throughout all of your decisions and people that can make you laugh. There’s nothing better than a good group of friends (this includes your family!) Why is self-love important? We live in a society where we are constantly bombarded with images of women (and men for that matter) portraying an idealistic ‘woman’, what we should look like. The reality is though, we are all individual, we are all unique and we are all beautiful but many of us don’t see that. This can be very damaging, that’s why I think that realising your own beauty and your own potential is so crucial. We will always come across somebody who has nicer legs/eyes/lips/clothes etc than us so if we are always comparing ourselves to others, we will never find true peace and happiness. Learn to love yourself, your body, your appearance and your life just the way it is because we are so blessed in the lives that we live, and chances are those people who you wish you could look like are also unhappy with themselves. I cannot stress this enough but we are all unique and wonderful beings, and self-love is the key to finding happiness. Treat yourself with kindness, tell yourself you look beautiful and touch your body with kindness, do not poke and the bits that you hate or speak harshly about them. I seriously could go on about this topic forever, but all in all, YOU, yes you, are AMAZING you just have to realise it. What do you hope to achieve in the future/what are your goals? Who knows what the future holds for me! Next year I plan to go travelling overseas and do a little soul searching, but I have so many different things that I could see myself doing. Perhaps working overseas volunteering my time to those in need, maybe something right here in Melbourne, helping people to achieve a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle or even opening my own little vegan/raw vegan café and wellness store. I guess only time will tell but until then I just want to enjoy every moment of this beautiful life, meet some wonderful people, eat good food and share as much positivity as I can. If you were trying to persuade someone to join you on your path to a healthy lifestyle, how would you go about doing so? I believe the best way to go about it is leading by example, showing people the benefits of this lifestyle and being a walking advertisement for whatever you believe in, without being arrogant. Especially regarding veganism, people don’t like to be told that what they are doing or how they are living is wrong, and often complain about ‘preachy vegans’ who ‘shove’ opinions down people’s throats. So rather that criticising people for their lifestyle, I just try to show people the wonders of living healthily and cruelty-free and if they want to know more, I’m more than happy to talk to them about it. Do you have any books, resources, or tools for someone aspiring to live a healthy lifestyle? Social media is amazing for surrounding yourself with inspiriation and motivation to kickstart or just maintain your healthy lifestyle. Follow as many healthy instagrams as you can, but beware of some which promote deceivingly unhealthy habits. Some great instagrams that I follow include lonijane, fullyrawkristina, freeleethebananagirl, healthywayshappydays, _rachelbutler, eat_to_thrive, agirlnamedally, of course Demi at happylittleveganmite and there are SO MANY MORE. Watching a few good docos can change your life. I recommend hungry for change, food matters, forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. Books: The 801010 diet (you don’t have to take everything in the book very seriously as for some it can be overwhelming, just see what you can apply to your day to day life) The China Study, The Secret. Seriously there is a whole wealth of information out there you just need to start looking for it. Surround yourself health and positivity, follow blogs, watch youtube and don’t be afraid to ask questions! What do you think is the biggest issue with health in our society? This is a tough one, since I feel like there are so many! 1. We are surrounded by so much processed food which is damaging to our health and we have forgotten about the wonderful foods that Mother Nature has provided for us in fruits and vegetables. These processed foods are also much more accessible and cheap than healthier alternatives so are very tempting but are stripped of all nutritional value and loaded with crazy ingredients to keep you wanting more. We need to stop eating out of packets and eat REAL FOOD, just as nature intended it 2. The media and advertising industry has such a large control over the way we live our lives and we don’t even realise it! We are constantly made to feel like we are inadequate so that we buy all these products to make us happier, which in fact make us feel more empty. We are sold unhealthy standards of what we should look like and the only way to get ‘that body’ is to buy a ridiculous diet product that leaves you undernourished. They also sell unhealthy dieting information, like at the moment the high protein crazy or carbohydrate restriction. This is ridiculous as our bodies need carbs to function, and too much protein in the diet can be dangerous, but we all believe what we are told by these companies. 3. The people who decide on our dietary requirements/recommendations are funded by large companies such as meat and dairy companies, so what we’re told is healthy can often be based of the financial benefit of these bodies, rather than the health of the population. This is really just scratching the surface of all of these issues, but this topic could go on for days. What has been your proudest moment on your journey and what has been your most challenging? I love it when people send me messages or leave comments saying that I have inspired them to make healthier changes in their life. Even if it’s a small change like eating more fruits and veggies of going began/vegetarian, it’s all about the small things that add up to make a big difference. The fact that I can influence strangers to lead a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle blows my mind, and there is no feeling like it. It still amazes me that my posts can impact on other peoples’ lives in a good way and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The most difficult thing would have to be dealing with criticism, mostly from people who I know. Many people, especially in school were quick to criticise my lifestyle and particularly the way that I shared it on instagram. Also, it was hard when people, including my family, told me that what I’m doing is ‘crazy’ or ‘extreme’. I haven’t really let any of this affect me though, I know that what I’m doing is right for MY body, so who is anybody else to say that it’s wrong? My lifestyle is not affecting anybody else but me, so why should I listen to what somebody else thinks is the ‘right’ thing to do? How can we find you? You can follow me on instagram at @annaonea or say hello to me on my tumblr anna-onea.tumblr.com Share your favourite recipe? Being a vegan, it’s really important to get enough greens into your diet, so I’m pretty big on salads! A lot of people have trouble making salads interesting while keeping the dressings healthy and preferably low in fat (if you’re following 801010 like myself), so this is a really simple, delicious dressing which is great for salads, raw pad thais or a dipping sauce for yummy rice paper rolls and is also lower in fat than a lot of raw vegan dressings. Ingredients: • Juice of one orange and one lemon • Handful of coriander (cilantro) and/or a couple of mint leaves • 1-2 tsp of tahini (more or less depending on your preferences) • Chopped up coin sized piece of ginger • ¼ cup chopped up spring onion Directions: 1. Blend all the ingredients in a blender or a food processor until well combined 2. Pour over your salad, pad thai or serve as a dipping sauce with rice paper rolls

In the photo: Veggie rice paper rolls with the dipping sauce. I also love making rice-paper rolls because they are a great way to include more raw veggies into your diet. Just chop up your desired veggies into strips (I love the colour of purple cabbage), prepare rice paper as per instructions, add your veggies, avocado, fresh herbs like mind or coriander, tempeh (optional), wrap them up and devour them!