Spring cleaning our food cupboards!

So this blog post symbolises the 'parting of the ways' for me. With the beginning of the countdown to our 21-day cleansing plan, on Monday, all food-related posts (ie, those associated with the programme) will move over to Facebook and be published on Facebook only. So those that signed up to the Little White Feather blog, you will be pleased to know that it will return to being what it was originally 'billed' to be - a blog about conscious evolution and related subjects.So if you're interested in doing the 21-day cleanse with us this year (or would like simply to follow as we do it and make comments, ask questions, make suggestions...), I would suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you familiarise yourself with the Little White Feather fb page, where these posts will appear (or the Little White Feather twitter account).So in this final 'introduction to the cleansing plan' blog post, for those that are taking part in the programme, we're going to be looking at ways we can use the final few days before the countdown begins to prepare ourselves physically and psyche-ologically for eating a diet consisting of natural wholefoods in a form as near to their natural state as possible. And so for the 10 'countdown days' - starting Monday - we are going to be laying the foundations for this, by establishing practices that support us in fulfilling the diet in the most simple and hassle-free way!For me, that starts with a detox of my food cupboard - and there's no time better than the weekend before the countdown begins (when we tend to have a little more time on our hands than during the week) to start this process. So, how about taking a visit to your local corner store or supermarket tomorrow morning and picking up a nice big cardboard box? When you've got it home, pack it full of anything and everything that's not on the programme.Put simply, that's anything with artificial additives in it. Start looking at the labels - you'll be surprised just how many 'e numbers' and subtly-disguised chemicals sneak their way in there without you looking (look, in particular, for those items marked 'natural'. Often this word can be a simple marketing device to deter the consumer from looking more deeply. We need to become warriors for the truth, in this respect  - always read the ingredients and read between the lines of any 'propaganda').Once your box of 'no gos' is packed up, put it away somewhere out of sight, for retrieval sometime after you resume 'normal eating' (if you ever do... you may start to feel so healthy and clear and in-your-natural-state you may never feel like going back). And while you're at it, go through your fridge and freezer - and bin or recycle as appropriate anything of the same ilk. I know it feels like a terrible waste, but when you think of what ingesting these additives is doing to your body (effectively lining your gut with toxins that, in the long-term, can contribute to everything from feelings of lethargy to bloating to unexplained mood swings) you won't give it another thought! Or you could take the whole lot round to a neighbour's and see if they can make use of the foods that you don't need.Now you have nothing in the house to tempt you when you have 'one of those moments'!With Monday the 'big day' - Day 10 of our 10-day countdown to the cleanse - our programme continues on Facebook only. So if you haven't discovered it yet, please visit the Little White Feather Facebook page , click 'like' - and you'll get daily detox posts in your news feed.