Environment

The Importance of Environment - Your Kitchen

In line with the one reason we're all here - a passion for raw and living foods - let's start by looking at the environment that will most support your lifestyle choice - your kitchen. In future posts we'll move on to other rooms of your home, but for now let's start in the food dept. which is where it all begins.
First things first, ask yourself: "How well does my kitchen currently support my desire to choose raw?"
No need to get emotional about it ; ) simply cast your eye around your kitchen for a moment and I'm guessing that quite quickly it will become clear that there's more than a couple of ways that your kitchen could be set up to better serve you and your health goals - and you may very well also discover a number of ways that it might be currently undermining your efforts? (e.g. Disorganised, food laid out in plain sight that you really don't want to eat, a fridge full of 'treats', saucepans on show vs. juicer in cupboard ...need I go on?!).
So, as well as looking for the ways that your kitchen could be better arranged or functioning, look also for the ways that are clearly detrimental, because these can be even more dangerous!
So... If you are up for the Make Your Kitchen A Ten challenge, then here's your assignment for this weekend:
1) First, get clear on what your health/diet goals are. There is no wrong answer, just what's right for you at this point in your life. This may be about eating a certain amount of raw per day (50% / 75% / 90% etc.) or about what foods you do and don't want to eat. Either way, when you are happy with what you've come up with for yourself, write this criteria down. That way you know.
2) Next, according to your criteria and just as if you were going to weed your wardrobe, create 3 places in your kitchen where you will 'file' the following items:
a) Those foods/items that are 100% supportive of your health/diet goals
b) Those foods/items that are Not very supportive but you don't want to get rid of them completely
c) Those foods/items that are Not at all supportive
3) With the Not very supportive items, I would recommend you find a place in your home or garage where you can store these items for the short term (6 months or so) so that you can get to them if necessary but aren't staring you in the eye anymore! Therefore, ideally this place should be somewhere that you don't view very often (the loft would be great!) or isn't so easy to get to as the fridge. You don't want to tempt yourself now, do you?
4) With the Not at all supportive items - time to be brutal (a.k.a. "clear") - either ditch them or donate them out of your life and far away. Your call, but no mercy here as we are going for a 10 right?!
5) With the remaining items, these by process of elimination must be all those great items that are 100% supportive of your goals. Since we don't want to leave any room for error, it's time to give them the final check over to make sure that they truly are congruent with your goals. If not, then they must find homes in one of the other two piles! This step is critical. All done? Excellent! And while this is a really great place to be in, on the flip-side you may very well now find yourself noticing gaping holes in your set-up. Holes that previously were filled with unsupportive items masquerading as the useful! Yes, here's where you notice that actually you do need a juicer / blender / food processor or whatever is lacking. Or maybe you just need some more fruit bowls, a sturdier chopping board, or to rearrange things in a new way? Whatever it may be, take this opportunity to list those things down and commit to bringing them into your world in the next month - whether that means buying, borrowing, creating or bargaining them into your life.
6) The penultimate step, and one I really think must be taken for maximum impact, is to take this opportunity when everything is out of its normal place to give your kitchen a good and thorough clean. This way you get to see your kitchen with fresh eyes AND it also means (just as importantly) that you are reintroducing each of your supportive foods/items to a sparkling environment, one that will truly uplift you and showcase them, and that will definitely help set the scene for a Ten Kitchen - which is how you mean to go on, non?
7) And finally, the proverbial cherry on the cake. Ask yourself: "What would make my kitchen a place that inspires me to eat raw and a place that I truly love to be in?" (and listen for the answers!). It might be that all of the above has made enough of a difference for you to answer "nothing else", but for others (myself included), then I simply have to have some fresh flowers and/or a plant in my kitchen as well as music, a pin board to put up inspiring pictures, quotes and recipes that I have concocted en route to a meal, and copious amounts of fresh fruit on display by my Vita-Mix. It's these finishing touches that will take your kitchen from a 9 to a 10, and if you want to complete your assignment fully then you need to pay attention to those yearnings!
And that's it. If you carry out all of the above you'll have a truly supportive environment for your health goals in no time, and you'll feel all shiny and new like your kitchen.
Feeling better? I hope so. Even if you've just read the words and not yet taken action then you should feel a surge of energy running through you. Because let's be honest, a clean kitchen means much more than simply good hygiene and functionality. A clean kitchen means business and one with only supportive items in it (including the food!) means health. Clearing your stuff and clearing your kitchen brings clarity in all its forms and that is a wonderful thing! And clarity brings power. With power comes energy. With energy, growth. So with a freshly organised and dejunked kitchen there's no limit to what you can achieve, so long as you follow the steps above and just do it!
You know it makes sense ; )

Karen Knowler.

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