Hello -

My name is Mark and I live in NH . . .

I recently decided to give clean eating a try (*my brother in-law has been doing it w/ some great results).

I'm just getting into it and want to learn as much as possible - Any great ideas and/or suggestions - please feel free to share.

I'm so glad to have found this group! I heard the phrase 'clean eating' after reading Oxygen magazine and browsing some of the Eat Clean magazines and Tosca Reno's books. I really love to cook but in the last few years haven't taken care of my body and it shows. I wouldn't say I am on target 100% of the time but our lifestyle has really changed dramatically and my body feels so much better. I used to struggle with IBS and I feel like my bowels feel better - after some initial discomfort that some others have noted. I got rid of the diet soda that i KNEW was bad for me and after a few days of craving it, I didn't miss it anymore. I found the having substitutions for trigger foods helped. If I need something fizzy I'll have some seltzer water.

Greek yogurt is my wonder food -- it is such a great source of protein and a great substitute in so many recipes.

I have a few foods that I keep that aren't technically clean - dark chocolate chips that i can have (about a tablespoon) to get me over a chocolate/sweet craving when fruit just won't do. But the white flours and pastas and rices are mostly gone and we are consuming so many more lean proteins, fresh fruit and veggies. I love how I feel and my body is starting to respond by losing weight steadily.

I am a stay-at-home mom and do a bit of freelance writing work. I love that there are boards now on MFP. Happy to be here thanks!

Hello everyone! I live in Las Vegas unfortunately not the best place to live and raise a child but I'm stuck here until my husband retires in 10 years as his job as a police officer. I've worked retail loss prevention for the last 15 years and love it. I have struggled with my weight since high school. I have tried so many diets and finally got sick of the yo-yo diets. I was at a healthy weight 9 years ago before my son was born I'm 5'2 and weighed 130 lbs. I gained over 70 lbs. during my pregnancy and felt terrible about myself it took me 8 years to lose all the weight. I am currently at my jounior high weight of 122 and a size 4. I stumbled on the clean eating lifestyle thru a Facebook friend that talked about her weight loss and clean eating. I was amazed at her weight loss results so I started researching the life style. I'm new to clean eating been eating clean for about 6 months now and I love the way I feel. Prior to clean eating I would bruise really easy but now I don't have a single bruise anywhere on my body also I have never been able to grow my finger nails because they would crack I now have long strong nails. I can't imagine going back to eating processed foods. I ,like others have watched Food Inc. along with many other good food related documentaries and have thought about going vegetarian which would not be difficult since I don't really like meat. I've tried to get my son and husband to eat clean but neither one wants anything to do with it. My husband doesn't think processed foods are unhealthy and he thinks I'm crazy for eating the way I eat. I try to eat as clean as possible most days I'm about 95%. I did fall off the wagon thru the holiday but managed to maintain my weight.

Hi there, this is GREAT to find this site:):):) I am so excited to find others that love to eat clean/raw/whole foods:)

I have not researched what people formally call eating "clean" but I will tell you what I love to and live out now in my new lifestyle change. I eat organic as much as possible, lots of fresh veggies/fruits/grass fed local beef/organic chicken/lots of organic extra virgin coconut oil/EVO/nuts

I have worked to eat this way for several years but JUST now stepped up my game on January 4th and finally took the plunge to cut out ALL refined sugars, ALL breads, potatoes,pasta and everything processed!!! So basically I cook the way I have always cooked lean meats, fresh veggie etc..but without the things above.

When I started my antifungal diet on January 4th I waited 1 week to see how life would be without refined sugars and carbs and I LOVE it..at that point I got rid of a few grocery bags full of items that were in my pantry that had sugar/soy/high fructose corn syrup etc. (I have stayed away from corn and HFC syrup for many years but didn't realize how much "JUNK" crept in my pantry).

I am so excited to meet you and learn from you.
I really need some good recipes to try:)

I have found great recipes on GAPS websites online. We will not go back to gluten again either!

The few items that we eat that are grains are: Oat flour, oats, brown rice flour, rice pasta, coconut flour, almond flour. I only eat of some this on occasion:)

Hello from Sandy in California. I volunteer at my kids school and am a practicing autididact / self-learner. I read Eating Clean a while back. I am looking forward to learning from the practice of clean eating (baby steps) and from the experiences of others.

Hi everyone! I'm Sonya from Myrtle Beach, SC. I'm Certified Nurse Midwife, and I am slowly cleaning up my and my family's diet! We have started green smoothies and some juicing. I used to be vegetarian, but while in grad school as a single mom, I began to depend on fast food more and more. I am back to very rarely having fast food and we are eating more and more vegetables and simple homemade meals. So glad to find this group to learn from. Clean eating is definitely what I would like to move towards.

Hi! My name is Jessie and I live in Norwich, New York. I am a branch manager at a Community Bank. I am married with a beautiful daughter named Elise! My sister has been clean eating for awhile and highly recommended it to me. I have been struggling with infertility for 15 months now and decided that getting my body in order and reaching my optimal health nutritionally is a component that may be missing for me. While I feel that I was eating healthily and restricting my calories, I was still putting a lot of chemicals in my body and am highly addicted to sugar. I am just starting to eat clean, so I'm still figuring things out, but I'm excited to know the feeling of having a clean body!! I'm really hoping that it will aide in my fertility, and help with my PCOS, but I'm also looking forward to a new lifestyle that will set a good example for my family and daughter!

Here's to clean eating!

Hello Everybody!
I am so excited to join this group! I had posted a topic about clean eating and this group was suggested to me. My new year's resolution was to cut out processed foods this year. The "be on a diet" resolution has obviously not been working, year after year after year. So, I've been working very hard this year in cutting out the junk. My blood pressure was starting to rise (although not bad yet) and I have a looooooong family history of heart disease. Time to nip this in the bud before it's too late! I don't eat very much meat and I'm slowly working on cutting back the dairy. I was raised by a vegetarian, so I definitely love my fruits, veggies, and alternative sources of protein besides a hunk of meat. Looking forward to sharing recipes and ideas!

Hi, pleased I found this group. I eventually decided filling my body with loads of chemicals couldn't be doing it any good so decided to eat as much unprocessed food as possible. This was at the same time I joined MFP. All I can say is it's been unbelievable. I've never been one for veg or "rabbit food", but I'm totally enjoying it, even looking forward to my new food! I always seem to be full, and my energy levels are more consistent than they were.
But an unexpected bonus is that a persistent cough I've had for at least 15 years has almost gone. And that's only within 2 weeks, so I can only imagine what's been going on inside me!

Sorry for going on a bit, but I'm still excited about these changes. My food diary is open so anyone with any feed back, let me know!
Before you all rush though, you need to consider I drive a truck so cooking and preparing meals isn't the easiest thing!

That's awesome! We are really doing well by our bodies with the positive changes we make in our diet! I am realizing it more and more!

Hi! I'm 32 female five-foot-two that lives in Shanghai, China. I joined MFP because I need the support and sharing of fitness goals and food diary.

I joined clean living because I was brought up eating healthy and clean. Little oil in food. However, I started getting rebellious and wanted to try out other foods with zero guilt like soda, greasy take out, gourmet foods that is heavy in butter. Then, health started happening. I started having zero time for gym because of work, I cannot balance a healthy lifestyle with my social life. The real push came when I stood on the scale at 62kg, the heaviest I had ever been and having a neck excema that wouldn't go away in 2 years (tried cortisone cream and nothing worked).

I also met a great guy with whom I feel I can balance a relationship and a healthy lifestyle, he is also wanting all this. And that gave me the encouragement to join his gym and also hit my fitness goal. BUT, with that said, dating also means eating. Now that we are more stable with plans to move with each other in the near future, I think we can and I can maintain a clean eating home.

Would love to know recipes, what is healthy to eat outside. I realized I hate processed food but I still keep my special K as part of my food routine. If I can, I would make my own breads and I realized that I am enjoy cooking....I really do! I hope this group can spark my inspiration that will turn into motivation for my honey, provide us the support for clean living and I might go back to my old weight and my good health.

Oh yes, and it does kinda suck that most Chinese food is so high in calories and what makes it worse is, its hard to get anything healthy that fits into my work lifestyle. I stopped going to group lunches already and make it a point to either bring my own lunch or order from this meditteranean/israeli restaurant that provides pretty healthy and filing options!

Lovely to meet you guys!!!

Hello Everyone!

Drop by and say hello! Where are you from? What do you do for a living? How did you stumble upon Clean Eating?

Hi,
Just started strictly eating clean two days ago and I feel good! Tried it before a long time ago, and went back to my old habits. I plan on sticking with it for good this time. I will do this! I stumbled on clean eating after seeing, buying, and reading the Eat Clean book by Tosca Reno. I love the fact I eat throughout the day as I am never hungry. Love that feeling! I live in MO. and work for a health insurance company. I didn't realize there were groups out there, and so happy to have found an eat clean group! Glad to be here

im from glasgow (scotland :-)), i work as a nurse, and i found out about clean eating through MFP and i start tomorrow x

Well... I actually found the idea of clean eating before I started trying to lose weight.... which in a strange sense, makes this journey easier.
Over the years I gained an increasing awareness of the problems with the way our country eats, and slowly started switching to more whole foods, then the dirty dozen organic. I still don't eat COMPLETELY clean (I hear the siren call of convenience organic foods sometimes... or Luna bars, plus we eat out quite a bit. I also have a love of soft serve frozen yogurt, which has many mystery ingredients). While my and my husband's diet was healthier, I love cheese, make homemade bread and desserts... all of which are calorie bombs. So, now I am trying to watch what I eat, while still eating real food... novel though, huh?
All of my previous attempts at weight loss have relied heavily on non-foods in the form of snackwells and fat free everything.
I would love to have some friends who eat the same way! Maybe Some of you could even inspire me to eliminate some of the lingering not so clean things in my diet.