Eating Clean Journey

My 40th birthday is right around the corner, and for my birthday (and beyond) I've set a goal to finally get fit and fabulous! I have a young child, and I've made a promise to her, to get 'as old as dirt' so I can live to see her 'get old as dirt'. Being a Chef, I understand diet and nutrition, but that doesn't mean I've always followed it. In the last few months, I've discovered Tosca's books, and fell in love with them and what she has done. After seeing her before and after pictures, I thought, why can't I do the same thing? Well, I can and am well on my journey to transforming my life and keeping my promise to my daughter. At the beginning of the year, I started to eat totally clean, track my calories and excercise. I've made it to the gym 4 days a week for the last two weeks, and each time, I push myself a little bit harder. Each time I do, I feel that much more awesome!
For me, the hardest thing with food to abandon, or limit, is the sweets. I'm a cake maker, and I love the sweet desserts. For 2 weeks, I've left them alone. Occassionally, I'll have a piece of chocolate, but I find that it just doesn't taste that great to me. Since going off the sweets, I've noticed I can detect sugar in things better. I had a piece of my daughters peppridge farms 12 grain bread the other day, and I could taste the sweetner in it. I've been eating Ezekial 9 mostly. That's pretty amazing!
During this journey, my assistants at work, have been trying to do the same. One of them is eating what I do at work, and going with me to the gym. The other one, well, she's just not convinceable just yet.  She is accustomed to the taste of processed foods, and  turns her nose up at the healthy stuff I prepare for myself and my other assistant.  I'm afraid, her mind isn't quite where it needs to be to make a change yet, although, out of the 3 of us, she's the one who needs it most. :(
I'm proud to say, that over the last year, while I've been teaching my daughter about nutrition, to see that it's sticking. She is the only kid I know that gets excited about raw carrots or cooked beans. I hope what I teach her sticks, and she makes wise food choices for the rest of her life, so she doesn't have to struggle with weight and body image the way I have. I would like to see a day, when I feel good about myself and can let a man hold me again, without worrying about the lumps and bumps. That's a secret secondary goal of mine, to feel good about me.
I wish more people would read Tosca's books. It's what this country needs. To put their feet down, and tell the manufacturers NO MORE! They are killing us and most people aren't even aware of it. If it would make a difference, I would go up to the roof tops and scream about the benefits of going back to basics, which is what clean eating is all about!