have you tried flavored sparkling spring water la croix is a good brand i love the coconut kind I usually make some iced green tea then add some of that to it and also some lemon or lime squeezed in and it really tastes like a diet soda or u could squeeze in some grapefruit juice whatever u like or put mint in it. Thats what saves me when I have a soda craving.

I have done this before and kind of slipped back into eating some bad things again it's hard because I live with 3 other people that all buy diff foods so the temptation is there. But I have just started to do this again also so I'm with ya today I made my own balsalmic vinagarette and it was great I'm going to be eating veggies and lean meats some fruit for snacks eggs unsweetened coconut milk for smoothies

I cut out dairy, grains and carbs all processed foods and chemicals even my gum had to go :( lol

I may have a cheat meal here and there but only one I make myself in a healthier manner but for the most part I'm going to be sticking to that daily. Sometimes I really want my tortilla pizza :O for those I use a healthy wrap like ezekiel or sometimes a spinach flour one from trader joes and the only thing kinda bad on it is the mozzarella I guess but I put on only a minimal amount.

If you all have any really good recipes for do it yourself condiments like salad dressings that have no dairy or sugar please share them.

That's a great goal! I try to do that myself. Convincing my fiance that frozen pizza and sausage isn't a good diet has been rough, though. I've finally just got him eating the "whole wheat white" bread that at least has 40% whole wheat flour...yes there's a long way to go! The fridge at his house is so full, with two of basically everything (for example, Ezekiel bread and his white bread, organic natural peanut butter with no sugar added and his Jif, etc.) Sigh! He loves veggies but doesn't like to keep them because they spoil fast.

This has actually been great for me and I've been able to cut down on the diet soda as a result.

Can't really completely kick it, but it now seems the only diet soda I like anymore is cherry coke zero which is impossible to find! For some reason diet coke has been giving me an odd aftertaste lately so I've been refraining from drinking it.

Thank goodness cherry coke zero is rare, makes it harder to drink it!

Thanks for the tips ladies! I actually have a brand of soda that I like that is all natural and sweetened with Stevia. It's called Zevia, and they make a ginger ale, root beer, cola, etc. all with zero calories and all natural.

If I REALLY need a soda I would probably go for that or a sparkling water, but the reason I have been avoiding that particular item is more about the damage it does to your teeth as well.

I do still have a couple of servings of Propel Zero during the day (after my workouts) but aside from that I'd say my diet is pretty much all natural at this point! :)

I'm loving it. Not a whole lot of really dramatic changes but I just feel happier knowing I'm not putting questionable things into my body, and I have a renewed sense of creativity in my cooking.

**Just a quick update**

I've noticed the past few days that even though my calories haven't changed, it's been much easier to hit my macronutrient ratios I shoot for (roughly 40P/30C/30F, though I don't stress over it too much) and I haven't had any serious evening sweet cravings.

I didn't normally have to white-knuckle it through the evenings or anything, but every few days I would have those little arguements with myself about whether or not I wanted some/some more dark chocolate or some other such little treat. The past couple of weeks since I started eliminating unnatural foods those cravings have significantly lessened and are nearly non-existent.

Great news, Joss! When I am eating all home cooked, whole foods, I rarely am hungry and sometimes even have a hard time eating enough! It's just so filling in most cases...way more bang for your buck!! I just finished a huge bowl of oats, blueberries, peaches and chia seeds (made with almond milk). Barely 275 cals. Yummy!

I haven't tried chia seeds yet, but I understand that they set up and sort of "gel" and act as a bit of a filler (in addition to having lots of goodness in them). How do they taste?