By Linda Jackson I've been overweight since I was 48 years old. When I first began to put on a few pounds, I thought it was funny, because I had always been very thin. But over the next 18 years I gained 70 pounds. I enrolled in weight-loss programs and exercise programs, and for the past five years I met weekly with a nutritionist. There was always some success, but I never stuck to any program. I was strong in so many aspects of my life, but I felt like a complete failure when it came to controlling what went into my mouth. Three of my daughters gave me the Winter 2017 Clean Kitchen Challenge for my 71st birthday. I knew that some of them had gone through the program, but they're younger and work out regularly, so I was skeptical and didn’t believe it would work for me. To my great amazement, I lost my cravings for sweets after just a few days on Clean Kitchen and loved the whole program and the new concepts I learned.

I successfully completed the 12-week challenge and I lost 12 pounds. I am armed with new knowledge and determination to make this new way of thinking about food my way of life.

I raised a large family and thought I knew all about nutrition. Even though I am a good and experienced cook, I usually didn't know what was for dinner until I got hungry enough to go in the kitchen and see what I had! But with Clean Kitchen I've learned how to plan meals, grocery shop in just a few minutes, prep several meals in a short time, eat proteins and plants at every single meal, even snacks, and so much more. I take a multivitamin and fish oil daily and try to drink a lot more water. If I mess up, instead of getting depressed and thinking I'm a failure, I let it go and get back on track. This program works! The habits are simple and I do them without thinking about them. I loved reading the lessons each morning, recording the things I ate, checking off my new habits every day, trying new recipes, and being cheered on by Coach Kellar. I can't say enough about why I love Clean Kitchen! It has changed my life. I love the Clean Kitchen cookbook, too, because it uses ingredients that I usually have on hand and the recipes are simple to prepare and delicious. And my husband, who is six feet tall and doesn't even weigh 150 pounds, loves the meals I fix and says he feels better, too! Like I said, Clean Kitchen changed my life. And it's never too late to start!

Check out when our next 12 week challenge begins here!