If you?ve tried a lot of diets without success, this might be the weight loss answer for you.
I found Bright Line Eating in July 2017
I devoured the book in two days. Every page felt like Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D., was talking to me. Like she was explaining why I couldn?t put down the bag of chips or box of cookies.
Something inside of me said, ?This is it. Bright Line Eating is the answer we?ve been looking for.? Apparently, there are multiple people in my head, hence the ?we?ve.?
This will come as no surprise to my husband.
I jumped in with both feet and joined the boot camp immediately.
Day one was July 31, 2017.
It was a tough decision as to whether I would do it on my own or join the boot camp for $500. Can I justify spending $500 on yet another diet? What if this doesn?t work? That is a lot of money to waste, but I took the leap and signed up.
I was an excellent student. I was prepared to do everything she told me to do and get every damn cent?s worth. Here is a sample of the things I did to get into the mindset and culture of the program:
- I listened to every video and the weekly two-hour Q +A sessions
- I posted in my Facebook group and spent plenty of time reading what others posted
- I printed out the nightly checklist and did it EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.
- I wrote down my food EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.
- I weighed every ounce of food that went into my body
- I did NOT go out to eat for TWO MONTHS, as suggested in the program
Do I think Bright Line Eating is a good program?
Hell Ya.
Does it work?
It works. I lost 55 lbs AND KEPT IT OFF. I feel like this needs more than bold letters and shouty caps. It should come with fancy fireworks when you read it. I KEPT THE DAMN WEIGHT OFF!
Update: February 2019 ? After a few months of life stress, I gained back ten pounds. As my size four pants tightened around my legs, I started to panic, then I put my size pants on and calmed down. I have easily maintained a size six for several months now.
Update #2: August 2020 ? I?m off the program for over a year now, but have retained all the information I learned from it and still eat in accordance with its principles. And here is the exciting part ? my current weight is 127 lbs.
?Success is not a straight line, it?s much more of a dance and being open to possibilities.? Arianna Huffington
Do I think you need to join the Bright Line Eating boot camp for $500 to lose weight?
This one is trickier to answer. I?ve heard of people being able to do it without the boot camp. Some people are self-motivated enough, maybe at the right time in their life or just done being fat and feeling unhealthy.
They stick to the program, they follow through, and they?ve been a success. However, there are way more success stories coming out of the boot camp than those doing it on their own.
I think it?s very beneficial to pay $500. You put some ?skin in the game.? If you?re like me, feel depressed and pissed off that you even have to lose weight, having to pay to lose weight is just a whole other level of disappointment.
It was a significant motivating factor to keep going when I wanted to quit. If you want to up the ante even further, have someone else pay for it.
Here is my long-winded answer. If you want the best chances of success, then pay the $500, join the boot camp and do exactly what they say ? all of it, every last video.
Who will benefit from this program?
People who:
- Are done being fat and unhealthy
- Are ready to adopt a lifestyle change ? lifestyle meaning f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
- Can admit they are food addicts ? or at the very least have a problem knowing how much to eat or when to stop eating
- Are willing to follow the program to the T. What the hell is the T anyway? I looked it up; even Google isn?t sure. Regardless, if you are ready to do EXACTLY what they tell you, especially if you think it?s dumb, then you?re ready. AND you will succeed.
Who will NOT benefit from this program?
People who:
- Are looking for a quick fix
- Plan to do it until the weight is off and then eat whatever they want again. Seriously? This never works.
- Think they can modify the program ? ex: that they can do the program and still drink alcohol. You can try, but honestly, I wouldn?t waste my time. This program is not set up for alcohol. If you can?t give it up, then my advice is to find a program that allows it and advises how to consume it in moderation.
Is this the end-all, be-all program, and everyone should be on Bright Line Eating?
No. This program takes a lot of dedication and discipline and has to feel good to you. If you aren?t willing to give it 100%, or it feels too restrictive don?t torture yourself. Move on down the bookcase to the next diet book. This program is not set up for 50% effort.
I eat really clean food ? every day. My body thanks me every day for clean food by staying healthy, giving me tons of energy, and looking fly.
Is fly still an acceptable word? Hip? Is that better or worse? I feel weird being a mom and saying banging. But banging is still good, right?.? OMG, when did I become my mom?!?
Is it hard to give up flour and sugar?
Yes, yes, it is. It?s really hard. And people who say, ?It wasn?t hard for me.? I?d say either their lying and it was hard or they?re lying and didn?t give it up 100%.
I struggled for a solid two months with food. I was angry. I was pissed that I couldn?t eat the food I wanted, and I was pissed that other people could. I became like a rabid animal at mealtimes.
I was so protective of my meal, my kids would try to sneak a taste of something off my plate, and I would all but stab them with a fork.
This is all I get. I don?t have the pasta, bread, sauce whatever you have. All I get are these vegetables and meat. Eat your food, don?t even look at mine.
I would get moody and defensive if we had to go somewhere at mealtimes that I knew wouldn?t be Bright Line Eating friendly.
Angry that all I wanted to do was eat clean, and it was such an ordeal.
I often felt like society was against me. And the sad reality is that it is. Our culture is all about more. Eat more, buy more, be more.
No wonder a lot of us feel lost and depressed. We buy into the marketing ruse that we need more.
Is it still hard?
Sometimes. It is definitely LESS hard. By January 8th, 2018 (my 38th birthday and a little over five months on the program), I sat in a restaurant and watched my family eat my birthday cake with zero remorse. ZERO.
I didn?t want it. I wanted a cake to blow out the candle and make a wish. But as far as eating the most decadent, amazing chocolate cake you?ve ever seen? Na, I?ll pass.
Don?t get all eye-rolly on me. When you don?t eat it, ever, you don?t want it. I know it seems hard to believe, but your body only craves it when you eat it.
It is ?sort of? like if you never ate lobster. You don?t desire lobster, ever. Then you have it one night with garlic butter and holy hotdog.
Life has now been divided, before lobster and after.
Pretty soon, every nice restaurant you go to you look for lobster. You want it. You crave it.
Sugar and flour are way more addictive and have a complicated relationship to food addicts, but you get the idea. Out of sight, out of mind. Well, out of the body, out of craving.
Am I still 100% hardcore Bright Line Eating?
No.
Hold on! Didn?t I say you had to do it forever? Yes, clearly above it says forever, then again f.o.r.e.v.e.r. all condescending and stuff.
The truth is I am still following the four rules (most of the time);
- No sugar
- No flour
- Weigh and measure all your food
- Eat three times a day
I?ve started exercising, so sometimes I add a healthy snack after a vigorous workout. It seems like a healthy thing to do, right? Well, yes, but it breaks one of the simple rules. I?m okay with that.
I don?t carry a scale everywhere I go. I?ve never taken it to restaurants, and that is okay (according to BLE law).
But I also no longer haul it to my mom?s house when I know I?m going to eat there. And guess what, I?m okay with that too. Maybe because after weighing my food for a year, I feel pretty confident in eyeballing portions.
I?ve tasted things with sugar and flour in them. I made a new pancake recipe for the kids and taken a bite. I?ve prepared a new dessert and grabbed a bite.
Am I playing with fire? Maybe. But I don?t feel triggered. I don?t want more than that one bite or don?t find myself making that recipe over and over because I know I can have just one bite.
I don?t think I?m ?cured.? I know this is my journey, and I will experience the pull for comfort food for the rest of my life.
I could become addicted to collecting erasers; that?s my personality. I have a very addictive nature. But I?ve found a way to make peace with food and what I need to eat to feel good.
At some point, it became more about how I feel in my body and how healthy I am, than drowning out the pain with another bagel or piece of pizza.
Bright Line Eating Changed My Life
Eight and a half months ? 55 lbs lost
To finish it up, I think Bright Line Eating is fantastic. It has changed my life for the better. I am forever indebted to Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D., and all her lovely staff for producing this program.
It was an excruciating and challenging change, and the first few months were the worst. But I?ve started the lengthy process of untangling my need for food to fix my emotions.
My obsession with food is still there, I think it always will be, but it?s barely a whisper most days. It?s easily managed. I don?t expect the food to fix my emotions anymore.
I have to choose this mindset every day because it?s way too easy to head on over to the food window, stuff your face and drown your feelings in lattes, french fries, and doughnuts.
It?s difficult to express just how good you?ll feel after a year of clean eating. I had a long list of complaints about my body, the number one being low energy.
I couldn?t even walk up the stairs with a basket of laundry without wanting to take a nap. Now I could probably do it rock climbing style with laundry, two kids, and three cats dangling for dear life.
It?s night and day from laying down after every meal to wanting to join 5k raises. WANTING, not should, could, would, WANTING to do it.
This program saved me. After three decades of being overweight and feeling like a failure, it was the one thing that worked.
If you?re ready, it can be your one thing too.
