Lifestyle Medicine Follow-Up

A few weeks ago, I shot a vlog that really deserves a follow up. It was called “Let’s Make History Together,” and in it, I shared a momentous opportunity for the Bright Line Eating community. Watch this week’s vlog to hear what happened.


Comments

  1. Fawn Clarke

    Hi Susan,
    That is fantastic news. I have been weighing and measuring my food for 12 years now, and without wanting to sound too dramatic, it has given me my life back. Although I like being at a healthy weight, the main motivation for me to eat this way is the peace of mind it gives me. I am a 24-carat food addict and living with the constant craving for more food is HELL.

    Your work has motivated me to come out from the anonymity of a 12 step fellowship for food and spread the word about the solution I, like you, have found for food addiction. It just so happens that I trained as a nutritional therapist and a cook when I was in my early 20’s but couldn’t work out how to put my knowledge and skills to good use until I stumbled across your book.

    I don’t believe it is possible for the medical profession, or anyone else, to fully grasp the nature of food addiction without those of us who have it explaining what it is like to live with it. The work you have done by creating Brightline Eating and the courageous way you speak about food addiction has already had a profound effect here in Cork city where I am based. Let me give you one example – a local secondary treatment center for drink, drugs and food now have all their foodie patients on the Bright Line Eating plan. They recently bought your cook book and gave it to the chefs so as they could prepare appropriate food. This is a miracle as not long ago the same faciltiy believed that weighed and measured food plans were another form of control and therefore could not be a part of a healthy recovery.

    Keep up the good work and thank you.

    Fawn Clarke

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    1. Naomi Arimura

      I want to extend a word of gratitude and appreciation to Susan and everyone for this result. I wrote an e-mail but it bounced and I couldn’t find out how to get through the barrier (not much of a FB user). I’m so glad you did this followup; I had heard from Ocean Robbins and wondered why you didn’t acknowledge what a great role he said you played. I, too, wanted to contribute but I couldn’t, I was financially helpless.
      I was a BrightLine participant until cancer got me, I had surgery and lost 30 kg effortlessly, and my focus changed. Research on cancer treatment led me to feel that medical practice is unbalanced and though I have the greatest respect for my oncologist, his expertise, compassion and the long hours he so obviously works so tirelessly, I felt the extraordinary focus of the entire hospital staff on texture rather than nutrition, even in the department apparently dedicated to Food yet so oblivious to its qualities (or absence thereof). So I applaud with heartfelt thanks this effort to right the omissions of a medical practice that has been skewed since Carnegie and Rockefeller took over medical education to extend their self-rewarding focus on chemistry and outlawed alternatives that might interfere. America ‘won the war’ so dominated medical education along American lines here in Japan too. I am a Brit living in Tokyo. THANK YOU, this is such a big step.

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  2. Doris Vorndran

    Beautiful! Thank you for the follow up, sharing your message and simply being your lovely, genuine soul that you are. We love you! Carry on!
    Much Love and gratitude,
    Doris Vorndran

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  3. Patricia O'Connor

    So proud of us!!

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  4. Constance Joy

    Absolutely wonderful!!
    Thank you!!

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  5. Ivona

    Thank you Susan for showing up vulnerable, honest, and with integrity.
    I trust this journey ! I got my life back too !

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  6. Richard Huffmon

    So glad that your efforts (and the BLE community) will result in improving medical care. Many chronic illnesses can be avoided or corrected by diet and lifestyle changes. I am happy to be part of the change. I’m Happy and Free already, thinner than I’ve been in more than 40 years, and well on my way to goal weight/body. Thank you Susan Peirce Thompson, I couldn’t have done this without you. Love you,

    Reply ·
    1. Bright Line Eating

      Exactly, Richard–so much illness could be prevented. (And we’re so glad you’re a part of our community!) 🧡

      Reply ·
  7. Eve Bluestein

    Thank you. Apology accepted and genuinely appreciated.

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  8. Lane Harvey

    Well done! I thought you were going to have input on the questionnaire. Is that correct?

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  9. Monique Bushman

    I’m very excited to hear there will be questions added to the medical boards with regards to food addiction and food as medicine. Diet is woefully neglected in the western medicine system.

    Additionally I want to thank you for your apology. The initial vlog caught my eye and was the first BLE vlog I watched. It was an unfortunate first experience as I am a board certified emergency medicine physician. You wouldn’t think there would be much room for diet and habit talks in the ER. And with the dead and dying there are not. But I have the opportunity for all others to talk to them about diet, nutrition, and meditation. I discuss it with those who come in with physical complaints where the diagnosis is really depression. I have diagnosed eating disorders in teens and spent a great deal of emotional effort getting them support and help in a system that is broken and an area that is underserved. It’s never a better time to talk about nutrition, smoking, etc than when you come in fearing a heart attack or stroke. I care deeply about both my patients and my privilege to share in there lives, and influence their lives on what is usually one of their worst days.

    So thank you for retracting your broad generalizations of medicine and those who practice it. Your ability to honestly apologize has redeemed you in my eyes. Bright line eating and more importantly bright line thinking is changing my life. I can’t wait to share it with my patients and the staff I work with.

    Reply ·
    1. Eve Bluestein

      Great story. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply ·
  10. B

    Sorry I am so Totally Off Topic…. and I have never been able to do BLE for even 1 meal….. BUT at the end of your vlogs — the “I Love You” is all I wait to hear…. Thank you for such sincerity… <3

    Reply ·
  11. Rhonda B

    LOVE to the moon and back to everyone who made this come true. There are no words to describe the joy I feel about the profound difference this will be make.

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  12. Patricia Anne Ginn-Griffeth

    Well done, Susan. Well done.

    Reply ·
  13. Deena Levy

    I recently had total knee replacement surgery needed from a 30 years ago dance injury. The surgery went beautifully. That evening in the hospital I was sent a dinner of 70% NMF. The tray was mostly white & beige.
    I ate what a could (BLE’ing) & reordered more clean protein, salad, fruit & extra veggies. They soon brought up a 2nd tray that was totally colorful & BLE edible.
    What a contrast!
    The next day I was able to order excellent BLE meals & spoke director with one of the dietitians, explained to her what Bright Line Eating is & gave her resources to follow through for the philosophy, structure & science if BLE’ing. She confided to me that she is a competitive weight lifter & eats very similarly herself when in training.
    I felt I had a chance to influence how medicine & food intersect in a hospital setting.
    I am so proud & excited that this information on nutrition and food addiction is finally getting directly into the educational track for future health care professionals.
    Bravo to Susan & the Bright Line Eating community’s participation!

    .

    Reply ·
    1. Bright Line Eating

      We love your enthusiasm, Deena! Way to advocate for yourself in the hospital! 🧡

      Reply ·
  14. Chimmy Anderson

    This is all such great news. Thank you Susan, for your incredible courage, honesty and integrity. I believe it is at the core of why and how this movement works. Thank you, for you.. and the people you have rallied round you.

    Reply ·
  15. Lisa Sinclair

    Beautiful apology, thanks for modeling that for us.

    Reply ·
  16. Beth Robison

    Susan, thank you for the integrity you embody. Your leadership is what is allowing BLE to have the impact that it clearly is having. Thank you, a million times over! I feel like I hit the jackpot every DAY!

    Reply ·
  17. Madonna

    Thank you so much for your honesty and your integrity. We are all blessed for everything you have achieved and continue to achieve. Thank you.

    Reply ·
  18. Rina

    I am so glad you posted this Vlog! Number one, I didn’t know how we had done until I wrote into support ( I think). I was told it was added to the bottom of the initial Vlog.
    Second, I asked my doctor if it were true that she hadn’t had nutrition classes. She stated that she had received that training. Further, she was campaigning with her “group” to provide services and support in the area of nutrition, etc.

    Reply ·
  19. Paula

    While I don’t follow BLE to the letter (I follow Dr. Fuhrman’s closely related diet), I count on your vlogs, etc., for the best knowledge and insight into food addiction I’ve found.
    I’ve discussed the lack of nutrition education in med schools with my “newly minted” cardiologist son and, yes, he got “nutrition education” in med school–all of about 10 hours, total!!! He agrees whole-heartedly with the primary importance of eating a healthy diet (my DIL, his wife, influences him here, I’m sure: She has a PhD in nutrition and is an assist. prof. at a med school running a lab doing food-based medical research). Unfortunately my son’s already cynical because he witnessed a majority of patients during his residency training who just wanted the “easy way out,” i.e., a pill or procedure to fix whatever’s wrong. I think your news is fantastic and a huge step in the right direction! But, where does society come up with the money to counter the marketing done by Big Pharma that convinces people all they need is a pill? How do we make it possible for doctors to take the time needed to fully explain the importance of lifestyle changes to their patients’ health when they’re told they have 15-20 minutes max. with each patient? How do we stop the government from rolling back healthy guidelines for the food schools feed kids? And so on and on…

    Reply ·
  20. Erica

    I appreciate this follow up so so much. I am one of those doctors who felt so unseen by some of what was said in the first vlog. Thank you for being so kind and willing to look at our perspective and soften towards us. I am very grateful for this

    Reply ·
  21. patricia ricciatti

    don’t apologize too hard. there are still a lot of blind as a bat big pharma adherents in the profession. to those who are sufficiently enlightened as to recognize what a pitfall that is and who might have been offended at being lumped in with the bribed, fair enough.

    Reply ·
  22. Yvonne Magee

    Thank you for this, Susan. I know your sincere apology will be deeply appreciated, and really, the news COULDN’T BE BETTER! SUCH a major step forward – we are with you in this, all the way! I am feeling great gratitude for your integrity, intelligence and courage.

    Reply ·
  23. Marilyn

    Thanks for your apology. One of your board certified pediatrician rezoomers.

    Reply ·
  24. Kay tull

    Very impressed on both counts – the success of inspiring your brightline community to give for this important cause and for the sincere, well articulated apology. I’m proud to be part of your movement (almost 3 years on the sidelines inspired by your vlogs and books) and I am excited about the brightline eating lifestyle becoming a “household word “ in the healthcare and world community. As a retired nurse, reading the science in your first book has changed my life of obsessive compulsive overeating. You are doing legacy work in this field which gives great peace and joy to many 🙂

    Reply ·
  25. Roxanne Woods

    I’m so happy this has happened and so proud to be a part of this community.

    I do however disagree with your apology somewhat and here’s why: 💯 of my experience with medical doctors has been eye rolling at the mere idea of food replacing pharmaceuticals. Granted that 💯 represents 3 doctors in my lifetime I remember. So is it painting with a broad brush against a whole profession? Yes. But has it been my experience? Also yes. When doctors like Dr Richard Dubois speak on a public stage and say basically what you said – perhaps the response of doctors shouldn’t be shame on us – perhaps the response should be “we have an image problem what can we do to fix it?”

    Sometimes as beings we should comfort the inflicted – sometimes we should inflict the comfortable.

    It’s not as if I can go doctor shopping. In Canada I’m lucky to gave a family doctor at all. Most have waiting lists or many complaints. 🤷🏼‍♀️

    I would rather work with my doctor on these issues, but when I consistently hear about how at the end of my life will I regret eating the chocolate bar or drinking the wine , or will I regret not doing it…..Huston, we have a problem.

    Well done on the people taking the stand and if some of us are doctors – even better – but don’t discount my 💯 experiences – it counts and it matters. My doctors are your colleagues after all.

    Reply ·
  26. Helen Campbell

    Susan: The norm ‘these days’ is don’t apologize ever!!!!! It is considered a sign of weakness!!!!! However, I do not believe the norms, in this case. To apologize takes a great deal of strength and only a person of strength can do it as effectively as you did. I understand why you took your broad strokes, but maybe the people, or dare I say doctors, who questioned your broad strokes, should really take a closer look at what the medical profession is telling patients maybe it’s not 100% of the time but almost 99.9999% of the time and they might decide who was more correct, you or them. I’m really happy this is all working out for both you and Ocean Robbins. We hope it will be helpful eventually for us here in Canada as well. Have a very good day – – –

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  27. Rina

    I wish you stop pestering me about the family reunion , if I would want to go I would have booked in, but I don’t want to go! 1000 something is far to dear also because I live in New Zealand I could add another couple of thousands for a plane ticket to the US so NO thank you I am not on the fence I simply do NOT want to go.

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  28. Jessica Clements

    I’ve been wondering whether the money had been raised or not. I’m delighted that it has. Many thanks for the follow up.
    Thank you also for your apology not because I’m in the medical community but I too make passionate broad statements that have got me into trouble & when I do this again I will, like you, stand up & apologise!

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  29. Joanne Keene Kelleher

    As a person who has over 40 years as a US Medical School professor I appreciate Susan’s apology. I thought her previous post was off target. Many US medical schools do teach nutrition. I fear that this campaign to “write questions” is also off target. Medical education will not change because there is a “bank of questions”. It changes when the science underlying an approach can be shown to work. Here is where BLE can play its largest role. I encourage BLE to keep up its research efforts.

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