This week, I welcomed a very special guest to the vlog: my beloved mother, Mariah Perkins. We talked about our respective food journeys, and she shared with me some of the thinking that has brought her to where she is today: honest about food and moving forward with clarity in her life and her eating habits. 

We talked about genetics related to height, weight, and addiction. We talked about my mom’s Susceptibility Score, which sometimes seems low and sometimes seems high, but might be a 6. Or maybe, different parts of her score a 4 while other parts score an 8.

My mom is currently at a place in her life where she wants to reclaim her power, and food is in the way. She was looking for a low-commitment program when she found something that jolted her out of her malaise: my new book, ON THIS BRIGHT DAY, A Year of Reflections for Lasting Food Freedom.

She turned to that day’s reflection, “Befriend the Body,” and wrote at the top of the page Day One. It was addressing exactly what she needed to be thinking about in order to move forward. 

Mom has done food recovery in the past, including 12 Steps and Bright Line Eating, and she’s been plagued lately by wanting to bring her gifts more clearly to the world. And food was getting in the way of that. It wasn’t the weight. It was the mental chatter.

So ON THIS BRIGHT DAY arrived, and she was able to use it to create clarity around food, giving her the nourishment to stay on track and present herself honestly to the world. And that’s the beauty of a daily reader: it nourishes, day by day. 

The book is out on October 24. She’ll be buying multiple copies. I hope you will, too, to give to your friends, to libraries, to anyone who needs a simple path to food freedom and personal growth. 

Mom’s final words of wisdom: “I am so with this community, in heart and soul. All the great blessings of a good life to everyone.”