Mindful Eating Challenge

I had an interesting experience during dinner last night that compelled me to scrap the VLOG topic I had planned and instead talk about my thoughts surrounding that meal. Watch this week’s VLOG to hear all about it.

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Comments

  1. Stephanie Wood

    Loved the information. Thanks for sharing. I am high on the susceptibility scale so I totally get it.

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  2. Michèle Swiderski

    Susan, you are an amazing role model for me. Authenticity is one of my highest values, and I respect you so much for your style. Blessings! I LOVE your prayer. Is it on the Resources page, if not, could it be? Love back to you xox

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  3. Mercedes (from Argentina)

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. When I think there´s nothing else you can tell me to inspire me, there you go again. I´ll use your prayer. It will be awkward with my family, but, well, I think it´s necessary.

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  4. Cindy Hauffe

    Hi Susan,
    Just a thought. Since you are such a busy lady; maybe you could adopt this mindset. I find it helpful. Think of eating your meal as a productive task. Which it is, your filling your body w/essential nutrients. Then have in mind another task that you will tackle after your meal. This helps to put into perspective the importance of your food as fuel. And it underscores the health consciousness of what you’re consuming. For me; that automatically makes me greatful for my food & enjoy the most simplistic of meals. Then you can rise up when that ‘task’ is done & pursue the next one on your to do list for the day:) I loved the sort of spontaneous prayer you came up w/ & how you are always so genuine. Keep on being you. That’s all anybody can handle.

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  5. Diane

    I would like to have you explain more about the other issue you mentioned, the brain convincing us that we got away with a break because the weight dropped off and we feel better as soon as we resume. I keep cycling through this over and over and although I’m still in my goal range, I don’t feel especially peaceful with my food. My brain wants to convince me that we can have it all, eat and be thin, but I know at some point that bubble is going to burst. I really do not want to go there! I think it would be a great topic for future vlog. Thank you, lots of love, D

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  6. Annie Green

    Hi Susan,
    I’m a 10 and so grateful to never have to diet again. I have just achieved the high end of my weight goal after 7 and 1/2 months of Bright Line Eating. This lifestyle is how I intend to eat for the rest of my life and I am so grateful to you for the program. I am “mindful” in that I start each day with Spiritual exercises, have food in the fridge and freezer that fits with my program, prepare my food, weigh and measure it etc. It is little enough to do in order to live happy, thin and free!

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  7. Deborah Garrard

    Important vlog!! As an Eating Psychology Coach, I encourage mindful eating in order for clients to receive full nutritional value and nourishment of mind-body-spirit from their meals. A study was done in which students at a university in Italy were shown a short film. Before the film they were given a snack and their digestive processes were tested using an EGG. Perfectly normal digestive activity. Next, while they were watching the film, they were given another snack, and again, their digestive processes were tested. All the EGG levels dropped! Decreased digestion. Lower enzymatic input, lower gut activity, and inefficient digestion. Too often we are ‘out to lunch’ when we’re out to lunch, quite literally! If our goals include being healthy while being happy, thin and free mindful eating is key!
    Wonderful prayers and poetry, too. Life can be poetry for us all if we will tune into each moment with presence, power and peace. Blessings all!

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  8. Carol Boyer

    Susan, thank you, again, for your transparency! It helps to know that even you can fall prey to mindlessness and that this is a life long journey! I really love the encouraging community that has formed around your work.

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  9. Lee

    Susan, you don’t eat with your husband and children?

    Reply ·
    1. Susan Peirce Thompson

      Of course! Most nights we do. I forget what was going on that particular meal.

      Reply ·
  10. Liz

    The “special need brain” wow!!! How true and just what I needed to hear! Also the permission to be human witheating and other aspects of life to such as getting frustrated with your children …I was think the same thing and you spoke the words ! Thank you Susan! I’m grateful for you and your honesty and help

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  11. Joanna Seib

    Thank you that’s me too, but I am just not able to eat by myself, I do not feel lonely – I feel bored…. that is why I read a book, paper or seat in front of the computer, or listen to podcasts, anything just to get some kind of mental occupation while eating. At the end I am not satisfied, feel not full, since the eating passed unnoticed by my body. What to do?

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  12. Dolores Storness-Bliss

    Thank you, Susan. I always get so much from your Vlogs. I learned while back that if I ate my meal while watching TV or reading that it never felt like enough whereas now I sit at the table and concentrate on chewing, tasting and enjoying so I eat slower and I feel full and satisfied afterward. Also, I especially love the idea of the prayer after the meal. Saying that the meal is enough is a good way to confirm to our brain that indeed it is enough instead of having it longing for more.

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  13. Debbie Rupp

    Wow, loved this vlog! Thank you! ?

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  14. Becky L

    I absolutely LOVE and respect your honesty!! (Unfortunately) Times when you struggle or go off plan is when I Iearn the most from you. So THANKS for your openness to help us in our struggles.

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  15. carol

    Good blog. Just reminded me that when my son was little we had no set times for eating as I was working three to four jobs..he was about 2 1/2’3 at the time. But when I married into a family where my husband’s dad lived with them he did the cooking and we ate at 6:00 every night and all to be there. It was great structure that I needed so when that marriage ended I kept that structure and then dishes done and still some evening left to enjoy with each other. So if you haven’t been eating with your family or on the phone or doing other stuff than concentrating on time with just the family, this will be great … with starting BLE 4-30 I have lost almost 11 lbs. Keep up the vlogs…I appreciate them

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  16. Ann Isom

    I think what I like the most about Susan is she is real. she “fesses up” like today and is very inspirational. Thank you Susan for today’s Vlog!

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  17. Regine

    Great topic, I think stress rules our lives and unfortunately there is not much we can do about it.
    I was lucky enough to spend 4 month in
    Switzerland to help my daughter heal from a ski accident
    and I ate forbidden foods every day but also relaxed, walked 1 to 2 hours a day …. and lost weight instead of gaining weight. It changed my view on life,….

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  18. Gina Coloni

    Everything you say really matters. Your honesty helps remind us we are all on this together and are all human living with imperfections.

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  19. Jacqui

    Wow! Thank you so much for posting this video. I am a 10 on the scale like yourself and I am just starting my 14 day trial. I am SO grateful to have found you! I have finally found my ‘tribe!’ I know BLE is my unstoppable way to being happy thin and free!!!

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  20. alison

    I loved this!
    That we own a brain with special needs!
    Thank you Susan for being here for us! Love You!

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  21. Karen Lehmann

    Thank you
    This speaks so clearly and kindly to my current needs and questions. When I slip in my food I need a slow-MO look at the fall to recover and continue. Dialogue around adjustments is so helpful. My cognitive self needs words to fuel better thinking, my damaged emotional self benefits from the gentle look at the slip. This blog helps me hold my own hand!!!
    Many blessings and much joy.
    Karen

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  22. Bea

    How interesting. I always wondered why Susan is doing other things while eating. I’m alsoa 10 on the Susceptibility Scale. My trick to stick with the bright lines that I set up is to replenish willpower with sunlight. So I always eat on my balcony and focus on the food. Happy challenge, dear Susan andenjoy your meals!

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  23. Peggy Elterman

    Thanks Susan – I binged today on healthy foods, but ate still I am stuffed. The sitting with the focus on eating is just what I need. I had 3 months of staying on track – and that has never happened before. (PS Thich Nhat Hanh first name is pronounced Tic). I got to see him years back in CA. Such a Blessed Soul. Thanks for sharing your journey with us 10s!!! xo

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  24. M

    A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles Paperback – October 1, 2002
    by M J Ryan
    http://amzn.to/2rn9yeD

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  25. Jacqie Shartier

    I absolutely love your Vlog Susan! You are the most authentic person I know and have no qualms about putting your life out to us, I admire and respect you so much! Rachel Platten’s song, “Stand By YOU” reminds me of you with your BLE tribe. You are you so incredibly supportive.

    I always have a beautiful placemat, cloth napkin and napkin ring for my meals at the table. No music, phone or noise – just me and my food!

    A prayer you might like:

    The Light of God surrounds me
    The Love of God enfolds me
    The Power of God protects me
    The Presence of God watches over me
    Wherever I am, GOD is.

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  26. TS

    Sorry to post twice but the book I was thinking of was not just ‘Surviving Survival’ but a book on potential clinical implications of being able to observe a triggering of neuroplastic change called ‘The Brain’s Way of Healing’ by Norman Doidge. I’ve been interested that while there is no evidence supporting the idea of an ‘addictive personality’ there is some suggesting those with highly susceptible brains may be easily bored! I wondered if novel learning promoting neuroplastic change might ‘nourish’ the saboteur? I think Ian Fleming said ‘those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make bored’!

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  27. TS

    I’m brand new to BLE, so ignore this (albeit well meaning thinking through) if it doesn’t help :-). “10+ers” who have tried to make ‘those kind of changes’ know very well the somewhat traumatic experience of wobbling you seem to me to describe here and the insidious nature of sliding off track. I’m hugely sympathetic and wishing you well. What do we call it here when we are doing all the things that might help while knowing we are still hoping not to actually be ‘in the bubble’ where the saboteur still has the reins? If that’s where things go then it’s a precarious time and (while those who know, know it) it’s not easy to articulate clearly and discuss or monitor in ourselves, in my experience. Dogged integrity then is not, I think, anything like OCD, at those points (behavioural parallels aside), but I do wonder if such integrity is an important way of us talking to that part of us, through our actions (in our native tongue?), to say I’m holding focus, I’m holding the focus and I’m still gently holding the focus…because you can sense something is still active and that such a focus is necessary to gently, persistently inhibit it. Inattention might not just feel like but might actually be like letting go and allowing a take-over! I don’t think this is the same as an OCD ritual or compulsion at all (but certainly some with OCD do appear present like ‘addicts’ and will have neurological drives that function similarly…OCD or addiction in those cases – neurology might allow us to be more discerning eventually). I think dogged integrity is more like a communication between parts of us, than a superstition aimed at fending of an adverse outcome. I think surrender to BLs is great but there’s no way out of having to concentrate very carefully and (almost impossibly consistently) at times like those you seem to describe here, when you are, or might still be ‘in the bubble’. It is tiring, so a time for lots of attention to self-care. It’s a real and shared experience though, as you’ll know. So many will relate. How do you get your brain to want (dopamine drive?) and seek out the consistent, clear routine again, where the taboos & their power can then be re-established? Now there’s a Q for a neuroscientist! I sometimes wonder if there might be something in novelty – in shifting part of our brain into learning mode. Not practice of existing skills but novel ones, making, perhaps, the need for tight concentration on re-establishing routine easier because that other bit of us is busy mapping something new!? ‘Surviving Survival’ by Laurence Gonzales is an interesting read! I much appreciate the honesty and ‘realness’ of this. Not a pleasant experience but rooting for you and hoping you can find a way to both lead BLs and balance other needs. You come first but you seem to be doing an amazing job!

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  28. Luiza Prigenzi

    Oh Susan, thank you so much. You touched my heart.

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  29. Josephine

    Thank you Susan. I will take on the 7 day challenge
    And begin with a prayer and end with one that
    I wrote for myself. I appreciate greatly your authenticity
    And continued practices for your own BLE. It helps
    All of us see it’s an on-going commitment. I feel mindful practices connect us to divine source. I actually
    Did this before with food after hearing Abraham Hicks
    Speak about it.

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  30. Elaine

    Thank you for this VLOG topic, Susan. Two weeks ago I learned that I am in A-Fib. So I haven’t really been serious about reading your book, learning the foods and amounts, etc. My younger son and his family just moved into the other half of this house (duplex), learning to sleep with a CPAP machine, dealing with arthritis, neuropathy in my feel, and needless to say I have been overwhelmed. Oh yes, my husband had a small stroke about four years ago and I am trying to deal with his dimentia and short-term memmory loss.
    Anyway, listening to your VLOGS gives me some sort of hope that I can do this thing.

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  31. Mary

    I totally understand!…*:)

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  32. Cathy Sutter

    Susan, Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I am going to follow your lead. Thank you for the path. It is what I need now. Thank you for not being perfect with BLE and sharing your imperfection. It is so helpful.

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  33. Kristi Bencomo

    Thank you for this insight. I can certainly relate to feeling pressured for time and not paying attention to the blessing of the meal. Sometimes I feel restricted with my food choices because if Brightline Eating. But the sacrifice of flour and sugar and weighing my food has given me greater freedom than choosing food that did not help my body or help me be in a right sized body. This post improved my perspective and helped me regain gratitude for the program.

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  34. Kathy

    I did strict by the scale, don’t lick your fork abstinence for 7 years. I learned to get honest. I also stopped going to meetings when my (I love her) sponsor, Jackie had a baby and let go of her stronger sponsees. 7 years go by, I’ve picked up flour, big time alcohol, move to an island and get sober. 15 years later I’m sober, no sugar and today after hearing you, Susan (thank you, I love you) no flour for a month. No problem. EXCEPT … no portion control. I’m ‘leaning into it’ I went through an ice cream phase, no judgement – I’m on the other side. Your video IS THE ONLY weekly video I’ve ever followed. It’s coming along slowly and no, I really Don;t have a problem with my vegetables … I’m a garden variety food addict. I want to say thanks, I remember I need to give myself permission to be human. I just ate the biggest bowl of grapes, distracted listening to the blog. I won’t give up. Thanks!

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  35. Sue Baker

    Brilliant clod Susan I was with you every word coz I’m a 10 ++++++ on the SS. ?? just a thought?You mentioned starting caffeine over the last 2 weeks. Have you been wanting more food over the same period of time. I haven’t had caffeine since January this year. Had one a week ago and really felt affects . I couldn’t stop talking for 5 hours and I was not satisfied with any of my meals for a couple of days. I felt I wanted more even though my body felt full??

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  36. Marci

    Dear Dr. Thompson,
    I admire and respect you so much. I have been on BLE for almost two years, and only recently got off my lines. I really needed this VLOG. It makes me realize I will be okay, and I will be able to do BLE again. I am redoing a boot camp right now with you. I really appreciate your honesty, and hard work. I loved the advice you gave, and I will follow it. You are one smart cookie!

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  37. Satyakaam

    It appears that you are a very high energy person. If you wish to be more present while achieving and talking I Hubert another challenge for you. As you speak, instead of saying “um” take a breath.
    Cheers and best wishes. SK

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  38. Shawna Murph

    Beautiful reminder that during meal time, I need to be present and not have my attention divided .
    I love the prayers!
    Thank you for your honesty, you are an inspiration to me.
    Shawna

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  39. Jo

    Thank you for this! I am very new to Brightline but I could totally relate what you were saying… I love your 7 day challenge and am going to do that as well. I am very encouraged about finding freedom in all of this…

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  40. Lynne Hannay

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for clearly stating what has been going on with me in my BL E journey. I love this program it is the sun I orbit around. Since I’m a 10 on the susceptibility scale mindful eating is exactly what was missing. Please provide us with a copy of what you wrote so we can use it at the end of our meals. It’s beautiful. Thank you for all you do for us.
    Lynne Hannay

    Reply ·
    1. Bright Line Eating

      Hi Lynne, Here’s the “end of meal” prayer Susan wrote: Thank you God for letting this meal be enough.
      Be with me now in my bliss as I move forward for the rest of the day, using this fuel to be of service to others.
      Life is so good; I have it so good. I love you. Amen.

      Reply ·
  41. Barb Brockman

    Wow Susan I loved that vlog-the kindnesses you are to yourself. Your prayer after you eat and you just being so REAL!
    Thank you I love you so much

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  42. Paola

    Thank you Susan, I so needed this. I have been thinking about mindful eating for a while. like you, I am usually multitasking while eating and I have realised that sometimes my meal just disappears while I am not watching! Like you, I am high on the scale and quantities are my thing. I can eat incredible amounts of food if I just start. I often find that it’s hard to stand up after a meal because I don’t want it to be over, so I try to add a little bit of something to stretch it on. I must start mindful eating with some kind of ritual to make it more effective.
    A big hug from Iceland 🙂

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  43. Lorraine

    Susan- I am wondering if you thought about what you were feeling right before you ate? I sometimes can figure out my “toxic state” that makes me especially vulnerable to eating when I am not hungry! I may be anxious, sad, lonely, angry, bored or some other feeling. How do we get to the root of the feelings that make us want to eat the stuff we don’t need?? If we acknowledge those feelings and express them in some way, does it help us NOT to eat off the meal plan? It seems that we must deal with those root causes underneath the eating as well as making a mindful eating commitment. It is not easy…but sometimes I find that when I ask myself, “what am I feeling right now? and why do I feel like eating? it can help me to realize that I am not hungry but I am stressed!” Does that see to fit the idea of mindful eating as well?

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  44. Terri

    I’m not on the program and a blip on the susceptibility scale. There was a time in my life that I had “issues” with food. I was anorexic, then bulimic. I thought I was addicted to food and needed to contain, restrain. Eating became a negative experience. Everything weighed and measured. Good foods and bad foods. If I ate a bad food I was a bad person. I grew weary of this. It was so much work. I lost joy in eating. It because mechanical.

    Finally, I stopped. Food is food. It is simply nourishment and I eat to live, not the other way around.

    I believe our bodies know what we’re feeling and thinking when we eat. If we eat something and think of it as “bad”, doesn’t our body know? Then, what happenes to digestion, assimilation, elimination?

    When I let go and started eating intuitively, with joy and without judgement I easily maintain what you call “a right size body”. And I have so much more energy to do other things in life rather than weigh and measure and obsess. Blessings to all.

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  45. Rosa Collado

    Susan, I just adore you. I am so grateful to know you and to have learned about BLE. I love that you always bring new avenues that we can take to reach our goals. You never give up! Thank you so much. God Bless You.

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  46. Gerald

    Susan,

    I deeply appreciate your willingness to share yourself, perfection or not. I found the vlog really inspiring.
    I find it is easy for me to develop a rigidity in my thinking – about my food, about whether I am right or wrong, about what’s acceptable and not. So, it is important for me to hear that this is something I made up. It is not necessarily really real.

    Thanks.
    Gerald

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  47. Jeanne Drouillard

    Great message! I’ve been sober 38 years actually came to AAtgru OA but food continues to challenge me. I just discovered BLE less than a week ago and signed up for 14 day challenge! I love this VLOG. Because I know one area I struggle with is being present when I eat. I’m adding the mindful eating challenge to the next 10 days of my challenge. Thank you Susan for sharing as openly & authentically as you do! God bless.

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  48. Esmarie

    You are such a sweetheart Susan <3 love and hugs to you. Love your 7 day challenge idea instead of 30 day. I'm in the same boat 🙂 30day challenge is just too long for me as well. I can do 7 days 😀 For the past +/- 4 weeks we as a family also sit at the table at breakfast and dinner, its absolutely great and then during lunchtime at work, i used to sit behind my desk and gobble up my food in between work stuff, but since i've started with BLE in Oct 2015, i go and sit in an unattended office, without being on my mobile or computer and enjoy my healthful prepared BL meal. 🙂 Enjoy your 7 day challenge and may you create new habits through this that you would love to stick to for always 🙂

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  49. Liz

    God brought this to me at this moment. Thank you so much.

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  50. Catriona

    Hi Susan, this blog hit close to home for me. Although I agree with Anne louden Wilson’s comments, as well, I still have trouble enjoying my food, or mindfully eating. Probably because as a child we were told to clean our plate, and though I was very thin growing up, in fact until my first child was born, I can’t seem to enjoy the taste of my food, I eat really fast. I’m a 10+++++, on the susceptibility scale, I use food for distraction and comfort, not for taste or the enjoyment of eating. In fact I find even if I’m measuring and weighing, any food I eat triggers an insatiable desire for more., even though I’m not tasting or enjoying the food, it’s the act of eating that’s soothing. Have you ever come across this scenario before?

    I’m turning 67 today, am heavier than I’ve ever been, and I’m now rereading your great book, to spur me on. Even though I’ve been diagnosed with a severe digestive disease, affecting my intestines, I can’t seem to keep on track. I listen to your blogs weekely, and so look forward to them, they are inspiring, I just have to learn be more accountable to myself, and my goals.

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  51. Julia D

    Thank you so much for the encouragement…it will help me endure. I especially like the idea that we have a “special needs brain”. I live in community (with about 25 other people in my community…hundreds over the world) where we have many people who are “special needs” (we actually call it that)… concerning foods. When I heard you use the term, a light bulb went off in my thinking…that, yes, there can be other “special needs” …other than just food. It will be a way to remember that I DO have special needs…and it is ok…and I am grateful that you identify with that.

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  52. Ann Lowden Wilson

    Hi Susan!
    Like another comment here, asking if you eat with your family. I fully understand if you don’t, it’s none of my business.
    My 3 children are adults now, and when they were young we were eating together for the evening, most of the time. If you have your total meal on the plate, and going to eat”mindfully” it means tasting the food!
    I am looking forward to every meal, because I am ENJOYING it, so much! Every bite of the cherry tomatoes, piece of mango, piece of fish, chicken or egg, veg, beans and delicious spices. I taste every bite and had to learn to chew the food, all with JOY!

    Eating should be FUN and ENJOYABLE because of the taste experience, and mind you, I eat the same breakfast and same lunch every day!
    PLEASE enjoy your meals!
    In no way would I ever talk on the phone or read at the same time, as I discovered I had not enjoyed the food if I did, just like you already know. Then isn’t that even disrespectful to the plants and the planet to “mindlessly” stuff BLE meal into your mouth as it was another project?

    PLEASE Keep It Simple Sweetheart!
    You don’t need to make every meal into a bleeming Meditation thing, NO NEED for any paraphernalia! Seriously!

    Just get the delicious meal on the table, tell your kids and husband you may be quiet because you are SO enjoying your meal, go OHHHH, AHHH, and you and your family will learn to enjoy your meal fully.
    Discussions and Q&A time can be done after the satisfying meal, Yes? Then mindfully have quality time with someone on the phone, or having a ‘mindful’ enjoyable time with your kids on the couch and chat, now that the meal is over.
    In this way you are teaching yourself and your family good manners for a life-time.
    By the way, isn’t it also DISRESPECTFUL in at least 3 ways to eat and be on the phone:

    1. To yourself and your body. You are not letting your body make the most of the nutrition, food needs to be chewed and tasted and your body WANTS to enjoy the meal, with body, mind and spirit working as a whole being. It is not a respectful way of treating yourself with compassion.

    2. It is disrespectful to your friend. Did he/she know you were eating at the same time? I would tell her, love talking but I am just going to finish enjoying my meal right now, and then I can fully focus on my friend afterwards. She deserves my full attention. Personally I really don’t like to speak with people who are smoking or eating while talking on the phone, it feels they are not interested enough in me. Much better to call later, give the person full, compassionate attention.

    3. Disrespectful to the actual food, not appreciating the taste and beauty, the nourishment and energy it gives you,
    the enormous energy and labour by people and the plant/animal itself, to put it on the plate.
    No need for another book, just SIT and use all your senses, your are focusing on your meal here and be aware what you enjoy about the food, sight, smell, touch, how it sounds even and taste of course, just ENJOY YOUR MEAL.
    Of course have candles and read before your preparation, make it attractive for everyone, bless the food if you like, then simply enjoy your meal.
    KISS!
    Thank You for your wonderful work, transparency and passion, you are helping people to change their lives, enormous + impact in the world! <3

    Love & Light, your friend Ann in Devon, UK <3

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  53. Tamara Straub

    I so love this vlog!!! Thank you for sharing this very important lesson. Thank you for not being “perfect”. Thank you for being compassionate. Thank you for your leadership.
    PS- Guess what I did last night (day 22)?? Overate, only Bright Line food, but still too much. Rezooming…

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  54. Dominique

    If Susan’s food plan was always perfect I wouldn’t feel interested in following an inaccessible model.
    It’s Susan’s humanity that leads us to be convinced that if she can get off track and go back on track fast and find new solutions, we can too.
    So I want to thank her for sharing the cracks with us. They are most helpful. They are the cement of our human community.

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  55. Gio

    “Owning a brain with special needs”, love that, so true! Love you, love me 🙂 XOXO

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  56. Sonia

    Thank you Susan for not being perfect because none of us are and your imperfect experiences let me know that I’m not alone in my struggles with food. In every vlog you say at least one thing that I can relate to, to keep me on track with my food. You said you ate condiments but don’t condiments usually contain sugar? I like it when you said once that sugar and flour can hijack your brain- if I eat sugar once then my brain starts thinking “if I ate that then whats the big deal if I eat a fruit yogurt and if I ate a fruit yogurt whats the big deal if I add ketchup to my meal” and so on and so on, plus if I eat sugar my appetite in general increases and I end up eating larger quantities of food than usual. I like the idea of a blessing before a meal and a prayer after.

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  57. PIERRE HENRI

    I AM IN THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERING LITTLE BY LITTLE WHAT BLE IS ALL ABOUT. I FEEL GRATEFUL TO YOU AND RELIEVED TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR OWN CHALLENGES WITH KEEPING “IN LINE” WITH THE THE BRIGHT LINES OF EATING. I WAS WONDERING HOW I WOULD BE ABLE TO RESPECT SUCH LINES GIVEN MY COMPLEX SITUATION. I FEEL IT WILL BE EASIER NOW TO GO WITH MY OWN FLOW. I LOVED THE BLESSINGS YOU READ. I WANT TO GET THE BOOK AND READ THE DAY’S ENTRY BEFORE I EAT.

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  58. Toni S

    You do NOT need to be perfect to be the figurehead for BLE! In fact, to be perfect would be detrimental for those of us who identify with your flaws. That humanity is part of what draws us to identify with you – so please don’t feel you are less because of it. Indeed – you are a much greater role model for the slips . Much love to you xxx

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  59. Maggie

    What an awesome VLOG ! I loved your message and especially your prayer. I’m going to do the same! Thank you!❤️❤️

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  60. Pat

    Hi Susan, since starting the Boot Camp I have become very aware of the need to have NO distractions while eating my food. I noticed that if I do not pay attention to the food I am eating then I do not feel as though I have eaten!!! Not having distractions while eating has become a BRIGHT LINE for me. I love the idea of the before and after prayer, it was called Grace Before Meals in my catholic childhood, have never before considered what it meant but in the light of your vlog it ‘s meaning has unfolded to me. It frames the meal, acknowledging the beginning and the ending, actually making it a sacred event, a stop in the business of our daily life and that is a blessing in itself. Loved the Rumi you read, he is awesome and also the brain with special needs – brilliant observation. Much Love and Thank You.

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    1. Nieves

      Love your post and I agree with everything you say, I share a similar experience with the bright lines, a catholic upbringing and Susan´s blog 🙂

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  61. Heather

    Honestly Susan you share so openly and honestly, you are the very best of friends to us all and you’re absolutely right. We forget so easily what is good for us and do need reminding from time to time of the things that are in our best interest. To me mindful eating and creating that sacred space among other things is a lovely way to cherish ourselves and to be each our own best friend.
    By the way I have been to Rumi’s Tomb in Konya and found it as you might expect, intense with a profound sense of Peace and Love .

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  62. Wenda

    Just the right message. At just the right time. Thank you, Susan. You really are unstoppable!!

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  63. Joanne Rennie

    Thank you Susan. Just what I needed to hear. So timely in my journey. To be grateful – sometimes we forget to be. A wonderful reminder

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  64. Jutta

    Thank you for sharing . Just a question though . Do you not eat your meals together as a family ?

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  65. Alice

    Thank you for the very timely message. You touched on all the things I needed to be reminded this evening. I accept your challenge – and multi-tasking is one of my bad habits while eating! – so it may be hard, but I will also light a candle, lay down a placemat, and listen to some soothing music. Thanks, Susan!

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  66. Robin Yashiki

    What is the scaling your food mean? It’s been a while scince I watched a vlog. I’m so glad I joined in today u put alot of things in place for me. Mahalo-♡ Robin

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  67. Diana Chobaz

    Loved this ?Thank you!

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  68. Leah

    I especially love the prayer. I say something similar asking that the food nourish my boxy and that it will make me full and satisfied.

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  69. Elizabeth Ellis

    Oh my gosh, this is such a beautiful blog. I can’t thank you enough.
    Right on.

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  70. Heidi

    Susan you are awesome! Thank you for your beautiful transparency that helps me know that’s it’s okay to not be perfect .. . Thank you for sharing so honestly and completely so that I too can support myself when I do this!! Yes I’m a 10 on the scale and I totally get what you’re saying!

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  71. Helen Roberts Spingola

    Mindful eating Good ….. Mindless eating Bad

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  72. Gioia

    Just have to say I needed to hear that honest share about being human, blurring those bright lines but loving oneself enough to get back to healthy self care. Thank you! I’m a 10 so I get it!

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  73. Linda Littrell

    Thanks! great ideas, strategies, honesty. Many blessings.

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  74. RKS

    Perfect. Thank you for being real.

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  75. JP

    This is a God sent message to validate an experience I also had while eating and talking on the phone. I finished my meal and was wondering why I was still hungry! …I broke my bright lines …not with condiments! Your honesty is refreshing, educational and encouraging! Sooo thankful for you and this program!

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  76. Deb

    Love that you honestly share your oopsies with us!

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  77. Suzanne evans

    Loved your prayer!

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  78. Debi Rumph

    Hey Dr. Susan! I was watching your Vlog tonight, which normally, I save it to YouTube and go on my merry way. I am on the video very lowest of the susceptibility scale, but I could see how this is so important to people who are highest on the susceptibility scale! Something told me to watch your Vlog tonight and I learned many lessons that I can use for other areas of my life, such as “loving myself. Loving myself has been a struggle my entire life (I am 56 years old & am still struggling) due to childhood abuse, trauma, neglect, and abandonment. I hold you in a special place, especially after learning all the struggles you have been through in your life (drug abuse, drinking, eating disorder, etc.)! You are so revered in your life land someone I can learn from, even though my struggles are not with eating & weight issues! God Bless You Dr. Susan! ? ? ?

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  79. Christina

    Thank you for not beating yourself up AND not making others feel guilty if there not perfect! I so enjoy your humanness!!

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  80. Amy

    Susan, I love hearing about your imperfections. You show your humanity more clearly and honestly than anyone I know. Your journey is everyone’s journey. It is relieving to know others go through the same thing AND can get back on track. Your deep sighs say it all. It is frustrating to mess up your great intentions, but you can move on and make the learning experience out of each indiscretion. This was a beautiful vlog. I like the meal blessing idea, also. It brings some awareness to those fuzzy transitions from before/after mealtimes.

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  81. Suzi from Arizona

    After your prayer at the end of the meal, strike a gong or a chime or ring a beautiful bell. According to Pavlov you will learn to associate the fact that when you hear that sound, the meal is over. Because you travel, I’d make it a little bell that you can slip into your purse. Truth is you could even use a clicker, but why not choose a beautiful sound.

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    1. Nieves

      Lovely idea

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  82. Suzanne Heckman

    Thank you so much, Susan, for your transparency. No other source of help with food addictions that I have ever encountered includes your piece of helping by example. All others (plans and plan leaders) are helping from some pedestal on high and reaching down to help those who haven’t got it yet. You, metaphorically speaking, link arms with those who choose to join you on the Bright Line Eating journey and walk with us. This approach has been so eminently helpful to me.
    I am at goal weight, after eight months of Bright Line Eating. I had to give up the number I wanted on the scale and accept what my body was telling me. I am down from 187 lb to 130 +/- 2 lb. I never once struggled with my food plan or keeping my bright lines until I reached goal weight. Since I have always been a weight gainer and weight loser, the weight loss territory was familiar to me. However, I HAVE NEVER EVER BEEN A WEIGHT MAINTAINER! This is new territory for me and I find I am going through an inward, invisible transformation that I feel nervous and off base with. I’m planning to join your next boot camp to buttress my practice of bright lines and avail myself of more support. I need a mastermind group! ?

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  83. Susan Olsen

    Oh Susan,
    This vlog could not have been more perfectly timed. My husband and I care for our 2 grandchildren, ages 5 and 3.
    Our daughter works double shifts often, sometimes 2-3 a week. The hours can be a minefield for my BLE journey.
    I usually plan the kid’s meal and mine at separate times to avoid what you perfectly described just now…distracted eating.
    Today it did not work out that way and I quickly fell into the BLT trap and the willpower gap, sneaking bites and tastes of NMF.
    My sabutor telling me that I had to make sure the Mac-n-cheese wasn’t too hot!?!
    So anyway…challenge accepted and perfectly timed….once again, thanks for listening to your higher power, or the universe or God, because they
    never steer you wrong. And I for one am very glad about that.
    Lots of love,

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  84. Ronna Berezin

    Great blog. You can call it what you want , but I call it OCD, which is a serious emotional and mental disorder. , which permeates all ofyour behaviors and life. It is responsible for both your success as well as your failings in any area.

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    1. TERRY

      I NEVER LOOKED AT THE OCD IN THAT WAY. WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, IT IS SO TRUE. AN ‘A HA’ MOMENT FOR ME. THANKS RONNA.

      Reply ·
  85. Cheryl

    I love this! Thank you!

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