The Feeling of Surrender

This week, as the Food Freedom videos are being shared around the world and more people are joining Bright Line Eating™ than during any other week of the year, I want to offer my best advice for the attitude and strategies that are most helpful for someone just starting BLE. Watch this week’s vlog to hear my thoughts.

Comments

  1. Wibekke

    Thanks Susan, I love this vlog, I really needed it today, I’m on day 49, and are struggling big time, but Im a bit more at right track after seeing this vlog, THANKS! Deep breaths….

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  2. Lynda Hahn

    I am behind with VLOGS, and just got to this one,. LOVE IT…timers ordered! Been on this since Feb 2015 at the start of this wonderful program. Totally love it and I am totally a Bright Line Eater. If you are thinking about it , try it, it truly works. Love you SPT xoxo

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  3. Trae McNeill

    Oh Susan, you spoke to me! Exactly what I needed to hear!!!! Thanks so much!

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  4. Irene

    Hi Susan! This is my favorite vlog. An excellent description of surrender. When I start to panic I just tell myself I am “in the pocket” and that feeling of protected calm comes over me. You are an awesome teacher. I am happy to have access to your passion 🙂

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  5. Sheri Morris

    The video disappeared, it I learned. A lot from the comments. Thank you for all the information and attitude ideas.

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  6. Lori A Seguin

    This was amazing! Thank you.

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  7. Molly

    BLE was the last stop on the “gotta lose weight” train for me. I tried everything short of surgery, some diets multiple times. Yo-yoing down thin UP, but never getting to a right size body (a phrase I never heard used in any plan or program). I surrender 100% to BLE plan out of shear desparation and I am so freaking grateful it worked!
    52 yrs old, post menapause, 5’3″ 113lbs
    Whoop Whoop!

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  8. Narelle Cassar

    Great VLOG which is so helpful in explaining Surrender. I discovered BLE in Oct 2016 so coming up to my second anniversary and have been on maintenance for about the last 9 months. I have had many people, within BLE and outside, comment that I am “strong” not breaking my lines and my comment has always been (and still is), not strong, scared!! When you spoke about the benefit of being scared it really resonated with me and I feel very at home now with that feeling as it has, and is, serving me so well! I live in Port Macquarie, Australia and another lesson from your VLOG was your explanation of American football, never really understood it before (ha, ha). I cannot express enough how grateful I am to you for BLE, you have transformed my life and I will be forever grateful. Sending you so much love xoxo

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  9. Okechukwu Gbaruko

    It sounds good

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  10. Susan Mills

    Thanks, Susan, this one is great. Can’t believe I’ve been doing this for almost a year. I was totally surrendered, with the “healthy fear” long enough to lose thirty-plus pounds. With the additional 30 somehing I had lost four years earlier my total loss has been over sixty pounds. So grateful. I totally believe this is the right life choise for me. This vlog is right on. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

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  11. Wanda

    Susan, I’m fixin (Texas word) to start the 14 day challenge and learned more about football than I’ve ever understood!!! I’m scared and 65 years old and skinny most of my life til I went through menopause and discovered the fruit of the vine!! It’s gonna be tough for me, so I’ll need all the support I can get.

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  12. Suzanne

    My book is coming today – can’t wait to meet my “Bright Linemen” keeping me in the pocket. 🙂 Thank you!

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  13. Nancy

    Best Vlog ever. Thank you for the thoughts I need today to rezoom after too many months of NMF. I am a Brightlifer and recently signed on for another year. This needs to be my year. I’m 66 years old, what am I waiting for? I feel like I’m running out of time to be in a right size body. Hugs to all on this journey!

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  14. Joyce

    I haven’t finished reading the book yet. I really want to understand it completely. Question about children. My granddaughter (whom I take care of) is already showing signs of sugar addiction. She is trim and active and will be 8 soon. Is Bright Line Eating for children? I would so love to give her the tools to combat this before it becomes a problem.

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  15. Toba Singer

    Just on the cusp of starting the program (grateful to Stasha for pointing me to it). The epiphany for me is that self-sabotage takes many forms. Until now I never bought the argument that putting on weight was a way of distancing oneself from living fully. I saw my weight gain as an inherited tendency and not an unconscious decision to undermine my future. Now I see that viewing the signposts of the immediate future as false blinded me to the possible and verifiable dimensions of the long-term future, so the consequences of my day-to-day behaviors related to myself seemed less salient than what I invested in a better future for all of us. Gaining weight seemed unimportant until it became clear recently that it was becoming detrimental to my overall health in a cascade-like trajectory. I will place my trust in the program now that I see the broad strokes of self-sabotage that harbor so-called addictions. To me, these are really just the firing of those parts of the brain that generate defense mechanisms to protect us from the uncertainty of the future. I am going to put all my chips on this number to strengthen the rest of my brain and the rest of me, as if I were developing musculature around an injured joint to allow it to heal and rejoin the healthy body as a fully-articulated moving part to advance my life in if not a fully reliable future, then the only one I have and therefore must embrace.

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  16. Sarah Katzin

    Dear Susan!
    I am coming up for my one year anniversary of BLE and am at goal range.
    This vlog speaks to my core.
    This is what the essence of my program is.
    This is what gives me my peace.
    This is what gives me my freedom and happiness.
    It also gave me my thin-ness, but at this point, I literally see this as a by-product!
    The only comment I would make is that for me, to start off with, it was not like waking up unexpectedly on the gurney, but going for elective surgery and choosing to be there. Still scary. But I was already willing to surrender. I am so, so grateful that the “surgery” has so far proven to be successful. BUT, I am quite cognizant of the fact that actually NOW is when the real work begins!!!! Time to strap myself to the gurney again! Love, Sarah

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  17. David

    This is day number five for me with no sugar or flour. I feel calm and have no cravings for things that are bad for me. I am tempted at work when coworkers offer pizza or donuts but Those aren’t viable options for me. My thinking has improved also. I have a unique sense of calm now that I don’t think I have ever experienced before. Meals are my sole responsibility now. I have to be the adult supervision if I want to experience being healthy. I will be forever grateful for this gift that Susan has given me.

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  18. Monica

    Hi Susan. How did I go this long and not realize what a fan of football you are! I loved your metaphor of surrender, can picture being in the pocket and using my timer when I start to think about NMF (not my food). The gurney metaphor REALLY said surrender to me. and yes, it is trusting that the knowledgeable people have figured this out. Give 100% commitment for a short period of time and let the length of time grow; 20 minutes, 14 days, 10 weeks, or 4 months and eventually/possibly a lifetime.
    If you’re not Happy, This, and Free, maybe it’s time to surrender!!

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  19. Linda Steele

    Susan Pierce Thompson!!! This is my most favorite vlog EVER!!! Your analogies were brilliant and spot on, resonating with me to my very core!! The safety of the pocket is what I seek. The surrender when I find myself strapped down, trusting someone else to inform my decisions to solve what I have so long been unable to overcome, defines the trust required to make big changes. I want very much to allow my brain and body all that they need to be released, for the first time in my life, from the damaging, spirit-crushing weight of it’s prior merciless bondage. Ten weeks in for me now with BLE,. FREE is what I am becoming, and God willing, FREE is what I will remain!!

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  20. Carole A. Loll

    It took me a while to surrender to the BLE program when I first started but I finally said “I am committed” so gave in & followed the plan to the Best of my ability. I a. 76 years old, have read the book twice through & continue to refer to it frequently, took the 14 Day Challenge & did the Boot Camp which really is more intense. I have released 58 lbs. & in my right size body, feeling ever so happh, thin & free. BLE really works, no matter what your age as long as you commit & surrender. I just completed day 101 of maintenance with a squeaky clean BLE day & have so thrived on the wonderful community support, challenges & staff support as well as Susan Peirce Thompson herself &’all of encouraging vlogs, question & answer sessions, etc. Thank you for this ingenious plan that really works through commitment & surrender!

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  21. Susan Weiss

    Hi Susan Just wanted you to know I have appreciated listening to your talks and learning so much from what you have been sharing. Just wanted you to know that I heard of you from Joey at Sculptafit. So glad I did and glad you are sharing your knowledge.
    Thank-you
    Susan Weiss

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  22. Elizabeth

    It took me three months of watching your vlog and reading your emails and book to really decide to commit. I was scared, but truly committed to surrendering to your program and to trust it completely. I joined the boot camp. I was headachy and uneasy the first four days (fourth day was really a huge withdrawal day) but they passed and it has been smooth sailing ever since! I was always amazed that people struggled with the program. I thought, why? Didn’t they commit to it? But you hit the nail on the head…they had not surrendered to it. I am living proof that once you do things go pretty well! I’m on day 141 and have lost over 35 pounds so far. Better than that, I feel fantastic!! This truly is a life style change for me. I have never been so happy with the results of a program on anything that I have tried in my life. My health has improved by leaps and bounds, my thinking is so much clearer, and I have even more energy now than I have had since I was a teenager. I am fully into the automaticity now and am actually having fun going to the grocery to find new vegetables and ways to prepare them…like the way I used to want to go to the movies!! I never would have thought I’d be this excited about healthy vegetables and moderation in regard to portions. Who knew? Well, you did, Susan, and I am forever grateful!! You’re so right about your research and program, you deliver it with such love and compassion and you truly are changing the world. You have changed mine!! Rock on sister!! ;D

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  23. Catriona Davies

    On day 3 of my first ever Boot Camp, I so needed to hear these words today- in typical fashion I have not surrendered- my version of that is continuing to avoid grains and even wanting to sub out the breakfast grain (potato/sweet potato even) for a fat portion. Thanks to this VLOG, I caught onto my saboteur and hereby “release”. I will follow the plan to the letter, I am gluten free and it’s scary to even reintroduce foods like rice and quinoa. But I will. I will surrender. Right now I am crying as it is both scary and comforting to feel so held. I know this process is releasing a ton of “baggage” for me. So writing, meditating, processing, is all part of the deal- I give myself permission to spend time on these things- it’s part of my healing. To Susan, and to all you have helped who are now also helping me, I can’t thank you enough. I can do this!

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    1. Elizabeth

      You can do this!! The first four days were the hardest for me due to detox, and you’re already on day three!! Woohoo!! Way to go girl!! It gets better after the first week. Continue to be good to yourself throughout the process. That is a big plus that you are already doing that! :o) Big hugs to you!

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  24. sharon

    After losing all hope for so long, I tried it. Day 1 was yesterday and I lost two pounds on the first day. I’m completely excited and surrendered to the process. Thank you-thank you!

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  25. Karen Thoma

    Fell in love with this book after I picked it up at library. I consider BLE my #1 book so I put a #1 sticker on front cover.
    I immediately ordered the book, its one of those books, almost like a thriller, or romantic story. You cannot put it down once you begin to read it. No kidding.
    Changed my life ever since.

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  26. Ann

    Surrender: jumping out of a plane with a parachute somebody else packed. Don’t forget to enjoy the view. Appreciate BLE and your passion to share it with the world.

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  27. Carolyn

    So down to earth and “REAL”. That’s what I Love about BLE! I am a ‘seasoned Brightlifer and have been on this path since April, 2016.
    I started with Susan’s Book … then took the 14 day challenge and loved it so much that I joined my first Boot Camp, also in 2016. For those of you who believe the Myth that you are perhaps, too old, to lose your weight … please know that I am a 69 year old female … 5’ 1” … 110 lbs and have been on maintenance for almost a year. I write this for your encouragement to stay “surrendered” to the BLE strategy and you will experience a total transformation. It is a beautiful thing … “Hold the Vision … trust the Process” … quote unknown
    SISU … become unstoppable in your quest to be Healthy, Thin and Free.

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  28. Carrie Shuman

    Surrender…one of the most difficult parts of this program for me. Right now, I’m very surrendered…thank you.
    PLUS…my family is from San Francisco proper…that time in football WAS REALLY FUN🏈🏈

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  29. Terry Nunez

    Fantastic message to hear today!

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  30. Beth

    You are brilliant, Susan. I lost 45 pounds two years ago. I haven’t weighed myself in quite a while and might have gained back some weight, but I will never be heavy again. Thank you for your knowledge, style, and warmth.
    Beth

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  31. Mary Ellen Keeney

    I have 10 pounds to lose before Maintenance. I am SURRENDERING!

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  32. Phyllis

    Susan you are so wise and I absolutely love your football explanation of a “pocket’. Trust and relax into the process. Such encouraging words for today. Loving the whole 2 weeks of Food Freedom Fest and glad you are enjoying your hard work of teaching us and sharing what BLE means.

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