Thanks Susan Peirce Thompson

The New England Bright Line Eating Group recently hosted Susan Peirce Thompson when she was in Boston. I couldn't make it to the event unfortunately, but decided to participate in the book that the group is making for Susan. Below is my contribution, photos and a letter to Susan. 

I found BLE totally by accident. I’ve been a binge eater and emotional/stress/comfort eater my whole life, but the bingeing had been really bad over the past year mainly because my job was so stressful – I have a toxic, micromanaging boss. After about 8 years of remaining between 210 and 220 lbs I’d popped up to 224 lbs. I knew something had to change and I wanted to address the binge eating. I had come to terms with being heavy and made peace with my body so losing weight was not my motivation. I’d given up on being able to lose weight anyway. The lowest I’d managed to get in the last 10 years was 203 and that was with so much effort, deprivation, and feeling bad about myself when I cheated – it just wasn’t worth it. I saw an advertisement for BLE in my Facebook feed and was intrigued. I watched the videos and decided to sign up for a boot camp. The timing was perfect as my husband was going to be out of town for 3 weeks so I could try this “crazy” plan without having to tell him about it – in case it didn’t work.  I had tried not eating added sugar, and only 3 meals a day on my own before at my Doctor’s suggestion and it lasted a month until my Birthday and a bunch of NMF re-activated cravings -- so the concept wasn’t unfamiliar to me.

I’d paid enough for boot camp (though not too much!) to be serious about my commitment. After those first 3 weeks with unbroken lines I had lost almost 10 lbs and my cravings were minimal to non-existent. It was a miracle! At the end of boot camp I had joined my awesome Mastermind group, lost 24 lbs and still had little to no cravings. I’d navigated a visit from my Dad (a serious foodie) and kept my lines except for one NMD. I could walk by a table full of NMF at work and not be tempted and actually forget it was there. I couldn’t believe it and kept waiting for it to end! I joined Bright Lifers because I knew I needed all the support I could get if I was going to keep living this new lifestyle – and especially to navigate maintenance when I got there. I stayed in the Research program so I’d stay accountable as well. I started believing that I could lose all the weight and get into a right sized body.

Now almost 9 months later I am in my right sized body and in my goal weight range of 150-155. I’ve been working out with a personal trainer twice a week for 5 years and am making great progress there now that I don’t weigh so much. I still have some belly fat, so I may lower my goal range, but I think what I need to do is work out more to target it. I’m also 54 and post-menopausal so it might just be this way? In the last month I’ve regained energy I haven’t had in many years and have added in a brisk 2 mile walk during lunch most days. I’ve embracing the maintenance dance.

What made the different for me with BLE is the community and all of the support and tools, as well as understanding the brain science behind why I do what I do. I begin every morning listening to the accountability call on my commute to work which sets the tone for the day. This isn’t a diet or weight loss program, it’s a lifestyle change for my body and my mind. Susan, you understand the addict, and have designed the perfect program for those of us with food addiction who can’t moderate our intake or curb our cravings just by counting points or calories. We need a different way – and we found it with BLE.