Grateful Hearts Don't Binge Eat

It really struck me a couple of days ago what I've accomplished and how I've changed in the past 15 months. I knew intellectually but all of sudden one day last week I really FELT it. I felt how enormous the changes were -- and I don't just mean my body which is 76 pounds lighter now. Many of the changes have nothing to do with my body or the way I look, or the way I eat. They are internal -- mental, spiritual -- changes. Meditation: Part of what got me to sign up for the Bright Line Eating Bootcamp last October was that it came with a daily meditation course from Monique Rhode s. I'd long wanted to incorporate daily meditation into my life. I did some of the meditation course during bootcamp but wasn't able to make it stick as a daily habit -- probably because there were so many food and eating related habits to build up. However I got back to the meditation course this Summer and this time it did stick. I meditate for 15 minutes almost daily. I'm stil...

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 – i...

Update almost Four Months in. I have been so much more successful than I had anticipated. I went into this wanting to get over binge eating and not necessarily to loose weight. I didn't think it was possible for me to loose 20 pounds let alone 35.  I now believe that I can get down to my goal weight of 150-155. That's 30-35 pounds left to loose. My BMI is now in the overweight range instead of the obese range and my wireless scale can't tell if it's me or my husband standing on it -- so my weight must be close to his rather than a whole lot more than his. For the most part Bright Line Eating has not been that hard. It maybe that I was just in the right place and receptive to it -- but more likely it's the program itself and the fact that it emphasizes brain healing, overcoming food addiction, support, meditation, self-compassion, and other tools in addition to an eating plan that is simple to follow. I encourage anyone who is interested to read the book or ...

I've come slowly to the realization that I'm addicted to sugar. I don't want to be. I don't want to have to never eat refined sugar again -- just as an alcoholic can never drink alcohol again. But I just cannot eat sugar in moderation. Oh, it starts out just fine -- with a piece of cake for my Birthday -- for example. Maybe the next day will go okay too and I'll just have one normal to large portion of dessert. From there it goes down hill fast and on the third day I'm thinking about when I can have my next sweet thing. This requires planning because I know I'm going to eat way more than a normal portion so I can't eat it anywhere someone can see me. Some of my latest venues have been in my car on my hour long commute home. I'll stop at the food store and buy a bag of Mint Oreos -- one of my personal favorite binge foods -- and eat one after the other until I start to feel sick. Anyone who has a normal relationship with food is shaking there head...