How a food addiction program can help you lose 100 pounds

Meet Amy B.

Even in my earliest memories, I recall being the only overweight person in my family of 5. Sneaking food became a daily habit and, with it, came a lot of shame and guilt. From 6th grade on, I tried every commercial weight loss program without success.

By the age of 24, I’d reached my highest weight of 235 lbs. After years of using alcohol, along with food, to self-medicate my unhappiness, I quit drinking and became sober in 2003. I decided at the same time to focus on my overall health and try yet again to lose weight. Without alcohol getting in the way, I was able to lose close to 90 pounds and maintain it for many years. But behind the scenes, I was still suffering with the bingeing/dieting cycle that had plagued me for years. I was thin, but I was not free.

After gaining back 50 pounds after 2 pregnancies, I came across Bright Line Eating and was excited to try something new. I bought the book and dove in—I could not believe how much founder Susan Peirce Thompson’s story mirrored my own experience! I was smart and successful…yet for some reason, I couldn’t solve this seemingly simple problem.

I had fully researched how to lose weight and yet it had never stuck. But hearing Susan describe the science behind food addiction immediately clicked for me! And making the connection between my alcohol addiction and my food addiction helped me to see how this program truly would be different. Just like if I had one sip of alcohol, if I had even one bite of sugar or flour, I would become consumed with eating more until it was gone…and then obsessed with finding my next fix!

I followed the BLE program like a diet for the first 3 years and found moderate success, but it wasn’t until I joined the Bright Lifers membership in November 2021 that I finally, as we say, “came all the way in and sat all the way down.”

This was when everything changed for me. I stopped making exceptions and started just following the fabulous plan. And at first, I GRIEVED. I had long ago grieved the loss of sugar and flour, but now I was grieving the loss of the little things that I didn’t feel like I could give up forever. I was grieving putting creamer in my coffee. I was grieving no longer having unlimited quantities of compliant BLE foods. How could those little things truly matter? I was already being so healthy! But it did.

Once I got past the grieving stage and developed the automaticity that the plan promised, I was empowered. I felt stronger. I connected with the BLE Facebook community. I felt supported. I merged the work I was already doing with my Internal Family Systems therapist with the parts work that Everett Considine brought to Bright Line Eating and felt a real transformation taking place. I could do this!

I dropped 50 pounds, surpassing my original goal weight, and finally reached my right-sized body at 135 lbs—a weight I had never seen before in my adult life!

I transitioned into maintenance and have been maintaining my weight for more than a year. I began sharing my journey on TikTok and found that so many people felt the same way I did! I take everything one day at a time, but the maintenance plan in BLE makes me confident that I CAN do this forever.

In addition to maintaining my 100-pound weight loss, I have not binged in almost 2 years and I FINALLY, for the first time in my life, have freedom from food obsession!  

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*People following the Bright Line Eating program lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week. Featured participants expended more time and effort than required and were asked to share their experiences to help promote the program because of the extraordinary results they achieved.