Bright Line Living™ - The Official Bright Line Eating Podcast Susan Peirce Thompson

For food addicts, summer can be a challenge, with the emphasis on picnics and parties. For some people, that might mean bingeing. But not for everyone. In this vlog, I look at what makes someone a food addict—and the role binging plays in that diagnosis.

FOR THIS EPISODE and MORE: https://ble.life/v0rc77Do You Have to Binge to be a Real Food Addict? | Bright Line Living | The Official Bright Line Eating Podcast

Someone wrote in with the following: “Have you ever seen people succeed after returning to Bright Line Eating for the umpteenth time? I wonder if my intermittent enforcement has done me in. Is Bright Line Eating a broken system for me? Do many resumers turn into success stories, or do 99 percent of your success stories come from first-timers?”

It's a great question. Our head of customer support sent it around to all our coaches to get input. The responses were astounding. 

First of all, when I read the question I thought: that’s my story. I’ve broken and Rezoomed countless times. I can’t tell you how many times—more than 100, for sure. And yet, I stand here now, five years off sugar and flour, and two years of the most immaculate Bright Lines you could imagine.

So yes, it’s absolutely possible.

Actually, I think it’s the rule more than the exception. That’s what the coaches said, too. They see it all the time. It’s indeed insane to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. At the same time, if you think about how many times the average smoker tries to quit before it sticks—you’re looking at a couple dozen times. 

One coach said that people finally succeed when they start doing two things differently. First, the bottom drops out in a different way so they are willing to surrender on a deeper level. And second, because they want success more wholeheartedly, more desperately, they engage with the community, the Boot Camp, the courses, and the support in a different, deeper way. And boom. Success. We see that all the time.

But here’s another question: Is Bright Line Eating your path, or is there something else you should be trying? Here are a few possible alternatives:


Do you need an in-patient program? Should you be doing something like SHiFT—Recovery by Acorn? You’d have their intensive support for 12 weeks. Maybe you need that.
Do you need a 12-step program? That is to say, spiritual help, with a sponsor you can talk to every day? Some people prefer a secular approach like BLE, but you may do better with the spiritual element. There are pros and cons to having a sponsor. If you have a sponsor in FA (FoodAddicts.org), you give up autonomy, and autonomy is important. But it also helps you walk a narrower path. Some people need that level of accountability and support. 
Do you need some kind of trauma therapy? Or parts work? Should you go to Everett Considine’s website to sign up for a package of deep-dive sessions, to find out what part of you is keeping you from being successful?

Those are three potential steps you could take either alongside Bright Line Eating or instead of Bright Line Eating to try to get results.

Yes, we see people being successful after spinning their wheels for years and years. You’re only ready when you’re ready. Sometimes it just takes a while before you’re ready to JFTFP – just follow the fabulous plan. But you’re more likely to reach that moment if you’re here, using the support, than if you’re just out there not taking steps, not available to receive guidance and inspiration from people who are living Bright.

It's important that you’re asking this question. As they say in 12-step programs, don’t give up five minutes before the miracle happens.

FOR THIS EPISODE and MORE: https://ble.life/zmx5p9Success After Countless Attempts | Bright Line Living | The Official Bright Line Eating Podcast

Recently, a wonderful Bright Lifer in California sent me a stuffed Lorax. If you’re not familiar with him, he is a creation of Dr. Seuss. When trees are being cut down and a beautiful area deforested, he pops up and says “I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees”—because no one else is speaking for them.

I’m like the Lorax, but I speak for the 10s. I speak for the food addicts. I do this because no one else is doing it, and it’s 20% of our population. Why do we need someone to keep an eye on how things are for those on the high end of the Food Susceptibility Scale? I have four thoughts on that.

First, I speak for the 10s in interpreting dietary recommendations. Many health professionals are starting to see food as a big part of health, which is great. But we need to think about how their recommendations are received by those whose brain is hijacked by sugar and flour—tweaked and warped by addiction.

Here’s an example: green juice, like celery juice, is a great idea for health. But it’s not great if you’re a food addict. It hits the bloodstream fast and impacts the reward centers of the brain. There’s no point in drinking celery juice to boost your health if it ups the odds you’ll follow it with a pint of ice cream for dinner.

Another example: whole food plant-based advocates often say it doesn’t matter how much you eat if you’re eating the right things. That’s not true if you’re a 10. In that case, large quantities—even of supposedly beneficial foods, like apples or Brussels sprouts—can lead to a binge. Or, can thwart your efforts to live at a healthy weight.

Second, I need to speak the truth about research that is incorrectly done or not done with our community in mind. An example: the PET scan of dopamine downregulation in the nucleus accumbens that is all over the internet. It’s completely flawed. It’s got three brains: “Normal” “Cocaine” and “Obese”… but it uses the word “obese” when what it’s talking about is food-addicted. They are not the same thing.

Research often isn’t done with the right variables. As the field advances, it’s getting corrected. But I speak to the need for food addiction to be considered in research—and considered properly.

A third example is GLP-1 weight loss drugs. For some people, they can be helpful. But who’s going to be watching to notice what happens to food addicts on those drugs? If someone uses them, and then they need to get off them—who’s going to notice what happens to their brain then? Are the cravings going to be worse than ever? Will they be lighter, indicating that the drugs are healing? I need to watch out for these people. I care about what happens to brains like ours.

Finally, in our Bright Line community, in the vlogs, the books, and elsewhere, I have a bias. I tilt toward educating the foods addicts in our community about what is happening in their brains. I speak to the 10s.

Here’s an example: in our Circles, which are the online support platform, we do not allow pictures of food at all. We have a special place for Bright-Line-compliant recipes and pictures, but nowhere are non-compliant food pictures allowed.

Those are just a few examples of how I often feel like the Lorax, speaking for all those with food addiction. And thanks again to the Bright Lifer who sent me the Lorax stuffie!

FOR THIS EPISODE and MORE: https://ble.life/8wbhrkThe Lorax | Bright Line Living | The Official Bright Line Eating Podcast

 I just turned 50! And I have five thoughts on this milestone birthday.

But first, I have some news: we’ve sold out of tickets for our luncheon to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Bright Line Eating. They went fast! But, if you are within driving distance of the Rochester, NY region, we invite you to join us for a book signing from 2-4 pm on Sunday, August 4th, at the Barnes & Noble in Eastview Mall in Victor, New York.

So, my first thought on turning 50: I am SO excited about it! Part of the reason is a book I’ve read several times: The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, by Jonathan Rauch. I highly recommend it, no matter what your age.

It explains the science of happiness over the lifespan, and his descriptions match my experience. I was so dissatisfied throughout my 40s. I had an amazing life, but I kept looking for something more. Now, at 50, I look around, at the very same circumstances, and think about how good I have it. The book explains that. It has to do with your expectations, and how life finally starts to exceed your expectations after you hit 50.

Another factor is this: I feel young at 50, but I felt old when I turned 40. I think it’s because of my comparison group. At 40, I was among the oldest of the young adults. Now, my comparison group is older adults, and I’m among the youngest of them.

My second big takeaway upon turning 50 is this: I feel like I know myself so well. I’m not saying I have nothing left to learn, but now I know what makes me tick. I know how to take good care of myself. I feel like I have the owner’s manual for Susan Peirce Thompson. That’s priceless knowledge. And it keeps me from wishing to be younger.

Third, having said that, I feel like I’m at the age where the warranty has expired on my body. Sometimes it’s not so easy to sit down and get back up. It hurts a little. The commitment to taking care of my body has entered a new phase: nothing is free. I won’t be agile and healthy unless I take care of myself. But I also have the ability and willingness to do so. I swim. I lift weights with a trainer. I do Egoscue exercises and shoulder exercises most days. And, of course, I’m Bright so I’m eating immaculately.

And here’s something I’ve been wanting to share with you for a while: I have found the best face cream. I don’t get any money from the company, I’m just sharing this for free. I found out about it a year ago when listening to Harvard professor David Sinclair’s podcast called Lifespan. It’s about the science of longevity. He talked about cells becoming senescent—they lose their sense of what they’re supposed to do.

He described how some researchers tested 20,000+ peptides on human skin to see which would eliminate the senescent cells. They found a few and put them in a product called OneSkin. It’s amazing. I use the eye cream for my whole face and neck and wow is it working. I feel like I’m aging in reverse.

Fourth: I’m noticing that savoring time with my family means so much more to me than it used to. This feels like a golden age. My kids have six grandparents because my parents are divorced and remarried. And all are alive and healthy. That won’t be true forever. I know I only have so much time with all of them. And my kids won’t be kids for very much longer. It’s so important to appreciate the love I have for my family.

My final thought is this: It feels like I’ve shifted into an era where service is everything to me. I’ve done everything I wanted to do in my life. I am blessed. All I want to do now is give back—even in small ways. I want to be there with people, and keep myself sane and grounded so I can help others. That’s not an orientation I had five or ten years ago.

So here we are. I just turned 50, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Ticket sales to the Bright Line Eating 10th Anniversary Luncheon are now closed.

FOR THIS EPISODE and MORE: https://ble.life/pyf80q5 Thoughts Upon Turning

I am so excited to share with you a recap of my amazing time in London last month for the International Food Addiction Consensus Conference (IFACC), the Ador@BLEs Conference, and a visit to SHiFT Recovery by Acorn in Margate. 

The recordings for the 11 presentations at IFACC are available now, and there’s a link below where you can access them for a small donation.

The point of the conference was to showcase and present a consensus statement that we have been working on for a year about food addiction. 37 professionals signed on to the statement, which is available at the link below. This will be the foundation of our work as we apply to have the disorder recognized internationally in the DSM-5 and ICD-11.

We decided that the disorder needs to be called ultra-processed food addiction. Many of us were not initially thrilled with that but I’ve come around to believing it is the right name. When you put food addiction as a substance use disorder in the DSM-5 and in the ICD-11 in the addiction section, which is where it belongs, next to substances like nicotine, opiates, caffeine, and alcohol, you need to narrow down the focus. 

By saying it’s ultra-processed food that’s the problem, you single it out as the target for legislation and control. Currently, two-thirds of what we’re feeding our kids are ultra-processed foods, and that’s what’s leading to addiction. So I think this name is the right one.

I was blown away by the quality of the presentations. I learned SO much. A few in particular: Dr. David Wiss’s talk on eating disorders vs. food addiction and the war between these two communities was incredible. Dr. Nicole Avena spoke—she was one of the first people to establish the reality of sugar addiction in rats. Dr. Erica LaFata, too—she talked about the NOVA Scale among other things. I’ve had issues with the NOVA categorization system because it doesn’t list sugar and flour as ultra-processed foods. Erica LaFata agrees with me but cautions that the NOVA people are trying to change the food systems, and it’s worth working with them. Because of her presentation and several deep conversations I had with her, I’ve changed my opinion on the NOVA system.

So, yes, the talks were awesome. Overall, the tone of the conference was amazing—there was unity and professionalism, and it was a beautiful experience. 

Then I went to the Ador@BLEs Conference, which was just so sweet. Thank you, Adele and Sue and everyone who put together this gathering. I had so much fun, and got so many good hugs!

Then I went by train to Margate with Amanda Leith, founder of ShiFT-Recovery by Acorn and the program’s operations director and a facilitator. We had a whole train ride to connect, and I found a wonderful kindred spirit. She is doing such great work.

It was very interesting to be in an in-patient treatment setting. It’s serious work: people have their technology taken away when they register and get their marching orders. And it’s all beautiful.

I stayed there for a couple of days. Their food plan is different from the Bright Line plan in a few aspects. One example: no caffeine, at all. They also have a category I’ve never seen, which is textures. They don’t do smooth or crunchy, which means no nut butters, no Triscuits. 

They also have four meals a day. I’ve seen more and more people who have binge eating disorder benefit from a fourth meal. A fourth meal is automatizable. I’m a fan of that fourth meal for people who need it.

I highly recommend that you access the recordings from IFACC. I gave the final talk, about what we had accomplished the day before. We had two workshop groups. One group prepared the strategy for submitting ultra-processed food addiction to be accepted by the World Health Organization and included in the ICD-11. They’re aiming to get their petition submitted within one year. 

The other sub-committee, which I was part of, outlined studies that would fill gaps in the

I have a new love in my life: swimming. And I’ve learned three things while swimming that I want to share.

Some background: I can hold my own in the water, but I’ve never been a regular swimmer—or even, frankly, a regular exerciser.

I have friends who ache to be moving. They can’t wait to get to the gym, or get outside and move their body. That’s not me. But in the past, during the stretches of time when I would get myself exercising, my cardiovascular exercise of choice was always slow jogging. But… I’m about to turn 50, and my knees won’t tolerate jogging anymore. So then I tried incline hiking on the treadmill, and in short order, that bothered my knees. Biking, too. 

Finally, I tried swimming, and the minute I got into the water and swam a few laps I thought: I love this. It felt amazing. 

So the first lesson is this: sometimes, when it feels like something is happening to us beyond our control, it is all in service of a good end. All my challenges with my knees, which were so frustrating, resulted in me finally getting into a pool. 

There’s a wonderful saying: think not about how this is happening to you, but for you. 

And there’s a sweet story with this same moral in the Baha’i writings. A man was tortured with missing his beloved. She was gone, and he couldn’t find her. One day, he went out to the marketplace to distract himself. Suddenly, a Watchman started following him. Then another. The Watchmen chased him until he came upon a big brick wall. In a panic, he scaled the brick wall, cutting his hands and arms. He tumbled over the wall and fell down into a meadow… where he found himself at the feet of his beloved. She was looking for a ring she had lost in the grass. The man dropped to his knees and cried out, “God, give thanks to the Watchmen, and long life, and love! I thought they were persecuting me, but actually they were my Angel Gabriel, leading me to my beloved.”

That’s how I felt about swimming. I was feeling persecuted by knee pain, and that’s the only reason I tried it—and it turned out to be a huge blessing.

Here’s the second lesson: I didn’t know if my shoulders would tolerate swimming, so the first day I swam eight minutes, and that was enough. The next day, I did the same—all week, three times. The next week I did nine minutes. The next: ten. I increased by just one minute a week. For months. 

I couldn’t have done this years ago. I like to go from zero to 60 right away. Moderation is not in my vocabulary. But from weighing and measuring my food, I’ve learned to weigh and measure my life, and, in this case, my exercise. Slow and steady wins the race. It’s amazing how productive we can be when we weigh and measure our output. 

Here’s the third lesson: this week in the pool I had an experience that was torture. Last week, I had become aware that 30 minutes wasn’t seeming like enough. So, this week, while in the middle of my swim, I started thinking about it: what if I swam more? Maybe 35 minutes? How about 40? And then I thought, why not go all the way to 45 minutes? I tried to do the math in my head for timing all the various options: what time would my swim end? I thought about how my shoulders were feeling, what my day would look like if I swam more… and on and on. It became an obsession. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was the way I used to obsess over food.

I finally got out of the pool at 30 minutes, just to shut my head up. It was my first bad swim. I wasn’t comfortable in my head because of the “Will I? Won’t I? Should I? Shouldn’t I?” thoughts.

I committed to my husband that I would swim 35 minutes the next time I was in the pool and not second-guess myself, and still I was surprised at how hard it was not to get caught up in the whirlwind of internal thoughts and questions. 

The lesson? Thinking, “Will I? Won’t I? Should I? Shouldn’t I?” is sheer torture, in swimming, with food, with anythi