Bright line eating
greenbeanali
Posts: 5 Member
Hi. Has anyone ever read bright line eating? If so, can you give me the Essence of the program?
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Replies
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I'd rather just eat at a deficit.17
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From the website:
"The four Bright Lines are sugar, flour, meals, and quantities. In other words, no sugar (whole, fresh fruit is okay, but fruit juice and dried fruit are not, nor are any artificial sweeteners or added sweeteners such as honey, agave, stevia, maple syrup, dextrose, sucralose, aspartame, saccharine, and similar products); no flour (of any kind—not even whole grain flour, oat flour, almond flour, or coconut flour—because it's the processing that dictates how it will affect our brains); eating only meals (for most people it's three meals a day with nothing in between—snacking and grazing are not allowed); and weighed and measured quantities (food is either weighed with a digital food scale, or a "one plate, no seconds" rule can be adopted)."
The weighing food part sounds great! The creator of the program is a psychologist. I find the non negotiable rule thing interesting. The idea being there is no decision to be made and so you don't expend your finite supply of will power. At the end of the day, it's an interesting blend of woo and unnecessary restriction...34 -
Oh boy...9
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It's nonsense. You're seriously gonna avoid a donut your entire life because you're scared you'll eat more than 1? Have a good life.26
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When most concrete, specific details on the website are behind a paywall, that's usually a bad sign.
From the FAQ:. . . no sugar (whole, fresh fruit is okay, but fruit juice and dried fruit are not, nor are any artificial sweeteners or added sweeteners such as honey, agave, stevia, maple syrup, dextrose, sucralose, aspartame, saccharine, and similar products); no flour (of any kind—not even whole grain flour, oat flour, almond flour, or coconut flour—because it's the processing that dictates how it will affect our brains); eating only meals (for most people it's three meals a day with nothing in between—snacking and grazing are not allowed); and weighed and measured quantities (food is either weighed with a digital food scale, or a "one plate, no seconds" rule can be adopted).
Restrictive, arbitrary (drying fruit makes it not OK? grinding up almonds or coconut makes them not OK?), ultra-"clean", monetized for a nice revenue stream for folksy Dr. Becky: No, I haven't tried it. All kinds of nope.
Didn't need it to lose 50+ pounds, drop my high cholesterol and blood pressure to very healthy levels, and stay at a healthy weight for 2 years since the weight loss (after decades of obesity).
I'm sure it works for those who stick to it religiously, though.
Just for truth in communication's sake, "my" "competing" weight loss plan is this one: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm
It's free, it works, and it's worth every penny. Some of those might be true for Dr. Becky's Bright Line plan, but I'll bet not all 3.
And hers has more cachet.
Yeah, sorry, I'm a cynic . . . but I sincerely wish you much success: I like seeing people be happy, and achieve their weight loss and health goals!
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If you're going to get good use out of something, you need to use critical thinking. Out of the four bright lines, two are really, really good, and two are really, really bad. I was a fan of Susan for some time, but lately she's turned into a female dr Oz.
Eating balanced and properly portioned meals at regular times, is a great rule. It makes sense, it's actionable, it's flexible and effective. It leads you towards better nutrition. It can heal your relationship with food.
Avoiding white things is arbitrary, confusing, fear-mongering, demonizing. It makes you scared to eat, it makes your desire for the forbidden foods soar. It makes you feel like a failure whan you can't stick to it.22 -
I've been following Bright Line Eating for almost a year now and it's a process for sure. But the goal is progress not necessarily perfection. Yes, there is a cost, but it is cheaper than most other plans I've tried and you actually can get the entire plan just by purchasing the book and then you don't need to make any further investment if you don't want and you can still follow the lifestyle. And like any other plan when you work it IT WORKS. Here's the thing though - it's not for people who need it it's for people who want it. It is a drastic lifestyle change but it is definitely for those who feel out of control when they are eating sugar and flour. Studies show that those do have an effect on the brain.40
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I've been following Bright Line Eating for almost a year now and it's a process for sure. But the goal is progress not necessarily perfection. Yes, there is a cost, but it is cheaper than most other plans I've tried and you actually can get the entire plan just by purchasing the book and then you don't need to make any further investment if you don't want and you can still follow the lifestyle. And like any other plan when you work it IT WORKS. Here's the thing though - it's not for people who need it it's for people who want it. It is a drastic lifestyle change but it is definitely for those who feel out of control when they are eating sugar and flour. Studies show that those do have an effect on the brain.
Can you give us some links to the studies that show eating sugar and flour specifically have an effect on the brain please?17 -
I've been following Bright Line Eating for almost a year now and it's a process for sure. But the goal is progress not necessarily perfection. Yes, there is a cost, but it is cheaper than most other plans I've tried and you actually can get the entire plan just by purchasing the book and then you don't need to make any further investment if you don't want and you can still follow the lifestyle. And like any other plan when you work it IT WORKS. Here's the thing though - it's not for people who need it it's for people who want it. It is a drastic lifestyle change but it is definitely for those who feel out of control when they are eating sugar and flour. Studies show that those do have an effect on the brain.
My library system carries it so those who want to learn more for free can check their libraries.5 -
I was curious so got it from my library. I'm a few chapters in, plus I skipped ahead to chapter 6, and think this would be an excellent plan for those who feel out of control around flour and added sugar, and are abstainers rather than moderators.3
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The scientist behind Bright Line Eating is not a psychologist, she’s a neuroscientist, who has researched brain function and food. It’s not woo; it’s science. Read the book. Those who follow it lose a lot of weight, and then it’s sustainable on a real food maintenance regimen once you reach goal weight. The program includes lots of support. Anyone who has weight to lose should check it out.37
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drinkwater13 wrote: »The scientist behind Bright Line Eating is not a psychologist, she’s a neuroscientist, who has researched brain function and food. It’s not woo; it’s science. Read the book. Those who follow it lose a lot of weight, and then it’s sustainable on a real food maintenance regimen once you reach goal weight. The program includes lots of support. Anyone who has weight to lose should check it out.
Science is one thing, practically applying science is another. I'm currently reading a book about brain neuroscience around food and brain systems and it's fascinating. I'm really enjoying it, but I know better to recognize what is theory and what is practical.
If you want to take what neuroscience has to say about what drives people to overeat and apply it without accounting for social and psychological aspects of being human you will end up eating extremely bland foods with no seasoning or salt prepared using extremely bland cooking methods with very little variety and palatability. I'm not sure why she focuses on sugar and flour when the human brain also responds favorably to high fat foods (seeking fat intake), umami flavors (seeking protein intake), and salty foods (seeking sodium intake).
ETA: This reminded me of those old diet plans where you ate only one kind of food each day. I remember it was one of the first diets I attempted for social reasons (my friends were doing so I more or less did it with them - for a whole 3 days) and how miserable the lack of variety was.17 -
She has a gimmick and with every gimmick is a bottom line that has $ connected to it!
I like a deficit with logging connected to it. It doesn't rest in my wallet 15 -
Everybody who follows any plan that creates a calorie deficit, loses weight. That's not rocket science. The rocket science lies in creating a meal plan that is BOTH calorie deficit/balance AND something you can and want to stick to.drinkwater13 wrote: »The scientist behind Bright Line Eating is not a psychologist, she’s a neuroscientist, who has researched brain function and food. It’s not woo; it’s science. Read the book. Those who follow it lose a lot of weight, and then it’s sustainable on a real food maintenance regimen once you reach goal weight. The program includes lots of support. Anyone who has weight to lose should check it out.18 -
Reduced calories. Just like all of the other so-called "scientific" plans and fad diets out there. Jeez.... and to the person who said "It's science", can you please post the scientific evidence to support that claim? Thanks.6
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drinkwater13 wrote: »The scientist behind Bright Line Eating is not a psychologist, she’s a neuroscientist, who has researched brain function and food. It’s not woo; it’s science. Read the book. Those who follow it lose a lot of weight, and then it’s sustainable on a real food maintenance regimen once you reach goal weight. The program includes lots of support. Anyone who has weight to lose should check it out.
I don't remember any science in the book with which I disagreed. But her conclusion is that it is impossible to lose weight unless you only eat three meals a day and stop eating flour and added sugar/dried fruit/fruit juice, which just isn't true.9 -
kshama2001 wrote: »drinkwater13 wrote: »The scientist behind Bright Line Eating is not a psychologist, she’s a neuroscientist, who has researched brain function and food. It’s not woo; it’s science. Read the book. Those who follow it lose a lot of weight, and then it’s sustainable on a real food maintenance regimen once you reach goal weight. The program includes lots of support. Anyone who has weight to lose should check it out.
I don't remember any science in the book with which I disagreed. But her conclusion is that it is impossible to lose weight unless you only eat three meals a day and stop eating flour and added sugar/dried fruit/fruit juice, which just isn't true.
Exactly.
The book I mentioned I'm reading, I'm currently at the part how humans measure food value in terms of effort. While it's true, imagine building a strategy that has you exercising before every single food intake and choosing what to include in your meal based on the calorie burn. Unnecessary, unsustainable, socially inconvenient, and can be outright harmful mentally and physically.
Now, how about this? You could keep effort low for low calorie items by having them easily accessible and ready (example: prepped vegetables, prepared chicken, ready to eat yogurt..etc) and some more problematic higher calorie foods harder to obtain (example: having to go to the shop in order to buy ice cream instead of having it in the house).
Same science, completely different strategies, one is reasonable the other isn't. Saying you won't lose weight unless you exercise before every food intake is taking it to a whole new level of woo.11 -
How many here who have comments or criticism of Bright Line Eating have actually read the entirety of the book?
The tenets of BLE aren't new, they are part of many 12 step programs relating to food, Food Addicts Anonymous, Overeater Anonymous, e.g. What BLE does is support those tenets with the recent findings on the psychology of habits and willpower depletion.
Finally, the conclusion is not that there is no other way to eat and lose weight, but those who have some level of susceptibility to addiction will find a greater degree of success in losing and keeping weight off by creating hard and fast rules around their foods and their food habits.
I am one of those people who can't eat one donut or 6, or one slice of bread without then eating half a pizza and a gallon of ice cream. BLE has brought sanity to my life. And, if you can stop at one of any of the aforementioned, BLE doubtless appears borderline crazy.
I don't know the cost of the books (I got a library copy), but it is easy enough to find BLEs program on-line, as it is Food Addicts Anonymous. BLE has several paid support options, FAA and Overeater Anonymous are free.
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ShredWeek1 wrote: »How many here who have comments or criticism of Bright Line Eating have actually read the entirety of the book?
While some of the folks on this thread are long-timers who are still around, it's not really reasonable to address a question to the people who commented on a thread that has been dormant for six months and expect to get answers from them.
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It’s 2am, this is a zombie thread, and I read it as “White Line”. Sadly disappointed that I thought I was going to get 5-10 minutes worth of entertaining reading.0
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For me the game changer for BLE was, in addition to what not to eat, what to eat. For example at each meal x protein, x fruit, x grain, x veggies, x fat. Each meal and stage its own combination. Whole foods of course but other than flour and sugar you can eat what you want. I love it. Also automaticity. You write down what you are going to eat the night before. It really quiets the mind.5
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I looked into this out of curiosity one prior time it came up, and it seemed super scammy to me. First, to get information you have to take a quiz to see if you are a food addict. I had successfully lost weight and was in maintenance (NOT cutting out added sugar and flour, I ate pasta and ice cream off and on the entire time I was losing weight, and have pie on holidays, occasional bread, various other such foods, etc.). Unsurprisingly, I got an email back telling me I was likely a food addict and would benefit from the program.
She also won't tell you the cost of anything unless you watch her (promotional) webinar and get on the mailing list, and then it turns out to be super duper expensive (seriously, I think around $1000, although I'm going from memory). (On the website now there's a FAQ about the Boot Camp that has a question "what does it cost" that does not give an answer and what if I can't afford it (answer: bummer for you! (paraphrased, of course), and "what forms of payment do you take" (that one is answered).)
Re her telling people what to eat -- I think it's sad that that is seen as some benefit of this scammy program, as just reading Ann's wonderful thread would be a better approach to figuring that kind of thing out. I figured out for myself (using methods like Ann describes) that I am more satisfied eating only at meals (I like 3 most days) and not snacking, and so I don't, and I think what a balanced meal is (unless one is low carb) tends to be protein, starch, lots of vegetables, and that's the pattern my meals are built around. I sub fruit in for the starch sometimes or may have both, and often I have vegetable protein that tends to also be starchy (although it serves the role of protein then so in that case I will often have a second starch -- beans and grain, beans and tuber).
I think prepackaged programs don't account for individual differences. For example, having to write down in advance what I will eat is something I dislike. I have templates for meals (as noted above), standard breakfasts and will usually pre-make lunch, and I cook from what's on hand, but I like to be able to wing it depending on what I feel like in the evening -- for example, today I was going to have some leftovers (I will have for lunch tomorrow), but decided I wanted pasta (oh, the horror), so I'm going to make some pasta with white beans, asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms, and probably have a side salad with some dressing I made a few days ago. The meal I'm not eating involved brown rice as the starch, but I really don't see why the pasta meal is somehow supposed to be bad and the rice good -- I don't have any different reaction (and remember, Susan claimed I'm a food addict!).13 -
Another "new" diet I've never heard of. I do admit to throwing quite a few of my hard earned dollars chasing that magic bullet diet plan--my wallet always got skinny before my waist did. So glad I found MFP before I got sucked into another one.4
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I looked into this out of curiosity one prior time it came up, and it seemed super scammy to me. First, to get information you have to take a quiz to see if you are a food addict. I had successfully lost weight and was in maintenance (NOT cutting out added sugar and flour, I ate pasta and ice cream off and on the entire time I was losing weight, and have pie on holidays, occasional bread, various other such foods, etc.). Unsurprisingly, I got an email back telling me I was likely a food addict and would benefit from the program.
She also won't tell you the cost of anything unless you watch her (promotional) webinar and get on the mailing list, and then it turns out to be super duper expensive (seriously, I think around $1000, although I'm going from memory). (On the website now there's a FAQ about the Boot Camp that has a question "what does it cost" that does not give an answer and what if I can't afford it (answer: bummer for you! (paraphrased, of course), and "what forms of payment do you take" (that one is answered).)
Re her telling people what to eat -- I think it's sad that that is seen as some benefit of this scammy program, as just reading Ann's wonderful thread would be a better approach to figuring that kind of thing out. I figured out for myself (using methods like Ann describes) that I am more satisfied eating only at meals (I like 3 most days) and not snacking, and so I don't, and I think what a balanced meal is (unless one is low carb) tends to be protein, starch, lots of vegetables, and that's the pattern my meals are built around. I sub fruit in for the starch sometimes or may have both, and often I have vegetable protein that tends to also be starchy (although it serves the role of protein then so in that case I will often have a second starch -- beans and grain, beans and tuber).
I think prepackaged programs don't account for individual differences. For example, having to write down in advance what I will eat is something I dislike. I have templates for meals (as noted above), standard breakfasts and will usually pre-make lunch, and I cook from what's on hand, but I like to be able to wing it depending on what I feel like in the evening -- for example, today I was going to have some leftovers (I will have for lunch tomorrow), but decided I wanted pasta (oh, the horror), so I'm going to make some pasta with white beans, asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms, and probably have a side salad with some dressing I made a few days ago. The meal I'm not eating involved brown rice as the starch, but I really don't see why the pasta meal is somehow supposed to be bad and the rice good -- I don't have any different reaction (and remember, Susan claimed I'm a food addict!).
And just in case you missed it (the bolded) on page 1, here it is again.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm
Free, and it works. (I'm still doing it, in maintenance, 3 years after losing nearly 1/3 of my bodyweight, 5'5", 130s, now age 63, hypothyroid, after decades of obesity.)6 -
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.12
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AnnPT77 rocks.5
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If you are REALLY curious about BLE, you can buy the book for $11 which lays everything out2
Michael Pollan! 
. . . so sweet of you to say; thank you! 
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