Tips and Tricks for Starting Bright Line Eating

Go All In

Like anything you really want, GO ALL IN! Commit to do 100% for 2 months and then plan on making adjustments after.  With any meal plan or big change it can be hard. There will be cravings, friends and family, previous commitments and other distractions that can derail you. Keep your focus, make that commitment to yourself and go all in.

The reason I say 2 months is because it gives your body enough time to adjust and also so you will be able to see and feel the changes in that time frame.

What Is Your Why?

Figure out your “why”, write it down and have it visible where you can see it everyday. Create reminders of your big picture goals. I put mine next to my light switch where I could see it every time in went in and out of my room. When cravings strike, you will need to know your “why” to push you through those moments. It will help you remember the bigger picture and what is at stake.

With any goal, don’t miss this step! It is important to know why you are doing something and create purpose!

Have an Accountability Buddy

Let family and friends in on what you are doing. Ask a few of them to be an accountability buddy and tell them your motivation and why of doing Bright Line Eating. Having a few buddies is great because anytime you are feeling you need a little extra support or to remind you of your “why” reach out to them.

For me my sisters Hayley, Cami and Jake were my buddies. Anytime I felt like I needed a little bit of encouragement or wanted to break my “Bright Lines”, I would text them. We would send each other motivational quotes, or peoples before and after photos as encouragement! Jake would always send me a cute animal doing something funny. I don’t know why but it distracted my mind enough 🙂

When you are getting started, even if your buddy is not doing BLE, find some who you can rely on to support you when the going gets tuff.

There are tons of online Facebook groups of people doing Bright Line Eating. That is a great place to find a support buddy if you are in need of one! It’s also a great place to ask for advice and get tips.

Clear Out The Fridge/Pantry

This one was a surprisingly hard one for me! Luckily Jake was on board with me getting ready of anything that didn’t fit in with the Bright Line Eating program, but there were several things I wanted to hang onto “just incase”! What if friends came over? Or what if I wanted to make treats for a friend? I had to come to terms that for me, it was better to not have any of these items in our home. I can always go out and buy treats for a friend and drop them off. If we have family in town, I can always take them out to go get treats but not have them in the house. For the first few months of BLE this was really important for me to not have any temptations in the house.

As you can see below there were a lot of things hanging around our house that got the boot. I felt bad throwing away a lot of unused items but I thanked them and threw them away. The items that were sealed and new some friends wanted so gave those to them.

Everyones situation is diffrent and for some, you might have a roomate, or a spouse, or children that makes it so you can’t clear everything out that you would like to. If this is the case, ask for a shelf in the fridge and pantry that are just yours! Then you know those are your foods, and anything on those shelves are yours and you don’t have to think twice about if it’s ok to eat or not.

Avoid Eating Out/Travel

With any meal plan/ lifestyle changes it’s nice to create your home routine and a solid foundation before you take it out on the road. Trust me, it’s just easier this way! Once you feel like you are getting used to your new way of eating, then think about venturing out.

When going out to eat on a new lifestyle plan, it is important to plan ahead. Anytime we go out to eat I will find out what restaurant we are going to in advance. Then I look at the menu beforehand and pick out what I am going to eat. I’ll do the one plate rule when going out to eat.

Wear Your Bunny Slippers

With any new big changes that you are wanting to do, be gentle on yourself. Take it easy and don’t overwhelm yourself. For me I kept my schedule super open for the first 2 months of BLE so I could focus on making changes. There were some days I literally didn’t do anything except eat 3 healthy meals, and write in my journals…. and guess what?! That is ok! When you are going through some big changes, take it easy and focus on what you are wanting to accomplish and the basics are enough!

Go Grocery Shopping

• Make a list
• Don’t be in a rush, have time
• Look at the back of every label and read the ingredients.  Even if you are familiar with products, check the labels.
• Invest in some good spices.
• Experiment and try new foods

Once you clear out your fridge and pantry, if it was anything like ours…it might feel like it is a little bare. Now it’s time to go grocery shopping for some fresh foods. For most of your food you will be shopping on the wall sides of the store. Thats where all your fresh produce, meats, etc. will be found.

We threw out a lot of spices, ketchup, dressings that had sugar in the first 3 ingredients. When finding new items, make sure read labels on everything! Even if you are familiar with a product you might be surprised about the list of ingredients. With BLE if sugar or flour are listed as the 4th ingredient or further you can use that condiment. We try to find items with out any flour or sugar when possible.

For us, we weren’t really used to eating fruit and vegetables so we were not to sure what we liked. Therefore we have found it’s important to be open to trying new foods to find what you like. Then once you know what you love you can create some staple meals.

When we first started I remember eating peanut butter and the only ingredients in it was peanuts. It tasted really bland to me. Now my favorite lunch is 2oz on chunky peanut butter, topped with salt and 6oz of apple slices on top. Then I’ll do 6oz of some veggies and 0.5oz of nuts. I would of never thought the apples and peanut butter would be so sweet and yummy together! It’s safe to say, Jake and I’s taste buds have changed quite a bit since our day 1!

Do The Bright Line Eating Boot Camp

If I am being honest, the BLE boot camp is pricey…..but worth it. I felt because I spent money on it that I needed to take the time to watch the videos and really do my meals I planned out. It helped me be committed. With the bootcamp there is a entire support group, daily calls you can be part of and tons of options for support. If you do not have a buddy, I would really recommend the camp even more!

If you don’t do the camp, signup for Susan Pierce Thompson’s newsletter. She sends out a weekly vlog with tips and tricks that would be really helpful. She also has some great resource videos on YouTube and Facebook. My sister Cami didn’t do the bootcamp and is successful with Bright Line Eating. My sister Hayley did the bootcamp and is success with Bright Line Eating. Every person is different so you got to find what works for you.

To sum up, the reason I recommend the boot camp is because for me it held me accountable. It was a good resource for me to learn and fully dive in to what I was doing and learning.

Create A Future Game Plan

When those late night cravings hit, or you want a treat… what are you going to do? Be prepared and create a game plan and write that game plan down on your phone notes so you have it with you all the time. The game plan could be to call a buddy, ask a friend for help, run to the bathroom and take a 5 minute time out. What ever it is, have a few steps you have to go through so you won’t break.

I also wrote down my “why” with my action plan notes so when I had a crazy craving, I did my action steps and remembered my why. I always would tell my self “this feeling is temporary” and will go away. And guess what? The cravings went away! Seriously…I am the girl who only ate candy…for every meal!

Don’t get me wrong, there are some hard moments, but out of any weight loss plan I have ever done, this is the easiest one I have done, and the only one I have succeeded with.

Just remember in those hard moments it is temporary, and the time will pass.

Gather Supplies Before You Start

Before you get started with Bright Line Eating, if you go all in and do everything that Susan recommends you are going to need some supplies! This is what you will need:

• Scales– I would recommend getting 2 of these. (Just trust me on this one) You will need one that is digital because you are going to need exact measurements. We really like the oxo scale she recommends because the front part can extend so if you have a full size plate on your scale you can still see the numbers.
• Food Journal– This is where you will write down your food each night the evening before and commit to what you are eating for the next day.
• 5 Year Journal– Ok this is such a fun one! I am so grateful she recommended doing a five year journal because you don’t have to write much, but it is a great way to document life.
• Gratitude Journal– We can never be too grateful! I love when we focus on what we are grateful for, everything else falls into place!
• Nightly Checklist– I did mine on Avery labels so I could stick them in my food journal.

My sister Hayley had the bright idea of combing all 3 journals into one. She also does an Avery label and does her nightly checklist in her one notebook.

I have found I enjoy having 3 separate notebooks, so I do all 3 separately. What ever way you decide to go with, stick with it and give it a good solid shot for a few months.

Immerse Yourself In A Better You

Immerse yourself in being a better you. Take time for you. Really though, this is a time to focus on yourself and learn some great habits so in turn you can share those new skills with those around you!

Read some good books, relax, and enjoy this process! For instance try new recipes, write in your journals and have fun! Take some time every day to learn more about what you are doing!

Pick A Start Date

Pick a starting date and stick to it no matter what! This is something Jake and I did on our road trip home from the cabin. We were driving home on a Wednesday and decided that Friday we wanted to be our first day of Bright Line Eating. Then when we looked at our calendars we saw we had trips coming up and things that we really wanted to eat some sweets on. We decided then and there that if we didn’t start now, when would we ever start? There is always going to be great things in the way of starting something even better.

As I sat in the car I ordered our scales, notebooks, etc off amazon and had them shipped next day. Thursday I spent cleaning out the entire fridge/pantry and went grocery shopping. Spent that evening making my nightly checklist and then planned out meals for the next day.

Looking back now I am so grateful I didn’t put off these lifestyle changes it. I wanted to, and there were a lot of things that could of stopped me, but I am grateful Jake and I decided to go for it!