Sweet Surrender 

I am deeply moved by your honesty and bravery. Your words are profoundly helpful. Thank you.

I’m glad she addressed this issue. Having been in recovery for years, when I first heard about this I honestly thought; wow this takes some balls! Thankfully I didn’t allow myself to have too much contempt prior to investigation. Now after so many watched videos, I know how much additional info she has added to what originally derived from a 12 step program. Plus the rooms aren’t for everyone. She’s helping a lot of people. That’s whats important.

PERMISSION TO BE HUMAN, dear Susan. We can do together what we cannot do alone!

Susan, this blog brought tears to my eyes. I thank you for being sooooo human, just like the rest of us.

You are helping me heal, Susan. Bless you.

Wow Susan. What a profound vlog message. You are so human, so real, and so honest. I love that about you. You inspire me to be honest with myself. I am such a purist, when I commit to something it has to be all or nothing. The reality of it for a person like me is that there were, are, and will be those nothing days. That is why I am so thankful for surrender. Thank you for your commitment to Bright Line Eating.

Thank you, Susan. I am so grateful for your heartfelt message right now. I have been struggling with "gaming the system" and "making exceptions" and been scared that I was going to completely fall off the cliff with my food. I have such shiny bright lines around alcohol and tobacco, and have had them for decades and I had actually forgotten that keeping those bright lines intact started with surrender. I continue a day at a time to be surrendered around alcohol and tobacco. You've renewed my hope and given me a path to strengthen my spirit with your vlog today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your authenticity, your vulnerability, and for just being you.

I loved what you said about the sparkle just isn't in your off food plan eating anymore. That's pure wisdom and inspiration. Thank you.

In OA I learned that we are only as sick as our secrets, and I admire your airing your secret to your world, potentially jeopardizing your business, reputation, etc. You are very brave. I persnally know many, many people in OA who have decades of squeaky clean abstinence. You can hear them and meet up with them at the OA Birthday Party in January. If you can't get to the Birthday party, you can listen to them on the LA Intergroup podcasts. There are a lot of podcasts and they are very good. They are at oalaig.org. I wish you the best in your journey because you have helped me so much on mine.

I cried with empathy. You are a dear person. Good for you for sharing this truth. You deserve and need support too. All the best to you, Susan!

I’m on day 59 of boot camp & have had some wonky not-so-bright days. This video is exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you for sharing & for your honesty. You’re a godsend Susan! Re-zooooming with sweet sweet surrender! JFTFP!! 💪🏼🙏🏻😍

One of the best vlogs ever. Love you Susan!

Your authenticity is extremely helpful! This VLOG is exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you for being human and being honest with yourself and honest with the BLE community!

I LOVED this video! It was exactly what I needed. Thank you for your vulnerability and honesty!

I love you! Thank you for your honesty.

I had a day today and this message hit home. I haven't surrendered. I am ashamed to admit I have this problem to others, even my husband. I keep thinking I should be able to take care of this by myself. It is not working.

Thank you for being so honest. You truly are such an inspiration to me and so many others. Thank you for being the face of a hardcore 10 and also this amazing way of life.

I have re-watched this so many times! Such powerful words Susan.

Thank you, Susan, for being so real with us. I'm on Day 64 of Boot Camp and off sugar and flour and I'm so thankful that you chose us over your teaching position. You are teaching moms who in my experience are the biggest sugar and flour pushers. That was actually me. I'd spend the holidays making batch after batch of NMF and mailing them off to my loved ones. Then I started getting terrible headaches from eating NMF that I was sending out and stopped doing that. I thought it was just the GMO ingredients (I hadn't known about that until nearly 8 years ago now), but the sugar and flour were definitely part of the problem. My family and I are all learning how to eat differently. You gave me the last piece of the puzzle and I'll be forever grateful. Thank you so much. Come comment in Blossom House any time. We would love to hear from you. Hugs.

I listened to this for the reminder that I’m also a food addict so thank you again for this .. i cant keep cutting the corners in my eating

I somehow understand the surrender part, perhaps in my own way is Like - allowing myself to recognize my God has my interest at heart, and to trust his words to guide me. When I'm out here on my own, I falter, and I lost sight of what is truly important. I also thought, in comparison... that surrendering is not so much about giving in - as knowing I have a Safety Net in my Life - my Faith. And perhaps in the same way - So is Bright Line eating? I mean - if we lived in the Wild, and was surrounded by a huge Fence... WE could see the fence as something that Inhibits our Freedom....OR, We could see the Fence as a protection FROM those who might harm us? That makes me also realize just how confused we are over Freedoms. Freedoms have rules, parameters to guide us to Live Fully. And these rules govern All peoples on a platform that is Fair and Just. Freedom with guidelines have to work for everyone - so that no one is exposed or encroached upon. God's Words are like that - it applies to everyone. And as his Son mentioned...His words are not really Burdensome. Is it a burden when He says - do not commit adultery? Or commit a crime - knowing full well that this gross wrong brings sadness to all those involved? YET, people do these things thinking they have the Freedom to do so? Make sense? So maybe you might understand that HOW I see & relate to your video - even with My Faith. It has been a Stronghold in my Life to protect from outside influences that could Harm Me. Much like Bright Line is the strength that holds you to your Values? Juliana in NJ

Thank you for being so candid and so honestly relatable. I think this was my favorite weekly vlog. {Hugs!}

What a powerful message! Thanks for sharing! Permission to be human as we all are!

Thank you for this blog! I fell way off my Bright Line eating around Thanksgiving and have had trouble getting back to it. I just watch several blogs and they really helped my way of thinking and mind set. Thank you so much for everything you do!

Susan, your honesty and truth telling is awesome and inspiring. I get why you started the bright line eating program. It was a necessary thing. It's kind of like a recipe. If you change (i think it is) one ingredient in an original recipe, then the new ingredient changed recipe is yours. I went to OA for many years( i have to say off and on) and i recall going out to dinner afterwards with many quite overweight people and eating - whatever - it was just a 'going out for dinner' meal with no restrictions. Not even a thought about what we were eating. Just hugely binging and laughing. Meanwhile - in the end, after being in these programs a while, i believed it was all about spirituality because that's what the focus was on - reading spiritual liiterature and talking about god. For me - it did get me thinking more about spirituality and consciousness, b u t nothing about my eating or my food was changing and -- there was no information there that was going to bring me any closer to a happier, thinner, or freer non binging me. I think your guts and determination that have brought about this gift of bright line eating is incredible and - the people who would criticise you (i have to admit i was one - originally thinking critically of you in regards to the 12 steps) i now understand that this is a necessary thing for the world - and for people like me in need of your kind of guidance, and a person following the bright lines is closer to happiness and joy (therefore God) than (i think ) for them - at any other time in the binge driven life the overweight endure. .

Gosh, I keep looking at that necklace. Love it!

omg, i soooo appreciate your transparancy, I identify with you sooooo much! Thank you, bless you!

You and I are so much alike, sensitive to the extreme! Loved this video, thanks!

Oh Susan...you know me...I am you...you are me. Thank you for you honesty.

I just love you so much. So damn real, like it matters

This is the first time I've heard, "I found I was using BLE like a diet, not like a recovery plan." I'm on day 41, including the 14 day challenge, and I'm discovering more and more each day that this is a recovery plan. I thought I was dealing with my newly-acknowledged addiction so I could lose weight. That's very different that dealing with my addiction so I can recover from my addiction, which includes losing weight. Yes, I gave lip service to being an addict, but I either didn't believe it or I didn't understand what that means. I'm learning. I'm grateful and I'll never forget JFTFP as my new mantra.

I too quit bright line eating and went to intermitted fasting. I put on 6 lbs in just 3 weeks. When my fast was over then I would just over eat and it was a disaster. I would break my fast before it was time and just tell myself, I will just fast for longer tomorrow. It was so unstructured and chaotic. The noise in my head surrounding food just got louder and more constant. Tomorrow I am starting bright lines again and I'm writing my food down tonight.

Susan, you are speaking as a 'double hatter' ie in recovery and also working in the field. That takes a toll, trying to do both. You are welcome to email me if you are still trying to land safely - from a fellow FA / clinician, we don't do this alone.

I know this wasn’t the main point of your video, but you do not need to apologize to anybody for earning money on helping people. Number one that’s all any job is about, helping other people solve their problems no matter what it is. And number two when you put money behind your recovery or personal development or anything like that, you’re going to get more out of it. And number three you offer scholarships for people who can’t afford it so I hope you take this as a confirmation that you don’t need to apologize for anyone for being in the business of recovery!!!

You are a better leader because you struggle. I think it would be harder for many of us to embrace the program if you didn’t also struggle and fall in the ditch sometimes. Because then how could you help us out of the ditch if you didn’t ever go to the ditch and need to get out?

Wonderful message

"Light Line Eating"! Yes, that's what I've been doing since bootcamp ended. I can't afford Bright Lifers and I've been "Light Line Eating" since then and my weight has evened off. :( I still have 80 pounds to go and I'm not sure I can get back to Bright.

Ditto for Christmas 2017. So not worth it.