I have photos, recipes, and the nutrition data for all the meals I ate for 7 days to lose 7 lbs on the Bright Line Eating program
Bright Line Eating is a diet book written for people who suffer from overeating and who feel out of control around food. Like other addictions, the reward of food is so strong that it’s difficult to say no to a favorite food or a binge.
The Bright Line Eating program acknowledges not everyone who consumes sugar and flour is addicted, but those who are will find it easier to avoid overeating if they abstain completely from sugar and flour. Sugar and flour tend to trigger more binges than any other food, so avoiding them with a “Bright Line” is how the Bright Line Eating plan was born.
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What is the Bright Line Eating Plan?
The full Bright Line Eating plan has 4 ‘bright lines’. These are non-negotiable. These are lines you do not cross, because when you do, you fall into the slippery slope of overeating and losing control. So, those non-negotiable bright lines are:
- No Flour
- No sugar
- No eating between meals
- Eat a specific amount of pre-selected food.
The first three bright lines make a lot of sense to me, especially when I feel out of control. Avoiding flour and sugar can help me feel more in control of my food almost immediately. If I just want to make sure to eat 3 meals and no snacks, I also feel great about my day. The best thing I ever did for my health and weight loss was to eat three meals and to stop snacking and grazing all day.
The fourth bright line though, eating a specific amount of food, was the hard part for me, and likely the reason I won’t keep up with the full program, despite how successful my weight loss was! (I lost 7 lbs in 7 days eating that specific amount of food after all!)
But limiting my meals to a serving of protein and lots of veggies had me bored and wishing for more food. I wasn’t actually hungry. I had tons of energy. But I ENJOY sitting down to a big plate that includes fruit and grains with multiple servings of each! It’s much more satisfying for me (mentally) than meat and salad every single day.
14 Day Bright Line Eating Plan
Summer just ended here, and while I spent a good part of 2 years getting my weight to 115 and making that my new weight set point, this summer had me overeating from vacations, family visits, house guests and a lack of a schedule. I weighed in just two weeks ago at 122 lbs. And although I’ve read the Bright Line Eating book, I needed something a little more structured to really give me a kick in the pants. SO, I signed up for the Bright Line 14 Day challenge.
The challenge is a series of videos each day for 14 days to help you stay on track. I do like how it’s structured, and it helped me get the jump start I needed. The first few videos helped me get my environment cleaned up. The printable downloads however made the program worth it to me. I printed off the food lists and meal guidelines and carried them with me EVERYWHERE! You can also get these in the book, but I liked having a PDF of the plan, stripped to the essentials, A LOT!
During the 14 day challenge, I got daily emails with prompts to watch the next video in the series. I watched the first few videos, which were great, but I kind of got bored and busy, and didn’t really finish all the videos. At that point I felt like I had enough information that I didn’t need them.
I also liked that the videos were hosted on YouTube, because I was able to watch them at 1.5 speed (it’s how I watch ALL YouTube videos! haha!)
Bright Line Eating Reviews: Was it worth the $29?
For me it was, even though I own the book in hardback AND Audible. I really liked getting the emails for daily reminders and the deadline of 14 days, to give it a real chance. Plus, did I mention, I loved the downloads!
You can certainly follow the program without dropping another $29 on the Bright Line Eating 14 day challenge, but if you’ve spent the kind of money on weight loss programs and products as I have, $29 is pretty reasonable for an extra kick in the butt for a structured, time constrained challenge.
Losing 7 lbs in 7 Days on Bright Line Eating
I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it myself, but it’s true! I lost a full 7 pounds on this program. (see my weight chart below) I started at 122.6 and 7 days later was at 115.4 lbs.
I kept my calories around 1200 by adding a few extra pieces of fruit to the day. Following the plan exactly made it hard to get 1200 calories, and I am interested in pitting this against other 1200 calorie attempts to lose weight, so keeping it on track was good.
What I liked about the Bright Line Diet
- The macros were all over the place, which was awesome because it showed me that I don’t have to be so exact with macros.
- I like that it wasn’t a “low carb” diet. I ate plenty of fruit and the carbs were around 40%.
- I like that grains are included (I ate oats most mornings).
- I wasn’t hungry between meals. I was definitely satisfied.
- I had TONS of energy. I really think this is simply from NOT overeating! Overeating drains me mentally and physically. In fact, I hate it so much I have no clue why I continue to do it!
- I liked planning my meals the night before so I knew what to eat, and I could run to the store in the morning to be set up for the day!
What I didn’t like about Bright Line Eating
- I didn’t like that there wasn’t enough variety for me. Even though I tend to eat the same foods every day when I’m not on a plan, the absence of being “allowed” to eat anything I wanted kind of messes with my rebellious side.
- I got bored. It’s so sad. I realized that I use food to entertain myself a LOT! So, when that was taken away, I didn’t know what to do at home when I’d normally be peering into the pantry.
- I have food thoughts a lot, and didn’t realize how often I allowed myself to just give into a food thought without challenging it a single second. This is me: think about pretzels. Walk to pantry and eat a handful of pretzels IMMEDIATELY. I never make myself wait. I’m like a toddler demanding a snack and getting it. So, during this challenge when I had to tell myself no, it shocked me how often those thoughts of eating something came over me!
Bright Line Diet: before and after
Altogether I lost 7 lbs. While a before and after photo wouldn’t look that different in the camera, I feel lighter and leaner!
Some people will argue it was all water weight- but guess what… WATER WEIGHT TAKES UP ROOM IN YOUR PANTS! I was down 1.5 inches in my waist and 0.5 inches in my hips.
Bright Line Eating Meal Plan & Recipes
I’m actually really proud of myself for keeping records this well for 8 days! I have photos, recipes, and the nutrition data for all the meals I ate for 8 days. This is great for me as soon as I want to lose a quick 7 lbs again!
The food selection on the Bright Line Eating weight loss program the meals below included:
- Breakfast: 1 serving protein, 1 serving grain and 1 serving of fruit
- Lunch: 1 protein, 6 ounces veggies, 1 fruit and 1 fat
- Dinner: 1 protein, 6 ounce veggies 1 fat, and 8 ounce of salad
What I changed about the Bright Lines program:
- I didn’t last a full week of 8 ounces of salad every night! I was pretty saladed out.
- I drank diet co*ke. The program says no artificial sweetener, but I kept the diet co*ke in my diet.
- I added fruit to get up to 1200 calories.
- I exercised every day. The program doesn’t want you to exercise. One thing at a time. But, I have been active daily for decades so I didn’t stop.
7 day Bright Line Eating Meal Plan
DAY 1 BRIGHT LINE MEALS
- Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 ounce oats, 6 ounces berries.
- Lunch: 4 ounces turkey, 6 ounces carrots, 1 tbl ranch dressing
- Dinner 4 ounces chicken, 6 ounces zucchini and 3 ounces salad with ranch dressing.
This list for low calorie sauces has my favorite kind of low calorie ranch.
DAY 2 BRIGHT LINE MEALS
- Breakfast: 6 ounces peach, 1 egg + 1/2 ounce cheese, plus 1 ounce oats.
- Lunch: 6 ounces cucumber, Greek yogurt, 6 ounces blueberries and ranch.
- Dinner: 3 ounces steak, 6 ounces peppers cooked in 1 tablespoon oil, 3 ounces salad, and dressing
DAY 3 Bright Line Eating Meals
- Breakfast: 1 ounce oats, 6 ounces berries, 8 ounces greek yogurt.
- Lunch: 4 ounce rotisserie chicken, 6 ounces cucumbers, 2 ounces cherry tomatoes, 6 ounces grapes, 2 tbls dressing
- Dinner: 4 ounces steak, 6 ounces salad, 6 ounces broccoli and olive oil.
If you’re not sure what the nutrition is like for different fruits, check out this list.
Day 4 Bright Line Eating Meals
- Breakfast: 1 egg, egg whites, apricots, and sweet potato.
- Lunch: 3 ounces steak, lettuce, poppyseed dressing, and pumpkin seeds.
- Dinner: Zucchini noodles, ground beef, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spahetti sauce, and dressing.
Day 5 Bright Line Eating Meals (some on the go meals)
- Breakfast: 1 ounce shredded wheat, 6 ounces grapes, 2 eggs.
- Lunch: Roasted chickpeas, olive oil, apricots, and carrots.
- Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, salad, broccoli, and dressing.
If you want to try cooking your eggs another way, use this list!
Day 6 Bright Line Eating Meals
- Breakfast: oats, egg, cheese, cantaloupe.
- Lunch: chicken patty, mayo, apricots, banana, corn.
- Dinner: Zucchini, burger, mushrooms, lettuce, and ranch.
Day 7 Bright Line Eating Meals (with a restaurant meal!)
We went out to eat this night, and I still lost weight the next day! I got a Costa vida salad with Pork.
- Breakfast: Shredded wheat, strawberries, and yogurt.
- Lunch: Strawberries, rotisserie chicken and parmesan cheese, spaghetti squash, butter, and avocado!
- Dinner: Costa Vida Salad with pork
Day 8 Bright line Eating Meals
- Breakfast: egg, cheese, apple, and oats.
- Lunch: Plums, apricots, rotisserie chicken and parmesan cheese, spaghetti squash, butter, and avocado!
- Dinner: Chicken broccoli, riced cauliflower, olive oil and yoshida sauce.
That was my experience with the Bright Line Eating plan! I like it. It’s a great jump start. If you are truly addicted to food, it can help you become free from the food addiction.
My YouTube Bright Line Eating Plan video review!
Some Bright Line Eating Resources: (affiliate links)
Bright Line Eating FAQs
What is the Bright Line way of eating?
The Bright Line eating is a diet is a program that encourages strict boundaries around certain food choices. The idea is that certain foods have an impact on some people that leads to overeating. To set a few bright line, non-negotiables regarding eating behavior has been helpful for some people to get away from their food focus and eat in a disciplined way.
How many calories a day is Bright Line Eating?
There is no standard for the number of calories per day a person should eat in Bright Line Eating. While recommendations are given for the number of servings in each food group, no calorie count has been discussed.
Is almond flour allowed on Bright Line Eating?
Due to the nature of processing almonds into almond flour, almond flour is discouraged on the Bright Line Eating plan.
Can you have rice on Bright Line Eating?
In the beginning, it’s only permitted to eat rice for breakfast as your breakfast grain. When you’re close to your goal weight, it’s OK to add rice to lunch and dinner.
Can you eat popcorn on Bright Line Eating?
Dr. Peirce answers this question with: Popcorn is not a BLE friendly food.
Like potato chips, popcorn falls into a category of, “It’s not sugar or flour, but it’s sugar and flour’s first cousin, and will probably be mean to us like sugar and flour would.” She further states, it’s a slippery slope and justifications for popcorn often lead to justifying even more foods that are off plan.
Can you eat bananas on Bright Line Eating?
Yes, bananas can be eaten on the Bright Line Eating plan. You may want to weigh your banana ahead of time as 6 ounces is considered one serving.
Can you drink alcohol on Bright Line?
Alcohol is off limits for those following the Bright Line Diet. The sugar paired with the reduction in inhibitions make a bad combination for trying to make good healthy choices during the day.
Can you drink coffee on Bright Line Diet?
While it’s not recommended to drink coffee on the Bright Line Diet, a firm boundary would be no more than two cups per day, max. If you put something in your coffee in the morning, like almond milk, that’s OK. But any cups after that should be drunken black. The intention is to wean off of coffee altogether.
If you like this, you might also like
- 11 Bright Line Eating Breakfast Recipes and Meal ideas
- 7 Day Bright Line Eating Meal Plan
- My Weight Loss Manifesto
- Weight Loss Articles
- 6 Week Summer Weight Loss Challenge
