Bright Line Eating - 14 day challenge Day one Monday 25 Feb -join me?

[thetwinkletoescollective]

brightlineeating.com/

A friend who I haven't seen for a long time looks amazing and she said she read this ladies book and used her method.

I have signed up online for the 14 day challenge - it costs about 21 quid for a getting started check list with video's and the for the next 14 days there is daily videos.

I have gone through the check list this morning and its quite straight forward. Having just failed at another diet...this one explains how sugar and flour are messing with my brain and the only way through is total abstinence. So...from a vantage point of rock bottom desperation here I go again!!

Anyone want to join me?

£21 for 14 days? What do you get for that?

You get daily videos.
You get her take on why conventional diets don't work and what she suggests. I have to say I have found her very engaging and the things she has been saying compelling.
She also has an interactive checklist that helps you get prepared.
There is something in putting money down - so psychologically you are more committed. You don't want it to be a waste.
You can just buy her book off Amazon - so there is a cheaper way to get the same info.

My day one is tomorrow.
I have followed her guidelines and written down what I am going to eat tomorrow.
It goes like this:
Overnight oats (4oz yogurt, 4 oz quark, 2 oz oats, cinnamon, blueberries)
4 oz chicken, 6oz veg (courgettes, green beans), 2oz olives
6oz mango
4 oz salmon, 8oz veg, 6oz salad

Its a lot of veg and salad.
Three meals only
I have to weigh myself in the morning...the horror!!

Well if it works for you then it will be worth it. I think that's the key, finding something that works for the individual. Good luck. Come back and let me know how you're getting on. I won't be signing up as I don't have the spare cash, but would be interested to see how you get on with it.

Thanks @Huggybear16 - I will keep you posted!

The four rules (or bright lines) of this eating plan is:

1. No sugar
2. No flour
3. 3 meals only per day - that have specific quantities specified
4. You have to plan what you are going to eat the night before so its never left to chance

Well it started bleakly with getting on the scales for the first time in six months. When back in July I was a cambridge diet depleated 9 stone 7. Deep breath. Today's starting point is 11 stone. I am 5ft.

Recently its felt like I only have to look at a cake and I would put on weight. I have been aware of it going on but because it seems to take such minuscule amounts of food to get me fatter I have felt a bit stuck.

Lets hope this very regulated real food plan helps heal my off-kilter insides. At this moment I am sceptical but willingly to try and be proved wrong. Its not so different from my everyday but its a lot lot stricter.

I found the amount of veg and fruit at lunch fine. I was defeated by the 8oz of veg and 6oz of salad at dinner though - that's a lot of produce!!

So tomorrow is prepped and it looks like this:
Breakfast: 1oz of chia seeds, 2oz oatly milk, 4oz plain yogurt, apple chopped up, cinnamon
Lunch: 3oz veggie burger, 1oz cashews, 2 oz olives, 5oz courgettes, 3oz kale, 6oz watermelon
Dinner: Another but different veggie burger, 8oz veg, 1 tbl vegan mayo, sprinkling of cheese, jalopeno peppers

This is a no-exercise meal plan. So that's also a head-masher. As I have always dieted and exercised together when I have wanted to loose weight but when I stop then the weight piles back on...so clearly my past way has not worked out very well for me!!

Anyone can join me though!! I would love some diet buddies.

Your food for tomorrow looks great! I'd be happy to eat all of that. Can I ask, why oatly milk? Is that recommended on your plan or is that your preference? It's what I drink. I really enjoy it.

I'm also 5ft tall. I think what you said about just looking at cake and gaining can be a disadvantage of being our height.

I've been dieting on and off since before Christmas, but I can join you here too if you want? I've lost about 6kg so far, but need to step things up to get the last couple of kg to move. I'm thinking of increasing activity a bit and swapping for healthier foods (I've been solely focusing on calories and not worrying about what I eat).

So it's essentially a low carb diet?

Something that irritates me about plans like this is that they say "no sugar" but include fruit - fruit contains sugar and the body can't tell the difference between sugar that comes from a watermelon or a biscuit....I don't mean to be negative, I just dislike the demonising of foods - it's all about moderation

@huggybear16 congrats on your 6kgs loss so far. That would be great for you to join me. I just prefer oatly. Particularly oatly barista.

@blondie1984 I think that in terms of no sugar but no fruit. You are not allowed blended fruit only whole fruit because the fibre makes the difference. I think that’s what i have found so compelling about her approach as for some people it is about moderation but for others it’s not. She calls it a susceptiblity scale and it’s about your mental approach to food and how much of your time it takes up. (You can be thin and be high on the susceptibility scale because mentally food takes up ‘too much’ time). For those high up on the scale (me) moderation as a mental approach doesn’t work. A clear yes or no is actually more freeing mentally.

To stay a healthy weight always requires lifestyle change and a reordering if priorities.

It’s early days and I have only read her book. Not lived it as I am only on day 2 but I have found her neuro-science/psychology/AA/own personal struggles approach different to what i have heard before.

Thank you twinkle

As is inevitable, my weight loss has slowed down a bit now, but 6kg off has made a big difference for me.

My goal is to lose another 5kg, taking me to a BMI right in the middle of the acceptable range. I think the next 5kg is going to be a long, slow process.

Like I said before, if you have found something that can work for you, then that's half the battle. You seem to find this way interesting and achievable, as well as finding the author relatable. I really hope it works out for you. Are you going to weigh again at the end of the 14 days or are you going to weigh more often?

That’s always the thing isn’t it - finding something that you can actually do and sustain. I am going to weigh weekly. I am not expecting any weight loss for at least four weeks as I have previous form for that. Then after that hopefully it will go down.

No loss for 4 weeks? That'll be tough. Does it come off at a decent rate after that? Maybe this way will surprise you and get you good results earlier - fingers crossed!

@huggybear it’s worse... so I have been both desperate and committed to weight loss but I have a yo-yo past. I stopped the Cambridge diet in sept because I simply stopped losing weight on it. Who maintains on 800 Cals of liquid? Me!!I just stopped losing...I wonder if my insides are broke because I have never know weight gain like I have just experienced since then... fingers crossed all this veg resets my insides!

Today’s food was a fail - my chia breakfast was not good and I burnt my veggie burger!!

Tomorrow’s menu is:
B. 1oz porridge with 2/3oz oatly mik almond butter
6oz mango

L. Same as yesterday’s dinner but not burnt
6oz watermelon

D. Chicken soup

How has your day been @huggybear?

Hello! You keep mentioning me

Hello @huggybear - apologies for this, we have a very similar name! Do you have a small child who also demands huggybears?

That sounds rough, @thetwinkletoescollective - have you had any medical checks done? I'm not a doctor, but sounds like there might be something else going on.

Your food looks so great. I may start stealing a few bits off your meal plans.

I went to bed really early last night. This stops the late night munchies for me - but I can't do this forever so must learn to control it somehow.

I kept below 1200 cals and did 10k steps, but that did include an entire tub of Halo Top icecream (the peanut butter cup one). It was so good!

Hello @huggybear - sorry. I won't do it again x

Hello @huggybear16 - whoops!!

Oh my word I love halo top - I particularly like birthday cake one. Sounds like you had a great day meeting your steps and and food and if you can fit ice cream into 1200 cals that really is actually a fantastic day!

I have had my thyroid checked out as I have lots of symptoms but alas I was 1 point above whatever the cut off is ( I have forgotten now).

As part of the 14 day challenge I have to write down what I am going to eat a day in advance. Eat that and only that ..so far so good.

So tomorrow: Day four
B. 1oz puffed rice 5oz oatley tbl almond butter and nutmeg
L. Nandos tofu (slice it and fry it in Nandos medium hot sauce) plus 10oz of salad (that's a lot) 6oz watermelon
Dinner: prawn red thai curry (homemade) plus caulirice

Are you taking a multivitamin? It might be worth it ….

Hi @blondie1984 - I am on a bit of a supplement kick. I was a bit inconsistent but I recently bought a plastic pill thing with the days on and that’s helped me. I am taking a multi-vit with iron, a magnesium supplement, evening primrose oil and fibrogel.

What I will say is that AF arrived today and I have had no symptoms and usually I have rock hard breasts and a throbbing migraine. It might be beginners luck, it might be the supplements but this is an amazing unexpected difference.

Tomorrow is day five:
B. Oats, almond butter and a banana
L. 4oz Nando’s tofu 10 oz veg 6oz mango 2oz olives
D. Chicken stir fry (10 oz)

Hi @thetwinkletoescollective

You're doing so well! And that's a good sign that you're AF symptoms haven't appeared as usual - you're diet is having more positive outcomes than just the weight related ones.

I had a bad day yesterday. A really bad day. I had a lot to eat when I got home after a really rough day. I must have eaten an extra 1000 cals above my target. I think I'll aim for 200ish less cals than my target for a few days to try to even this out. I'm also planning a long walk later on today. I feel so crap about it, but better to get back on the wagon than to keep munching through the treats. My weigh in day isn't until Monday, so three days left to try to make this better!

Hello, your plan to get back on track sounds really great- because it sounds do- able and measured. I know it’s easier said than done but don’t be hard on yourself. You have done so well so far - this is just a blip! I’ll join you weighing in on Monday
I had a good day. I have eaten all my huge amounts of Kale for the day and still feel a bit hungry. So i am going to have a hot drink and distract myself.
Have a great weekend. I am too tired to write my food down tonight.. we made it to Friday!!

Yes we did twinkke - happy weekend! Have a good one.

@thetwinkletoescollective - the only ones that we really need to be on are Vitamin D (in the darker months) and then taking a multivitamin is really just a precaution in case you aren't getting everything you need at the moment from your diet as it is quite restricted.
That said, if you find that being on those additional ones make a difference then that's great - and no AF symptoms sounds amazing!

@Huggbear16 - please don't be hard on yourself - we ALL have days like that, we're only human - and you shouldn't feel guilty. Please don't cut back so much over the next few days that you feel hungry or restrict yourself from eating foods you really enjoy as SO often that can result in then overeating and so the spiral continues....

I think you're right @Blondie1984, it was good in theory but I'll really struggle to eat less than 1200 cals in a day. Yesterday I had 1200 - not less like I was planning, but at least it wasn't 1000 more.

@Huggybear16 1200 sounds quite low enough! What you don't want to happen is that you drop your intake so low that your metabolism slows down. Just as one day of "healthy on plan" eating won't make you slim, one day of being a bit more "free" won't cause too much damage - it's more a case of what we do over days, weeks, months etc.
The best thing you can do is drink plenty, eat lots nutrient dense food and do a bit of movement

@Blondie1984 I used an online calculator to find out some numbers.

Because of my height, I don't need a lot of calories to maintain my weight. My BMR is 1150 cals, my TDEE is 1400. So 1200 is low for many people, but sadly not for me.

I find the numbers to be pretty accurate. I'll gain weight if I consistently eat 1500 cals, but seem to maintain around 1300 - 1400.