I want to share with you one of the key reasons why people who have been doing Bright Line for a long time get derailed. It has to do with fuzzy food plan boundaries—being in a state where you’re not sure exactly what your food plan consists of.
The Four Bright Lines
Being Bright is the state of following the Four Bright Lines: not eating sugar or flour, eating meals with no grazing or snacking, and weighing and measuring your food—all this frees you up to live your best Bright Life.
Some people may not follow this structure exactly, and it’s okay. They feel solid, and it works for them.
Others have an approach that’s not working for them. They’re wobbly and have lost clarity in their food plan. This can happen as your food plan changes when you are moving to maintenance. You may be adding more food because your body is asking for more. Maybe you’re feeling weak or tired, or you need to stop weight loss. But you add food in a sloppy way. Maybe you add a grain at lunch, for example, but then forget to include it sometimes.
A Guide, a Coach, or a Buddy Can Help With Clarity
The ideal way to add food is to do it with someone who is your designated person—a maintenance guide, a coach, or a buddy. You need someone to discuss food changes with, and then, when you’re both in agreement—you affirm your new food plan with them.
I’ve seen people change their food plan on their own, and then go into a state of half-commitment to the new plan. This is problematic. Diet mentality can creep in, or you may get into a zone where you’re monkeying around with your plan.
The antidote is to have someone external to commit your plan to.
After 22 Years, I Still Declare Changes to Another Person
I’m 22 years into my plan, but I did just that this morning. I’ve been waking up hours before my alarm recently. My functional medicine doctor reminded me that I am in perimenopause, and said that my blood sugar might be less regular than it usually is, resulting in dips at night. We agreed that I’d move half an ounce of Brazil nuts, which I was eating at breakfast, to dinner instead.
But that wasn’t the moment my food plan changed. I needed to talk the change over with my food plan commitment person. We did that this morning. All they said was “that makes sense.” I said, “That’ll be my new food plan then,” and they replied, “Yup.” And at that moment, we changed the state of reality. Before, my food plan was one thing; after that 30-second conversation, it was something else.
This is magical, and there is science—and philosophy—behind it. When I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, I took a course called The Philosophy of Mind, about how the mind works in the language we use, from the famous philosopher John Searle.
A Declaration Can Change the Reality of Your Plan
I’ll never forget him talking about a certain kind of speech that literally changes the fabric of reality. It’s called a declaration. For a declaration to work, the person speaking needs to be someone in the right context and with the authority to speak.
For example: “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” As soon as someone says the words, if they have authority and context, reality has changed. Another: “Class dismissed.” By saying those words in my classes, I created a new reality. And another: “You’re fired.” Or if you’re a head of state, in the right context: “I declare war.”
I encourage you to set up a formal, structural relationship with someone, so that nothing in your plan changes unless you have a conversation with them about the change.
This is a type of commitment that takes your program up to the next level. It makes your food plan a contract.
This is so helpful if you have been doing Bright Line Eating for a while and realize that your food plan is not completely clear. Getting a food commitment Buddy or a Guide can improve your odds of living well in maintenance and achieving the three maintenance shifts: being devoted to your program, being resourced, and being liberated.
A declaration is a speech act that changes the nature of reality. So, as you share with your person, stating that your food plan is changing and being adjusted, it’s a declaration. You have now changed the reality and have stepped carefully from one state of commitment to a new one, without fuzziness or lack of clarity. It’s a powerful thing.
