For our first vlog of 2026, I want to share with you a fan favorite from 2023. We’ve just launched the first Boot Camp 2.0 for 2026. With so many people making weight loss resolutions at this time of year, here’s what I’d most like people to know from the start.

The Single Most Important Piece of Advice for Starting Bright Line Eating

If I had the opportunity to give just ONE piece of advice to a person starting Bright Line Eating, to guide their whole journey, it would be this: decide, right up front, to become a Maintenance Maestro.

That’s the term we use here for someone who commits to learning all about maintenance and doing it right.

When people start Bright Line Eating, they begin by learning the basics and shedding weight. I don’t need to convince people to focus on that; they’re already doing it.

What often happens is that people get into the groove of losing weight, and may become overconfident as it melts off. They feel like they’ve got it.

Transitioning to Maintenance Can Be Challenging

Where they lose confidence is when they transition from weight loss to maintenance. Resolving to do maintenance well can be challenging. In Bright Line Eating, we offer numerous resources to help guide you during this period. We cover everything: the psychology of maintenance, how to orient yourself, the nuts and bolts of finding your goal weight range, how to add food, and more. We look at how to settle in and how to live long-term in maintenance.

The weight-loss phase is awesome. It feels great to have the number on the scale going down. But you want to be someone who takes maintenance seriously.

What does this involve? It involves actually taking it seriously. It means following the maintenance plan. You can’t be someone who refuses to add food when it’s called for.

Avoiding Maintenance by Exception

If you get so attached to the weight loss that you won’t add food when necessary, you get to something we call maintenance by exception. You’re breaking your Bright Lines in this case because your body needs more food. You may make exceptions to your plan to get the food you need, but that’s not the best way to handle this phase of the journey.

You need to be someone who adds food to the plan in a structured way so that you’re still writing down your food and measuring it. You follow the book.

The other thing you should be doing is talking to the many people who have been successful in maintenance. You’ll have questions, and challenges will crop up. Put it out to the community, and you will get tons of wise, seasoned responses from those who have been on the path. Their help and support will make all the difference.

So that’s my single best piece of advice if you are starting—or returning to—Bright Line Eating. We have all the support you need to follow that advice.

Advice for Someone Starting Bright Line Eating was originally published on June 7, 2023: https://www.brightlineeating.com/blog/advice-for-someone-starting-bright-line-eating