Food Junkies Podcast

Episode 288: Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD — Six-Year Outcomes, GLP-1s & the Identity Shifts Behind Lasting RecoveryJul 2, 2026 · 57 min📢 A quick announcement from the Food Junkies team: For the first time, we're moving to a new release schedule — new episodes every other week, still featuring one Recovery Story each month. We'll share more about this decision in our next Clinician's Corner. Whether you've been with us from the beginning or just found us, thank you. This is also the perfect time to dive into our archive of hundreds of conversations with experts, clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience. Our next episode launches on July 17th. About Today's Guest Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson is a cognitive psychologist with expertise in the psychology of eating and the founder and CEO of Bright Line Eating, a global program for abstinence-based recovery from ultra-processed food addiction and long-term weight management. She is an adjunct associate professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and the author of Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and her newest book, Maintain. In 2025, Susan published a study in Frontiers in Psychiatry reporting six-year outcomes from the Bright Line Eating program that suggest an abstinence-based food addiction recovery approach can support clinically meaningful, long-term weight loss. In This Episode Vera and Clarissa sit down with Susan to unpack her research, her personal recovery story, and the deeper psychology of maintenance. Topics include: • Susan's journey from drug addiction to food addiction recovery — and why she found the food harder to quit • How Bright Line Eating began, and why so many people won't walk into a 12-step room • The honest story behind ReZoom: Susan's own break-and-resume cycles while leading a recovery movement • The six-year follow-up study: methodology, sample, limitations, and what the numbers actually show • How outcomes compare to published GLP-1 (semaglutide) data at long-term follow-up • Why simply learning about the addictiveness of sugar and flour may "inoculate" people against further weight gain • The four Bright Lines: sugar, flour, meals, quantities • Who did best at six years — and the surprising role of morning accountability calls • GLP-1 medications in food addiction recovery: Susan's "pro-choice" stance, the promise, the unknowns, and why we shouldn't pathologize medication for a brain-based disease • The tension between weight loss outcomes and addiction symptom recovery — and protecting listeners in larger bodies who are doing everything "right" • Lipedema: the under-recognized condition affecting an estimated 11% of women that doesn't respond to dietary intervention • The three identity shifts in Maintain: becoming devoted, resourced, and liberated • Grief work: why letting go of foods (and food-centered traditions) is a real loss that deserves real mourning • Finish-line anxiety and the fear of liberation — who am I without the food and weight struggle? • Willpower, habit stacking, and designing a life that works even on your worst day • What's next for Susan: an alternative memoir about the dopamine-dominant brain Connect with Susan Peirce Thompson • Website: https://brightlineeating.com • Books: Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and Maintain The Food Junkies Podcast Hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab — real conversations about food addiction, recovery, and the science that supports both. ✉️email us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.