Refuse To Regain

Lynn's "Oprah" Debut to Re-Air Monday, June 2

If you haven't seen the "Oprah" show I was on in November, it will re-air this Monday, June 2. The show is truly inspirational, filled with stories of people who lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise alone. I walked away from the experience completely in awe of what they'd accomplished. Seriously, I was one of the lesser success stories, having "only" lost 160-something pounds. I hope you'll give it a look. (To read about my Oprah experience,... Read more →

On the Road in Food World (written Memorial Day weekend)

By Barbara Berkeley It’s a gloriously sunny day and my husband Don and I are on the road for three days. We’re driving to the wedding of a friend’s daughter on the east coast. There’s nothing like a little travel to take you out of your maintenance comfort zone. Travelling makes me appreciate the steps I’ve taken to structure my personal food world. Now that I’m out the comfort zone, 7½ hours from home, the protections I’ve come to rely... Read more →

It's OK To Stay Within Our Zone

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering I’ve taken a lot of chances in my life. I’m not afraid of risk or challenge. So why am I so afraid to let go of my calorie/Point mentality? Barbara makes solid scientific points in her last blog regarding calories. I didn’t understand the carbohydrate—insulin connection before, but it certainly makes sense, especially to someone like me with low overall metabolism. Since making my goal weight in March 2007, I’ve researched “how” to eat as a POW... Read more →

The Case Against Calories

By Barbara Berkeley When I tell people that I don’t believe in calories, they are often as shocked as if I’d said I didn’t believe in God. “You don’t believe in calories??? But…but that’s insane. That’s crazy! That’s….well….it’s downright unscientific!!!” So let me clarify my position. I certainly believe in the existence of calories. I also believe that strictly limiting calories is the most important factor in achieving weight loss. But I think that the calories in foods become much... Read more →

Saying "No" and Asking Questions

by Lynn Haraldson-Bering “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” The Rolling Stones Who needs a gym when you’ve got a 7-month old grandbaby to take care of? My daughter left for work yesterday at 6:30 a.m. and baby Claire kept Grammy Lynn hoppin’ for two hours before her morning nap. And I mean hoppin’! She pulled herself up the legs the table I keep my... Read more →

It's Working!

By Barbara Berkeley “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ....” Leo Tolstoy, opening line of “Anna Karenina.” In the happy world of successful weight maintainers, as in happy families, there are a whole lot of similarities to be observed. The more I talk with people who are staying at goal, the more I notice the same themes repeating. What’s the same about all good weight maintainers? From my point of view: They... Read more →

Change You Can Sustain: Talking With Author MJ Ryan

By Barbara Berkeley MJ Ryan is one of the creators of the New York Times bestselling Random Acts of Kindness series and is the author of many other books. Her most recent book, This Year I Will…(Broadway Books), deals with the issue of change. How do we make change and how do we sustain that change once we’ve accomplished it? MJ is the former CEO and Editorial Director of Conari Press, but for the past 8 years she has specialized... Read more →

Minding My Body vs Satisfying Food Pushers

by Lynn Haraldson-Bering If I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me in the last year, “Is that all you’re eating?” or “Are you ‘allowed’ to eat that?” I could afford a personal chef to prepare all my meals as I contemplate life sitting on the “hillside” Barbara referred to in her last blog entry. How I choose to feed my body has become almost a spectator sport when I eat out in public or with... Read more →

Up Here On The Hill

by Barbara Berkeley I love Lynn’s description of her “green house”: a living space that’s not perfect but one that she’s come to love nonetheless. The very imperfections that bothered her most at the outset are the things that now define a unique environment. All green houses have their beauty. It’s easy to see that our imperfect bodies represent some version of the green house. No one over age 40 has the Architectural Digest version of the human form (except... Read more →

Meet Lynn Haraldson-Bering

I live in a green house. A really green house. The asbestos siding is pale green, the porch “skirt” is evergreen, the shingles are dappled moss green, and Astroturf is glued to the porch and front stairs. My husband and I moved into this little 1910s Cape Ann in the spring of 2006 with plans to eliminate the green. Big plans that included paint and siding and maybe even a new roof. It is now spring 2008 and we’ve gotten... Read more →