Refuse To Regain

Muscle: It’s the Real Deal

By Barbara Berkeley The common wisdom tells you to build it. Most people think they don’t have enough of it. Fitness experts tout it as something almost magical. But what’s the real deal with muscle? I have the strange habit of reading certain research papers repeatedly. The tendency to read things over and over may be inherited. My father loves to read certain books dozen of times. We have a copy of “Shogun” at my house that is literally falling... Read more →

Photographs and Memories

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering I apologize for my blogging absence. I was preparing for and am now back from a whirlwind business trip/vacation to New York City (the business part) and Connecticut (the vacation part). I’ve hit the ground running, and with two days of exercise under my belt, it feels good after five days off. My muscles are trying to mutiny, but I’m captain of this ship, doggone it, and am back in full control. I saw my Maintaining Divas... Read more →

True Confessions of a Once Thin Person

By Barbara Berkeley Like someone who has committed a crime and never reported it, I feel compelled to confess. I simply must wade back into the debate about who the thin really are. Many of you have written with generous spirit about your realization that thin people are not genetically blessed, but simply work at it. Recently, Cari posted this on our site: "And the thin people? Now that I AM one, I realize that, when I was obese, I... Read more →

The Age That Counts

By Barbara Berkeley Lots has been made of calculating your “real age”…an interesting device for assessing how old you may be on a cellular level. In reality, no one can tell you exactly how much older or younger you are when you change the way you live and eat. Nevertheless, these kinds of quizzes remind us of the fact that our lifestyle choices cause real life consequences and can reap honest-to-goodness rewards. I am more interested in another kind of... Read more →

Rethinking & Reseeing The “Naturally” Thin

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering Barbara wrote in her July 22 blog entry “The Thin Doc’s Dilemma”: “I am maintaining a 20-pound weight loss myself and would be vastly heavier if I had not reversed the process and put a permanent end to it. I live exactly the life and follow exactly the recommendations I make to my patients. In fact, you could even say I am the living lab for the program I preach. “Nevertheless, overweight people don’t trust thin people... Read more →

Refusing Under Stress

By Barbara Berkeley Refusing to regain the weight you’ve lost is a big enough challenge on ordinary days, but what about on life-crisis days? Years of habit dictate that stressful times deserve food relief. Let’s call it “Food Soothing.” Drowning sorrows in a hot fudge sundae is such a cheap, accessible (and delicious) solution. Hey! You’re stressed out…no one will blame you! There would be nothing wrong with Food Soothing if we were only in a Food-Worthy crisis once in... Read more →

I’m Back!

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering Happy August, everyone! But where, oh where, did July go? I’ve been MIA from Refuse to Regain for almost a month – I’ve missed you! Also neglected were the gym, my gardens and almost every other ordinary day-to-day thing, like my own bed and my own food. (Ever notice that not even the finest restaurants can make a salad as good as the one you throw together at home?) July was a month of family chaos –... Read more →