Refuse To Regain

Simplify Your Life: A philosophy that should be applied to weight loss

by Barbara Berkeley, MD (Originally posted on RTR as "Simple Life, Simple Body", 2015) I was intrigued by David Brooks’ column in the New York Times recently. It speaks to a renewed interest in an old idea: simplifying life. Living in a less complicated way is not a new concept (think Walden Pond), but it has gained a greater magnetism in the setting of the hugely complex and acquisitive world in which we now find ourselves. I personally have enjoyed... Read more →

Do I HAVE to Give Up Carbs????????????

by Barbara Berkeley, MD The short answer: it depends. Do you want to lose the extra weight that is bothering you? Do you want to get rid of, or greatly reduce, the medicines you take for blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol? Do you want to finally keep the weight off without having to deal with soul-crushing bouts of regain? If so, an understanding of how your body reacts to carbohydrate is essential. Let's begin here: Weight warriors, I love you.... Read more →

The Body Mysterious: Time to Lift the Veil

by Barbara Berkeley, MD We physicians live in the shadow of rising health care costs. Hospitals want us to cut length of stays and somehow become more efficient. Insurance companies ask us to accept less money for patient visits, forcing us to see more people in fewer hours. The government wants us to check a slew of electronic boxes to prove that we’ve performed what they deem to be “best practices”…. even though there is little evidence that any of... Read more →

Why I Hate the People "Half Their Size" Issue

by Barbara Berkeley, MD This is a bad week for me. I'm on a rant. In fact I feel (for those of you who are old enough to remember) like Howard Beale, the news anchor from the movie "Network", who went crazy and started screaming, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!" OK, maybe I'm exaggerating. But just a little. This week brought a double whammy. First, the USDA released its new eating guidelines. Why... Read more →

Are You An Easy Keeper? Weight After Menopause (and Before)

by Barbara Berkeley, Do you feel like you can gain weight from eating air? Overweight individuals often feel that they gain weight just by looking at food, yet our culture disbelieves this. " No", it says, "the reason you are overfat is because you are weak and have no willpower. Look at that thin person over there, now there is a role model." This is utter nonsense as far as I'm concerned. While we debate about whether different people store... Read more →

The Simple Life. The Simple Body

by Barbara Berkeley, MD I was intrigued by David Brooks' column in the New York Times today. It speaks to a renewed interest in an old idea: simplifying life. Living in a less complicated way is not a new concept (think Walden Pond), but it has gained a greater magnetism in the setting of the hugely complex and acquisitive world in which we now find ourselves. I personally have enjoyed and benefited from Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying... Read more →

Don't be a Lazy Jack. Use Your Own Yardstick.

by Barbara Berkeley, MD Are you driven crazy by the daily dietary directives that scroll beneath the news and pop up on the front pages of the papers? I am. The internet has given us the ability to learn of every speculation about diet and every study...whether small, large, well-constructed, or poorly run. Media reporting does not discriminate between these. Pretty much everything is offered with equal weight, which leaves it to us to figure out if the latest dietary... Read more →

Weight Loss in America: The Definition of Insanity

by Barbara Berkeley, MD What is the definition of insanity? Albert Einstein put it this way: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." Who are we to disagree with the greatest of mind of the 20th century? This week we were treated to the latest data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States. We sure talk a lot about obesity and we sure claim that we... Read more →

BMI: Tool or Tyranny?

by Barbara Berkeley, MD This post is a re-run from 2010. I decided to re-post it after a flurry of patients expressed dismay about being unable to reach the supposed "normal weight" range on a BMI chart. In almost every case, their primary care or specialty physician had insisted that they shoot for a weight in the "normal" section of the chart. I'm here to tell you that it's not necessary or even advisable. The patient in front of me... Read more →

Controlling Weight After Menopause and Other Tips for the Over 50 Life

by Barbara Berkeley MD The most frequently accessed posts on this blog are the ones that I've written about weight control after menopause. Clearly, there is enormous frustration and confusion surrounding this topic in my sisters over 50. And why not? The American mainstream becomes disinterested in us women as we get older. We feel invisible. We internalize this cultural meme and fear it. Menopause, while just a biologic event, becomes a huge, nefarious bookmark in our lives. For many... Read more →