Refuse To Regain

Answering Your Questions

by Barbara Berkeley, MD I occasionally receive questions by email or through this blog. Recently, reader Dalon Clance submitted the following in response to the blog called "The Magic Pill": "I want to ask one thing. You state to eat a low carb diet for weight maintenance? I have also read the studies of Professor Hill from the University of Colorado and co-founder of the NWCR. He states that most of the people on the registry eat a low fat... 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 Low Carb New Year: A Better Weight Resolution

by Barbara Berkeley, MD Once again, the resolve to lose weight tops the list of vows made with the New Year. Unfortunately, we all know that this resolution is also one of the most commonly forgotten. While earnestly desired, the intention to lose weight simply doesn't hold up for most. So why do we keep making the same, failing resolution each January 1st? The answer is hope. We truly want to be healthier and hope that this time, this year... Read more →

A Rare Recipe from RTR: A Taste of Pizza

by Barbara Berkeley, MD I know I should share more maintenance recipes, and I do hear about them all the time from my patients...yet they never seem to make their way into these posts. Today, though, I was talking to someone who passed along a good one so I thought I'd share. This recipe, which uses low fat cheese, was suggested by my patient's sister as a pizza substitute and has become a favorite. Here it is: Paula's Taste of... Read more →

LeBron Goes Low Carb: More Refuse-to-Regainers?

by Barbara Berkeley, MD Although I have written many posts about LeBron James (to the consternation of many of you, I'm sure), I have never written about LeBron's own weight. It never occurred to me, even though he has definitely gotten noticeably larger over the past couple of seasons. Now, LeBron has reportedly gone low-carb in order to get back to optimal playing weight. This article in The New York Daily News is just one of the many written after... Read more →

Practical Weight Guidance for the Menopausally Challenged

by Barbara Berkeley, MD Whenever I see a new patient, I take a history of his or her weight gain. With rare exceptions, the story is almost always the same. At a certain point, the patient started to become susceptible to weight gain. Once this turning point occurred, weight escalated over time--reversing occassionally during periods of dieting---but quickly reaccumulating. Yet, when I ask patients to tell me when their weight gain began, they usually will refer to a bookmark in... Read more →

Primal Diet, Primarian Variants and Weight Maintenance 2013

by Barbara Berkeley, MD As each year begins, I try to reclarify my own position on healthy diet. I encourage you to do the same. We are all experts when it comes to our own bodies, yet we often cede responsibility to others: nutritionists, food bloggers, even doctors like me. The most important advice I can give you is to remind you that there is likely no one dietary truth. For those of us with an interest in how eating... Read more →

When Carbs Look Bigger Than They Really Are

by Barbara Berkeley, MD As those of you who routinely read this blog know, I spend a great deal of my time advising people to get rid of the carbs in their diet. Not all the carbs, but specifically sugars, grains and grain based products. When I suggest this to patients at our first meeting, I am met with blank stares or with outright resistance. I expect this. The idea of vastly curbing carbohydrates is overwhelming to most American eaters.... Read more →

What Causes Weight Gain? What I Believe Today

by Barbara Berkeley, MD I have now been specializing in obesity for close to 22 years. With each passing day I become more certain that the endlessly repeated weight "truths" are utterly wrong. We are doing irreparable harm to ourselves and our society by believing in them. These supposed truths? Overeating makes you fat. Exercise makes you thin. Calories are the be all and end all of weight control. People who are overweight lack willpower. Obesity is, in some way,... Read more →

The Menopause Myth: Why It Can Be EASIER to Lose Weight Later

by Barbara Berkeley, MD It's always healthy to be skeptical, particularly where dietary pronouncements are concerned. In the past year, I've been asked dozens of times about HCG. Everyone is talking. It's all over the media. Does it work? The answer should be obvious to anyone. If HCG was any kind of obesity cure, 3 out of 4 people you know would be taking it already. The first pill or treatment that comes along and can really zap obesity will... Read more →