The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom [Hardcover]

Phil McGraw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

You have a decision to make. Those are the opening words Dr. Phil uses in his new and groundbreaking weight loss book. You know he is talking to you if you are among the millions who have chased one fad diet after another, none of which ever works. Dr. Phil is talking about the decision you have to make to change all of that. You know those crash diets never last, and you have to quit lying to yourself and get real about making the ultimate choice to finally take control of your weight and your life. "If you are overweight, you are out of control. That's not a natural place to be," says Dr. Phil. The Ultimate Weight Solution will give you the control that you crave.

Dr. Phil wants to lead you to weight loss freedom. He's spent over thirty years working with overweight patients to get results that last. Now, in The Ultimate Weight Solution, he sounds his loudest wake-up call yet, giving the bottom-line truth and his unprecedented 7 Key approach to permanent weight loss.

You know all too well that the "diet" experience can be bitterly disappointing. The Ultimate Weight Solution will change the way you behave and think about food, weight loss, and, ultimately, yourself. In this landmark book, Dr. Phil delivers an action-oriented plan to give you immediate results, results that will last a lifetime. Forget counting calories or tracking carbs or fat. You'll get the real reasons you've lost control of your weight, with tools to identify what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, and why you eat when you don't want to.

Knowledge is power, and you're about to "break the code" on how to get off of the weight loss roller coaster and fix this problem once and for all. Dr. Phil hands you the keys so that you can finally be in control of your weight instead of your weight being in control of you.

Congratulations! When you picked up The Ultimate Weight Solution, you took the first important step down the road to weight loss freedom. It's your health, it's your life, it's your decision.

Want to challenge you about your weight and yourself in a way that you have never been challenged before. We both know that the endless string of fad diets has done nothing but leave you heavier than before. The Ultimate Weight Solution is a book that is the product of thirty years of working with overweight patients and figuring out what really works. Giving you the real tools to permanent weight loss will change your life and its quality. I am determined to get you immediate results and do so in a way that will last a lifetime. Permanent weight loss is about changing many things in your life, and The Ultimate Weight Solution will help you do just that -- change yourself, change the way you think about dieting, change the way you think about food, change the way you think about your health. The 7 Keys that are in this book will open doors to a new life for you.

-- Dr. Phil

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Self-improvement guru Phillip McGraw knows you're looking for "something that melts fat off like sun melts ice," but, he reminds you, "losing weight is not 'quick and easy' and you know it." McGraw, one of Oprah's favorite sidekicks and host of his own television show, promises that you will succeed with his methods, because you will change "from the inside out." McGraw's 7 Keys are sound--not quick. First, you have to understand and face your "personal truth"--what you think about yourself and your weight--and replace toxic messages with positive thoughts. Next, step by step, you learn how to counter emotional eating, change your environment, master impulse eating, choose foods, adopt an exercise habit, and assemble a support circle. Each step is clearly explained and personalized with case studies, fill-in charts, and self-tests. His nutrition plan emphasizes foods with high nutritional yields for few calories, and that cannot be eaten quickly (generally because they're high in fiber), so you're less likely to overeat. McGraw is the author of Life Strategies, Relationship Rescue, and Self Matters. Here he offers his unique, , tell-it-like-it-is, take-no-prisoners style to help you change "what you eat, why you eat, where you eat, when you eat, and how you eat," all in an individualized approach that's bound to be effective. Highly recommended. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly

Host of an eponymous TV show, Dr. Phil (Life Strategies; Relationship Rescue; etc.) here ventures into the world of diet books with a plan that's apt to appeal primarily to desperate chronic dieters. For over three decades, he says, he's counseled patients both morbidly obese and dangerously thin, helping them confront why they set their minds to fail at weight management. He looks carefully, for instance, at why people overeat in response to problems, or why they surround themselves with unhealthy snacks and people. While it's refreshing to see a diet book geared toward the psychology behind weight gain (instead of one that faddishly recommends a few specific foods to eat and to avoid), McGraw tends to complicate his advice with unnecessary jargon. For example, instead of asserting that dieters should feel free to reward themselves for working out, he offers a treatise on "consequating your exercise behavior" using "contingency management." What everyone else would call "whole foods," McGraw refers dubs "high-response cost foods," and touts this as a revolutionary approach to dieting. The book's title is also slightly misleading, since each of the 7 "keys" includes a multitude of internal steps, some of which require lengthy "self-audits" in order to progress. Readers might have appreciated interviews with McGraw's former clients-he says he had an "80-plus percent success rate" in the eight years he focused on morbidly obese patients-and a little less psychobabble. That said, with his multitude of fans and his frank tone, this latest volume should sell like whole-wheat hotcakes.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st Edition edition (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743236742
• ISBN-13: 978-0743236744
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (340 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D., has worked in the field of human functioning and strategic life planning for over twenty years. Dr. McGraw is co-founder and president of Courtroom Sciences, Inc., America's leading litigation consulting firm, and has been associated with some of the highest-profile cases in the country, including Oprah's highly publicized "Mad Cow" case. A professional psychologist, he appears regularly on Oprah as her resident expert on human functioning. He lives in Dallas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

513 of 549 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diet book?, September 20, 2003

By 

Fab (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom (Hardcover)

I think that based on the numerous one-star reviews I read those checking the postings may be confused. So, as a long-time past student (11 years) whose curriculum has been in medical studies and clinical nutrition, here are a few facts to make it easier on you.

1) Most dieticians I have encountered in my life have neither been thin, nor obese. However, they have been overweight. Well, 9/10. It is a fallacy to believe that just because you know something, you will apply it. I tell you, many cardiologists emphasize the need for any physical activity, yet fall short of carrying out their own advice, just like many MDs are not shying away from alcohol consumption, low fat foods, and smoking, which they all know is wrong. So, saying that Dr. Phil is overweight and that as a result, he should not be writing about weight loss strategies is plain ignorant. He is 6'4" and weighs 240lbs. Now, he is, indeed, overweight. Someone of his stature based on the dietetic currents 16 from Ross Labs in Columbus Ohio (reference used in clinical nutrition) is considered overweight.

2) The title of the book reads "ULTIMATE WEIGHT SOLUTION: THE 7 KEYS TO WEIGHT LOSS FREEDOM". It is NOT passed as a diet book. And though you may read on and see people's main critique that they have not learned nothing new does not mean that it is bad. We all know we should be eating less. We all know we should be more active. We all know that fat is not great (though necessary to some extent). The real question is to figure out whether we are actually applying that wise wisdom? Well, are YOU? If not, maybe you just find it hard to do it with your stressful life, your busy occupations, your family responsibilities. And that is where this book comes in, because it hands over strategies for you to incorporate those skills in your life. Now, note also that he does not mean to make you skinny or thin. He wants you to lose weight that you are suffering from, no more, no less!

3) Many claim that he is not an MD. And indeed, he's not! However psychology is the study of how the mind responds to certain stimuli. While an MD (psychiatrist) is focusing on physiological changes, Dr. Phil approaches from a psychosocial front claiming that by changing a few things in life, the emotions that lead you to eat less can be isolated and dealt with step by step.

4) about complaints that there is no weight loss plan, here is a newsflash! That is exactly what has made the USA as fat as it is. Lasting weight loss takes time and dedication. There is no ONE weight loss plan that fits all. Whoever tells you that is a fallacy. You may want to believe it because it is easier to deal with than to look at one's life and feel like a failure. Think about that too. You have to come up with your own needs based on your lifestyle, family life...

This being said, I don't deny that with some experience you can come to the same conclusions. However, I think that many people are stuck in a maze not knowing what to believe. This is information you can believe. It is important to eat less and encompass some physical activity. However, for the critic about the lack of physical activity that you may read in other postings, the person should have been a little more in tune with the fact that weight loss is the ultimate goal to prevent further cardiovascular diseases, diabetes diagnoses (type 2) skeletomuscular problems. Muscles weigh a lot. Dr. Phil's goal is to lose weight. Once you have got that one down, he tackles the physical activity. Remember, walking 5 times a week for 30 minutes allows you to lose 20 lbs without changing anything else in your diet. Now, I am sure it is not that hard to realize that a lot of people may be wondering where that 30 minute time frame is coming in. And that is where Dr. Phil comes in by showing you the strategies to allow such a routine to take place.

126 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary content for this supersized nation of ours., April 5, 2004

By 

Christie C. Girouard "[e-mail]" (Conway, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide (Mass Market Paperback)

My husband recently lost 25 lbs using this plan. He desperately needed to be educated on portion control and using starchy carbohydrates as a staple. As a result of my support in my husbands efforts, I lost 8 lbs. This was solely due to cutting out refined sugar, dialing up the fiber, putting concentration on protein, and watching out for saturated fats. Honestly, I didn't need to lose a pound, but I have never felt so healthy and lean. I am a personal trainer, and was fit to begin with.

You must take this plan to heart. If it doesn't strike a cord, then you're not in it to begin with. This book gave us the tools to adopt a new lifestyle of eating. I will not say diet, which is the key to its success. This book is the real deal...not a fad.

My friends are actually amazed with the amount of food that I eat in a day considering that I eat 5 times per day. I am 5 feet tall and I weigh 100 lbs. soaking wet. When I bring meals to work, my co-workers gather round to see the culinary treat du jour.

I would love to recommend a cookbook that helped us in our efforts to re-think lowfat. The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook. A must. Tone down the fat, Pump up the flavor. This book gives you the breakdown on portion size, calories, fiber, sugar, fats and carbohydrates. It works in harmony with everything Dr. Phil is trying to teach us about the way we, each and everyone of us, should be eating.

I would like to share that I am a 47 year old mother of three. I have battled weight all of my life because I love food. I swear my metabolism slammed on the breaks when I hit 40. I have finally reached a very comfortable place with my relationship with food. I never, and I emphasize never, feel deprived. I have acquired a new joy for meal planning.

You can't buy this book looking for a miracle. The first week is hard. You will literally detox from the crap you're used to eating. Week two, you begin to coast, and then suddenly you realize you've created a new lifestyle.

477 of 513 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new?, October 20, 2003

By 

Diane Hamilton "lady_in_pink" (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom (Hardcover)

I've only started reading the first two chapters of this book, and already I find myself considering new possibilities about how I view myself and food!!!

I was very disappointed to read the disparaging comments about this book and its author. I think people who expected to find something new here a) Don't get it; b) Are looking for a magic bullet; c) Just need something to complain about.

THERE IS NOTHING NEW ABOUT DIETING! Eat less, move more... it's that simple! In fact, if you've ever read the Bible, you know that a few thousand years ago Solomon had already declared that there was "nothing new under the sun" way back then!

Losing weight is all about common sense. That's what I expected from Dr. Phil which is exactly why I picked up his book in the first place. What Dr. Phil does that many psychologists simply aren't good at is take what is common sense and get you to accept it. For some people, like me, it means leading them to the point where it almost seems like it was their idea in the first place. Dr. Phil has a way of doing that for me.

This is not a book about a diet, like South Beach or Atkins, where you learn to control food, but never get your mind and heart in order. This book is about changing the way you look at yourself, why you want to lose weight, what you expect to happen when you reach your goal, what are you willing to do to make that happen. Bottom line... Phil cuts the crap about dieting!

So, the naysayers are right, there is nothing new here... just the plain honest-to-God truth, and that's exactly what I was looking for!