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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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