The Ultimate Weight Solution Large Print (7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedon)

As a medical doctor (MD) who treats overweight persons, I found this book useful to recommend to certain of my patients. Not all people with obesity have emotional issues that need addressing, but many do. I think Dr. Phil has done us a favor with his practical, down-to-earth approach on dealing with these kinds of issues. He has helped a lot of people with a very difficult and life-threatening problem. For those reviewers who ignorantly refer to Dr. Phil as "obese", you need to get your facts straight - at 6'4" and 240 pounds he is NOT obese. His BMI (body mass index) is 29 which ranks him as "overweight" not obese. I have a word for the doubters. To say that an overweight person is not qualified to write a book about weight control is rather absurd. Does he claim to be perfect? Aren't we all "works in progress"? It is the equivalent of saying that Billy Graham shouldn't talk about sin because he himself is not perfect. Additionally, I thought it rather comical that most (if not all) of the 1 star reviews were written by what seemed to be angry and immature people with some sort of anti-Dr.Phil or anti-psychologist agenda. My advice to most of those writers is GROW UP - it'll do you (and the rest of us) a world of good !! For those interested in a helpful resource that addresses an important aspect of weight control (and relapse avoidance), I recommend this book.

I have read many diet books and been on many diets. I believe that I can speak with some authority on the topic of dieting advice and I say what Dr. Phil has done here is remarkable. From the first chapter I felt moved emotionally. A few chapters in the reader is asked to begin writing about themselves. I set the book down for several weeks because I knew that if I moved forward there would be no going back. I would not be able to pretend that I would take care of my weight at some nebulous point in the future. I would either have to deal with my weight or completely accept that I would always be fat. If you have never struggled with weight then I doubt you can understand how terrifying that was for me. I was afraid to make that emotional commitment to a course I did not know if I would be successful at. You see, as long as I hadn't really attempted to get fit I could always cling to the hope that I might someday. Well I picked that book back up and I finished it and it was remarkable and life changing. I can think of no better way to review the book than to tell you of my experiences after reading it.From my earliest childhood it was an accepted fact that I was overweight, my parents said so as did my siblings and most of the neighborhood. The larger I became in life the more I fit my own self image of myself as a fat person. I refused to be in pictures from early childhood and at one point went through all of the family pictures and cut up or burned all my photos. After I finished the book I went to visit my Mom, I had the urge to see myself growing up fat. My intent was to fix in my mind how fat I had always been to give me stronger motivation to change. I had an eye opening discovery ahead of me. What I saw for the first time is that I was not a fat child, I could have stood to lose five or ten pounds throughout my childhood, but only the most pessimistic observer could have described me as fat. To put in another way I had such a strong self image of myself as fat that I didn't match my own image until I weighed well over 300 pounds. When I read the book I weighed 474 lbs., that was almost three months ago.Today I weigh 428 lbs. I work out six days a week with a trainer alternating weights and cardio. I can walk for miles without pain and in fact am planning to spend a lot of my summer hiking in the beautiful wasatch mountains.The reviewers who've said that there is nothing new in this book are missing the point. As far as the "diet" itself goes of course they are right, the message there is essentially eat right and exercise. What is remarkable and new with this book is that Dr. Phil addresses what is stopping you mentally from changing your life. While this may not be what everyone needs (it certainly was not what I thought I needed) it has changed my life. And you know what? I was right, once I turned that next page there was NO going back!

I have read the book through real thoroughly. Now I am reading it a second time to really remember what is says. From the moment Dr Phil says I have to start living a healthier life NOW I started to do so. For over a month now, I - a huge sugar addict and couch potato - have not eaten any sugar and exercised every day. Dr Phil gives the tools to handle every situation that occurs in this process. For example, if I raid my cupboards at night there is nothing there anymore and the impulse goes away. That is programming yourself for success. For the first time in my life I feel that I am in control over what I eat. For the first time in my life I feel how great it is to exercise. I am NOT on a diet. I have changed my lifestyle and I want to live this way my whole life. Dr Phil has managed to help me in a way that an endless number of doctors over the years have not been able to.

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!

The bad reviews seem to only be able to say a very few things: Phil is fat, Phil is not qualified or this diet plan does not work. People who have read this book and liked it though seem to have more down to earth commentary in comparison. They talk about the ways in which this book has changed their lives, not about how much they hate someone else. I have been working for a professional counseling service for the past 3 years and I have seen a lot of people in the office with real problems. The people who seem to actually get better and take steps in their life to improve it seem to be the ones that begin the counseling with a more positive attitude. They are the ones that no matter what their problem is they are not mean and seem to try to take an active part in their recovery. Meanness, and calling someone obese fat or whatever else is very mean when the person works so hard to keep their weight down, seems to produce more problems than it solves. We acquired a copy of Phil's new book for our office and I have read it cover to cover during my lunch breaks. I think that the Ultimate Weight Solution tries to get people into the positive, no holds barred attitude that gets results when you are counseling. Phil doesn't take no for an answer. Yes, you are going to change your life. Yes, you can change your habits.Yes, you are a good person. I believe that this approach works, maybe not for everyone but it will for the millions out there that read Dr. Phil and watch him or simply listen every once in a while to his advice. Meanness breeds meanness- hope breeds hope. I think that if you are someone who believes deeply in hope and the power of positive thought than you are the right person for this book.