Practical, practical, and practical

As a veteran of the diet wars, i must admit to some skepticism when beginning this book. BUT-- i had seen enough people achieve success with it to make it worth the read. And i've tried enough different eating styles (body type diet/grapefruit diet/starvation/all protein/no meat/low carb/no carb...to name a few) in the name of weight control to make reading The Ultimate Weight Solution a worthwhile venture.

So often we humans become trapped in our own dysfunction, products of an accumulation of bad experiences and years of wrong thinking. Dr. Phil is able to lead through the process of challenging those thoughts and the truths we have internalized from those bad experiences. Making use of the exercises in the book (yes, it takes time but is well worth it) and filling out the assessments regarding my habits helped me see the areas where I wasn't being entirely honest with myself or where I needed to make adjustments.

The book is filled with practical help. Dr. Phil makes the point that you can't simply remove something from your habits without replacing it, and he gives abundant solutions to walk through the process of changing your views to support a healthy mental/emotional/physical lifestyle.

I'd recommend this book to anyone whether they want to lose 5 or 500 pounds. I for one would like to have comfortable control of my weight rather than my weight controlling me--and this book is helping me achieve just that.

I highly recommend this book

I just finished reading Dr. Phil's book and I am very impressed. I am not a Dr. Phil or Oprah groupie. I have been a chronic dieter for most of my life, and I am as heavy as ever. I've tried them all...with some success only to wind up right where I started-and then some. In my opinion, the reason is that my focus has always been on the food. How many points can I have? How many carbs can I have? This food is GOOD. This food is BAD. All of it is nonsense. The only thing all my failures have had in common is ME.

Does Dr. Phil's book reveal any groundbreaking information? No. But then again, how could it? There is nothing magical out there to discover. We eat too much, for the wrong reasons and don't exercise. There is no one answer for everyone. I think the problem is that people keep waiting for THE SOLUTION to come along that solves their weight issues. And while they are waiting they keep getting fatter and fatter. The solution to the problem is yourself-and most people ignore that. Trust me-I have been the same way. I am sure I have spent thousands of dollars on books, and videos and new diet fads hoping one would finally work. I think it was almost a crutch-rather than putting the time into myself I would put the time into reading about a new diet and get excited about it for about a week until I got tired of it and went back to my old ways.

The one thing in this book that hit me the most is how bad a friend and supporter of myself I have been. How can I succeed when inside I keep telling myself that I am fat and because of that somehow "less than"? This one thing has really changed my whole approach and made me conscious of so many new things. For me, this is honestly the first time I have really taken the time to delve into "why" I use food the way I do. And it has been truly enlightening.

Is this book for everyone? Probably not-I think you really have to be open and ready to make a change. If I had read this a few years ago, I might have tossed it aside and wanted something "quicker" because I was in a very different place then. I think if this book can just make a few people realize what I have realized than it is completely worth it.

Best of luck to all of you out there. Take good care of yourselves.

He's good at stating the obvious. That's about it.

Why is Dr. Phil popular? Because he tells people what they already know. He just throws a few "I'm a good ol' down-to-earth no-nonsense Texan" sayings into the mix.
I bought this book because I was a huge fan of Dr. Phil. I watched his show, bought his "Relationship Rescue" and his Food Guide, and I was ready to overhaul my life just like he said. I started into the book, made goals and worked hard, and followed his food guide implicitly. He said I wouldn't be hungry. I was. He said the plan wouldn't be restrictive. It was. After the first days of excitement were over, I was miserable.
This book is all about telling you to work hard at losing weight, which I am all for. But then he tells you it's not about will power. Of course it is! It's not only about will power, but you do have to have some self-control in order to reach your goals.
This book is a paradoxical mixture of in-your-face drill sargent with telling 'em what they wanna hear.
Let's just say that the more I see Dr. Phil's milk-mustached face on billboards and watch his appearances on the likes of "Extreme Makeover", the more I start to doubt his sincerity about helping people and suspect him of milking his popularity for every penny he can.