Dr. Phil's Weight Loss Program

Pull up your couch: the doctor is in. The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution is the creation of psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw (aka Dr. Phil, famed self-help guru and counselor to Oprah). The program suggests that you need to take a deep look inside yourself in order to begin and stick with the weight loss process. Stop sabotaging your own efforts and you'll succeed at losing weight and maintaining your loss. There is no quick and easy diet that works and no one-size-fits-all solution to weight loss.

You don't need to count calories or grams, measure portions, or memorize lengthy food lists. What you will do is learn about food, evaluate your eating habits honestly, add daily exercise, and (so the promise goes) change what, why, when, and how you eat. You will customize these changes in a way that works for you.

What makes the Dr. Phil's Weight Loss Program different?

A psychologist is the developer of this diet. So it's no surprise that The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution advocates that you need to change your mind first and then work on changing your body. The Dr. Phil's weight loss program aims to help you understand and accept why you overeat. You follow this by making changes in your environment, food choices, and other behaviors. Once you've dealt with your emotional obstacles, you can begin to lose weight (and keep it off) by eating nutritional foods in appropriate portions, limiting less nutritious food choices, and adding regular exercise.

What is Dr. Phil's Weight Loss Program?

This diet involves seven key steps, all of which you need to go through in order to achieve permanent weight loss. During each step you will take a quiz to assess your status on the plan and determine what you need to do.

It's up to you to determine what your "get real weight" is. That means taking an honest look at where you are, not just deciding to match your high school graduation weight.

The good news is the food plan does not require you to eliminate whole groups of foods from your diet. Dr. Phil's weight loss program divides foods into high-response cost, high-yield nutrition foods and low-response cost, low-yield nutrition foods. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to incorporate more of the former (and less of the latter) into your diet. This means choosing foods like broccoli, carrots, apples, and fish that create and sustain lasting weight loss. And you'll need to limit or avoid foods like croissants, potato chips, and bacon cheeseburgers.

The seven key steps in Dr. Phil's weight loss program are:

1. Right Thinking - You identify your personal truth, which is whatever you have come to believe about yourself and your weight problem. You must embrace the fact that you own your problems and take action to solve them. Getting rid of negativity is an essential step to achieving permanent weight loss and control.
2. Healing Feelings - Take emotional control. Stop thinking of yourself as a victim and take a problem-solving approach.
3. A No-Fail Environment - You need to develop the ability to shape, design, and manage your environment so that it is virtually impossible for you to fail. You clean out your cupboards to get rid of difficult foods, binge foods, and reminders to eat. And you'll clean out your closet and throw away your fat wardrobe and anything else that prevents you from losing weight.
4. Mastery over Food and Impulse Eating - Learn to stop mindless eating such as inhaling a glazed doughnut every day during your coffee break. You need to find activities that keep you from overeating.
5. High-Response Cost, High-Yield Nutrition - Take charge of what you eat. You assess your eating habits and understand what will keep you healthy. And you begin to follow a "high-response cost, high-yield nutrition" food plan. These are foods that encourage and reinforce lasting weight loss. Since they are mostly high in nutrients and fiber, they can be more time-consuming to prepare and to eat. Low-response cost foods such as fried rice or bacon make it easy for you to eat quickly and uncontrollably. You have a daily goal of consuming three servings of protein, two servings of low-fat dairy, two to three servings of starches, two fruits, four vegetables, and one serving of fat. Divide your plate into sections in order to portion foods correctly.
6. Intentional Exercise - Add exercise to your daily life.
7. Your Circle of Support - Enlist the support of your loved ones to help you reach your weight loss goals. Avoid food pushers and others who will sabotage you.

What are the weight loss expectations?

The Dr. Phil's weight loss program makes no promises about how much weight you will lose or how quickly you will lose it.

Is exercise promoted?

Find an exercise that you enjoy and that you are physically able to do daily. The plan offers no strict guidelines, but Dr. Phil points out that exercise is essential for lifetime weight control.

Are supplements recommended?

The Dr. Phil's weight loss program recommends that you add supplements as an addition to, not a substitute for, good nutrition. It suggests that you take a daily multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E, and calcium.