Phil McGraw - The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom

The Ultimate Weight Solution is the culmination of thirty years of treating, living, learning, and researching the challenges of obesity. It has been a passion-driven project during which I have had the privilege of working with an absolutely incredible team of dedicated and caring people who have worked tirelessly to bring together what I believe is a definitive work on the management of obesity.

Thanks to my wife, Robin, for always living and managing your personal life in such an inspirational manner. (I so married over my head!) You make it an undeniable truth that by embracing self-respect and the choices that naturally flow from it, health, fitness, and graceful progression through life can be fun and exciting rather than dull and self-denying. Regarding your body and mind as a gift to be managed with dignity has made the three boys in your life do a better job by just trying to keep up!

Thanks to our sons Jay and Jordan for always supporting and being proud of your dad and making it easy for me to be proud of you. Your spark and energy keep me young and challenge me to keep reaching for the next level and the next big thing. And thanks, Jordan, for getting good enough on the electric guitar that it is not painful to listen to you play while I try to write! You guys are what its all about for ol dad.

I once again thank my dear friend Oprah for her unwavering commitment to helping me get my messages about human functioning out into the world. Thanks for always being such a passionate supporter and an honest source of feedback in all that I strive to do. Your friendship and kindness are more appreciated than you ever could know. Your belief in and commitment to my success are and have been invaluable. Thanks especially for all of your input after such a careful reading of the manuscript and for coming up with such a great title for the book! Having Oprah for an editor aint a half-bad deal!

A special thanks to G. Frank Lawlis, Ph.D., for his tireless work on this book from the very moment of its conception. Dr. Lawlis is, in my opinion, the greatest psychologist alive today and has been a guiding light to me personally and professionally for almost thirty years now. Frank, your knowledge of psychology in general and the behavioral medicine approaches to the treatment of obesity in particular are encyclopedic and invaluable. Your ability to tie together the many dimensions of the complex human mind and emotions has added much to the clarity I sought in creating a how-to manual for the reader. Your creative thinking and the translation of those ideas into words on the page is among your many world-class skills. Thank you, too, for your help in the massive review of more than thirty years of obesity research in the psychological literature. Above all else, thanks for your friendship and caring.

Thanks especially to Maggie Robinson, Ph.D. Dr. Robinson is clearly the preeminent nutritionist in America today, and her tireless work on content, organization, flow, and writing was invaluable. Maggie has made The Ultimate Weight Solution a better book in a number of ways. If we could all remember even a fraction of the nutritional science that Maggie added to this book we would have the battle half-won. Thanks, Maggie, for raising the bar and always having such a positive and infectiously passionate spirit. You made this project fun and taught me a tremendous amount. You are a great writer and I am proud to call you friend.

Thanks also to Tom Diaz, M.D., for the cutting-edge medical counsel on the content of this book. When I sought a medical consultant on this project, I wanted the absolute best of the best. As I reviewed the many rsums submitted, the choice was clear: there was Dr. Diaz and then there was everybody else. Dr. Diaz is one of those doctors who treat the patient and not just the disorder or disease. In short, Dr. Diaz gets it. Tom, your expertise in obesity, aging, and longevity was invaluable and allowed me to merge the psychological and medical aspects of weight management into a coherent whole. Thanks especially for your review of the massive medical literature on this important subject and for all of your own research specifically done for the book. The hours you put in were countless and the energy never waning. Thanks also for solving the mystery of my personal chemistry; you have undoubtedly added years and years to my life. Thanks for always being there for me and mine.

Thanks also to P.J. Skerrett, editor of Harvard Medical Schools highly regarded Harvard Heart Letter, for his most thorough and helpful review of the manuscript technically and content wise. P.J., your knowledge of and rapport with the state of the art in obesity management was extremely helpful. Your critique confirmed our direction and content and refined the book in important ways.