Dr Phil McGraw

If someone out there doesn’t agree with me, then somewhere a village is missing their idiot.

A lot of people do have tragic childhoods. But you know what? Get over it.

People have the right to think and say whatever they want to. But you have the right not to take it to heart, and not to react.

If you ever get started on the right path to change, there is one important precondition you have to meet. You must rid yourself of that gnawing and overpowering sense of urgency and panic that always seems to appear on the scene.

You should consider an employment change before you consider selling out.

Everybody should have the opportunity to do and be everything they can be.

Experts indicate that you should aim for consistent weight loss of about one to two pounds per week, so you should remain realistic—you aren’t going to lose 40 pounds per week (no matter what any diet product claims).

Get up each morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and see yourself not as someone who is overweight or out of shape, but as the someone you will become.

Successful weight loss takes programming, not willpower.

What I want people to do is what’s healthy for them.

A year from now, you’re gonna weigh more or less than what you do right now.

I’ve talked to so many people, men and women alike, that get overweight and their self-esteem just goes in the tank. They think they’re judged. They think they’re unattractive.

Now ask yourself if you’re really going to spend the rest of your life on one of those ridiculous diets. The honest answer is, no, you won’t. So, that means you might lose weight while you’re on it, but you’ll probably gain it back when you’re off it because you haven’t made any real lifestyle changes.

Obesity has overtaken cancer as the No. 1 cause of avoidable, preventable death in American society. It’s an epidemic-level problem.

You’re FAT – and don’t try to sugarcoat it, because you’ll just eat that, too.

The time is coming when man will be able to determine the length of his lifespan by controlling his diet.

First, you’re going to have to stop using food for anything other than nutrition. You cannot continue to use food to celebrate, or as a companion, or for entertainment, or comfort. You cannot medicate yourself, your mood, or pain with food.

Reality check: you can never, ever, use weight loss to solve problems that are not related to your weight. At your goal weight or not, you still have to live with yourself and deal with your problems. You will still have the same husband, the same job, the same kids, and the same life. Losing weight is not a cure for life.

Now, my body fat runs around 18 percent, which is normal and, you know, kind of in the middle of normal, actually.

Food is a coping mechanism; people are afraid of giving it up because then they’ll feel confused and lost.