Dr Phil McGraw

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

My dad used to say, ‘You wouldn’t worry so much about what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did.

The difference between winners and losers is that winners do things losers don’t want to do.

Men fall in love with their eyes. Women fall in love with their ears.

The number one need in all people is the need for acceptance, the need to experience a sense of belonging to something and someone. The need for acceptance is more powerful in your family than anywhere else…. If that need is not met by your family, trust me, your kids will go elsewhere to seek it in order to find approval and acceptance.

You have got to decide, look, this is who I am; this is my best way to present myself, and I’m going to ride that horse to the finish line. Not everybody will like it, but that’s OK.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

I don’t care how pumped up or psyched you are to start a new diet or a new program – that emotion will fade.

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

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.

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).

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

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.