I don't criticize him for his position on low carb diets. It's his
willingness to present erroneous information that shocked me. He implied
that the human body is incapable of converting protein/fat to
carbohydrate. That has nothing to do with low carb diets, does
it? It's a basic science error.

I don't respect him, and it has nothing to do with his position
on low carb. It's his very, very low standards for his own accuracy.

I like him, I was pissed off when they moved him to 5:00pm here in the
Philly area.
I watched him everyday. Now I watch Ellen Degeneris, I love her and her
daily dance sequence

preesi

Oh I know it because many people on here have lost over 100 pounds on
LC and are continuing to do so (Myra comes immediately to my mind even
though she is no longer here now).

That is  NOT all water they are losing. They *are* losing fat
and looking and feeling better for it.

It amazes me how misinformed some people are or do not want to admit
the truth when it stares them in the face.

I lost 20/30 pounds on a Low Fat diet a month BEFORE I then tried low
carbing
I already dropped my diet water weight during THAT diet, the first month of
low
carbing I wasnt doing it right and I KNEW it, but I didnt lose anything then
I went
on Atkins induction and have lost (I feel from the pants Im able to wear)
10-15 pounds.
That cant be water weight since most ppl dont lose more than 15 pounds water
at the
beginning of  any diet and as I said I already went thru that water loss a
few months earlier..

BTW read this:
" Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body
retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it's
water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to
inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water. "
http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm

If Atkins DEHYDRATES us as all the skeptics say then according to what it
says above we  Low Carbers should be holding onto all our water instead of
losing it!

So what is is naysayers?

If someone wants to write Dr. Phil, it seems to me that this a legitimate
question to write and ask him.  I don't understand it either and it simply
didn't make sense to me when he said it. Maybe we can ask for a
clarification.

Barbara

As far as I'm concerned he has turned into a giant informercial for
himself and his family. I bet that Robin comes out with The Ultimate
Menopause Book next. Nothing wrong with promoting your book and things,
but when it's brought up several times during every show, it gets old
IMO.

Cheri

Luna wrote in message ...

Good idea!!!!  :-)

Me neither, but...

Well, Dr. Atkins was a cardiologist, bearing a medical degree, not a
shrink. He wasn't just spouting "opinion" but had twenty years of
medical experience to base his ideas on. I think I'd pick the guy with
the medical degree from Cornell over Dr. Phil's psych doctorate from
the U. of North Texas when I wanted weight loss advice.. (and I have.)

True, but it's still misinformation.

Sarah Jahn

First off Dr.Atkins was a M.D and researched the formula to success
for over 30 years and it has been proven to work before coming out
with dietary snacks and bars, Atkins didn't make Atkins Foods until
2000...thats 30 years after the fact the Atkins Diet book was written.

"Dr." Phil on the other hand, rushed into the industry with "No" prior
knowledge of dieting, hell if you open up Ultimate Weight Loss
Solution the next time your in the book store, just read the foreword
of the book and notice the names of Dr. Frank Lawlis, Dr. Tom Diaz and
Maggie Robinson.  These are the people who compiled and wrote the
book, not "Dr." Phil, actually Maggie Robinson is the "Diet
Nutritionist" part of the book, and Frank Lawlis is the psychology
side of the book.

I know "Dr." Phil very well, this is why I know what I know.  The man
is a con and a charleton, and and evil snake!!  Phil's next book will
be in April 2004 and it will be a cook book, and then his next book
will be about Parenting.

Also he will have "Got Milk" ads coming out, and his sister-in-law
will write a book about "Random Acts of Kindness".

Heres a excellent article on the fraud, and I will give more evidence
of his fraudulent ways, about the Supplement Fraud and the bilking of
America, this article first.

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/11/24/phil/index.html

Who's your daddy?
Dr. Phil -- Oprah protegee, talk-show host, bestselling author -- has
millions devoted to his fatherly brand of tough love. But could
scandal knock "America's Favorite Therapist" off his pedestal?

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Heather Havrilesky

Nov. 24, 2003 | "I don't think you should get married at this
point."

Dr. Phil is rolling out his straight-talkin' daddy routine on his
eponymous TV show for a teary young redhead who's obsessed with losing
weight before her wedding day. While the enthralled studio audience
holds its breath, Dr. Phil is wide-eyed and earnest about the
potential this problem has to mess with the young woman's marriage.
The camera zooms in as the woman sniffles and nods solemnly, clearly
upset but already committed to doing whatever Dr. Phil thinks is best
for her.

She's not the only one. Since his show hit the air last fall, Dr. Phil
McGraw has become a father figure to a country hurting for a male role
model. His comforting but directive style has a hold on America --
he's second only to Oprah in ratings, and boasts a steady flow of
bestselling books, the latest of which, "Ultimate Weight Solution: The
7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom," is a New York Times bestseller with
2.5 million copies in print.

But the very qualities that make Dr. Phil an appealing, trustworthy
authority figure -- his unrelenting self-confidence and poise, his
aggressive tactics, his irreproachable attitude -- appear to be the
same traits that have created trouble for him in the past and that
continue to plague him today, even as his popularity increases
exponentially. In just the past month, McGraw has come under criticism
for marketing nutritional supplements bearing his likeness, and was
hit with a lawsuit filed last week from a guest on his show who claims
his staff confined her in an apartment against her will, which led to
a tragic -- and bizarre -- injury. Meanwhile, a new unauthorized
biography, "The Making of Dr. Phil: The Straight-Talking True Story of
Everyone's Favorite Therapist" chronicles many of the foibles and
missteps of McGraw's past, from his alleged inappropriate relationship
with a female therapy client to several ethically questionable
business decisions. While plenty of unconventional public figures are
criticized unduly for wandering off the most socially acceptable path,
McGraw's alleged slips are a little more serious than he'd have us
believe, and seem to fit a pattern of controlling, arrogant behavior.

McGraw's decision to endorse "Shape Up" nutritional supplements under
a licensing agreement with CSA Nutraceuticals, for one, has taken many
observers by surprise. Vitamin packs, drinks and nutritional bars that
bear Dr. Phil's likeness have been stocked by major retailers since
this summer, a cross-branding move that some have criticized as
opportunistic and inappropriate. Predictably, McGraw is steadfastly
unapologetic on the subject. While he reports that he discussed his
decision with his mentor, Oprah Winfrey (who has consistently refused
to endorse products herself) he remains determined to chart his own
course. He has humbly given Oprah credit, as he so often does, telling
the New York Times that he's learned "a tremendous amount" from her.
But his decisions are his own. "I don't substitute anybody else's
judgment for my own. Oprah has her plan and strategy, and I have my
plan and strategy."

Late last week, the plot thickened as a bizarre lawsuit was filed
against Dr. Phil, Paramount and staffers on his show. Convicted
murderer Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek alleges in the suit that she was held
against her will in a Marina Del Rey apartment by "Dr. Phil" staffers
while awaiting the results of a DNA test, which she hoped would prove
her innocence in the 1982 murder of her husband's ex-wife, and that
were to be revealed on the show. According to the suit, Bembenek
experienced a panic attack due to memories of her former
incarceration, and attempted to escape through a window of the
apartment by tying bed sheets together. The sheets came undone as
Bembenek descended and she fell, injuring herself so badly that,
eventually, her leg had to be amputated below the knee.

While the decision to tie bed sheets together and escape implies that
Bembenek has all of the stability and capacity for rational thought of
a Brady kid, strangely enough, she's no stranger to harrowing
getaways. In 1990, she successfully escaped from prison after serving
eight years for murder. After her escape, she reached a deal with
prosecutors that allowed her to plead no contest to second-degree
murder.

Whether she'll have as much luck in her current legal wranglings is
less certain; representatives of "The Dr. Phil Show" insist that
Bembenek was free to leave the entire time. Still, the confrontational
tactics employed by Dr. Phil and his producers are plain enough to
anyone who watches the show. Such methods are sure to be called into
question, particularly in handling emotionally fragile guests. This
suit may not go far, but if incriminating details emerge, McGraw still
could find himself in a difficult spot.

By now, he's certainly used to it. "The Making of Dr. Phil," a
biography by Sophia Dembling and Lisa Gutierrez, outlines some of the
dark periods of McGraw's history, many of which have been explored in
detail elsewhere. The book has that slightly unsavory, salacious tone
that's common among unauthorized biographies, offering predictable
criticisms from everyone from former business partners to former
acquaintances willing to cast aspersions on McGraw's character.
Unfortunately, the episodes in McGraw's life that have been called
into question the most are reviewed but without providing much new
information. While the book presents a worthy enough summary of
McGraw's experiences and missteps, for anyone who's read two or three
articles about the man before, there aren't many new details or scoops
here.

Instead, the authors work with the stories they have, layer on as many
damning remarks as they can, then quote liberally from McGraw's show
or books in order to set him up as a hypocrite. When McGraw's first
wife alleges that he cheated on her and demeaned her, then froze her
out emotionally, instead of letting such harsh criticism stand on its
own, the authors quote McGraw stating that marriage takes "a willing
spirit" and a "long-term effort," as if every psychologist and
self-help guru under the sun hasn't been married more than once.

But as inconsequential as McGraw's behavior at age 23 should be to any
flawed human being with a checkered past, many of McGraw's reported
mistakes, like selling expensive lifetime memberships to an unfinished
health club that soon went bankrupt, aren't exactly minor blunders,
and contribute to a picture of a man whose behavior appears to range
from insensitive to unethical.

The most notable of the complaints outlined in the book and in
investigative articles predating it come from a former therapy client
of McGraw's who claims that he carried on a controlling and sometimes
sexually inappropriate relationship with her. The client was 19 years
old at the time, and alleges that McGraw touched her inappropriately,
insisted that she check in with him often, and kept her "totally
dependent" on him. She eventually filed a complaint with the Texas
State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. Although McGraw settled
with the board, disciplinary actions taken by the board were quite
firm, including, according to "The Making of Dr. Phil," "a public
letter of reprimand, a year of supervision by a licensed psychologist,
complete physical and psychological exams, and an ethics
class." A
year after the official reprimand was issued in 1988, McGraw closed
his private practice and entered into the business of trial
consulting, where he fortuitously consulted Oprah Winfrey when she was
defending herself against libel charges from Texas cattlemen. Although
McGraw downplays the incident with the 19-year-old patient, claiming
that it was "investigated and dismissed" and that he was fed up with
his work as a therapist anyway, the timing of his career change is
impossible to ignore.

In addition, a former business partner of McGraw's, Thelma Box,
alleges that McGraw sold his stake in their self-help seminar company,
Pathways, to a third party a full year before he let her know about
it. Box claims that she co-created and coauthored the materials used
in the Pathways seminars, traces of which are found in Dr. Phil's
approaches and strategies on his show, but that no credit or mention
of her name is offered, either by McGraw or by the associates who
eventually purchased her share of the company. Unlike some of the
other sour-grapes critics in the book and in other pieces, Box seems a
reliable character witness. She compliments McGraw and says she gained
a lot from working with him, and she appears to report the facts of
her history with him without going out of her way to attack him.
Mostly, she's alarmed that, despite her influence on his work, he's
never mentioned her name in his books, on his show or in interviews
about his background.

Taken alone, such criticisms might ring hollow. After all, a man with
McGraw's obvious talents and charisma should hardly have to march
around, reciting a list of credits. And generally, when the usual
complaints about abusive or egocentric behavior are lobbed, as they
have been at McGraw by former associates and employees of his show,
it's not difficult to write them off, since McGraw's strong
personality is a big part of what makes him a natural leader. The man
is a polished brand in motion, a remarkable presence onstage with a
likable, self-assured manner, a quick wit, a knack for giving
straightforward, sure-footed advice, and an uncanny ability to address
criticism before it appears.

"I don't expect you're going to substitute my judgment for your own,"
he tells the young woman who's just put her wedding on hold. "Y'all
are gonna decide what you want to do."

McGraw will often stop at the end of a guest's spot, or at the end of
a show, and address the audience. "We're not doing 8-minute cures
here," he tells viewers, over and over again. All he's offering, he
insists, is "a wake-up call" or "an emotional compass."

Still, on show after show, it's clear that Dr. Phil eclipses the
boundaries of the innocuous role he claims to fill. It seems as though
he can't stop himself from getting far more involved and magisterial
than would be recommended by most licensed therapists.

On one show, a teenaged son is tricked into appearing under false
pretenses, and is then confronted and threatened with a total
withdrawal of support and protection from incarceration if he doesn't
enter rehab on the spot. Such interventions may be necessary for those
with drug problems, but surely taking such avenues on national
television should be considered cruel and unusual punishment for a
teenager, who's apt to be consumed by appearances. Indeed, the boy
seems mortified by the situation and appalled that his parents have
lied to him.

But drug users aren't to be taken seriously, you see, and with every
legitimate expression of anger and betrayal that comes out of the
kid's mouth, we're reminded that "it's the drugs talking." The kid
eventually storms backstage, where there are more cameras, of course,
and in a "private" conversation, Dr. Phil insists that he decide
whether to go straight to rehab, or face the consequences. The kid
angrily chooses rehab, and he and his parents fly directly from the
show to the facility, escorted by a bodyguard -- apparently the boy
doesn't have the option to change his mind once the cameras aren't
rolling.

Whether Dr. Phil has just saved the kid's life or shamed him in front
of millions of viewers goes unchallenged -- by both the audience and
the kid's family. Instead, they all stand around, wide-eyed and
obedient, waiting to see what the good doctor will prescribe next.

This "Surrendered Family" phenomenon is most evident on the episodes
of the show surrounding the "Dr . Phil Family," a couple and their two
daughters who have chosen to subject their lives to around-the-clock
scrutiny by the show. Dr. Phil's immersion in their lives is complete,
from the use of around-the-clock video cameras to the involvement of
therapists and lawyers to the family's regular appearances on the
show. They have completely yielded their lives to Dr. Phil's tough
love machine, and on each "Dr. Phil Family" episode, their problems,
which range from infidelity to teenage pregnancy, are dragged out and
dissected. Naturally, their ongoing struggles make for some seriously
entertaining television. These episodes constitute a mini Dr.
Phil-branded reality show, featuring all of the denial and outbursts
and insults you'd expect from members of a wildly dysfunctional
family. While the advice Dr. Phil offers is consistently sound and
reasonable, and may indeed offer hope to other families in crisis, his
role as the ultimate authority is hard to ignore. Alexandra, the
15-year-old daughter who has just decided to raise her child on her
own, is shown talking to the baby's father on the phone.

"Dr. Phil actually thinks it's best that you and your family don't
visit the baby until you actually speak to him," she tells the boy.
Alexandra and her family hint that the baby's father and his family
are trashy, irresponsible people, but you can't help but admire the
class they demonstrate in refusing to throw their lives into the
ravenous Dr. Phil wood chipper.

The irony, of course, is that the very behavior that allegedly led to
McGraw's receiving a public letter of reprimand is exactly what makes
him "America's Favorite Therapist" today. It's his aggressive,
confrontational approach that appeals so much to a nation that's lost
its faith in the talking cure. While traditional therapists often
encourage a client to discuss their feelings in an uncensored,
unlimited way, for Dr. Phil, feelings are merely a brief rest stop on
the way to committing to life-altering behavioral changes. This is a
macho approach to therapy, couched in the tough-love language of
football coaches and wood shop instructors.

"That dog won't hunt!" Dr. Phil blurts at guests like an impatient
daddy, giving them firm instructions on how to stop messing up their
lives, while disparaging softer approaches. "Trust me, I'm not going
to spout a bunch of 'guru-ized' stuff about thoughts and emotions, or
tell you to go up on a mountaintop and get in touch with your 'inner
child,'" he writes in his bestselling diet book. "You can either sit
around and stew about the situation, or you can make the choice to be
self-directed, take action, and adopt a solution-side approach to your
life."

Although that solution-side approach -- exercise, don't eat when
you're emotional, control your portion sizes -- is far less
groundbreaking than it sounds after it's been spiked with down-home
Dr. Phil flavor and marketed by the Dr. Phil juggernaut, his fans
don't seem to care. They're anxious to have him weigh in on one more
aspect of their lives that feels out of their control.

In fact, it's difficult to imagine devoted disciples of Dr. Phil
changing their minds about him for any reason at all, since the nature
of his authoritative, instructive relationship with his guests,
viewers and readers protects him from scrutiny. Just as taking your
football coach's advice is predicated on turning a blind eye to the
fact that he's sort of an abusive jerk, so does accepting Dr. Phil's
word as the gospel mandate that all criticisms of him are ignored, or
treated with utter skepticism. Viewers can take the cue from Dr. Phil
himself on this front. As he recently told the New York Times, "I
guarantee you there is absolutely nothing -- nothing I could do that
somebody wouldn't have a problem with. If I was on the air and was
just kind of a plain-vanilla personality that took the safe road and
the safe way trying to please all of the people all of the time, I'd
been gone in two weeks."

The message is clear. Part of being empowered, of "getting it," of
"telling it like it is," of being a tough guy and a winner instead of
a whiny little loser, is wrapped up in ignoring the criticisms and
complaints of others. Thus, no matter how many times Dr. Phil's ego
and overbearing tactics bring him negative attention, it's clear that
his devoted viewers will continue to see him as comforting and
decisive father figure in their lives. And what could be more
American, really, than a macho, charismatic leader who blunders
arrogantly into disastrous territory, while a nation of obedient
children looks on?

But if only the followers and disciples knew of his past, and his
present behavior, for their minds might be jarred enough to
really "get it" and see that the man is turning sideshow psychology
therapy into bucks and ratings all in the name of health and healing!