Weight loss is about people, not calories. Too many other books focus on diet and exercise but neglect the personal, relationship, and spiritual factors that are the real keys to successful weight management. Drawing on the inspirational stories of the successful members of the international nonprofit, weight-loss support group Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), the organization's psychologist, Howard J. Rankin, shows you how to harness your personal power and the power of others to lose weight and keep it off. Successful weight loss is personal transformation. Dr. Rankin shows you how to mine and maintain your motivation by finding the real meaning in your weight-loss efforts. Extracting key principles from the incredible success stories, the author not only provides practical steps but also shows how they can be implemented in the context of everyday, busy lives. In addition to motivational strategies, easy-to-follow advice is given in the critical areas of self-management, emotional eating, bingeing, adaptive thinking, and temptation management. People don't lose weight in a social vacuum, they lose weight in the context of their relationships. So, at each step, Dr. Rankin shows how to enhance your program by using one of the most valuable resources available--the power of others.