The book in overview v hands . I summarize this neglected field of eye-opening research in Chapter 3 . It explains why it is normal to crash a diet and abnormal to be able to stick to one long-term . If around 40 % of the population drink coffee , we then consider drinking coffee ‘ normal ’. When 80 % of the population are unable to stick to a diet , I think we can comfortably say that this is ‘ perfectly normal ’. It is perfectly normal to be unable to stick to a traditional weight-loss plan . From the outset , traditional weight-loss programs are doomed as they simply ask too much of normal people . This is why I argue that rather than people failing diets , diets fail people . Worse than this , as people try to lose weight and fail , perfectly normally , they often feel like perfect failures – maybe this has happened to you ? Even more concerningly , many of the people who see me have failed many times ( psychiatrists never being the first port of call for the overweight !). They don ’ t just see themselves as failures at weight loss – they come to see themselves as failures as people . This is tragic when what has happened is perfectly normal ! The respected Australian nutrition expert , Rosemary Stanton , recently pointed out that ‘ The real problem is that few people follow the guidelines .’ 2 She goes on to quote a long-term study of over 10,000 women where they found that only a third complied with more than half of the eating guidelines and only two women met all the guidelines ! Research like this got me thinking that we need a big rethink about what we ask of people . This book is an attempt to do the big rethink . Also overlooked in designing weight-loss programs , are the teachings of psychotherapy – this is the end of medicine and psychiatry focused on helping people to change , permanently . In Chapters 4 and 5 , I look at how these understandings apply to our everyday eating behavior and the 2 Medical Journal of Australia , 2006 ; 184 ( 2 ): 76-79 .