The book in overview vi games we play to allow ourselves to over-eat . We also look at what the French have to teach us about eating tasty , rich food . Why the French ? They have one of the lowest rates of obesity and heart disease in the world . In Chapter 6 I move down to a deeper layer as I introduce the process of sabotage and the fascinating ways in which our mind prevents us from achieving what we want . In Chapters 13 and 14 , for those who are interested , I go deeper again as we explore the unconscious processes that drive sabotage . These two chapters deal with issues that go way beyond weight loss and into personal growth more generally . I explore ‘ failure fear ’ and ‘ success stress ’ as we look at why we do not necessarily achieve the objectives that we consciously desire . I explain how failure only comes into existence when we choose to create it from what would otherwise be a learning experience . For those of you who don ’ t wish to read the book in chapter order , which is fine , Chapter 7 contains the essence of the Low Sacrifice Diet – the backbone of this approach . This needs to be combined with Chapter 8 , which explains how we keep our ‘ high sacrifice ’ or forbidden foods in our diet while limiting them to an unproblematic level . To achieve this I rely heavily on Zen Buddhism teachings around mindfulness and recent research into savoring . We eat more because we taste less . So by learning to taste more , we can happily eat less . Chapter 9 introduces , somewhat controversially , the complex – and almost non-existent – relationship between exercise and weight loss . Exercise has many benefits , especially in terms of cardiovascular health and stress management , but significant weight loss is just not one of them . I will explain why managing our dietary intake is at least five times more powerful than exercise , in losing weight . I will review the research into how exercise can actually cause weight gain and I explain why I do not promote ‘ designated exercise ’ sessions such as attending gyms . I am in favor of boosting ‘ incidental activity ’ throughout the day . Another complex relationship is that between alcohol and weight loss , particularly in women . I explore these issues in Chapter 10 where