Self-sabotage 147 A highly intelligent male client of mine admitted quite openly just after I started to see him, that he expected to fail with me. When I asked him why he basically said,‘ It’ s what I have come to expect’. I think that this is more of a problem for people wanting to lose weight than any other group of people. History has taught them to be realistic – failure is the inevitable outcome. I think that the only reason why people try again, all the time expecting to fail, is that they have to be seen to be going through the motions. To do otherwise would be to openly give up and accept failure. Could this be you? Deep down do you expect to fail? The best way to find out whether our unconscious is on board and is going to support the execution of the plan, rather than just go through the motions, is to test it. How do we do this? Do something to execute the idea. In the last chapter we spoke about putting three strategic structures in place. First, clear out the fridge and pantry and develop a shopping list based around the GL table. Second, gain the support of the people with whom you share your refrigerator. Third, keep an eating awareness diary. Now let me ask you a critical question. Have you done these things? If you have answered‘ Yes’, then congratulations, you are on your way and you have cleared the first sabotage hurdle. If the answer is‘ No, the book is so riveting I just had to keep reading’, then we don’ t yet know if you have a problem in this department or not. When I give people a task I generally expect that they won’ t do it in full, if at all. Most often people half do things. They do enough so that they can appear motivated to change but not enough so that things actually change. As a psychotherapist, what I am most interested in, as people start to execute their plan, is how much they are really making the changes, putting strategic structures in place, and how much are they just going through the motions. Often people just go through the motions desperately waiting for an excuse that allows them off the hook. In the