her need to take care of herself wasn’t important. She should have expected them to be shocked when she showed them a new way to treat her by treating her workout as important. Another common situation I hear from my clients is that there was a special circumstance that made it impossible to have fuel food ready or time to workout. When I inquire about the situation, it is usually a party they were throwing for someone or a PTA meeting or a son’s basketball tournament. The truth is that there will always be these things vying for your attention. My answer is that those things are all secondary to your emotional health and physical care. If you can’t take care of yourself and throw a party, cancel the party. If you can’t work out and attend your son’s tour- nament, you don’t see your son play. Almost 100 percent of the time, my clients find a way to do both; if they can’t, I insist they put themselves first. I can hear the complaints from you reading this as clearly as I hear my clients. This seems extreme to them and out of the ordinary. I assure you it isn’t. It is one of the most important actions you can take to make this pro- gram work for you. 147 • If IAm So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?