Is he thinking about cheating?

Forget lipstick on the collar and late nights at the office. By the time your husband starts displaying this classic suspicious behaviour, it's likely too late to stop him from straying. Instead, Elizabeth Landers, co-author of The Script: The 100% Absolutely Predictable Things Men Do When They Cheat, says to watch out for the warning signs that come even earlier.

Landers says she and Vicky Mainzer decided to write The Script after hearing similar tales from betrayed wives across the United States. "We kept hearing the same story over and over again," she says. "As we started doing research and interviewing hundreds of women, the same words and phrases, these lesser-known warning signs kept reappearing, no matter the age, the background or the part of the country."

Not all men cheat, says Landers, but those who do follow the same rules. "Once you know the script, you can interrupt it and you can protect yourself if your husband has cheated." Landers shared with us five of the most predictable things men do when they're thinking about cheating.

1. He starts criticizing everything you do. "He's trying to make you doubt yourself, become defensive," says Landers. "You'll come across as argumentative, difficult." Often, she says, he'll suddenly pick apart something you do well. If you're a renowned party-thrower, he'll tell you your canapés were overcooked and your guests were bored. The point is to throw you off balance.

2. He starts offering "suggestions" to improve yourself. Again, says Landers, this is about making you appear difficult. "He'll say, ‘I keep telling you to lose weight or get a job or go back to school,'" she says. "As though you are the one with the problem, a problem he has been trying to fix."

Need more relationship advice? Learn about the top 10 marriage zappers.

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