Weight Management Health Article

Weight Management

Obesity is a chronic condition, meaning it is unlikely to be cured, so behavioral interventions are needed to help people change their habits and improve their quality of life and their psychological functioning. The goal of weight management for obese people is to help them improve their unhealthful dietary and sedentary habits.

Weight-Management Strategies

Behavioral change interventions typically include a number of specific strategies, including self-monitoring, stimulus control, cognitive restructuring, stress management, social support, rewards, problem solving, physical activity, and relapse prevention. These interventions make it easier for people to stay on a healthful eating plan and a regular exercise program.

Self-monitoring.

The most important behavioral strategy for obese people to follow is self-monitoring—the observing and recording of behavioral patterns, followed by feedback on the behaviors. The obese person should keep a written notebook of all food that is ingested. This is best done on a regular basis, with entries written in a log as soon as possible after the food is eaten. Feedback means looking up and recording the number of calories that each food contained. In addition, it is also helpful to record the time of day that food is eaten, as well as one's mood, location, and other people present.

The number of minutes engaged in brisk walking or other physical activity should be recorded in the same notebook. In addition, a bathroom scale should be used to record one's weight on a daily basis. The primary goal of self-monitoring is to serve as a reminder of one's eating and exercise patterns. Results of such record keeping are clear: people who self-monitor lose more weight than those who do not. If a person uses only one weight-management strategy, it should be self-monitoring.

Stimulus control.

Stimulus control involves identifying the major barriers that are associated with unhealthful eating habits and sedentary patterns. Modifying these barriers by controlling environmental stimuli can help persons manage their weight-control behaviors. For example, one of the most common barriers to weight loss is a lack of time to exercise. Strategies to help persons find time during the day to exercise, such as setting their alarm clock to wake them up 45 minutes earlier and laying out exercise clothes and shoes before going to bed, are therefore important. When people get up earlier and exercise for even a few days, they tend to feel good about themselves and slowly develop the exercise habit. Other common stimulus-control strategies include avoiding high-risk places (such as a donut shop or fast-food restaurant), parking at the far end of the supermarket parking lot, and cleaning out the refrigerator and throwing out all high-calorie foods.