title: Taking control of your personal eating and exercise environment: a weight maintenance program.
abstract: The current investigation examined the impact of a weight maintenance intervention (MI) designed to empower people to create a personal healthy food and physical activity environment on weight loss treatment outcomes. It was hypothesized that behavioral weight loss program (BWLP) participants who received an additional MI would evidence superior weight loss maintenance compared to participants who received a BWLP alone (no contact [NC]). Fifty-one obese adults were randomly assigned to participate in a 16-week weight loss intervention followed by NC or a 6-week MI. Thirty-eight participants completed the six-month follow-up. Body weight, percent body fat, cardiorespiratory fitness, self-reported physical activity, and self-reported diet (i.e., calories, percent daily intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrates) were assessed. Participants significantly decreased their weight, increased physical activity/fitness, and improved dietary intake (ps<.05). MI participants had significantly greater weight loss maintenance than NC participants (ps<.05). Helping obese individuals to modify their personal eating and physical activity environment in order to reduce exposure to "obesogenic" cues may contribute to long-term weight loss maintenance.
authors.affiliation: Bowling Green State University, Department of Psychology, OH 43403, United States.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Carels
authors.forename: Krista
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Lynn A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Darby
authors.forename: Carissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coit
authors.forename: Anna Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Carmen K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Oemig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D015431:Weight Loss