How do people achieve and remain at a comfortable weight? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objective. This study aimed to examine how people change in order to achieve and maintain a personally comfortable weight and what changes for them as they change.Method. Six students who changed to achieve and maintain a personally comfortable weight for a minimum of one year were recruited. Semi-structured interviews explored participants’ experiences of what changed and how they changed. The interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Results. Two superordinate themes emerged. The first was ‘awareness’ which contained the subthemes: unaware self, revelation, and conscious monitoring and maintenance of awareness.The second was ‘goals and needs’ which contained the subthemes: social- versus self-acceptance, removing negative emotions, weight control versus other life goals, and ideal versus perceived health and appearance.Discussion. The findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the development of eating problems, involving social acceptance, self-esteem, coping with negative moods, and weight control. Perceptual control theory was used to provide an explanation for how these participants changed and maintained their change.