Experiences of Self-Monitoring: Successes and Struggles During Treatment for Weight Loss
Open accessAbstract
We interviewed 15 individuals who completed a behavioral weight loss treatment study with the aim of exploring participants' reflections on their feelings, attitudes, and behaviors while using a paper diary to self-monitor their diet. Constant comparative and matrix analysis procedures were used to analyze interview data; the qualitative results were then interfaced with descriptive numerical data on individuals' adherence to self-monitoring and weight loss. Three categories of self-monitoring experience were identified: (a) well-disciplined—those who had high adherence to self-monitoring, high weight loss, and a “can do” positive approach, (b) missing the connection—those who had moderate adherence, moderate- to low weight loss, and an “it's an assignment” approach, without integrating self-monitoring into everyday life, and (c) diminished support—those who had poor adherence, poor weight control, and were adversely affected by coexisting negative factors. Given the variations in how individuals integrated the process of self-monitoring, we need to consider individualizing self-monitoring strategies to improve adherence.
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The best recorders were those who were engaged in a structured weight loss program for the first time.
“Using data from in-depth interviews focused on the experience of self-monitoring, other researchers reported that the best recorders were those who were engaged in a structured weight loss program for the first time (43).”
From Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature (2011) · cites this paper as [43]
The Results section identifies the Well-Disciplined participants as having high adherence to self-monitoring, and reports that four of the five had not previously participated in a weight-loss program. This supports the pattern described, but not an unqualified claim that all the best recorders were first-time participants. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA lack of support for participants once an intervention ended was a common theme at the intervention level.
“A common theme at the interventional level was a lack of support for participants once an intervention ended [29, 34, 38, 39, 47, 51, 55, 60, 61].”
From Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
The Results (Concepts Common across Cases; page unavailable) say most participants valued group support and struggled when meetings became less frequent. That supports reduced intervention support as a common issue, but the paper describes this happening during the program, not after the intervention ended. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSubsidizing or covering external costs can create intervention reliance.
“However, this type of approach can create intervention reliance [29, 34, 38, 39, 47, 51, 55, 60, 61] and should be evaluated for its potential to limit sustainable change once an intervention ends.”
From Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
The Results ('Being part of the program'; page unavailable) report that some participants depended on the intervention’s structure and support and struggled to self-monitor when meetings became less frequent. The paper does not link that reliance to subsidizing or covering external costs, so it supports the reliance point but not the claimed cause. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe lack of support after an intervention ended could be attributed to participants' reliance on intervention tools or experts for monitoring, or to losing accountability to interventionists.
“This could have been attributed to participants discussion of reliance on intervention tools or experts for monitoring [28, 30, 32, 34, 49, 51, 56, 58, 61], or losing accountability to interventionists [28, 29, 35, 38, 39, 41, 44, 50].”
From Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
The Results section (‘Being part of the program’) reports that participants struggled to continue self-monitoring when group meetings became less frequent; one participant said it helped to know someone would review their records. This supports reliance on program support and accountability, but the passage describes reduced contact during the intervention, not a lack of support after it ended. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAmong BWL participants, burden and boredom hinder accurate and consistent self-monitoring.
“research among BWL participants revealed that burden and boredom are barriers to accurate and consistent self-monitoring”
From Associations Between Self-Monitoring and Weight Change in Behavioral Weight Loss Interventions (2019) · cites this paper as Burke, Swigart, Warziski Turk, Derro, & Ewing, 2009
Paper records are time-consuming and tedious to complete.
“which is time consuming and tedious to complete”
From The Effect of Electronic Self‐Monitoring on Weight Loss and Dietary Intake: A Randomized Behavioral Weight Loss Trial (2011) · cites this paper as [26]
In a previous study, participants reported self-monitoring was often time-consuming and burdensome, which often led them to record at the end of the day or days later.
“In a previous study of participants who used PR, participants reported that self-monitoring was often time-consuming and burdensome (26), which often led them to record at the end of the day or days later (27).”
From The Effect of Electronic Self‐Monitoring on Weight Loss and Dietary Intake: A Randomized Behavioral Weight Loss Trial (2011) · cites this paper as [26]
Self-monitoring can be tedious, time-consuming, and burdensome.
“We based this intervention on data obtained from in-depth interviews focused on the experience of self-monitoring, which revealed that the process can be tedious, time-consuming and at times burdensome [30].”
From SMART trial: A randomized clinical trial of self-monitoring in behavioral weight management-design and baseline findings (2009) · cites this paper as [30]
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Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature
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“This included ‘feedback and monitoring’ through self-monitoring [29, 30, 32, 35, 39, 41, 42, 45, 49, 53, 57, 58] (e.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe efficacy of a daily self‐weighing weight loss intervention using smart scales and e‐mail
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- Authors
- Burke, L. E., Swigart, V., Warziski Turk, M., Derro, N., & Ewing, L. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Chatham University, and Carlow University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Allegheny General Hospital (US)
- Venue
- Qualitative Health Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-04-13
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 815-828
- ISSN
- 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7557
- PMC
- PMC2855299
- OpenAlex
- W2133196818
- Semantic Scholar
- 38f239abcef0bfb15cd19c04c266887211b9eaf5
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 8.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Nursing Research (P30NR003924)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK058631-04S1, R01DK058631)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Keywords
- self-monitoring, behavioral weight loss, weight loss, participant experiences, social support, weight management
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Patient Compliance, Retrospective Studies, Self Care, Self-Help Groups, Cohort Studies, Weight Loss, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Diet Records, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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