EXPLORING NEW APPROACHES FOR WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE: INTUITIVE EATING AND EMOTIONAL BRAIN TRAINING

• Main Author: Vaught, Joy Ann
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2014
• Subjects: Weight loss; Weight maintenance; EBT; Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition; Medicine and Health Sciences
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/foodsci_etds/26; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=foodsci_etds

While traditional behavioral weight loss programs have been successful at producing weight loss, weight maintenance is difficult to achieve. Addressing stress, one major contributing factor in weight gain, may be a potential solution. The purpose of this study was to test a stress-management program (EBT) for changes in weight and blood pressure, and maintenance of those changes. Obese adults (N=33) were randomized to two weight loss groups for a seven-week intervention and a seven-week follow-up period: an intuitive eating group or a stress management group. The intuitive eating group did not have any statistically significant changes in weight or blood pressure at seven or 14 weeks. The stress management group had significant changes at seven weeks in weight (p=0.05) and systolic (p=0.005) and diastolic (p=0.05) blood pressure. Weight decreased by 2.9 pounds at seven weeks and decreased a total of 4.4 pounds over the 14 weeks (p=0.05) in the EBT group. The EBT approach appears promising for weight loss and weight maintenance. More research with larger samples sizes and longer trial periods need to be done in order to draw a conclusion on the usefulness of this intervention.