Dietary self-monitoring and long-term success with weight management

Objective: To examine the contributions of frequency, consistency, and comprehensiveness of dietary self-monitoring to long-term weight change.

Methods: Participants included 220 obese women (mean ± SD, age = 59.3 ± 6.1 years; BMI = 36.8 ± 4.9 kg/m(2) ) who achieved a mean weight loss of -10.39 ± 5.28% from baseline during 6 months of behavioral treatment and regained 2.30 ± 7.28% during a 12-month extended-care period. The contributions of cumulative frequency of self-monitoring (total number of food records), consistency across time (number of weeks with ≥3 records), and comprehensiveness of information recorded were examined as predictors of weight regain in a hierarchical linear regression analysis. The mediating role of adherence to daily caloric intake goals was tested using a bootstrapping analysis.

Results: The association between high total frequency of self-monitoring and reduced weight regain was moderated by weekly consistency of self-monitoring, P = 0.004; increased frequency produced beneficial effects on weight change only when coupled with high consistency (>3 days/week). There was no impact of comprehensiveness on weight change, P > 0.05. The favorable effect of high frequency/high consistency self-monitoring on weight change was partially mediated by participants' success in meeting daily caloric intake goals (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The combination of high frequency plus high consistency of dietary self-monitoring improves long-term success in weight management.