Dilemmas in the process of weight reduction: Exploring how women experience training as a means of losing weight

Abstract

Patients diagnosed with obesity are usually offered group-based behavior interventions which include dietary advice and exercise programs. In particular, high-intensity training—combining weight lifting with aerobic exercising—has been proven effective for losing weight. Moreover, recent studies have shown that persons participating in high-intensity training are more likely to maintain their weight loss compared to persons with lower levels of physical activity. However, most of the research in the field has made use of quantitative methods focusing on the measurable effect of such interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to show how the training is experienced from a first-person perspective, namely the patients themselves. Our hope was to shed some new light on the process of weight loss that concerns more than the measurable “impacts” of the training. A qualitative approach was used based on interviews with five women selected from a primary healthcare clinic in Norway. Our results show that experiences of training are connected to the participants’ general experience of being overweight. Both relationships to other people and earlier experiences are important for how the training is carried out and perceived. Five themes were identified supporting this line of argument: (1) the gaze of others; (2) a common ground; (3) dependence of close-follow up; (4) bodily discomfort as painful; and (5) aiming for results—an ambivalent experience. The results highlight the importance of finding the proper context and support for each patient's needs.

• Obesity
• weight reduction
• exercise
• qualitative study
• group treatment

Notes

1. Mensendieck-exercises, named after its originator Bess Mensendieck, is a form of low-intensity training. By emphasizing slow movements, it aims to build strength; although not in the form of “pumping up” the muscles to maximum size. Focus is put on developing the core musculature in a thorough and basic manner to enable us to carry our bodies in a correct manner. This can be best achieved with tranquil and gentle exercising, which also enables persons suffering from injuries or problems in the spinal or neck area to engage in it safely. The exercises themselves are unique both in their manner and the way in which they are performed. All movements are performed in a prescribed manner and nothing is left to chance. Bess Mensendieck was preoccupied with the idea that a correctly performed exercise is worth hours of exercising in the wrong manner (Dahl-Michelsen, 2007). Movements based on the Mensendieck tradition is currently being used all over Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and Norway, the latter having a physiotherapist education founded on Bess Mensendieck's ideas (Oslo University College)

2. Now, when Stacy has lost more than 12 kilos, she is mostly concerned with “stabilizing her weight.” In the quote she primarily mentions experiences from her initial months of exercising when she had a goal of losing even more weight

3. An increasing number of these women are now turning to weight loss surgery in order to fulfill norms and ideals about body and health (Odgen, 2006; Throsby, 2008). However, surgical procedures also have their drawbacks—side effects which are not necessarily health promoting in the longer run (Wysaker, 2005)