My Reflection on: "Self-regulation strategies for barriers to weight loss" by: Justin Kompf, M. S.

"Enacting new health behaviors requires conscious effort and thus may be cognitively taxing however, implementation intentions may help create automaticity of behaviors by linking the behaviors to situational or environmental cues" (Kompf, 2017).

The following post will address some key points made in the article by J. Kompf. The main theme presented, is that "to overcome barriers to weight loss, specific self-regulation skills must be taught" (2017).

J. Kompf presents several barriers that often play a significant role when a person is trying to successfully lose weight. I made a personal connection to all of the following, and I will employ suggested self-regulation strategies to help with overcoming them.

"Lack of Support and Accountability...Individuals who receive social support and engage in weight loss interventions with friends are less likely to drop out of programs and are more likely to maintain weight loss" (Kompf, 2017). I am in complete agreement with this statement. When I reflect back to when I started to have weight issues, I remember being surrounded by people who would encourage unhealthy behaviors like over consumption, irregular eating and convenience eating. The fact that engaging in these types of eating behaviors were considered my norm, I am not surprised that if I were to flip this around and surround myself with the complete opposite type of people, I would help curb this long-lasting negative behavior. And, I am doing just that. I know that I need social support and accountability in order to achieve my weight loss goal. Being a member of WW has hugely helped in steering me in the right direction nutritionally. Furthermore, I am in this program with a friend and colleague and I have made several more acquaintances in my Tuesday group. This social support is exactly what I need and admitting this was a big step for me.

"Lack of Willpower: Temptations and Portion Control...Resisting urges for immediate gratification is a highly adaptive human trait that leads to long-term goal attainment...[but]...long-term practice of self-control strengthens the ability to exert it" (Kompf, 2017). Willpower and motivation are big players in self-regulation. Personally, I tend to engage is "self-handicapping" which is explained in the article by Wolters entitled "Regulation of Motivation: Evaluating an Underemphasized Aspect of Self-Regulated Learning" (2003). I often create obstacles that either prevent me from executing a healthy choice or make it difficult for me to accomplish it. For example, I buy cookies when we go grocery shopping and I tell myself that they are a treat for my family. Instead of storing the cookies in a less obvious location, I store them in an area that is frequented often by me when in the kitchen, which clearly makes avoiding the cookies especially difficult. Furthermore, I can list countless excuses that I create for myself when justifying WHY I chose to change my healthy meal plan with one that is more convenient and unhealthy. This, I know now, has been crippling my efforts to regain control over my eating habits. My self-handicapping is the number one reason to my lack of willpower!

"Emotions...Emotional eating occurs in response to negative emotions such as anger, depression, boredom, anxiety, and loneliness and also has a relationship with stressful life events...psychological treatment strategies must be developed to overcome emotional eating" (Kompf, 2017). I am undoubtedly and unquestionably an emotional eater for ALL the reasons listed above, to some degree. As I began to keep records of my food intake and correlate them to emotionally difficult days, I noticed that STRESS was the main reason for my poor food choices. Since life did not get any easier, and I am always seeking to add more to my plate (even if this is for personal/professional benefit), I was/am continually adding to my stress level and, therefore, perpetuating my bad habit. I again believe that my "therapy" takes shape in the form of my weekly WW meetings where we are freely able to voice all that we are going though that week, and are surrounded by people who listen and share in our struggles.

"Lack of Exercise...If the experience of exercise is found to be enjoyable and a sense of confidence is experienced, a variety of self-regulation strategies may be implemented to increase adherence" (Kompf, 2017). Of course I am lacking exercise! For some, exercising is a must - like breathing. For me, I would rather not. Even though I feel amazing after I have done some sort of physical activity, I still do not seek it out. I was a former basketball, handball and soccer player. I really destroyed my ankles over the years and am now paying for it. This being said, I know it is not an excuse, which brings me back to the point I made earlier regarding my uncanny ability to self-handicap. If I were to chose an exercise that I absolutely loved, which is what Kompf suggests, then I would have to choose SWIMMING! It is easy on my ankles, it is a full body workout, yet gentle on the joints and muscles, and the water would soothe my stressed out brain. So go for it you say! Well, ok....but who will take care of everything else in my life while I whisk myself away for 2 hours? Am I being self-handicapping or am I being realistic? I think the latter, and as a result I have opted for walking with a colleague when the weather allows on our breaks at work (more like a free period at work). Alternatively, I am pushing myself to get onto my stationery bike at home during these dreary winter months. But this, is only very recently.

"If a person can gain the self-regulatory skills to overcome personal barriers, they may be able to avoid stagnation and perceived failure. Individuals who are attempting to engage in weight loss efforts should identify which barriers are personally relevant to them and then create self-regulation plans to overcome high-risk situations where lapses in self-control are likely" (Kompf, 2017).

And I will be doing just that. I will be incorporating some strategies to help with the barriers I have set for myself. I have incorporated these on the performance page of my PME portfolio under week 2.

References:

Kompf, J. (2017). Self-regulation strategies for barriers to weight loss. ACSM’s Health & Fitness, 21(6):27-32. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/Fulltext/2017/11000/SELF_REGULATION_STRATEGIES_FOR_BARRIERS_TO_WEIGHT.8.aspx

Wolters, C. A. (2003). Regulation of motivation: Evaluating an underemphasized aspect of self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 38, 189-205.

A warm drink as I ponder...