Optimizing Weight Loss Outcomes Through Body Image Enhancement

Weight loss is associated with improved morbidity and mortality in people with overweight/obesity. Lifestyle-focused interventions reliably produce modest weight loss. While some comprehensive multidisciplinary weight management interventions include behavioral and psychosocial aspects of behavior change, including brief body image education, few have focused substantially on body image as a potentially salient influence on motivation and/or successful outcomes. Body image is an individual's perception of their physical self. A common psychosocial correlate of obesity is body dissatisfaction, and research has shown that individuals with obesity are more often dissatisfied with their bodies than individuals without obesity. Multiple studies suggest that improving body image might enhance eating self-regulation during weight management interventions and engagement in physical activity. Additionally, negative body image has been associated with detrimental health outcomes, such as emotional eating and avoidance of physical activity. Although body image has been addressed in the context of obesity and weight management, it is often done in a cursory manner. To date, no weight loss programs have attempted to develop a novel body image intervention that specifically targets the necessary dichotomy between body acceptance and expectable desire for body changes in a weight loss program. As such, the investigators will examine if a standard group-delivered cognitive behavioral lifestyle intervention for weight loss can be improved via the incorporation of a novel body image intervention designed to address body image and improve weight loss outcomes.

Inclusion criteria

• Age: 18 and older
• Sex: Female
• BMI of 25 kg/m2 or greater

Exclusion criteria

• Participants unable or unwilling to provide informed consent
• Participants who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant over the next 4 months
• Participants who are breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed over the next 4 months
• Participants who have received a diagnosis of diabetes (type I or II)
• Participants who been told NOT to lose weight or exercise for any reason by a healthcare provider
• Participants who currently have psychiatric illnesses (e.g., Psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression/anxiety)
• Participants who currently have persistent suicidal thoughts or have attempted suicide in the last year
• Participants with a history of diagnosed eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.