An 8-Month Follow Up of the Mindless to Mindful (M2M) Self-Regulation Intervention on Fat Mass Loss

Purpose To assess the maintenance of fat mass loss and increases in exercise self-control and self-compassion at 8-months follow-up to the Mindless to Mindful (M2M) program. Design This was a single-group follow-up case study. Sample For the analysis, 79 of the original 195 M2M participants ( n = 40.51%) participated. Intervention The eight-week M2M program provided goal-setting, group exercise, and goal monitoring to promote fat mass loss. Measures Participants completed measures of body fat, the brief self-control scale, and the self-compassion scale-short form. Analysis Paired sample t-tests were used to determine differences within and between groups ( P -value < .05). Results There was a significant increase in fat mass from post-test to follow-up ( t (78) = 3.105, P = .001, d = .349), but participants did not revert to baseline. There was a significant decrease in self-control ( t (78) = −3.381, P < .001, d = −.380) and self-compassion ( t (78) = −2.670, P = .005, d = −.300). Further, team participants gained significantly more fat mass ( M = 3.46, SD = 7.41), had diminished self-control ( M = −2.87, SD =5.83), and decreased self-compassion ( M = 0.16, SD= 0.38) when compared to individual participants. Conclusion Participants maintained some fat mass loss at eight-month follow-up.