‘The Battle is Not Over after Weight Loss’: Stories of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance

The aim of this study was to analyse accounts of successful weight loss maintenance. The data were gathered through open interviews of nine women who had kept 10–27 kg of weight off for at least seven years. Respondents were encouraged to discuss any topics they regarded as important. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative methods influenced by grounded theory and narrative analysis. The core category or ‘main story’ centres around the construct of weight maintenance as an ongoing battle against weight regain. Women had to be reactive and proactive with constant monitoring, flexibility and specific strategies to deal with problematic situations. Despite rewards of weight loss maintenance (including improved self-esteem, better functional capacity and professional gains), these women felt different from other people and a tension between the obese past and the present day was evident.