Session 18: Willingness and Reducing Barriers to Physical Activity

This chapter (Session 18) provides a review of willingness and an illustration of willingness using the “Passengers on the Bus” metaphor, as well as a discussion of overcoming barriers to being active, such as feeling physically uncomfortable during exercise or not having the energy to exercise, in the context of willingness.

Session 16: Transitioning to Biweekly Meetings

This chapter presents Session 16, which focuses on the transition from weekly to biweekly meetings and reviews skills learned in the program thus far, including willingness, mindful decision-making, defusion, and values.

Session 12: Introduction to Defusion and Urge Surfing

This chapter presents Session 12. The focus of this session is defusion (a psychological skill to gain distance from one’s internal experiences, such as thoughts and emotions, in order to view them as momentary experiences rather than absolute truths) and urge surfing (“riding the wave” of uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and urges by noticing and monitoring the negative internal state without giving in to the urge to engage in unhealthy behavior) as strategies to promote acceptance and facilitate healthy weight control behaviors.

Session 11: Friends and Family

This chapter (Session 11) discusses methods of gaining social support for weight control goals by asking for support from others, being specific and assertive about one’s needs, and being willing to have potentially difficult conversations. Strategies for overcoming social cues that are problematic to weight control are also presented, such as avoiding or changing the problematic cue or responding in a healthier way.

Session 8: Forming Good Habits and Flexibility

This chapter presents Session 8, which focuses on gaining values clarity by exploring clients’ values in greater depth and identifying ways that values connect to eating, physical activity, and health. Strategies for forming good habits are presented, such as performing a behavior immediately after a specific cue (e.g., walking immediately after eating dinner). Strategies for breaking bad habits are also discussed in the context of the psychological skill of “flexibility.”

Session 2: Calorie-Cutting Keys

This chapter (Session 2) discusses the importance of self-monitoring to gain awareness of calorie intake and to recognize patterns in eating behavior. Clients are provided with information on how to self-monitor food intake, including recording type of food, serving size, method of preparation, and time of eating. Strategies for beginning to reduce calories are discussed, such as limiting high-calorie foods in the environment, eating regular meals, and planning meals in advance. The idea of achieving a negative energy balance is introduced, meaning that in order to lose weight, clients must expend a greater amount of energy than they consume in the form of calories.

Session 23: Maintaining Motivation

This chapter (Session 23) discusses how to maintain long-term motivation for weight control by focusing on the importance of values to motivate behavior, even if short-term reward of weight control behaviors is decreasing (e.g., weight loss is slowing, self-monitoring is becoming tiresome). Clients are encouraged to view the hard work of weight control as working toward their values and to use the skill of willingness to continue to engage in healthy behaviors, even when it is difficult uncomfortable to do so.

Session 22: Revisiting Commitment and Transition to Monthly/Bimonthly Meetings

This chapter (Session 22) presents a discussion on revisiting commitments to weight control and using acceptance-based skills such as willingness when encountering difficulties maintaining weight control behaviors, in addition to providing information on the transition to monthly and eventual bimonthly meetings.

Session 21: Lapse Versus Relapse and Reversing Small Weight Gains

This chapter (Session 21) describes the difference between a dietary lapse (a single event that is relatively easy to reverse) and a relapse (a string of smaller lapses that requires greater effort to reverse). Strategies to reverse small weight gains are discussed, such as self-monitoring weight to notice small gains, focusing on accurate self-monitoring, and using psychological skills in response to feelings of anxiety, discouragement, or frustration.

Session 6: Physical Activity and Willingness (Part 1)

This chapter (Session 6) discusses the multiple benefits of physical activity and provides strategies for how to plan and track physical activity. Clients are also introduced to the concept of willingness: a psychological standpoint that allows clients to engage in a behavior in order to achieve something that the client cares about, even when doing so might bring about a less pleasurable experience in the moment. Examples of willingness in the context of weight control are provided, such as going for a walk after dinner in order to meet one’s exercise goal for the day, even though one may feel tired and would rather watch TV.