3.10. Theme 3: Self-Regulation
morning tea, pastry
This theme was developed to describe participants’ abilities to understand and manage their own eating behaviour. Participants reported that having to record indulgences made them more conscious about what they were eating. This was described as particularly beneficial:
“I found the first part of it where we filled out the diary for a week really helpful because it made me aware exactly what I was eating. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to just keep tabs of all the snacks and you know, over at the …. School, we have our morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea but there’ll be lots of food left over from functions and stuff and so you think if you have a small square of a pastry or a cake that, you know, if you’re not writing it down, it’s easy to forget that you’ve actually had a small piece.” Female, 54 years.As well as recording consumption, participants reported that being part of this study and having a goal helped them reduce their consumption of indulgences and, in some cases, improved their overall eating patterns. This was because it created an intention to change behaviour. Some participants also started monitoring the quantity of food and beverages they consumed, such as measuring their wine rather than freely pouring it. Participants described that recording their consumption and reflecting on their eating behaviour provided a sense of accountability for themselves and an awareness of how many indulgences they were consuming. “Well, I’ve obviously been reasonably good, because I’ve lost nearly four kilos. It’s made me more mindful. It made me a little bit more accountable and more mindful.” Female, 54 years.This sense of accountability extended to the researchers within the trial as participants were weighed at the end of the intervention. Many perceived this to be helpful for reducing consumption. By contrast, others spoke about needing more accountability and wanting to be weighed weekly or to have more contact with the researchers to help them reduce their food consumption:
“I was, the first weeks I was better. I was thinking more. But then I think after, as the week goes, and because I don’t have anything to report, I guess I should be feeling that, okay, accountable. Like, in a way, it’s what I need to. Like, maybe get weighed, like every week. Or once a week.” Female, 58 years.