| Summary: | <p><strong>Objective:</strong> To examine the extent to which people who are trying to lose weight naturally self-regulate in response to self-weighing and to identify barriers to self-regulation. <p><strong>Design/Main Outcome Measures:</strong> Twenty-four participants, who were overweight and trying to lose weight, recorded their thoughts during daily weighing for eight weeks. Semi-structured follow-up interviews assessed participant experiences. Qualitative analysis identified steps of the self-regulation process and barriers to self-regulation. Exploratory regression analysis assessed the relationship between the self-regulation steps and weight loss.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> On 90% of 498 occasions, participants compared their weight measurement to an expectation or goal, and on 58% they reflected on previous behaviour. Action planning only occurred on 20% of occasions, and specific action planning was rare (6%). Only specific action planning significantly predicted weight loss (−2.1 kg per 1 SD increase in the predictor, 95% CI = −3.9, −0.3). Thematic analysis revealed that barriers to the interpretation of daily weight changes were difficulties in understanding day-to-day fluctuations, losing the overview of trends, forgetting to weigh, and forgetting previous measurements.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Specific action planning can lead to weight loss, but is rare in a naturalistic setting. Barriers to self-regulation relate to the interpretation of weight changes.</p></p>
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