Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Feb 26, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Feb 19, 2022 - Apr 16, 2022
Date Accepted: May 24, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Beyond Calorie Tracking: A Pilot Trial of a Remotely Delivered Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention Using an Ad Libitum Plant-Based Diet
ABSTRACT
Background:
Many traditional lifestyle interventions use calorie prescriptions, but most individuals have difficulty sustaining calorie tracking and thus weight loss. By contrast, whole food plant-based diets (WFPBD) have previously shown significant weight loss without this issue. However, most WFPBD interventions are face-to-face, time intensive, and do not leverage gold-standard behavioral strategies for health behavior change.
Objective:
This open pilot trial was the first to evaluate the feasibility of a fully-featured remotely delivered behavioral weight loss intervention using an ad libitum WFPBD.
Methods:
Over 12-weeks, participants (N = 15) with overweight/obesity received a newly-designed program that integrated behavioral weight loss and a WFPBD prescription via weekly online modules and brief phone coaching calls. Assessments occurred at baseline, mid-treatment, (6-weeks) and post-treatment (12-weeks).
Results:
The intervention was rated as highly acceptable (M = 4.40 out of 5), and attrition was low (6.7%). Sixty-nine percent of participants lost 5% weight (M = -5.89 kg, SE = .68). Predefined benchmarks of quality of life were met.
Conclusions:
A pilot digital behavioral weight loss intervention with a non-energy restricted WFPBD was feasible, and mean acceptability was high. Minimal contact time (100–150 minutes of study interventionist time per participant over 12 weeks) led to clinically relevant weight loss, dietary adherence, and quality of life improvements for most participants. We hope this work serves as a springboard for future larger scale randomized controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of such programs for weight loss, dietary change, and quality of life. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04892030
Citation
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Copyright
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