Abstract
Willpower – the ability to resist temptation – is an important key to successful functioning and willpower failure may lead to various health problems including obesity. The present qualitative study examined the role of willpower in successful maintenance of weight loss and in-depth interviews were carried out with 13 men and women who were classified as successful weight loss maintainers. The data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The participants described their experiences in terms of six broad themes: their weight histories; the use of willpower to maintain weight loss; the factors that deplete willpower; the factors that increase willpower; how willpower had been strenghtened over the maintenance period; the differences when employing willpower during weight loss and maintenance. The results suggest that willpower has a major role to play in maintenance of weight loss and health professionals could increase the effectiveness of weight management interventions through willpower enhancement.