To lose, to maintain, to ignore: weight management among women.

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of weight management and the factors that influence this process in a sample of 37 middle-class and working-class white women of varied body size. A naturalistic study design, with a cultural-ecological theoretical orientation and ethnographic interviewing techniques, was used. The findings indicated that there were five stages through which women moved, repeatedly, as they managed weight: appraising, deemphasizing, mobilizing, enacting, and maintaining. Each stage consisted of multiple processes characterized by the use of personally developed tactics and strategies. Concern about appearance rather than health was a more salient factor in the initiation of weight-loss efforts. Progression through the five-stage pathway for weight management was influenced by time and informants' weight. Implications for practice include helping clients reduce the difficulty of altering cultural routines of eating and exercise and eliciting clients' own norms for body size.