Maintaining a healthy body weight requires balancing energy intake and expenditure. While previous research investigated energy input or food decisions, little is known about energy output or leisure activity decisions. By combining experimental decision-making paradigms and computational approaches, we investigated the psychological mechanisms of self-controlled food and leisure activity decisions through the effects of reward-oriented and health-oriented preferences as well as body weight status, stress, and coping. Based on individual’s responses, the self-controlled food and leisure activity choices were indexed as the proportions of “no” unhealthy but tasty (or enjoyable) (inhibitory self-control against short-term pleasure) and “yes” healthy but not tasty (or not enjoyable) responses (initiatory self-control for long-term health benefits). The successful self-control decisions for food and leisure activity were positively correlated with each other, r = 22, p < .01. In beta regression analyses, the successful self-controlled food decisions decreased as the taste-oriented process increased, β = − 0.50, z = -2.99, p < .005, and increased as the health-oriented process increased, β = 1.57, z = 4.68, p < .001. Similarly, the successful self-controlled leisure activity decisions decreased as the enjoyment-oriented process increased, β = − 0.79, z = -5.31, p < .001, and increased as the health-oriented process increased, β = 0.66, z = 2.19, p < .05. The effects of the other factors were not significant. Overall, our findings demonstrated the mutual interrelationship between food and leisure activity decision-making and suggest that encouraging health-oriented processes may benefit both energy input and expenditure domains and improve self-controlled choices.

保持健康的体重需要平衡能量的摄入和消耗。虽然之前的研究调查了能量输入或食物决策，但对能量输出或休闲活动决策知之甚少。通过结合实验决策范式和计算方法，我们通过奖励导向和健康导向的偏好以及体重状况、压力和应对的影响，研究了自我控制食物和休闲活动决策的心理机制。根据个人的反应，自我控制的食物和休闲活动选择被指数化为“不”不健康但美味（或令人愉快）（针对短期快乐的抑制性自我控制）和“是”健康但不美味（或不愉快的）反应（为了长期健康益处而进行的自我控制）。食物和休闲活动的成功自我控制决策相互正相关，r  = 22，p  < .01。在 beta 回归分析中，成功的自我控制食物决策随着以口味为导向的过程的增加而减少，β = − 0.50，z = -2.99，p  < .005，并随着以健康为导向的过程的增加而增加，β  = 1.57，z =  4.68，p  < .001。同样，成功的自我控制休闲活动决策随着以享受为导向的过程的增加而减少，β = − 0.79，z = -5.31，p  < .001，并随着以健康为导向的过程的增加而增加，β  = 0.66，z =  2.19，p  < .05。其他因素的影响并不显着。总的来说，我们的研究结果证明了食物和休闲活动决策之间的相互关系，并表明鼓励以健康为导向的过程可能有益于能量输入和支出领域，并改善自我控制的选择。