Table 4.

Six major categories describing features that may have an impact on the acceptability of the study

Categories	Sub-categories	Summary of key points identified	Representative quotations
Promoting goal-setting activity	Goal as a motivator	Goal setting facilitated the relevant tasks both cognitively and behaviourally.	‘It [goal-setting] was good to sort of make yourself go [choose healthy foods]’, [#12] ‘Goals keep me moving [towards healthy diet]’ [#16]. ‘[With goal-setting], I got back into it [healthy eating]’ [#13]. Goal-setting helped participants to ‘focus’ [#12, 18, 25, 39], ‘think’ [#12–14, 16], ‘be aware’ [#25], ‘be active’ [#13], ‘be organised’ [#14, 18] and ‘make better decisions’ [#36] about goal-related actions or consider ‘the task necessary’ [#23].
	Self-monitoring	Self-monitoring was appreciated by most of the participants; however, a small number of participants indicated that it made them feel guilty when they could not achieve their goals.	It [goal] wasn’t manageable, unless you were writing [typing and tracking]’ [#16]. Self-monitoring ‘was like a mental note’ for realising a ‘need of change’ [#21]. Deviant cases: ‘[Self-monitoring] made me feel a bit guilty. It was like, ‘Oh I’m feeling like a failure.’ But it didn’t, like somehow it didn’t [help me]… no it helped me to try to do better next day I guess. Yeah’ [#25].
	Attainable goals	Having ‘a slower, more gradual pace’ [#39] or ‘having one goal at the time’ [#36] made the tasks manageable.	‘I think it is better to have a longer period for each goal such as two or three weeks, and then we add the second goal on top of that. In that case, it would be easier to get used to the first goal, but now one week has passed very quickly and then suddenly you have so many goals for vegetables, for grains [food group], and fat, and it is very difficult to do all of them at the [same] time’[#36].
Promoting self-compassion	Empowering the sense of self-care	Self-compassion helped participants realise the importance of self-care and a balanced life.	‘I start thinking about my behaviour’ [#14]. ‘I don’t prioritise the self-care tasks which take a lot of time and that’s why [practising] the compassion approach works well’ [#13].
	Enhancing emotional regulation	Self-compassion assisted in coping with negative affect and judgemental thoughts that may lead to overeating.	‘I ate better and there was a less emotional drive to eat badly’ [#13]. ‘The most important thing for me and what makes me overeat and eat foods like… discretionary food is when I get down on myself and it’s mostly because of work. This [self-compassion] made me stop worrying about work so much which then motivated me to go shopping and then I ate good food so it was kind of sort of one after the other…’[#14]. ‘I am a stress eater and then you do that whole negative talking afterwards about like, ‘Oh you shouldn’t have eaten that,’ you know and that sort of … that silly, ‘You’re ridiculous, you’re hopeless, dududah.’ And then of course, what does it matter now, you may as well eat more,’ or you know, I found it [self-compassion] was sort of making me a little bit more conscious of that to go, ‘Okay, you know that there were better choices but let’s make a better choice next time’ [#12].
	Facilitating cultivation of self-compassion	Participants found cultivating self-compassion challenging, some suggestions were provided for facilitating the cultivation of the mindset such as using group sessions facilitated with an instructor.	‘I think sometimes it [having self-compassion] is a bit of a struggle, it’s not that easy to apply’ [#16]. ‘It’s very difficult to apply on yourself like when you’re actually in the, in that situation where you need it the most’ [#21]. ‘As I haven’t been very compassionate towards myself in many years, it was difficult to achieve this [self-compassion] goal’ [extracted from goal-sheets; #36]. …towards the end I felt like it became a bit more easier to be [self-compassionate] [#33].
Being informative	_	Receiving new information on nutrition and self-compassion made the study acceptable.	‘Definitely, the nutrition PDF was helpful’ [# 39]. ‘That’s [self-compassion information] something that I need a lot of help with’ [#12]. ‘I found it [the information] very enlightening [#33]’. Deviant cases: ‘It wasn’t telling [me] anything new’ [#18].
Catering to individual needs	Being interactive	While some people believed that the study should have been more interactive with adding some extra support from an expert and peers, others found the level of support enough to address an individual’s need.	‘I did not understand what direction I should be moving in to be healthier’ [#18] ’I was a bit confused on what I should choose’ [#25]. Deviant cases: ‘The amount of contact [support]’ provided by the researcher ‘was probably fine [adequate]’ and ‘really helpful’.
	Flexibility and variety	Flexibility may help to address participants’ needs.	‘The fact that there was a range of decisions that you could make and a range of goals that you could achieve… I think it just, it allows for individual variation, which was good because it meant that I could… sort of pick things that I specifically thought needed working on and then, you know … so there was a lot of flexibility which I really liked’ [#13]. Deviant cases: The self-compassion practices were ‘boring’, ‘repetitive’ and ‘more variety is needed.’
Efficient and simple	Taking less time	While some people found the study time-consuming and discussed the time barrier, others found the study acceptable because it was time-efficient.	Participants indicated that they were ‘too busy’ and had ‘no time to read [the information].’ Deviant Cases: The study was acceptable because it was ‘online’ [#14] allowing ‘quick communication’. ‘It was really easy because you just had to say “Yes” or “No”’ [#39]
	Easy and convenient	Mixed opinions found about the simplicity of the study.	The educational material was very ‘long and hard to read,’ as well as ‘complicated and confusing.’ Information should have displayed ‘visually,’ and in a ‘more clear and easy to digest’ way. ‘I’d like to have, something that is just a table of options that I can just put on my fridge and look’ [#25].
	Being usable and accessible	While some people found the study tools easy to work, others believed that there was a need for more user-friendly tools.	‘Would be really handy’ [#39] to have an ‘easier version’ [#18] without requiring a ‘good level’ [#12] of technological knowledge. Deviant cases: ‘It was absolutely easy because I’m on the computer all the time’ [# 14].
Engaging	Feedback	Participants found the feedback and support encouraging.	‘You [the follow-up emails from the expert] were helping me to push’[#23], and receiving feedback ‘makes you feel good, as you see some change, happening’ [#18].
	Reminders	Reminders seemed to be helpful in engaging participants in the study.	‘Maybe little [more] reminders to go, you know, how you going, did you achieve yesterday’s goals. That sort of thing, possibly … might’ve been more effective if it was like right in the forefront’ [#12].
	In-person counselling and peers support	In order to make the study engaging, there is a need for in-person counselling sessions or peer support.	‘That [the study] has to be reinforced and encouraged with personal meetings and group sessions’ [#16]. Deviant cases: There was a need for ‘day-to-day support’ … ‘many times I would forget [to follow the study tasks]’ [#12].