Table 5.

Common barriers to changes based on participants’ experiences.

Barrier		Prevalence	Common explanations
Change-related barriers
	Unsuitable changes	87	Too specific (9), dislike (9), problematic to fit in the schedule (8), made problem worse (6), changes were incompatible (5), already a habit (5), wasting food felt difficult (5), irrelevant (4), inconvenient (3)
	Inapplicable changes	37	Situation not encountered (21), did not fit the schedule (4)
	Difficult changes	34	Difficult to do outside home (12), too much effort (7), difficult month (4), hard to plan ahead (4), hard to be consistent (2)
Personal barriers
	Forgetting	83	Distractions (9), simply forgetting about changes
	Being busy	49	Lack of time (11), stress (11), busy schedule (5), major deadline (2)
	Not even trying	31	Lack of motivation (10), not feeling committed (5)
	Losing track	31	Losing motivation (11), no regular tracking (11), losing focus (8)
	Need to eat	30	Hunger (10), cravings (8), danger times (7), availability of food (6), overeating (5)
	Emotional eating	17	Stress eating (5), compulsive eating (2)
	Ingrained habits	14	Falling back into old patterns
External barriers
	Unusual circumstances	57	Vacation (18), lack of control over food choices (14), traveling (12), holiday season (11)
	Health issues	18	Own (12), sickness (5), family (1)
	Social pressure	13	Partner’s/family’s habits, social gatherings
	Unavailability of food	11	Healthy food not at hand (5), no access to healthy food (3), fruit not in season (2)