Table 3.

Central ideas and collective subject discourse: second focus group.

CENTRAL IDEA	COLLECTIVE SUBJECT DISCOURSE
6) Since the beginning of the intervention, what tools have you acquired regarding eating?
6A: I realize I have not ceased eating what I like, but now I can handle it.	I’ve learned a lot. You don’t have to cease eating what you like, just cut it down. Have this self-control, but not stop eating what you like; that’s impossible. I’ve done this a lot, but not anymore. It’s not worth doing just food restriction, because it [the weight management] is a combination of things.
6B: I realized I have acquired knowledge.	I guess a lot of the knowledge gained. For instance, at Easter, I received a lot of Easter eggs and so on. I donated [most of] them, and this was easy to do. And I remarked, “last year, at Easter, I’d already finished them off after a week.” I felt free. And, I can do what the nutritionist continuously tells me to do: enjoy it to the fullest, get pleasure from it, eat it until the end, and not with that greed for eating, because that’s what happened [before]. So, when I think nowadays of something that supports me, I see that well; I can get rid of a great amount [of certain foods] and control myself. That was knowledge that I’ve gained here.
6C: I realized I learned to eat during special occasions.	Going to parties is hard. I was comfortable, but not that much, and I didn’t have seconds. But, I ate guiltlessly. And on the following day, I was already back to my regular habits. So, I wasn’t hungry [and] I didn’t overeat, but I also didn’t not eat. It can’t be radical, because on a daily basis, it’s not radical, and you’ll need to carry this for the rest of your life.
7) Did you realize changes on your eating behavior since the beginning of the intervention until now? What would they be?
7A: I realize I changed my food quantity and my hunger perception.	The biggest change in my food habits was breakfast: I have a lot of breakfasts in the bakery, so I used to eat bread with cream cheese, a large cup of coffee and milk; these kind of things. Now, I pick two spoons of fruit salad or smaller [piece of] bread or whole [wheat] bread with a slice of cottage cheese and a cup of coffee and milk, and it’s perfect. I reduced a lot the amount of what I used to eat. I used to eat a lot of cereal bars, maybe two [or] three, and before, I picked, let’s suppose, a chicken, a fish, and a sausage—just a slice of each, but in the end I had a huge plate in front of me. Not anymore. I have to choose only one and I put more legumes and vegetables on the plate than rice and beans. Before this intervention, I didn’t feel hungry because I was eating huge amounts, so I couldn’t feel hungry.
7B: I realize I have learned to divide my meals.	Since I started here until today I’ve decreased [my consumption of] a lot of things by half. I did a lot of things wrong, such as eating a lot in over a long period of time, [or] eating during the morning and then only at lunch, [during which] I ate those huge amounts. Now I always try to portion out my food, because before I used to have breakfast at 7 am, lunch at noon, and I would eat again only at 5 o’clock. So now I make small snacks at 9 am and at 3 pm.
7C: I realize I have improved the quality of my food choices.	It had the inclusion of brown rice, for example. And [I began trying] to include more salad [and] vegetables, [and] to eat the salad before, not with, the meal; [I also tried] to include more fruits, which I already ate, but now I eat more. I didn’t eat beans, and now I have them every day, at least at lunch. Skinned tomatoes are great; they don’t have any chemicals in them. And, also [I tried] to include yogurts, to change from the yellow cheese to the cottage cheese; to drink water, which I didn’t drink before. I didn’t have dinner; I had two breads with two glasses of milk and I cut it—now I’m including dinner.
7D: I realize that some habits remain, though generally my behavior is different.	In my house, I used to have a lot of fattening things. Actually, it still has: well-seasoned beans with sausage and all that. Regarding making tomato sauce and not using the industrialized [sauce] I tried to make it and it was tasty, but the timing, you know. Like, I buy some junk food sometimes because you feel that urge, but I’m not going to overeat. So, I buy that chocolate bar, but I eat only a few pieces. Sweets are something that I’ve always enjoyed and I won’t stop eating, but I won’t buy a large amount, either. And I let myself make sweet recipes at the weekends.
7E: I realize that my eating has not changed a lot, but now I am much more attentive.	About my eating habits, mine were pretty reasonable, but for a matter of taste, not of diet. I like to eat a plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole products; it’s already a habit of mine. I don’t make fried recipes; I’ve never enjoyed soda, juice. I’ve always preferred skinned tomatoes, considered the chemicals, the food additives. So, I haven’t changed my diet to make an impact. We know it all, we just don’t do it. So the nutritionist reinforces what you already know; we get more attentive.