Table 4.

Themes identified from qualitative exit interviews of study participants in mindfulness group

Themes	Selected Quotes
High acceptability, Perceived Benefit	“By the end of it, by the end of the ten weeks, I was a different person.” “It’s very beneficial. It’s really made a big impact on me. I’m meditating every day.” “The program is very beneficial to people. I don’t think it should be put on a back page and left. Continue it.” “I found it amazing. I mean, I really got a lot out of it.” “It’s had a big impact, the whole study.” “I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it.” “We always learned something new, something different about ourselves.”
Desire for Continued Mindfulness	“I really hope that, you know, whoever set up this program, I hope that they continue, because a lot of people out there can benefit from this. I know I did… I wished that the program didn’t end.” “I think it should be a prerequisite. If you want the surgery, you need to do this.” “This should be part of the pre-and post bariatric surgical program. Really, really should be.”
Reduced Stress Reactivity	“I just don’t think things bother me as much.” “I can deal with a lot more than I was dealing with before.” “I think I’m a little more relaxed.. I just have to pick my fights.” “Now I can take the time to step back from situations..it could be eating, it could stress from work, it could be stress from one of my patients, it could be anything.”
Improved Eating Behaviors	“My eating has been more in control.” “I’ll have one and as soon as I feel that tug, I’ll stop.” ‘I don’t snack anymore like I used to.” “I parcel out the exact amount I need to have, and I stick to that.” “I’ve cut down on a lot of stuff that I know is not going to benefit me in the long run.” “I’ve learned that once I started to feel that I was getting full, I just put the plate and cover over the top of it…”
Greater awareness	“I’m definitely more aware of what I’m eating.” “It made me aware of my body, to let myself know, ‘Okay, you need to stop now.’” “It makes you more aware of everything that you do - eating, you know, being stressed…” “Before I might have haphazardly just picked something up and kind of numbingly eaten it, and not even been aware. I’ve made the choice that if I’m gonna eat something that I ‘shouldn’t eat’, I’m gonna be conscious of and purposeful of it, rather than just walking through life unaware of what I’m doing.”
Self-Care	“It was something I was doing for me, not for anybody else. It was something I could concentrate on my own self.” “By cultivating that, you know, self-love, you stop before you do stuff that is going to be injurious to you, you don’t do it as often, or you eliminate it altogether.”
Self-compassion, Self-love*	“Mindfulness is a way of becoming friendlier with yourself, you know. And happier with yourself. And understanding that you’re like a small child who is learning to walk. Take two steps, you get up, take two more. In other words, you become more reasonable with yourself.”
Increased Physical Activity	“Exercise is now more a part of my life.” “I’ve increased my walking. I do three walks a day.”
Increased Self-Monitoring	“I’m paying more attention to the percentage of protein and fat in my diet.” “I bought a scale. ….it helps you keep an eye on things, which before I wasn’t doing. I had no scale.”
Eating as a Secondary Issue*	“I believe that eating is the secondary thing.. so if you learn to deal with, like I say, the stress, the everyday problems that you’re having and you know, just life in general, that secondary thing, the food, is no longer an issue with you because you’re dealing with what’s making you go to the eating.”
Group Cohesion, Support	“We were a good group.” “I feel like I made some long-term friendships.” “Because of the group and the dynamics of the group, it was very easy to talk and share experiences.” “It’s like you’re carrying around a hundred pound brick, cut it in half, you give somebody else half, now you’re carrying only fifty.”
Family Support	“For me, I liked bringing my family member. A lot.” “I brought my sister with me… it was good because now we were able to do the meditations together.” “I’ve actually shared some of the meditation things with my daughter. And so, a couple of days during the week, at least two, we do it together.”
Improved Relationships	“It really has helped me, I feel, in my relationship with my daughter.. because I’ve had to kind of stop, slow down, and think.”
Gradual Change and Small Steps	“In my case, it was sort of this gradual transformation that took place over time.” “I can set these goals, one step at a time and accomplish that, as opposed to setting these fantasy goals and always failing at all of them.”
Challenges	“At first, I couldn’t get relaxed. I couldn’t sit still… and as the thing progressed, I became better at it.” “I never have that that time where there’s, like, nobody around or nothing that could distract me. So I had to find, create it (a space to meditate) within the chaos of life.”
Self-Efficacy	“I definitely do (think I’ll be able to maintain the changes). Just the fact that I started implementing some of the techniques, there’s no way I can stop at this point, because it’s really helpful. “I’ll believe that I’ll be able to maintain (the changes), and take the things I’ve learned out of the class useful to my lifestyle and the things that I do.”
Integration into Life	“It becomes a way of life.”

Quotes are intended to illustrate the themes rather than comprehensively describe all study participants’ experiences, however all group members are represented in this table. Selected quotes within each theme are from unique study participants.

All themes were mentioned by > 50% of participants except those denoted by an asterisk (*) which were mentioned by < 50% of participants.