Fig. 1

Theoretical Framework. Thematic, theoretical framework depicting participants’ experiences; the arrow represents the dichotomy experienced between barriers and facilitators, demonstrating how barriers hindered the participants’ weight-loss efforts and facilitators helped them. Factors that participants described are categorised and numbered into practical (1), cognitive (2), behavioural (3), social (4) and environmental (5) subgroups, which are themed as barriers to and facilitators of weight loss. In some instances (mindfulness, exercise and structure) these factors belonged to multiple subgroups