“Now I Can Do Better”: A Study of Obese Women’s Experiences Following a Nonprescriptive Nutritional Intervention

The present study analyzed obese women’s experiences following a nonprescriptive nutritional intervention, implemented through a 1-year program based on the Health at Every Size(®) philosophy. We employed an action research method and conducted three focus groups during the intervention. We identified five interpretative axes across the focus groups, as follows: conflicts and perceptions; gaining motivation, perspective, and positioning; becoming autonomous eaters; acquiring tools; and the meetings between the nutritional therapist and participant. Our findings revealed varying levels of readiness among participants in adapting to the intervention and varying valuations of achievements related to eating and health, independent of body-weight changes. Participants reported benefiting from and expressed approval of the intervention. Participants reported positive behavioral and attitudinal changes to their diet and improvements to diet quality, diet structure, and consumption. Finally, participants seemed to show increased autonomy concerning diet and indicated increased confidence, comfort, flexibility, and positivity of attitude regarding eating.