to think good quality ready meals are quite healthy?

Just use your common sense op. If you can see that the meal is meat/fish, veg and mashed potato then that’s what it is. Ready meals are all completely different.

And apologies - I took your sarcasm the wrong way.

As someone who also struggles with food and a poor diet, the kindness, understanding and compassion in your post brought me to tears. Thank you. OP, well done on looking to make a change.

As long as you have salad or nice fresh veg with it’s ok.

And toast toppers in a little tin, they were gorgeous. Mushroom flavour I think.

OP is inclined to not feed herself, she isnt going to buy separate ingredients and be motivated to put them all together, hence her query about the easiest most straightforward way of feeding herself without too much thought

She hopefully will lead up to cooking at some point

There is nothing wrong with her plan.

Read the thread room @soupfiend

What about also adding in simple easy to prepare meals?
Omelette
Jacket potato with a topping
Decent quality sliced ham with new potatoes and salad
Roast a chicken and use in salads, sandwiches

I use them sometimes as I live alone
I always add a pile of vegetables to balance them out
I also take a daily multivitamin
I'm not particularly bothered about UPFs though as I had crispy pancakes etc when I was growing up!

It’s not the ingredients so much; it’s the preservatives that enable them to sit on the supermarket shelves for a while. And the emulsifiers which govern their texture.
And ready meals always seem quite salty to me. plus the fact that if it’s pre-prepared you can’t choose the ratio of protein to veg or whatever.. and they are often bulked out with cheaper ingreds.

If you are in a supermarket anyway; isn’t it as easy to put some frozen fish on a parchment covered baking tray in oven and bung some frozen veg in microwave?

But if you don’t have any energy at all for cooking have a look at Picard frozen food products carried by Ocado,Tesco and some others… . Picard is an upmarket French frozen food chain beloved of French working mothers and their quality is excellent but you have to pick and choose carefully from their range:

www.thegrocer.co.uk/frozen/picard-shows-brits-the-way-forward-on-frozen-food/676732.article]]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/frozen/picard-shows-brits-the-way-forward-on-frozen-food/676732.article]]]]

They do great things for dc like puréed broccoli and carrot with only two or three ingredients.

Just edited to apologise to you op as I have just read your update about battling an ED and I know from the experience of a family member, that that’s really hard. In that case, I would imagine Marks and Spencer and Waitrose and Tesco ready meals are some of the best available. I like Waitrose and Tesco pie and one of them doing a good cottage pie, I forget which.

Apologies again for not reading your update properly before posting 💐

**

I dont know why people seem to think that if its M+S or Cook, somehow it will be vastly different to tesco or sainsburys own in the 'health' stakes.

Flavour possibly
Quality possibly

Health and UPF madness - no difference

Although anecdotally I did hear of someone who ate a budgen ready meal, carbonara I think it was, and dropped dead on the spot in the kitchen. Fork still in hand.

So think on

I do buy Tesco finest ready meals occasionally eg the lasagne or cottage pie as it’s not worth me cooking something like that with just me and a fussy teen at home. Plus they taste nice. I wouldn’t get the cheap ready meals though. I always add carrots or peas at least.

I hope you find something that works/is helpful for you, OP.
There is also the MH board if that would be helpful and I saw some info on psilocybin being used to treat anorexia (if relevant)

someone above mentioned local food delivery services being good and fresher - I saw this leaflet in a GP surgery in London once, it says Wiltshire Farms but don’t know if they deliver in other places (as was in London!) . They had lots of options in terms of gluten free, low salt, softer foods etc in case you have dietary requirements @Onlywayisupmaybe

As PPs say check the box. You do also have to be careful too that they aren't too low in calories etc - try and keep to 20g protein per meal as it keeps you full or you end up snacking and it's counter productive.

Essentially the body needs to burn something, whether it's carbs or fat it doesn't really care, and if you opt for low fat and low calories you may end up feeling hungry and snacking later anyway.

Some of the Italian ready meal pastas are pretty good- fairly simple ingredients. I love a beef bolognaise with spaghetti, full of nutrients, I have green veg on the side.

Never add salt as they are already salted.

M&S are prepared meals made from normal ingredients usually so not very bad at all.

I would just go to M&S or buy those Cook meals as suggested and buy in all the meals I like. Most can be frozen too.

if you’re struggling with portion size, M&S do a mini meal of some of their range, so the portions aren’t overwhelming.

Ready meals are shit, and expensive.

Food threads on here are horrifying but compelling.

Where did this craziness about food come from? Why do apparently so many people believe the pseudoscience and scaremongering?

I suppose a mania for ‘healthy eating’ is the inevitable snake oil and charlatanism of our times and we just have to put up with it.

People should eat a varied, sensible diet and not worry.

DD2 has just had her first baby and because she and her DP are unable to make wholesome meals just now I gave them money for some Cook meals. Best thing ever, she says.

Best of luck OP. Fed is best

This op is the best advice.

I've always thought the better ones look absolutely fine. Easy for someone to naysay but the ones that have fresh raw veg in, in particular, I think look pretty balanced with identifiable ingredients and not too salty. I tend to go for the paella, jambalaya, noodle bowls, that kind of thing.

Best of luck OP. Fed is best.