to think good quality ready meals are quite healthy?

I also struggle to feed myself sensibly, though probably more accurate to say I struggle to plan, shop, cook and wash up, and my appetite also plays silly wotsits but sometimes I’m just a bit too down on myself.

The most important things are giving your body the fuel it needs, and treating yourself kindly along the way. I’ve managed to mostly get from the cheap ready meals to ‘treating’ myself to M&S or Cook meals, because actually I only get one body for this whole life and it deserves the extra couple of pounds a meal. (Still fighting the little internal voice on that one sometimes, it’s a work in progress). Do what works for you OP, take the pressure off.

Most of my diet is ready meals.

ive no interest in cooking, have no idea how to cook and it takes ages to cook stuff from scratch.

team that with a neurodivergent child who’s diet is limited, plus a husband (who’s also suspected neurodivergent) who think batch cooking is unhealthy as you’re re heating food and it will have bacteria in it.

and I just can’t be arsed with the hassle.

no one has died in the house, so I assume ready meals are perfectly fine to eat.

If you want the really 'posh' ones, the other brand is Charlie Bingham, again quite expensive, but really, dont worry about buying ready meals, you will be fed and nourished fine.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/310130809

Whats wrong with the ingredients in this. Its their bog standard lasagne.

Nothing in there that you wouldnt find in the kitchen.

This UPF stuff has gone mad, its not ready meals that are the problem, its things that are not actually food like the way cakes are made these days, snacks, sauces, creams, etc etc

OP, good luck

I think Ready meals in the £1 a meal section in budget supermarkets like lasagna, cottage pie type meals aren't good for you and I'd be worried about the quality if the meat.

M&S green Thai curry or similar are surely better, M&S used to do a one pan meal which was basically a ready meal you put together yourself (Morrisons also do these) were great for DD and myself and if you are eating alone you could reheat it on another day.

Okay, this is important info.

In this case, keeping alive is the top priority - whether that involves UPF.

Thank you. I don’t have any appetite but recognise that I can’t keep starving myself without causing physical damage. Hence, trying to at least put some nutrients into my body to see I feel less tired and aches.

You are welcome and you are doing the right thing. I'm another fan of Cook by the way, their naans are the best and they do a lush channa dahl that's pretty much always in my freezer.

As others have said, if they’re better than what you’d usually eat, then they’re worth having for a while as a transition to something even healthier. The reality is though that they are mass produced and that typically means more salt/sugar for flavour, lower quality base ingredients, and more additives/preservatives to give them shelf life. A meal prep box or a local “ready” meals provider (we have a couple in our area who do great options that they deliver weekly) are fresher with fewer unnecessary additions.

Where does OP say that?

It's not orthorexic to worry about UPF - it's evidence-based and sensible.

I’m calorie counting and go through phases where I use a lot of ready meals. I’m not bothered about UPF as I have other concerns. Not all ready meals are bad. My favourite from M&S (king prawn bucatini) has pretty normal ingredients.

I eat at a different time from my son because of his activities so he gets something home cooked. I prefer the calories worked out for me in one meal anyway as I can use the recipe builder on my weight loss app but am never certain it’s accurate or wishful thinking by the time I portion it up. I know calorie counts in a meal can be out as well and it’s not exact, but it’s better than my guess.

@HebburnPokemon OR the OP is orthorexic or recovering from an ED or ha some other issue that means she's not actually feeding herself and is bravely taking steps towards putting food in her body, but the recent UPF scares are providing a comforting anxiety barrier that will keep her doing what she always does? Does that really need spelled out??

OP, follow the NOVA scale.

Have a look at Cook. They sell frozen ready meals, sometimes through farm shops but they also have stand alone shops, possibly home delivery as well.
I don't use ready meals in general. But if I was to buy ready meals , maybe once every couple of years, I'd only buy from them. No ultra processed ingredients there.
Big variety of meal's including free from, vegetarian and vegan.
There are other alternative good quality brands in farm food shops as well, but I never investigated ingredients.
On the rare occasions I tried M&S or Waitrose ready meals, I was not at all impressed with the taste.
Cook dishes do taste nice (although, in my opinion, no ready meal tastes as good as home made) but can be bit on the pricey side.

Ah right I see you now rant away !

I don't know what you mean you were too abrupt to understand .

Why? OP is clearly concerned about it (rightfully so)

Im not quite sure why ready meals are demonised in the way they are, they're ok, but then although I do make all my own food from scratch, I dont buy into this UPF stuff like its poison or something

People being frightened to eat bog standard bread, or things in tins

For more its more battered and breaded things or pastry things that I think people should probably limit, or sauces with sweetners (or anything with sweetners in)

Too many snacks like those awful doughnut trays, cakes made of god knows what. Things like pringles or maize 'snacks'. Those are the things to be wary of it, not a ready made lasagne or shepherds pie.

This is the one I mean and the ingredients list is all recognisable

@HebburnPokemon maybe read between the lines, this isn't the place for a UPF debate?

Ready meals aren't so bad

Based on what information??

If your diet is so bad that you're not actually eating regularly or enough then please don't let the UPF scare stories become another barrier to nourishing your body.

Start small, if that means a ready meal a day then that's what it means. If that is progress for you then that is progress to celebrate.

Maybe phase two is those freezer bags of microwaveable veg to sit alongside. Maybe phase two is something like an apple or an orange daily. But the main thing is to start somewhere in a way that is manageable to you. Gently, MN's well-known aversions to anything that isn't a magic chicken or a massive salad perhaps aren't going to be helpful to you rn.

Their balanced for you thai red curry with brown rice and green beans is my go to when I have to work a night shift/get called in on call, I usually add one of their little bags of steam veg you stab and put in the microwave. Other than that I cook from scratch daily but I can't do that at work and I don't always have much notice that I'm be called in. It's pretty filling with the extra veg