Help me change my diet to UPF free...

[FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden]

Hello. Where should I start with this. I'm obese and keen to change my diet .

But I also dont have time/energy to spend hours cooking or feeding a sourdouhgh starter etc.

I'd really love some tips as I am ND I really struggle with this area a lot and need minimal prep.

I think I could get into snacking on raw veg (but with dip? is hummous okay? )

I'd really love some help.

Also I'm mainly veggie and so many protein things are UPF.

Is it just beans and cheese. I eat too much cheese.

What bean-meals can I eat that aren't too hard (I eat bean chilli and beans on toast but i think thats it)

Read the ingredients. Do you recognise them? Would you use them if you did make/cook the food yourself? If not, put it back. That's the very simplest easiest test tbh.

What do you usually eat? A good starting point is to swap your staples rather than go all out and try to completely change your entire way of eating in one go!

I am veggie and I dont eat any UPF, not even fake meat. Except for occasional crisps and chocolate.
I eat vegetables, lentils, eggs, dairy and fruit. Pretty easy.

You may find some things are easy to swap just by reading the ingredients. A good place to start is looking at what you eat and slowly make changes.
No working person is baking loaves of bread every day or spending hours cooking, but that doesn't mean they eat UPF all the time. Lots of meals can be whipped up in under 30 minutes, less than the amount of time it takes to heat the oven and cook a chicken Kiev in it. You can buy veg already prepped if it's easier.

There's some very useful Facebook groups which will give you all the tips you need. Search for the Reducing Ultra Processed Food group

Protein I get from lentils, eggs, yoghurt, cheese and paneer/ tofu.

Plain quorn pieces and mince are not too bad. Eggs and nuts are unprocessed plus plain low fat Greek yoghurt are also good sources of protein.

If your main goal is weight loss I wouldn't worry too much about upf. Focus on eating fruit or veg and lean protein at every meal and wholegrains. Sensible portions.

Ok that answers my question! I'm veggie too.

Bean dishes we have regularly are:

Tarka dahl with rice
Yottam Ottolenghi confit chickpeas
Cous cous with black beans and mango (usually with fried halloumi next to it 😋)
A bean (any tinned bean will do) and chopped fresh tomato salad with parsley and lemon juice
Chickpea of the sea (fake tuna) with a jacket potato (I actually prefer using butter beans for this one as they have a more neutral taste)
Lentil soup variations (a favourite here is with carrots and apple)
Black bean brownies

and Instagram posts by people dedicated to this.

I think I can recognise what NOT to eat (crisps, bread from the supermarket, bottled sauces, frozen wedges...)

But I don't know where to start with what to eat instead. I think I've become too far that way. I'd love to eat fresh foods and we have Mr Tesco deliver to us once a week (it could be twice if we needed fresh food during the week tbh) .

I think its easy to say easy when you do it yourself regularly. To me this seems mammoth (could be the ND tbh).

so for example "lentils". People dont just open a packet of lentils and eat them. I'm at the level where I don't quite know what to do.

I also prefer things during the week I can just open and eat (hence falling into trap of processed foods really)

Just a simple swap: for breakfast dont eat sugary cereal or white bread. Try Greek yoghurt with berries or other fruit.
For lunch, I usually eat an omelette stuffed with mushrooms, peppers or spinach. Quick and easy.

This is really encouraging to hear! I really cant be baking bread each day etc.

I think maybe i need ideas of things i can "easily whip up".

Can you afford to get Gousto boxes every now and then? If you pick the recipes that feature pulses you'll get some easy ideas that you can go on to repeat with supermarket ingredients.

You dont want to get me started on lentils as I am Asian and I eat a lot of them!
Any Indian cookbook will help you in that area.
For dinner today I am making chicklea curry ( chana masala) and saag aloo. Chickpeas from a tin.No UPF.

I like nuts and yoghurt, I could eat more of these.

I dont have a clue what to do with tofu. Unless its very straightforward I just wont do it (exhausted after work)

I already have porridge with chia/blueberrries so I have sorted breakfast.

I struggle with lunch and by dinner I am exhausted!

Going UPF low/free by itself might not result in weight loss. My diet is low in UPF and I'm still overweight - for example I eat twice as much homemade bread than shop bought as it's so much nicer 😁

OOoh sounds lovely! And just seen your username too :) I could definitely do with learning how to use lentils.

I love chickpeas too.

I think I need a few simple recipes that I will actually like so im not overwhelmed. Im not in a place where i can spend ages cooking or learning new things as i get super overwhelmed and need to just start with some things I can do.

I batch cook a lot of things.... if you are into beans try the recipe below.

I portioned it off for the freezer.

So baked potato or toast & beans is easy and has less sugar than your normal cans.

They can also be made into a chilli with rice or add more veg like courgettes & aubergine and make it into a lasagne.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tomato-pepper-bean-one-pot

I am also planning to start WLI to help with weight loss.

But I do think I need to go UPF free - I am watching/reading/listening to some Chris Van T type media and its definitely the way to g for me for health reasons too.

Stirfries with a splash of soy, lime and ginger are very easy. Add tofu to those. You can buy pre prepped stirfry veggies and add rice or noodles. If you make your own sauce that's not UPF.

We've done that before (and I loved it) but my problem is we are all ND and my kids are quite fussy in different directions so it just didnt work out.

I dont mind modifying meals and would love us all to be a bit more UPF free.

Breakfasts
Porridge oats, although not the instant ones (also try oatbran porridge).
Eggs, boiled/scrambled /poached
Greek yogurt and berries and a banana

Lunches
Home made veg and Lentil soups (make enough for a week)
Baked potatoes with cheese/tuna/ baked beans

Dinners
Veggie chilli /curry
Prawn stir fry
Fish pie
Veggie lasagne
Chickpea stew

Use BBC good food for all the above recipes

Ah kids may make things tougher.
I am exploring airfriers. Just got a small one but I made some marvellous stuffed aubergine recently.
Also I recommend Rukmini Iyer's Green Roasting Tin book. Lots of easy one dish traybakes.

THANKYOU SO MUCH. This is just what I need to start . My brain just feels overwhelmed and this is tangiable. THANKYOU :)

stuffed aubergines sound fab! I like a lot of veggie food but no idea how to make most of it. I have one child who will only eat things not touching on her plate so wont touch the sort of "mixed" food I would like. But the other child will eat these things and is veggie herself so im veering towards making it anyway but saving some "bits" for her to have alongside something else for example.

I think kids with sensory issues is what's made this all overwhelming for me as its not just me.