To be totally on the anti UPF bandwagon and think this may finally be how I crack my food addiction?

[MaybeIWillFuckOffThen]

Listened to the podcast by the Van Tulleken brothers, and then read some of the Brazilian research and the experiment with UPF/whole food diet. Listened to some Giles Yeo. Oh my goodness. Mind blown!

I have a binge eating disorder and it was getting so out of hand. Spent fortunes a week on extra secret food, all of it crap. Gaining a lot of weight. I could eat 6 supermarket hot cross buns at a time and still feel like I wanted more even while feeling sick. Whole packets of biscuits in minutes. It didn't make any sense to me but I felt like I just couldn't stop. Now it makes a lot of sense why - I've basically been eating the food equivalent of heroin.

I've cut it out this past week or two - whenever I have been craving it I just go and listen to an episode or two of the podcast again and am horrified anew so resist. I've also accepted the fact I'm never going to manage to not eat with willpower alone so have packed my bag with healthy whole food snacks - nuts, Greek yoghurt, chopped vegetables, hummus - so I don't 'need' to go to the shop for some lunch (and walk out with a load of garbage).

I felt much better almost instantly. Clear headed. Less bloated and sluggish, less achey. Less sick obviously. And much, much less hungry. Staying within calorie limits (that always seemed laughably low and restrictive whilst eating junk) suddenly incredibly easy. In not weighing myself as my scales are broken but how I feel is worth it on its own.

Over the weekend my DD got a vomiting bug for the millionth time this summer, bad nights sleep, feeling grotty etc. So Monday I decided to treat myself t a toasted panini from the work cafe. Supermarket bread, weird cheese etc - real comforting junk food of the type I just can't get enough of usually.

Reader it was DIABOLICAL. It tasted AWFUL. I've eaten these things so many times before and loved them. But it was horrible. I literally could not eat it, had two mouthfuls, spat the second one out and threw it in the bin.

I honestly feel like I've had some sort of damascene conversion. Every time I think about buying some crap now I just remember the horrible, inedible crapness of that panini and the urge just goes away again.

AIBU to think this could actually change my life??? Can simple awareness really override such a lifelong, established addictive behaviour? Or will this just be a flash in the pan?

That's wrong but drinking calories is stupid anyway so well done.

Marking spot

@PBSam it my be wrong but for sure there are plenty of. Calories in booze, that do not add to a. Nutritious diet and when tempted it is a visual that helps me.

Marking place.

Has any kind person got a link to the podcasts mentioned? I have ADHD and atm brain fog too and hunting podcasts down feels beyond me.

Here you go @SquirrelSoShiny

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz

Out of interest, do people absolutely avoid UPFs or just limit them in acceptance that a) it's very difficult to avoid completely and b) they do taste nice as the occasional treat?

I will admit to having a weakness for McDonalds so I do have the occasional Big Mac but it's very much a rarity...

Thanks so much @CosmopolitanPlease 🙏

I've tried to limit. I think even in one of the podcasts they talk about an 80/20 type balance. That's what I'm aiming for at the moment anyway. In the summer I did a few weeks of none at all. It was easier in the summer, I had more time (my work is very quiet) no school for kids.

Now I try and aim for the 80/20 balance.

I appear to be particularly susceptible to UPF, tbd smallest amount sets up a strong craving for me to eat ever more. The first bite is the easiest for me to resist.

Generally I go for complete abstinence.

Just occasionally, I eat some on purpose just to prove to myself that I can have some and stop. The trick seems to be to not eat enough of whatever it is to completely satisfy my appetite (well addictive desire for the UPF). I eat and savour a small portion and then stop eating and go back to fresh veg.

It's been working for me since January. I'm hoping this is me set for life. Fingers crossed.