UPF.... WTF - I knew it was addictive but didn't realise...

[PaminaMozart]

... how quickly things can fall apart!

I'm a self-confessed health nut. Love exercise, lots of walking, and my diet is normally supper healthy. Lots of vegetables, lean protein, a smattering of complex carbs, healthy fats and dairy/mostly yoghurt.

It has stood me in good stead. At 70 I am really fit and my health-MOT suggests a biological age of 53 or thereabouts.

BUT...... for the past 10 days I have had relatives staying with me who seem addicted to UPF, carbs and sugary 'treats'. They sleep till 10, so I've given my usual morning workouts a miss so as not to disturb them. No point cooking stuff they won't eat. Or we eat out at places with limited/no healthy options.

Slowly but surely I've fallen into a pattern of eating what they eat, drinking wine daily (as opposed to a glass once or twice a week), and taking the bus instead of walking.

And, even after such a short time I have gained weight, my belly is definitely more prominent, and my lovely muscles seem sadly diminished.

A salutary lesson. Use it or loose it. I wonder how long it'll take me to get back to where I was...?!!

it doesn't matter what you die of, we all die - but it matters what you have to live with. Not everything is under my control but I can do some things to help

Absolutely. These past couple of weeks with my 'difficult' relatives have really brought home to me how much better I feel when I'm doing my healthy living stuff.

There are a no guarantees. Just over a year ago I had a big C scare, which is under observation. I might do something silly like Michael Mosley. I might get run over by a bus. Who knows. I'll continue with my healthy living and 🤞

You may be very lucky genetically and by the sounds of it do eat reasonably healthily and exercise, but don’t let being a shapely size 8 fool you into believing you are healthy. In the NHS we see lots of slim people with health problems too often as a result of fat stored around their organs rather than the obvious subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is much more dangerous to our health

@MsLuxLisbon I think you are missing the point a bit. Of course many people can manage fine. Its a bit like saying 'well I smoked through all my pregnancies and my kids turned out fine..'. There are people like OP who feels bad after a short time of UPFs. There are people like me who feel addicted and are overweight and really struggle. I don't think I know what it means to feel really well. Then there are people who don't have the mental capacity to have an argument with themselves every 20 minutes and succumb to their cravings, who are now experiencing very serious health problems, or will in the future.

Translation: get over yourself OP, you might look good and feel good but never forget that actually you're rotting from the inside out.
🧶🍏🧶🍏🧶🍏🧶

You sound like my best friend. All her life was a size 8, ate what she wanted (lived on chocolate some days!).
Then we hit middle age and now she is rapidly expanding! Doesnt want to give up her junk food though because she is pretty much addicted to it now....
although its nice to finally not be 'the fat friend'! LOL

I really dont think a little bit of UPF will do much harm though....its when it become the major part of your diet that its going to cause problems.
I eat mostly whole plant foods but it doesnt bother me that I also have plant milk, fruit yoghurts or vegan butter. I make my own bread and cakes and cook from scratch every meal so I figure I have earned enough smug points!😊

I won't 'rapidly expand'. I am very vain and if I need to cut back, I will. I am pretty figure conscious and I also exercise a lot.

it doesn't matter what you die of, we all die - but it matters what you have to live with. Not everything is under my control but I can do some things to help

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Everything in moderation. I am the same.

What like your ‘a lot’ of junk food?

Just coming back to my thread as I saw this article about Dr Mark Hyman in the Telegraph:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/diet/nutrition/life-lengthening-changes-to-make-to-your-diet-mark-hyman/

I don't know the book referenced in the article, but Hyman's The Sugar Solution was instrumental in guiding my healthy living credo.

I think the article is a succinct summary of what we can do to live healthily, and hopefully longer too. Just in case any of you are interested 😀

i'll have a read, i'm interested in blue zones, longevity et cetera

I was so healthy for years, so so so healthy then i learnt i had high cholesterol. Made me rebel for a few months but i'm about ready to start paying close attention to what i eat again, for metabolic health.

sh1t, i can't read it! must have read a few telegraph articles recently

If your guests are staying with you why aren't they eating what you would normally prepare for yourself? Surely your food is tasty, it could have been a new experience for them.

You’re getting snide comments from people who don’t like hearing anything negative about what are obviously their own eating habits. “Everything in moderation”? No. UPF is awful and addictive as hell. Would you smoke cr@ck “in moderation”? Try your best to ignore those cravings and get back to your previously positive eating. You don’t have to indulge in things just because people around you are.

Make some delicious wholesome food for everyone suggest some small easy changes that they might embrace. Do it in a nice way and you could be doing them a favour. I wish I had more discipline to make better food and exercise choices so I love it when someone shows me afew life hacks. And I'm sure there are things that they can teach you in otherways. Thanks for your honest post

We had the same experience in reverse, my partner's Dad and wife came to stay-they usually drove everywhere meals with lots of salt sugar and additives. They stayed for a week, walked everywhere(we live in London and don't have a car) and I cooked from scratch-I don't use much salt or sugar-in a week they had both lost several pounds and had lower blood pressure-it can be really fast.

Make some delicious wholesome food for everyone suggest some small easy changes that they might embrace. Do it in a nice way and you could be doing them a favour.

I've tried. All they'll eat is pizza, pasta drenched in tomato sauce and cheese, chips and fried chicken. Maybe a wee bit of broccoli but no other vegetables. Plus ice cream at least once a day, as well as the odd doughnut. Sugary cereals, sugary sodas, hot chocolate. A bit of fruit every now and again.

I kid you not. They will only pick at anything else. It's sad, as one of them is my granddaughter and at 9 years old she is already overweight.

All you can do is teach by example I spose. Good luck and be love

Well done on looking after yourself OP. It can totally derail you when you have relatives to stay who eat lots of processed food.
I do think that you will easily get back on track when they've left, and it won't take you long to lose the weight and put the muscle back on, because your body wants to get back to how it used to be.
But yes, I understand how you can SO easily get addicted to sugar/alcohol and carbs within a few days. It can make you feel quite low, tired and unmotivated, not feeling like you want to keep up your exercise routine.
Maybe don't invite these guests for quite so long next time :-)