to think good quality ready meals are quite healthy?

[Onlywayisupmaybe]

My diet is pretty bad generally so I’m trying to change to have regular meals as a first step.

Am I deluding myself to think that ready meals from M&S healthy ranges (eat well and count on me) are quite healthy or do they count as UPF?

I don’t have the motivation to cook from scratch so any tips on easier options which are reasonably healthy would be appreciated.

Read the health information and ingredients and take it from there

This,

These ready meals are feeding you and I actually think that's more important than worrying about UPF have some vegetables and salad alongside your food and you will be fine.

If there are any ingredients you don't recognise and you wouldn't use to cook at home then it's UPF. I'm sure some ready meals are quite healthy, but I would always serve it with a big portion of green veg, cauliflower etc. they never give enough veg in those meals I reckon.

The ingredients aren't bad in those meals but at most you get one portion of veg in them. If that is an improvement compared to what you usually eat then that's great. You can build on upping your veg quantity. The frozen microwave veg bags are a quick and easy way to do that.

Ready meals aren't so bad, but you can make them a bit healthier by adding some extra veg on the side. You will find that most dont have much included in them.

I am very suspicious of ready meals that have a use by date many days away, as it couldn't possibly be very "fresh".

Just add extra veg, as others have said. It can be salad, or frozen veg or something easy to prep and cook like spinach or broccoli. Some of the regular pasta meals are decent, high in protein and not too junky.

The noodle based ready meals are tasty I like those. What kind of things do you like to eat ?

There is definitely a range in terms of the quality and healthiness of ready meals. The ones you describe are usually at the better end so that's a good start. As PP have said, add some vegetables if you can. You might find that if you end up with a few favourites, you would feel confident to try making the home-made version.

They are fine in moderation, and some are reasonably healthy. This is my favourite from M&S:

I really like the salads, whole grains and greens and then just put a bit of protein in the air fryer on a piece of grease proof paper so no washing up.

based on what source?

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

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.

Ready meals aren't so bad

Based on what information??

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

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

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.

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

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

Ah right I see you now rant away !

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.

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.

OP, follow the NOVA scale.

@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??

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.