Low UPF diet - to think the experts weren’t lying?

[AusBoundDD]

Nearly 6 months ago I made it my New Year’s resolution to start eating a low UPF diet in hopes of losing some weight for a once in a lifetime trip, alongside just being healthier in general. Honestly it has been life changing! I’ve lost nearly 10kg without really having to think about it - no restricting or anything like that and in general I just feel so much better. UPFs like crisps, ready meals, even basic supermarket bread don’t feel like ‘real’ food anymore and no longer appeal. On the occasion that I do choose to eat something UPF (which for me is no big deal, im not strict!) it just isn’t as enjoyable as it used to be. I’d choose some sourdough over a loaf of Hovis any day when previously I used to hate it! I feel much fuller + satisfied for longer and rarely get the urge to snack.

Obviously it has its downsides - much less convenience food so cooking takes longer (PITA when doing lunch/dinner prep after a long day at work!), ingredients are more expensive so my shopping bill has gone up but all in all it’s a decision I don’t regret. Honestly I think that this way of eating should be the future.

Anyone else feel this way?

Any cake is not UPF if you make it yourself.

My cakes include real butter, sugar, flour (sometimes organic spelt) and free range eggs.

That's all other than cocoa if it's a choc cake.

The UPFs come from added things like emulsifiers, colours, UP sugars, syrups etc.

Have a dig around online. Look at supermarket websites, go the their cakes and read all the ingredients of (for example) a lemon drizzle or a Victoria Sandwich.

It’s not what you die of, but what you have to live with.

You might feel differrently when you get there. I'm 70 , and perfectly healthy and enjoying life so I've no intention of going yet. It's not how long I live that matters to me it's how fit and healthy I am for as long as possible.

So theoretically...on a no upf food diet...

For breakfast I'll eat slice after slice of home made sourdough and home made butter.

Roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings for lunch...cooked in goose fat

Followed by endless slices of homemade chocolate cake

Dinner will be lasagna made entirely from scratch and homemade apple crumble and home made custard

I'm sure I'll be in absolute brilliant health and absolutely svelte like

You won't though because you'll find when you're eating real food, you can't eat that much.

I can't see why that would be the case. Homemade bread and butter is incredibly moreish, if I didn't stop myself I could happily eat slice after slice and have half a days calories just on that. The idea that people can't get fat from decent quality, home cooked food is laughable.

Yes, but you wouldn't do it day after day, if you were also eating other good meals.

Fat makes you fat if you eat more than you need. Unfortunately I can only eat about 1400 calories a day if I want to lose weight, whatever food makes up the calories and however much exercise I do.

... and then you'll eat less for lunch, less cake and less lasagne- not sure why you'd eat 2 cooked meals per day?
I'd just have more bread & butter 😋

But calories are calories...it's easy to exceed your daily calorie needs with both upf and non upf foods

You’re really not as hilarious as you think you are..

Yes, it is laughable. I've never eaten loads of UPFs and haven't been normal BMI since I had kids. I was brought up on 1980s convenience food and wasn't fat then. Not that I am recommending eating loads of empty calories but how much you eat is always the absolute key.

Eating loads of protein and James Smith calculators are such a joke for me, it makes me gain weight eating that much.

You might do...you might not. But then it's about portion control.... whether you are eating frozen ready meals or homemade meals, you still have to watch the amount you eat. The idea that as long as you avoid upfs, you'll be slim regardless of amounts you eat, is ridiculous.

Wasn't trying to be hilarious in any way.

You however are very rude...whether you know it or not.

Shop bought cakes are a waste of calories though I agree. They taste so artificial.

Agree but it easier to monitor the calories. If I make a homemade cake...I have no idea how many calories are in it

Homemade white bread is still empty calories though.

I put on half a stone as a student in France eating a three course meal at lunch time and then because I was used to eating an evening meal and only a light lunch I was starving again at 6pm. Then I'd practically eat my own bodyweight in fresh bread and butter. Fresh baguettes aren't UPF but they don't fill me up at all as there is hardly any fibre. It isn't all about about fresh v convenience.

And I really missed Hovis Wholemeal Granary. 😅

I’m sorry if possessing natural ability to control my own portions and utilising willpower (and common sense…) against overeating seems to offend you so much😬 Personally with good, nutritious home cooked food I tend to eat much less and feel fuller for longer. In my experience UPFs just leave you hungry for more. The vast majority of people on the thread agree with me. You do you though!

Also, if you are responsible for making the bread, the roast dinner and the lasagne, that will regulate the amount you eat too. It's more effort, so you only do it when you really need to eat, you don't eat becuase you're bored or miserable in the same way that we head for processed goodies.

That's true. And zero calories when you throw it in the bin.

There are apps or scales which you can use to easily tell you how many calories are in the cake you are making though.

Yes, but then there is also the temptation to nibble as you go, and have a couple of glasses of red as well.

The thing with eating non UPFS is that your diet has more fibre. The fats in the diet are a greater mix of nono & saturated fats. So you will eat less because you are fuller for longer and your body will digest the fats at different rates - basically as you use it. Less need for storage.

Also, a lot of UPFS (the chemicals in the small print) are highly addictive and you will digest the food quickly. Just for that reason alone, you will eat a lot more than you naturally do.

But granted, if you are greedy and don't listen to your body, you'll always be fat.
For others who thake this seriously, it's a way of re educating our bodies towards a healthier relationship with food.

Well that's my point

You have to portion control. You couldn't in theory eat endless amounts of non upf foods and stay slim. So it's clearly not the entire story is it?

Your post is very amusing though.... imagine your self worth being so tied up in your eating habits...

With such willpower and common sense I'm surprised you were ever overweight like we lesser mortals.

Unfortunately my appetite and how full I feel has always been an unreliable narrator. And with lovely fresh food I am tempted to eat even more and continue the pleasant sensation.

I’ve never been overweight so to speak, just heavier than I’d like to be.