UPF Help- My lifestyle is killing me.

[Ecydsis]

I am at rock bottom. I've been here for a few years now.

I am morbidly obese (I know they don't use that term anymore but it is true)

I have lost all fitness and in my mid forties, I can see my future and it is not good.

I want to start with cutting UPF- I can't currently face being hungry so my thinking is overhaul my diet without worrying about weight for now.

But want to check.

If I make bread I can eat it?
Butter, milk and cheese is ok as long as it isn't slices ?
Pasta/rice is fine if I buy it raw (not pouches)
Canned pulses are ok but not as good a dried.

Meat should be raw and identifiable (ie raw chicken, not bacon?)
Is tea/coffee ok?

Porridge oats and milk?

I'm going to try and start exercising but I am so unfit.

Thanks for any help

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zcwmg2p#z9bbqyc

You might find this helpful

Well done for starting out. For me the basic rule is if the ingredients have things nobody would have in their larder then don't eat it. Try to eat as much raw fruit and veg as you can. Have a bowl of chopped up salad ready in the fridge for times when you really want to eat.

You say you can't face being hungry but can you try to distract yourself a bit? If you find yourself reaching for a snack, can you wait five minutes? Or go and clean your teeth and see if you still want it?

Sometimes it is boredom rather than hunger so try to keep yourself busy. If that means treating yourself to a magazine, some knitting wool, a colouring in book, then do it.

Best of luck.

Be honest about what your eating now
Make a food diary and then look at where you can make small changes...swapping bread for a wrap
Adding in a piece of fruit or cutting down the amount of pasta and including more veggies
Swapping cereal at breakfast for porridge or something more savory like eggs
Drink more water
You can't change everything all at once
Make small adaptations that you can work with
Other things you can think about it start to look at food labels and if you couldn't recreate the item in your kitchen don't buy it! Try and reduce processed foods

In terms of exercise again think small manageable changes

• a short walk around the block
• some simple 5 minute beginner bodyweight workouts take a look at yes2next they have some very gentle beginner workouts

Xx

I think those are fairly good rules. And it's a good way to get started, definitely. I think you are right to not want to completely overhaul absolutely everything all at once.

I love porridge in the mornings as it's so quick and filling. My dc have it with a handful of frozen fruit in but I have mine with a spoonful of peanut butter.

I use tinned chick peas as dry ones are dangerous if you don't do it right!

I didn't know that about chick peas being dangerous! I don't want to kill myself when I'm trying to change.

You would all be horrified if I told you my diet. It is so bad I don't think tweaks will be enough.

The links was great as is all the advice. Thank you.

The Yuka app is good as it scans food in packets,jars,tins basically any packaged food and gives you a rating between 0-100 looking at nutritional content and whether it contains harmful additives, it will also recommend a better alternative product, the app is free to use

Think about what you eat and what less processed swaps you can make. Technically foods such as bread, cheese, pasta, margarine etc are still processed. Swap white for wholemeal. Pregrated cheese has added potato starch so grate from block. Plain yoghurt with fruit instead of flavoured pots. Check ingredients and go for items listing ingredients you would have in the cupboard at home.

Honestly op, I think you're distracting yourself and focusing on the wrong things. If you're morbidly obese, the damage caused by UPF's is the least of your current worries (that's really not meant as bitchy as it sounds...previous obese person here).

You don't have to be hungry when you're dieting. You need to get that out of your head and just get gradually used to eating less and eating better.

Don't be hungry. Eat constantly if you need to - fruit and salad, in addition to normal meals. If you're morbidly obese, you'll likely still lose weight. A full stomach is a full stomach and your stomach will still tell your brain it's full, regardless of whether it's full of two family size bars of chocolate or two full sized cucumbers.

Try not to get too over fixated on the UPF thing, the way you are describing it is at the more extreme end theres nothing wrong with tinned chickpeas, i think you risk over complicating it and getting confused and giving up.
Focus on avoiding the worst of the worst UPFs - ready meals, processed meat, fizzy drinks (including diet), fast food, takeaways etc.
If you are cooking for example a roast dinner from scratch the addition of Bisto gravy (UPF) isnt going to do much harm.
The main thing is you are trying, read all the links pp have provided, have a good read online for healthy food and good luck- you got this!!

Chickpeas aren't dangerous. Except where you're at risk of a heart attack from the cost of electricity to boil them for ages, that is.

Red kidney beans need to be prepared more carefully. But that's what tins are for, anyhow; tinned stuff is just cooked in advance as part of the canning process and there is nothing bad about water and salt (the other ingredients on the tin).

Stop catastrophising about your diet, though. Just look at how it can be improved - bread is just flour, water, yeast and salt, potato bread is just plain, cold boiled potato mashed up, some salt and flour before put into a warm nonstick pan, add an extra frozen vegetable each meal, cheese or a boiled egg is a better snack than two packets of crisps, tea and coffee (not the packet sachets of sugar, milk powder, flavouring, etc) is fine.

Its ok to start with tweaks to ease yourself in gently!
Don't be embarrassed to share what you eat. None of us know you!
If you want put a rough guess of what you eat in a day and I'm sure we'd be happy to offer alternatives? X

I get what you are saying @NoseyFarkers but I've tried all that (and I'm not saying that to be flippant, but I've been long term fat )

Currently I over eat very unhealthy food, I just thought if I over ate healthier food at least I would be getting all the goodness of the healthy food rather than all the crap of the UPF. Also hopefully I might start to feel full if I eat actual food.

Hello OP! Congratulations on getting a handle on this - the trick as you say is to not get hungry and to avoid additives and sugars in processed foods, Try the trick keeping a bowl of chopped salad and raw fruit in the fridge and dip in whenever you feel snacky - to start with try reading or scrolling on your phone whilst you do this rather than staring at what's in the bowl. Write a list in a diary of what you absolutely have to eat each day - protein, veg, fruit, yoghurt, bread, milk, cheese etc - and tick them off as you get through them, its starts to look like a very large amount of food. Plan ahead for your meals and shop accordingly - and yes, baking your own bread and cooking from fresh is terrific. Try to see food as less of a treat and more of fuel that will let you do amazing things. Doing a little bit of exercise that is chair based is better than nothing - get 2 tins out of the larder, sit nice and square on a solid chair and try for 6 arm raises with both arms, starting with arms straight out and bending to the tins to just in front of your shoulders, then back straight again. Start with doing this once a day and build up to more when you can. And once again, good for you. Take it at your own pace and do let us know how you are going.

bread is just flour, water, yeast and salt but not shop bought, it has all sorts.

I do appreciate that UPF isn't the root of my problems, but I eat mainly UPF food. I need a major overhaul.

I'm not sure I agree with that. There is very strong, mounting evidence that UPF completely screws up our gut health and our psychological relationship with food. All calories are absolutely NOT created equal.

I think you sound like you've got a great grasp of the basics OP, and if you follow those rules you won't go far wrong. I think you'd benefit from fundamentally rethinking your attitude towards food, and rather than seeing it as "bad" and something to feel guilty about, focus instead on taking pleasure and pride from fuelling your amazing body with all the things that are good for it.

You are 100% right, the UPF makes us crave more food.

It is very true that "real" food fills you up better than processed shite. Processed food is designed to leave you unsatisfied and craving more, plus as its devoid of nutrients your body stays hungry to try and obtain nutrients x

It's a easy one to make - and the effort required makes you more likely to enjoy it, rather than as a emergency means of squashing down feelings.

@Ecydsis most processed food is too high in sugar and loaded with additives etc that we don’t need. If you look at reducing sugar and increasing protein fresh veg and fruit and look at slower release carbs i.e lower glycemic index foods , brown rice instead of white rice, wholemeal bread instead of white etc

Also, do you understand why you have such an unhealthy relationship with food? Why do you eat so badly, in a way that you know is self-destructive? It may be worth investigating that with some counselling if you can.

Yes I have this app. It can shock you a few times thinking something is healthy and then you see it red instead of green!

Well done and good luck in your healthier eating.

If I make bread I can eat it? Yes, in small quantities
Butter, milk and cheese is ok as long as it isn't slices ? Yes
Pasta/rice is fine if I buy it raw (not pouches) pasta not so great, rice slightly better, but watch those carbs
Canned pulses are ok but not as good a dried. I don't think there's much difference
Meat should be raw and identifiable (ie raw chicken, not bacon?) chicken is better than red meat, and yes, best to cook it from raw yourself
Is tea/coffee ok? I think so, but there have been discussions relating to whether organic is better, whether caffeine-free is healthier
Porridge oats and milk? Yes

Small changes/tweaks that stick are better than trying to be perfect, failing (as most of us will), beating ourselves up and giving up.

Lots of us try and give up sugar in January as a New Year resolution. This year I read about how it's a really hard time to go cold turkey after indulging in December. So in January I didn't worry too much about sugar, but started adding more protein meals, more whole foods, to my diet...the sugar cravings mostly went.

I said I wouldn't beat myself up, if I was hungry I would eat, if I wanted something sweet, I would have something. My energy levels are more stable now, I can look at chocolate and not even want it.

You could try cauliflower rice instead of real rice. I often use it as a substitute and will be using it tonight when I make (from scratch) curry.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to reply to me. I didn't expect such kindness and advice.

There is a lot to unpick about why I overeat but I can't keep hiding behind excuses.