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

@Newname1900 that's all helpful thanks.

Interesting about part baked bread- I love the Lidl bread but I thought that was a UPF as it was part baked elsewhere and then baked in store. But maybe that is different again.

@Ecydsis your doing really well. Personally I wouldn't ban any food as this can cause negative emotions. Steak, duck and pork is fine in moderation. Tofu is lovely as well. Do you like Thai food at all? Lots of taste and not as greasy. Thai larb is lovely. And one of my favourites is salt and pepper tofu with stir fry veg. Soupy noodles. Also porridge is fine just change it all up. Explore and have fun.

It's really surprising isn't it! I assume it's because it doesn't need the same preservatives for the shelf life.

I've tried a few different breads and the most eye-opening thing to see was mould growing on the bread after a day - I'm so used to packaged bread lasting days, it was jarring to see it go off so quickly, but that's how it should be! I freeze slices for toast now and use the bake at home for lunches.

Apparently Aldi or Lidl do non-UPF bake at home croissants that are meant to be amazing.

Agree, it is all surprising. Been an eye opener today looking at ingredients and realising what is in food.

Listen to a lot of UPF people today, am enjoying it

Your lunch sounds delicious 😋

I’m confused by that, bread shouldn’t go mouldy after a day, it should go stale.
If it is going mouldy it probably has a high water content, which is true of bread made with the Chorleywood process.

Glad you're enjoying it. If you get really into it, that's a whole conference here, you can watch the recording on YouTube https://www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/events/ultra-processed-food-the-scope-government-action/

Well done op.
You're doing the right thing and I'm sure you're going to really benefit from this. Your meals sound great.

If you have time, make the bread at home. It's very easy but you just need time to prove it.
When it's made, slice it then freeze it so you're not tempted to eat loads. It's so delicious that it's hard not to!

There are some good walking exercise videos on YouTube if you wanted to add some more walking. You can have it on your phone while you watch something on tv.

Totally agree. Protein and fat keep you feeling full for longer whereas sugar and UPF give a quick "high " then a crash and a craving. This is why most "diet" products don't work - they replace fat with either high sugar or things like guar gum, xanthan gum (UPF) which do not trigger satiety cravings.

Sugar in whole fruits is also not the enemy as it comes with fibre, vitamins and other beneficial nutrients which do trigger satiety. Pureeing fruit destroys the fibre and makes the fruit into a sugary mess that doesn't satisfy hunger. Same with fruit juice - not healthy, just a sugary drink.

Well, day three- and I slept awful last night. Kept waking up and then finding it hard to get back to sleep, which is very unusual for me.
However I think I feel marginally brighter than I would after a normal night's sleep, but I might just be kidding myself.

Made wraps for my DC lunch, should not have looked at the ingredients. Can see how it will be much more expensive to be UPF free .

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel I've no idea why, it was a sliced fermented turnover if that helps?

Well done on day 3! That's a great achievement - you're doing the hardest part right now. Any time I've done exclusions day 3 and 4 are always the worst for the headaches, restlessness and stomach issues.

If your kids like brown bread you could try baking this - it's very quick and easy to make and it's so delicious. It keeps quite well too. goodfoodireland.ie/recipes/simply-nutritious-bread/

Well done you! Sometimes I go shopping and imagine the worse of Mumsnet judgily commenting on my trolley... maybe that would help.. ;)

I get bread from a farmer's market BTW. It's like a medieval punishment but deffo not UPF.

The thing is @Ecydsis swinging from one extreme to another rarely lasts. To make sustainable changes, you need the take it slowly. It’s taken years to get to this situation so give yourself the time to address it rather than setting yourself up for failure and self hatred.

Rather than a total overhaul and focusing on cutting out all UPFs straight away, try habit stacking.
Replace one or two things at a time, so the change becomes ingrained.

Swap white bread for whole grain this week. Swap bread for a wrap in a few weeks.

Add a little less of the unhealthy food and a little more of the fruit or veg at each meal so eventually your plate becomes rebalanced without you feeling you’ve lost anything.

Replace one sugary drink a day with an alternative.

Walk for 5 minutes a day this week, 10 minutes next and so on.

If you are as obese as you say, the NHS has weight management programmes you can be referred to.

I’ve been at crisis point and feeling shame at where my body and fitness were at but the only thing that’s worked for me is the habit stacking. You have to take the feelings of self disgust out of it as well. Be proud that you recognised you need to make a change. Be proud every time you make a small change that leads to another. Give yourself the time to make the changes.

I have just been to Tesco England, and all the part baked bread available was UPF (not a big Tesco) will keep looking.

I got some Jasons- my word was it heavy! Just at the part of the book where they are talking about children's jaws having an overbite and linking it to the fact UPF is all soft. Can see the difference in the density of the Jason's bread.

@Over40Overdating I do get what you are saying, and as severe as it sounds I am trying to habit stack, just from a completely new place.

So carbs/fats/real sugar I'm not cutting down at all, I've made some cakes and will eat as many as I want, same with cheese and butter, I'm not portion controlling I'm just having what I want.

I hope this makes it not too much of a change, the only change is that the food is not UPF. Listening to this audio book about UPF makes sense, I'm always hungry/have no ability to stop because my body doesn't register what I'm eating.

Day 3 meals

Breakfast Cold oats and seeds with milk

Lunch Jason's bread with roast chicken, avocado and salad (was very sad to see that gherkins are UPFs) quite a bit of butter as haven't got any mayo yet (duchy is UPF free, interestingly Heinz only has one (antioxidant) but Hellmans has five.
Mixed nuts and a banana.

Dinner will make use of the jacket potato I cooked spare yesterday, but not sure what I will have possibly make a bean chilli.

*Edited to say, the gherkins in my fridge are UPF- I will look for suitable ones next time I shop.

Just out of interest - have you started to feel different around food yet? Do you feel fuller or more satisfied or anything like that?

Probably too soon @foghead to really say, but I'm not hungry. I've done slimming world and weight watchers etc (and at times been very successful I just can't keep it up) but always murderously hungry in the first week.
But I've eaten three good sized meals, with nuts and small homemade cake for snack.

I slept really badly last night but I seem to be less tired than normal - so maybe it is starting to have an effect. Whilst calories are probably still high the actual quality of the food I'm eating since starting is so much better. All the empty food I would eat I can't.

My breadmaker bread doesn't go mouldy for a few days, but it does get stale within a couple of days so i slice it and keep in fridge.

The only time my hrwad went mouldy after 1 day was abroad in 80% humidity inside....
I grew up with non upf bread, as pp said, it goes stale-hard!/dry but shouldn't mould, let alone this quickly

So day 3 nearly done.

Feel like I have a bit more energy, could just be because I'm feeling positive, but will see.

At the part in the audio book which is talking about cows over eating. Really interesting to think that over eating can be driven by lack of nutrients.

Day 4.

Slept better than the night before but still not great, this is unusual so I assume is due to the drastic change of eating- my salt and sugar levels must have dropped significantly.

Have been drinking hot water and lemon mainly and have felt very thirsty, which is weird as drinking so much more- I think I must have been chronically dehydrated when I look at the liquids I was consuming prior to starting.

Breakfast - jacket potato with butter and feta salad.

Lunch- first time out for lunch (working lunch) it is a little pizza bar that makes it's own dough, but not sure about the sauce. But I'm not going to worry about that and have it with undressed salad.

Dinner- home made chicken and vegetable soup with as much Jason's bread and butter as I want ( I am taking time to chew properly and asking myself if I really want it, but I'm not currently looking at portion sizes)

Snack- nuts, apple, homemade small cake.

@Ecydsis today sounds like a delicious and filling day! I'm in awe of you making such drastic and positive changes ❤️