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

Thank you both. I'm using them to meal plan for next week so will use them. I have seen a post about UPF anxiety (ie don't sweat the small stuff if you are changing the big stuff)
I've gone from about 90% UPF, to thinking about one item in one food, so the improvement has been massive.

Today I've felt very tired, like exhausted and strangely my skin on my hands seems to have aged 10years- neither side effect is particularly pleasing. I assume it is a side effect of the sugar/alcohol/caffeine/salt withdrawal, although I don't feel deprived at all, which is certainly helping my desire to continue.

The citric acid increases the shelf life of the tinned tomatoes inhibiting certain bacteria. Mutti tomatoes don’t have citric acid but they are very expensive I don’t know about other brands without

Thanks @TheOliveFinch it does show how it is everywhere, tinned tomatoes are such a basic staple and yet UPF then

Will look for mutti, another example of it being expensive to do non UPF.

This website is also worth a look https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/4088600475844/peeled-plum-tomatoes-cucina

and tinned tomatoes are considered minimally processed even with citric acid. So I really wouldn’t fret about this one

I have seen a post about UPF anxiety(ie don't sweat the small stuff if you are changing the big stuff)
I've gone from about 90% UPF, to thinking about one item in one food, so the improvement has been massive.

Kindly, you need to think about taht bit more reasonably. You called a restaurant to ask about their pizza sauce....
At this rate, you might burn put in few weeks.

Good for you for the improve, REALLY, but you are gling in quite hard. Kind of like many religious converts😉

Correcting myself - edited out incorrect post apologies!

@TheElvesLongSleeves I do get what you are saying (in my defence I just asked when I was at the pizza place- I knew they made their own dough)
I know that just because I'm cutting UPF it doesn't mean my diet is healthy, I am still eating too much fat (cheese/butter mainly) and too many carbs/large portions. I just want to get a handle on UPF for a while, so I can learn what is and isn't UPF with the plan that when I know what is non UPF without questioning it then I can move to looking at portion sizes etc.

I'm looking at it like an allergy - if I developed a nut allergy I would have to check everything for nuts - what if UPF is what has been killing me?

Day seven.

Breakfast - I'm mindful of food waste so planning on same as yesterday to use up the spinach, so spinach and tomato with scrambled egg and toast (I can't make omelettes)

Lunch - chicken and avocado wrap- this is to stop me eating out.

Dinner - homemade lasagne, will see if the family notice the difference, I'm going to roast peppers and garlic to try and increase the flavour. Have home made stock cubes but they don't have as much flavour - need to work on my stock.

Snack - fruit and nuts (pears have finally ripened.)

Feeling optimistic, happy, not quite as tired.

You are doing awesomely OP! I'm loving your updates.

Top tip with stock - M&S do one in a jar which is non UPF and very good.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/concentrated-beef-stock/p/fdp20002097

Tip for omelettes - poor the egg (and cooked veg) mixture into an oiled pan and don’t touch it. Once the bottom has had enough cooking time put it under the grill (and add your cheese on top if you like). Much easier than flipping it.

I shall try that omelette method thanks.

Having a glass of merlot after a lot of cooking but I have some meals prepared.

I've made lasagna, from a recipe - hmm it certainly doesn't have the warming tomato red glow of a UPF lasagna! Even grated my own cheese (turns out pre grated is UPF)

Have 10 for dinner, about to serve it, will see what they think.

Well no-one complained, a couple said it tasted different but they still liked it- this is family so wouldn't worry about telling me if it was horrid!

I didn't have the garlic bread which was upf but next time I will make my own, just needed something safe.

I roasted garlic in the air fryer for the first time, that came out well so will try that again.

So this is the end of the first week- UPF has been minimal, even if I over estimate it has been less than 5%. I wouldn't say a healthy diet yet, but much healthier than the week before.

I've see drunk less alcohol, and swapped to a red but still more than weekly allowance, I plan to work on this next week.

My sleep has been disrupted, and my skin seems dry, my digestion has been better I think. In fact now I am thinking about it I haven't had any indigestion this week.

So plan for next week, I'm still keeping it simple, just adding one more thing.

No UPF
No more than 14 units. (Had two bottles over the week this week)

Amazing work OP!

this is exactly how diet change should be done.

Lidl and Aldi both do a citric acid free tin of tomatoes. The italian cherry ones in tomato juice. 75p

https://groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-specially-selected-cherry-tomatoes-in-rich-tomato-juice-400g-240g-drained/4061463958617

Aldi also do some loaves that are suspiciously similar to Jason's.
£1.75 , you know you have consumed them by the amount of chewing required.

https://groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/Search?keywords=loaf&fn1=CategoryLevel1_Facet&fv1=L1HealthyMeals

Thanks for the Aldi bread tip. Agree with the chewing.
I am not waking up hungry, this is a big difference.

Week 2, Day 1.

Breakfast Banana (had to go to a meeting at school)

Lunch Sandwich with chicken, cheddar and butter, plus salad .

Dinner reminder of lasagne.

I've lost 3lbs.

I echo not to worry about the citric acid. I actually bought it once as crystals was like sour taste "bottled", can't remember what I did with it must have been on offer somewhere but chefs use it to make ceviche. I think it is relatively natural. It's certainly naturally present in lemons.

The mutti stuff is more expensive but my word the flavour is unreal. I always used to buy the cheapest tinned tomatoes / tom purees etc but got a jar of their pasta sauce once and was converted!

You are still going amazing op, keep it up 👋

Hunger isn’t the worst thing.

You are doing amazing, OP. I'm really in awe.

You are doing brilliantly.
I don’t worry about citric acid - it’s an ingredient in my kitchen anyway because I have had it for making bread and home brew mead.
I also don’t worry about stock cubes. I don’t think the allergy analogy is quite right because if you are nut allergic a tiny bit of nut could kill you but with UPFs it’s about the total amount. If you worry too much about the tiny things it will add to the expense.
However I do agree that the groundwork you are laying with finding out about absolutely everything will be useful. I make a strategic decision not to care about certain ingredients but I prefer to do it from a position of knowledge.

If you are drinking that much alcohol you will find cutting it out/right down is an easy win once you start deciding to focus on weight loss. It’s a lot of empty calories which don’t even fill you up. It will also save you way more money than the extra you need to spend to buy quality ingredients.

Thanks for the post, I did decide this morning that tinned sardines were worth it despite having sunflower oil in them (I'm avoiding all oils except good quality olive) helpful about citric acid. I've bought some Mutti tomatoes but plan to have them on toast rather than in a lasagna. I do hope dropping the wine will help the scales!

Thanks for the support @LegallyBlende I'm using this thread to hold myself to account so it helps.

Week 2. Day 2.

Breakfast Sardines on toast with salad (contains sunflower oil, so poss UPF, but only that ingredient)

Lunch. Tomato soup

Dinner . Roast chicken- will see how the gravy goes!

Snack pear, apple with peanut butter, nuts.

Remember that you can also get sardines in brine, olive oil and tomato sauce.

Cooked chickpeas aren't dangerous, that person is getting mixed up with kidney beans. And is a good example of dont believe everything you read on the internet.

OP, there's no need to stress over whether cheese is sliced or not etc, it's just the latest fashion in healthy eating, always accompanied by books, plans etc.

Plenty of fruit and veg, lean protein, moderate amounts of fat and whole grain carbohydrates. Plenty of fluid, minimal salt and sugar. Cook at much as you can from scratch. Weigh your food and record the calories. Gentle exercise. Good luck.

Thanks but I don't agree with you about cheese. Grated cheese is UPF it has anti caking added. It was pure laziness that led me to pre grated. That is an easy swap.