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

A tip I got that worked for me was, if you feel hungry, drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes. Often what we think is hungry is actually thirst.

I honestly recommend slimming world. You'll never go hungry on that lifestyle. My lovely neighbour has lost 5 stone so far, and she's never been hungry. She's made friends from it and they're all doing well on it.

Hi OP. You don't need to make it yourself though. You can buy proper sourdough from a fresh bakery that is literally proper ingredients.

Iiirc the Jason's bread is also all non UPF.

But a PP suggested wraps. Wraps are super UPF, if you don't believe me, smell them when you open the packet. They smell of chemicals.

If it isn't about calories then steer well clear of plastic bread.

And good luck.

You are not alone, the supermarkets and takeaways are just full of UPF that are making so many of us overweight. It takes more work to avoid / reduce them...Reading labels, being prepared, prepping food, having healthy snacks ready etc etc.

Pick a change and do it for a week..e.g. eat an apple after dinner instead of a pack of digestives.
Start reading labels, look for the traffic light system and avoid the reds.
Allow yourself to eat UPF sometimes, accept that it will happen for various reasons, be patient with yourself.

It can feel like a mountain to climb, but eating better not only brings a lot of physical benefits it is also much better for your mental health. I have really changed my eating habits over the last year and have lost 2.5 stone. There is a lot of information about how unhealthy westernised diets are causing all sorts of long term problems for health from diabetes and dementia to a number of mental health problems, Dr Georgia Ede and Dr Chris Palmer are interesting to listen to they are both psychiatrists so their focus is on mental health but they also talk about the physical impact as well

I’m also going to suggest that you start taking short walks, even if for 5 minutes, then work up to 10, then 20, and so on, until you can handle an hour walk per day. It will do wonders for your health, your mood, and I expect your food intake. Your body wants to move, and you will stop a lot of joint problems later if you start now.

It might be worthwhile taking a basic cooking class if you aren’t sure how to make simple and healthy meals, or trying a cookbook like the Green Roasting Tin. These are traybakes with veggies that are pretty easy to prepare. These more fibre/roughage you get from veg, the more full you’ll feel.

It may be worth seeing your GP about weight loss injections if you are morbidly obese and have a lot of food noises. These, plus exercise, plus change in diet will all reinforce each other and get you back to health. All the best of luck to you.

In terms of avoiding UPF, I found it quite hard to completely give up - and I am a vegetarian who cooks most things from scratch! So I wouldn’t obsess about being perfect (eg worrying about tinned pulses vs dried) but instead look to make sustainable changes.

For example, a UPF breakfast could be porridge with fruit, granola (the Lizi low sugar granola is very low UPF and tastes good) with plain Greek yoghurt, chia seeds and berries or an omelette with tomatoes and feta. Focus on really nourishing yourself during that meal and when you feel that has become a sustainable habit you could consider swapping snacks or lunch or whatever else feels achievable.

This may not make you lose weight in the short term, but it’s more about rebuilding the relationship between what your body needs and what you enjoy eating. It’s so hard but you deserve to feel much better than you currently do.

@Ecydsis your doing so well. My advice would be get a soda stream. Cheap filter kettle in the fridge then you have Sparkling water on tap. You can make this special with small amounts of juice, cordials etc. Also a big factor around obesity is shame and trauma. Maybe try some therapy as well? Take one day at a time, and don't feel like just because you got some shop brought wraps all your hard work is undone. Sometimes buying meal plans such as hello fresh and gusto can help with portion sizes. I would avoid batch cooking ATM and just do a small balanced portion of veg, protein etc. Also if you like music maybe dance to a bit of YouTube or radio? 😁

Oh and I second the Yuka app. It’s a real eye opener!

if you haven't already come across it, the book Ultra Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken is really good. It will help to understand some of the differences between processed and ultraprocessed foods, why UPF is essentially addictive and what it does to our bodies, and it'll make you really angry (hopefully!) when you realise how utterly devoid of morals the big UPF producing companies are.

I think switching away from upfs is a great way to take control of your diet without worrying about how much you're eating. I'm listening to the audiobook (free from the local library) of Dr Federica Amati's Every BODY Should Know This. She's really passionate about how upfs impact health. Might be a nice listen (or read) to go along with your changes. I'm definitely trying to take note!

Re:chickpeas, I'm a shoddy cook, but make my own houmous after "Ramona's" changed their recipe. The secret to not boiling them for hours is soaking them overnight with a little baking soda. Just take an hour (sometimes only 30 mins) to get fully cooked. But also I think canned is probably fine, and will be easier to digest at first (imho).

She (and also the nhs recommended to me as I'm going though fertility struggles) talk about how incredibly well proven the Mediterranean diet is as a healthy way to eat. So that as a simple guide is good. I'm trying to make my gut microbiome better as I have chronic hives and a recent test showed I had very few gut bacteria. Hoping to cure that with kefir and kimchi. Those are great things to add into your diet when focusing on overall helpful foods :)

Oh also I make my own granola. It's really easy and I buy all the nuts and seeds from Aldi so it works out super cheap compared to brands. I simplified the recipe from a guardian one and if you want it I'll post it here.

This is a better beginning approach!

I think, simply put, try and eat like your great grandparents did. Fruit/veg/dairy/meat/fish.
If you want cake make it yourself! Good luck.

I agree with @Wavescrashingonthebeach

I think moving away from UPFs is great but be careful that you are not overeating on healthy food, as this is often a trap that people fall down (me being one of them).

It’s unlikely you will be able to remove all of them from your diet and so as the PP said, focus on the big things.

Homemade bread is delicious and I would end up eating it when I wasn’t even hungry.
So I personally would buy a loaf from a bakery instead.

Porridge oats or eggs are low calorie and natural so you could have them for your breakfast.

I try and have multiple meals a week where the main ingredients are meat, potatoes/rice and veg.
These are all natural ingredients and when I want to lose weight I will up the veg and reduce the potatoes/rice.

As others have said it’s ok to have slip ups and I will still eat frozen pizza or a takeaway.

I would start walking for exercise.
not only does it burn calories but it’s also great for your MH and if you’re walking you’re not eating.

Chris Van Tulkein, who a PP recommended, says you should start by changing your breakfast to non UPF.

I'd suggest you write a list of all your favourite dinners, pick a couple and learn to cook them from scratch.

You'll need to change the way things taste to you as you'll be so used to the chemically UPF instant gratification tastes and textures.

Don't be hard on your self if it takes time.

I'd also recommend making a salad to eat before each meal. Add nice things like, olives cashew nuts, or parmesan flakes for example.

If I were you I’d not focus on all UPF’s. So don’t worry about making your own pasta and bread.

But just make sure you only eat fresh food made yourself. So no ready meals, no takeaways, no jarred sauces, no freezer food.

Also try to limit yourself to only eating meals. Big, hearty meals. Breakfast, lunch and Dinner and nothing else.

Seems reasonable to me! I’ve gone through phases of eating crap food (by MN standards at least ) and I think eating healthily has completely changed my cravings. I just don’t really fancy chocolate anymore. You do have to enjoy the healthy food in the first place though I reckon, so find recipes you really like!

I do think the cutting out all UPF might be quite extreme though. Small targeted changes can have a big impact. For instance, if you eat a lot of sugar, cutting out the most obviously sugary UPF for a period to see the effect might be a good start. That’s what I’ve found anyway.

Also, if you like cakes and biscuits, make your own.

Much much tastier.

Cutting UPFs won't make you magically lose weight if you are srilll eating the same number of calories. I'd focus on the calories first and then deal with the UPFs

I suspect it will be easier to focus on the calories once the UPF have gone - UPF foods seem to be more addictive ( apple or biscuit for a snack ? Egg or Nutella for your buttie ? )

One change unnoticed - homemade bread is less fluffy than shop bread - so you use less fillings - less butter and cheese - so that way you reduce calories and cost without even trying to

This is too drastic for a first step!

Why don't you try changing one thing each week?? Then keep that change and add another, identify your trigger foods and get rid of them first:

Week 1: no biscuits
Week 2: no chocolate
Week 3: no crisps
Week 4: no cake
Week 5: healthy breakfast
Week 6: healthy lunches
Week 7: healthy dinners
Week 8: no bread / own bread
Week 9: no pasta

Eg salad can be pretty unappetising at first so feel free to drown it in Caesar dressing / coleslaw to start with....

I think if you attempt something so restrictive at once you will quickly fail

@shiverm yes please.

In general I agree @FusionChefGeoff but if I was diagnosed coeliac, or dairy allergy I would have to radically change my diet, I'm doing as much damage with my current diet - I just feel it is worth a try.

I've read every reply and appreciate them all.

I've downloaded the audible book on UPFs and been shopping. I plan to start Monday (only because I have food to use up today)

Breakfast - porridge with banana and a little honey.

Snack peanut butter and blueberries cake (I'm making today, using flour, real butter, milk, peanut only butter (was more expensive) and eggs. These will be small and I will freeze.

Lunch- pasta, chicken, spinach, olives and feta salad.

Dinner - roast chicken and veg- gravy is the only issue here, I will try and make one using just flour and stock but it hasn't gone well in the past.

Cutting out fizzy will be hard and need to have something sweet at the end of the day. Have bought pears.

If I'm hungry/struggling I can eat anything that isn't a UPF.

It is mountain I have to climb but least I'm making a step

Some types of say sauce are not UPF ? That can pep up gravy , or make onion gravy ( or both )