Has anyone lost weight going UPF free?

[inky1991]

Just that really.

I've read the ultra processed people book and I'm now on a mission to only eat, real whole foods where I can. Aiming for 80/90% UPF free, as I think it's far too hard to aim for the 100%

Has anyone else tried this and lost weight? Would really like to hear everyone stories

I've been doing it for just over a week, and I'm feeling so much better in myself and don't feel the need to snack anymore. I don't want to weigh myself just yet as im only 8 weeks post partum. I've probably got a good 2/3 stone to lose.

Doubt your “lots of people” have done it - just look at the figures! It’s very much high income groups who might have gone this route. People on lower incomes simply cannot afford it. Chris VT points this out regularly in his book, that it’s nobody’s fault they’re eating this rubbish, but it’s that rubbish which is the cheapest and most available for cash and time poor people. We need to be careful to have understanding of just how difficult some people find it to buy food quality groceries and to cook it.

@abdabs I kind of agree with you although I do think a non-UPF diet is possible on a low income diet, but with a fair bit of effort and probably without much meat. I deeply disagree with the Tory idea that everyone can feed their children on £2 a week (or whatever), and I think Jack Monroe is completely toxic for suggesting some of her tiny, low calorie meals.

I grew up in a family without much spare cash but we ate lots of things like dhal, chickpea curry, soup and bread homemade in an ancient bread maker. My mum and dad both worked full time and are now in their 70s but are fit as fiddles. They eat a low-UPF diet but it is a lot of repetitive meals, fruit is mostly apples and things grown on their friend's allotment. DM is mega-organised and always used to soak beans and grains overnight and still does.

I don't think the book says people need to have a perfect diet, just cut down on the UPFs overall.

Yes, I have started eating very little UHP food since listening to an interview with the author of the book.
I've been losing about a pound a week while still eating quite a lot. I'm about a stone overweight and hopefully will settle at an ideal weight..I haven't eaten bread for about five years anyway, but I've been more careful about snacking. My weaknesses were crisps and chocolate but I also don't use ready made pasta sauces or shop bought mayonnaise any more.

I cut out upf in February and have lost 11kg. I have been maintaining this weight now for 2 months having got to my target weight of 50kg.

I have found this 'diet' really easy and the best thing is that it is sustainable long term and is just a way of eating now. I feel healthier, have more energy and have lost all my peri menopausal belly fat. I no longer feel any cravings for upf and have no need to calorie count, I just eat until I am full.

I did however combine this with going relatively low sugar and have largely cut out bread and tend to limit stachy carbs to 1 portion a day which may have also helped. I have replaced sugar with increased healthy fats, evoo on everything and a lot of cheese and nuts.

'Ultra-processed' basically means the food has been industrially processed and has chemicals, preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial colours/ sweeteners etc. added to it. They usually have more than 5 ingredients and things that you don't see in your kitchen cupboard.

Ham is a UPF, as are frozen oven chips, as it some canned fruit (not all).

Canned fruit might be ultra processed depending what is added to it. If it's just chopped fruit in water/ its own juices, it's not UPF. But sometimes they add sweeteners etc.

Supermarket bread almost always has preservatives added to it, hence it is UPF. If you buy fresh bread from a bakery it is probably not UPF.

Basically, if you look on the ingredients list of a food and it has things you wouldn't find in your own kitchen, it is likely to be UPF.

I recommend a book called 'Why We Eat (Too Much)' for a really good explanation of processed foods.

Also worth noting that bread from the supermarket bakery is also usually ultra processed - something many people fall for! It's not actually fresh bread.

I think loads of people doing Zoe have. It's basically the same as it's about understanding all the components that go into food and how they impact on you individually.

i wouldn’t say it’s the same. UPF is not a good group for a start and it’s been proven people eat more calories when they consume UPF vs ‘real food’ of identical macro formation. Basically our bodies don’t react normally to UPF and we over eat.

I do agree however that just like going vegan, cutting out UPF makes it practically more difficult to find foods to eat (especially on the go) which can lead to people eating less and hence loosing weight.

Try the Blue Zone diet - there's a show on Netflix on it and there's a cooking book you can get. I've been making some of those meals and noticing a difference.

I lost 4 stone and have put on 1. 2 years ago I quit sugar and processed food, the 1 stone back on is as a result of wine and bread, but my weight is relatively stable I know I’m not going to balloon to where I was because my habits have changed.

My thoughts are don’t overthink it, you can eat what you want as long as you make it yourself and avoid sugar. If you’re hungry, eat and have water. Oranges are my go to snack now. The odd chicken Kiev and can of beans isn’t going to derail it and that’s no more than once a week. I tend not to have too much pasta and rice as they traditionally get accompanied by sweetened sauces.

If you mostly eat sensibly like this, you’ll feel better generally with more energy. This summer I’ve tried to up my activity levels which has had zero Impact on my weight, I could still do with loosing 2 stone. But I feel much stronger and know I’m healthier so I’ve stopped stressing quite so much about the number on the scale.

What do people use for chicken stock? Having read the UPF book I looked at my stock cubes and found they had all sorts of weird stuff in. I can’t face boiling a chicken carcass. Is there an intermediate option?

I am currently listening to this book as an audio book and it's really interesting.
I want to cut out UPF hut not sure where to start.
Do you have cooked meals? If so what di you make?

I'd also like to lose weight so that would be a bonus.

@Ibetthatyoulookgoodon

Well it kind of is a food group or at the very least it's an elimination diet if you follow it, it eliminates pretty much all snack food you'd find in a petrol station, most aisles in a supermarket, requires pre planning and checking ingredients.

Limit the options you limit the intake of calories.

Aren't the studies of UPF Vs "whole foods" very limited No.1 of trials and the like? The point about UPF being easy to over consume is a valid one because the majority of it is tasty but home baked/cooked equivalents can also be over eaten just as easy because they are also tasty.

My opinion on this UPF thing is it's an appeal to nature fallacy and it's the latest in a long line of nutritional silver bullets for people to write a book about.

I read ultra processed people when I was 5 months post partum and still carrying some extra weight. I’ve since cut out the majority of UPF at home and I’m losing about 1kg/ month for the 2 months since. BMI is now 22 and I hope this continues a few more months.
I’m still eating plenty of carbs - but lots of jacket potatoes / boiled new potatoes (with butter!) rice, pasta. Omelettes for lunch when I can put down the baby for 2 minutes.
Back to making my own bread in the bread maker (standard white loves) but trying to eat porridge most mornings with walnuts and banana.

I did a bunch of batch cooking before the school holidays, lots of home made chilli, veg chilli, Jamie’s 7 veg sauce. Roasting a mumsnet chicken every couple of weeks which does us for fajitas the next day plus soup / stock.
I don’t know if the weight loss is due to diet or breastfeeding but everyone seems happy with what we are eating.

Hi! This really is just 'eating healthy' but people like to dress everything up as a diet fad.

I decided to cut out any added sugar about 4 months ago, and naturally that meant cutting out upf. I still drink coffee, usually with almost a whole carton of oat milk per day as that's my vice.

No processed food, more fruit and veg. Only whole grains in the form or pasta and rice. I also eat tofu as I'm vegan, and I haven't cut out potatoes.

Once you get over the initial withdrawal it's plain sailing, naughty snacks sit uneaten in our house now, which is a revelation as I have a binge eating problem but that's not relevant here.

I was about 10stone 8lb and after the first month the weight just fell off. I'm not 9st 6lb and have plateaued so need to make some changes if I want to lose more weight, but as I initially started eating healthy for the health benefits I'm not fussed about the extra few pounds I'd like to shift.

Benefits have been:
Better sleep
Better mood
More patience
No hunger pangs!
No cravings
Better portion control as I'm eating to fuel my body
More energy
Hair, skin and nails best they've ever been
Hair and nails growing fast

And obviously the weight loss!

I also don't drink any alcohol

We've been reading about upf the last couple of days. My dh eats a ton of upf but it's a healthy bmi. I eat very little upf and I'm overweight.

@FinallyHere you've had amazing success!
Did you use any particular websites for recipes?

Genetics plays a part, some people chose the right parents and have an easy time being lean others find it more of a battle to even be a healthy weight.

At the end of the day no matter the composition of food eaten it's still an energy balance equation which is controversial to say these days for some reason!

It’s not a good group because that term has a specific definition and UPF isn’t one of them. I suppose it’s a way of grouping together some foods though so perhaps that’s what you mean.

I think we probably agree on the broader fad diet / silver bullet point - where I disagree is that fad diets and cutting out food groups (going vegan, cutting out dairy, no carbs etc.) typically makes if harder to have a balanced diet (ironically) so whilst you might loose weight (for the reasons you’ve suggested) you won’t necessarily have a healthier diet. Cutting out UPF is different - no one is healthier because they eat UPF and we’d all be better off eating less or none of it, you can’t say that about cutting out a genuine food group. There are a few studies referenced in the book Ultra processed human, I’ll look them up and share if I can find the details. I found it interesting.

@FrodisCapering there are some quite lively Facebook groups - one is called something like 'reducing UPF Foods (UK)' and there are some 'quitting UPF' ones but they descend into bickering quite a lot!

The 'reducing' ones are better imho as they are good for beginners and the UK groups mean the dietary advice is relevant to the uk - for example, over here all our white flour is fortified with calcium and vitamins to help prevent malnutrition so that wouldn't be classed as UPF. Our butter in the UK is made by grass-fed cows whereas that doesn't seem to be the case in the US so is explicitly stated (eg on Kerrygold).

I haven’t got a lot of weight to lose now but have effortlessly lost 3 lbs in a couple of weeks, just eating relatively low UPF and being a bit mindful of what I eat. I used to low carb but found with a busy family, dp and ds who want to eat nice things together etc, it wasn’t really sustainable.

my parents bought me a bread maker for my birthday and I’ve also been cooking biscuits and cakes rather than buying (and not eating too many!) for packed lunches etc. also eliminated ready meals, make our own pizza and cook (simple meals as I don’t have lots of time) from scratch.

Lost four and a half stones over two years.

No UPF, drastically reduced sugar, wheat and veg oil ( apart from extra virgin olive oil). Low but not no carbs.

Lots of protein and full fat dairy and as wide a range of veg as possible.

Come and join us on the Why We Eat Too Much thread in weight loss chat

Yes, and like a pp, avoid alcohol also these days.

Apologies @FrodisCapering I missed your message.

The low carb bootcamp threads here on Mumsnet got me started on the low carb, high fat way of eating. While nowadays it seems quite outlandish, especially when compared to a lot of the 'healthy eating' guidelines that are all around us these days, it is actually very like the food my mother made for us as a family. Meat, most of it quite fatty but cooked so that it was crispy rather than flaccid, bulked out with a lot of green veg, butter/creme and nothing 'low fat'

There is lots of support available on the threads, with lots of recipes grouped by type of food. Hope you find what works for you