I’ve gone non UPF, I just can’t believe the difference it’s made in a week

[LaurieFairyCake]

I feel like such an idiot. I can’t believe how well I feel, how much I’m ready for bed and how much better I sleep.

this shit is radical. I was eating 40% upf (a teenagers diet is 80% 😱) and I feel brand new.

i have zero pain in my joints, during the day loads of good energy

does anyone else do this ?

For lunch and dinner:

chicken or steak kebab
egg mayonnaise
35 plant salad
potato salad
peppers/tomatoes

at the moment I have no kitchen apart from an air fryer I cook the chicken in so I’ve been buying the non upf Ocado versions of the above

so basically it’s Greek yoghurt/nuts/fruit/honey for breakfast
chicken or steak kebab and salad/potato salad for lunch/dinner
crisps/chocolate snacks in the evening (I eat a third of a bar of the chocolate - 200 calories)
plus I also snack on roasted and salted nuts (peanuts and cashews) all day - low blood pressure so I need the salt

there are no refined carbs in my diet in last week and not missed them.

Joining for more info, sounds interesting. My sister is reading the book by the Dr mentioned above, and seems motivated

are you scouring the ingredients list of every item or is there a handy app that told you these crisps are non-UPF?

schtompy · Yesterday 22:57

Constantly stunned by how people don't cook from scratch nowadays. It's nothing new..well done for getting there, now for the rest of the country,

I think a lot of people are somewhere in the middle, but people see them with some junk food and assume they live on takeaway or pizza. To be fair life is extremely busy for people and they’re doing the best they can

I eat a 1000 calories a day as I’m on maintenance. I’m very short so I can’t eat more or I would gain weight.

because of my low calories I was definitely eating a bit more than a third of upf - so the crisps and chocolate were main swap plus the chicken kebabs were a upf (ridiculous, they were the piri piri ones from Ocado). Also I was eating sourdough so I’ve dropped that for now until I find one that’s non upf that I like.

i thought I’d miss bread but I don’t yet. I love potato salad.

Ddakji - I asked chat gpt to find them for me

Same here,

Biggest things I noticed were healthier and clearer skin, improved sleep, less bloating, less joint pain.

35 plant salad, @LaurieFairyCake ?

Does that mean it tastes the same every day or does it vary? If all the ingredients are in it, I’m not sure how you tweak it for variety!

I make salads on rotation, so there are always several to choose from. A leafy green one, a tomato one, pulses, grains, coleslaws…

If I make a big pot every time, each meal can have a selection in but still vary from day to day.

What are you using as mayo in your potato salad? Yoghurt?

There is an app called Yuka that’s great for spotting UPF, you just scan the barcode and it gives a score out of 100, but it also breaks down what additives etc are in the food and why they are bad.
it scans skincare too!

So I also noticed a difference with my hrt patches. I’ve been having to use 3 a week of the 100mg. I’ve not put one on this week as my inflammation has nose dived. I put one on this morning as I need to keep it going until I get a doctors appointment.

1000 calories - are you not hungry? Doesn’t seem a lot.

I’ve been buying the M and S potato salad and their 35 plant salad. As I’m only on a 1000 calories, the Charlotte potato salad is non upf and I only eat a quarter of it per meal of the 500gm pack.

smalldogdancing I’m on maintenance on a weight loss injection so injecting fortnightly. I have no choice to stay on it for life as I can’t eat more than 1000 calories without putting on weight.

everyone on this thread would have to scale up to their calorie allowance.

I’m not doing this for ‘dieting’, I’m already on the right calorie dose. I’m doing it for health to improve my feeling well.

I had a healthscare a couple of years ago.

I gave up: alcohol.for 100 days, now just drink occasionally, never more than 6 units a week. Also:
Sugar
Refined carbohydrates
Butter
Processes meat
Cut down significantly red meat

Upped, chicken, fish, beans, veg/salad, fruit.

Within weeks every patch of eczema/dandruff cleared up, my ankles stopped getting puffy, and my aches and pains lifted.

Bonus: I lost 2.5st over 9 months.

Pleased to hear it's working for you @LaurieFairyCake

Factory made crisps aren’t non upf. Sounds like you’ve made some good changes but I’d lose the crisp and daily chocolate unless just one square of 70% or higher %. Stick to unsalted nuts or sprinkle a bit of your own sea salt. Are you checking the ingredients list?

My teens are at uni and live on frozen foods, bread, and McDonald’s etc. I’d be surprised if they weren’t more than 80% tbh.

Completely agree OP, I felt amazing after a week then had a weekend of indulgence and was bloated, tired, grumpy. Back to it this week!

So pasta counts as more harmfully processed than deep fried crisps and overpriced chocolate? 🤔

I've done it. Almost completely non UPF now. It's amazing when you start reading the labels and see that huge list of weird ingredients. I used to buy cheap salad cream, but splashed out on Heinz last week after reading the ingredients.

I recommend everyone watch the podcast with the Dr on the diary of a ceo channel on YouTube. It’s 90 minutes and one of the most powerful things he said was how he managed to shift from consumption to ‘disgust’.

he said he used the Allan Carr method (for quitting smoking) which was eat as much as he could while learning about it. Shifted him to disgust so he could give it up.

it took me a week to find out the right swaps for me.

I have jumbo oats, seeds (mix and add water), Greek yoghurt and frozen berries in top for breakfast; a protein (fish, chicken etc) and salad / veg with grains or potatoes for another meal; cottage cheese /eggs and bean mix/ for another meal. Fresh fruit or dried fruit and nuts for snacks. A cup of good quality cocoa made with dash of milk and water (no sugar) if i fancy something chocolatey. I don't do sauces, spreads or dressings unless I make my own with olive oil etc. Have cut right down on bread ( and feel so much better for this).
This is my normal diet - i absolutely do not feel deprived. I will have a sandwich/ occasional UPF item if I'm working at client and no other option - but very occasionally.
My mood is much better. My aches and pains have completely vanished. However, sleep is still not great, and because i love my food, still tend to carrying about half stone more weight than I'd ideally like.

chelseabagger - I found a non upf pasta this morning! I don’t eat it in summer but I do in winter - here they are

It's perfectly possible to cook from scratch and still eat a fair bit of UPF though - e.g. in the form of breakfast cereal, bought bread, snacks, soft drinks, condiments and ingredients with UPF content etc.

I agree. I was thinking of having pork pie and salad for tea. I’m not even a major fan of pork pies but it’s so easy. I think I’ll hard boil some eggs instead.
I need to get back to baking bread. I used to but I’ve got lazy.