I eat a lot of plain Greek yogurt, berries, usually a little cheese, salad, eggs, whatever DH makes for dinner. I like lightly salted peanuts, natural peanut butter, dark chocolate and Triscuits, a few spoonfuls of nice ice cream, the occasional Trader Joes frozen dinner. I could eat worse things. I'm active and slim.

My mom has smoked for 65 years, eats Eggos, frosted mini wheats, hot dogs, frozen meals, chips, store bought cookies, ice cream and Tastykakes and not much else. She's 82, has never weighed more than 110, and has no major health issues. I do Instacart orders for her and I'm always sort of horrified.

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend in grad school who never ate anything with more than 3 ingredients on the label. It seemed a simple rule to follow. Although, obviously exceptions must be made for ice cream.

You could original flavor Fritos.

Today in terms of processed foods I had cream cheese and ice cream. But otherwise I had raw vegetables, nuts, fresh baked bread, eggs, and home grown tomatoes....

Anonymous wrote:95 % of my food comes from the refrigerator (other than fruits/vegetables that can live on the counter).

But I do love (and eat many times a week) pretzel sticks. Cannot go without them!

There's plenty of processed food that lives in a fridge.

95 % of my food comes from the refrigerator (other than fruits/vegetables that can live on the counter).

But I do love (and eat many times a week) pretzel sticks. Cannot go without them!

A lot. Jarred sauces. Boxed pasta. Store bought bread. Canned and frozen vegetables. Cereal (like Cheerios, not the sugary ones) oatmeal, crackers, canned beans, cheese, butter, half and half, peanut butter, lunch meat, milk, coffee. I take a frozen Amy’s or TJ meal for lunch.

I buy produce and meat/chicken/fish fresh. We eat a lot of produce.

We don’t buy chips/cookies/ice cream. We don’t buy juice, sports drinks, or soda (we are a water/coffee/tea house). I rarely buy prepared meals.

Everyone in my household is a healthy, stable weight. We eat normal portions, rarely eat junk, don’t drink alcohol, are pretty adrive, and we have walking/transit commutes.

Lots and lots. Health and weight are A-ok.

I eat processed food every day. Yesterday I had Sociables crackers and store-bought cookies. Today I'm having pretzels. I buy Rao's frozen lasagna and TJ's chicken sui mai (sp?).

Anonymous wrote:^ Oh and meat. We eat fresh chicken, mostly.

DP- yes this is where I thought I was safe (rotisserie chicken!) but now I need to check what's been injected into it.

Anonymous wrote:By that definition, a $hit ton. Don’t care. I’m a normal weight have great bloodwork and exercise 6 days a week. I eat fruits and vegetables daily but also a lot of stuff on your “processed” list. I also eat ultra processed foods 😳. I’ve been the same weight give or take a few pounds for decades.

Same.

For instance:
Breakfast - english muffin with butter and two scrambled eggs, coffee with milk
Lunch - salad with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and store bought dressing. Plus a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on store bought bread
Dinner - pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, collard greens

So today, the dressing and ham were probably the worst offenders. But I am 100% fine with that.

By that definition, a $hit ton. Don’t care. I’m a normal weight have great bloodwork and exercise 6 days a week. I eat fruits and vegetables daily but also a lot of stuff on your “processed” list. I also eat ultra processed foods 😳. I’ve been the same weight give or take a few pounds for decades.

^ Oh and meat. We eat fresh chicken, mostly.

Every day but in balance.

Breakfast is fruit and plain Fage yogurt and maple syrup.

Lunch is usually salad. I make my own dressings.

Dinner is heavy on veggies, rice or potatoes or pasta in moderation, sometimes bread, and we like sauces and spices. Sometimes I make my own sometimes not. Good example: freshly made pico and guac and yogurt for sour cream. Bad example: jarred hot sauce, store guac, sour cream (this is rarer).

I do not often make my own bread or tortillas. We sometimes make fresh pasta. We buy ice cream with no additives. But we do have chips and candy and drinks and protein shakes in the house.

Moderation.

I had a friend in grad school who never ate anything with more than 3 ingredients on the label. It seemed a simple rule to follow. Although, obviously exceptions must be made for ice cream.

Anonymous wrote:I had Grape-Nuts for dinner, and you aren't going to convince me that a steak would have been somehow a better choice.

I find the term "processed" pretty useless anyway. I also cut up a peach to go on my Grape-Nuts. Chopping is a process. And then I added pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is also a process, and turning "processed" into a scary thing is one reason idiots are keeping the raw milk market going.

I agree that grape nuts is the way better choice. I'm sure your colon agrees too.