So true. And I think 'convenience' food like the meals we find in the frozen food section also fit into this category...even the vegan ones. They should not be part of a person's daily diet.....only an occasional meal.

@mojo5501 high in sodium and preservatives.

Hamburgers, long-life bread, frankfurters, chips, "value" sausages, etc. are a "no no" to me. I eat grilled steak (well done), boiled or sautéed vegetables, and "basic" breakfast cereals such as porridge or puffed wheat, with no additives. I sprinkle them lightly with brown cane sugar and add full cream milk. I eat according to my appetite, and refuse the huge servings that we receive in restaurants. I have even been known to send them back and demand that I get the small serving I requested.
Result? I have low cholesterol and weigh 145 lbs. (My height is 5ft 8 inches,)

@Petter I don't eat any bread, chips, or cereals. Have never liked the actual taste of hamburger meat so never eat it as a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice. Do all my meat as rare as possible (overcooking is also bad) either on a grill or flat iron seared and finished in the oven , eat the hell out of seafood, have a salad 6 out of 7 days a week, typically oven bake veggies (only those grown above ground), never add sugar to anything, and only eat when hungry till I'm full (I also eat very slowly for some reason, always have). Typically i only eat 2 meals a day.

I'm 5'11" and come in at 175, and feel better than I have in 20 years.

At a restaurant I can typically only eat 2 or 3 items (I'm nightshade intolerant on top of keto) on the menu and always, always, always have to special order. It can be a real pain in the ass. When I was in Albuquerque I found as place that had a salad I didn't have to modify at all. Went there once a week just to enjoy ordering something without changing a thing - I felt like a god.

Sounds like you found a way of eating that matches what your body wants/needs. Glad its working for you

@1of5 Equally, so have you. The criterion is "learn to listen to your body". It's your mind that creates hamburger cravings!!

It is such a good decision to switch away from prepackaged meals...especially when a person can make them from scratch and the food not only tastes better, it has less 'additives' and preservatives. It just has to be healthier in the long run to cook using natural ingredients, right? I will use macaroni and cheese as an example...making a white sauce is so simple. And then just add some shredded white or yellow cheddar and add the macaroni noodles. It may not be the neon color of the boxed stuff, but it sure tastes good! And upping the fiber in our diets is easy if we switch to whole grain products where we can.

Sounds like me. I use very little salt in my cooking. However, I overdose on freshly ground black pepper!!

@mojo5501 it tastes so much better unless I use Annies which has lower sodium and nothing artificial.