Addicted to ordering food

I struggle with this too. I order takeaway every day and I am over 20 stone! I have no idea how to fix the issue myself (I have tried most of the ideas suggested on here myself and can’t seem to shake it). I just wanted to say you’re not alone with this and good luck with the help you are getting next year. I hope you find something that works for you!

I have a rule that any takeaway in my house has to be fetched in person; we don't phone or use apps. So we don't have them very often, but when we do, we appreciate them. Would a similar rule work for you?

Go vegan and cut down your options by 10,000%.

I have the same issue. In December 2020 I added up the costs of what I spent on just eat & Deliveroo over the year and it was over £2k. I immediately deleted the apps and swore to quit... lasted until February.

This year I have been better, easy microwave meals and supernoodles have helped. (Not healthy but good on days where I'm too tired to cook and would usually just order something)

Maybe allow yourself 2 takeaways a week and try to cook the rest. You're not alone though, life is hard and ordering in food is easy and enjoyable. It doesn't make you a bad person.

Oh for God's sake! It's NOT an addiction. It's a bad habit.

Just take steps to limit it and gradually cut down till it's just a treat.

Addiction! I'm sorry, OP, but really - talk about absolving yourself of any personal responsibility.

Oh also you could try a meal kit service like Gousto. I find it amazing as it takes all the things I find stressful out of cooking (meal planning and shopping, figuring out what ingredients to substitute when inevitably something crucial is out of stock etc) and I actually really, really enjoy the 30 mins or so of simple cooking time, with a great podcast or audio book playing. It's a really nice moment of "me time". The meals are super varied and interesting, so I genuinely look forward to "ooh, what's for dinner tonight", and you even still get the fun of ordering off an app - just for the week ahead, instead of every night.

If you just ordered a meal kit box for you, the minimum portion size is 2 people per recipe, so if it's just for you, you could save the second portion for lunch the next day and make the next day easier too. It works out at about £40 a week for 3 recipes each of 2 portions.

This sounds really hard, I'm sorry. I'm glad you'll be working with professionals in the new year. It sounds like you're putting so much energy into caring for others, and have very little in the tank left to care for yourself. In these situations, food is one of the quickest fixes there is to give ourselves that sense of caring for ourselves, even if it is damaging in the long run. In the meantime, before you begin your work with the clinic, some things that might help:

• Counting up all the money you save and putting it towards something you really want, be it a holiday or a gorgeous new coat or whatever. Or maybe even smaller things, so you can treat yourself weekly, and get that hit more regularly. A beautiful new lipstick or scented candle, some lovely new pyjamas - all easily afforded with the savings from a few days' takeaway!

• Finding other things that scratch the "treat myself" itch. What else might give you that hit? Could it be treating yourself to really gorgeous bath salts and body care products and having a nightly bath, if you have a tub? Do you enjoy gaming, and could have an hour of that every night if your caring patterns allow? These are just guesses, so probably not right, but there will be something else out there that gives you that hit of "me time/treat time" that are less damaging to your wallet and health. Have a think and experiment!

Even with an Uber One subscription, they still charge at least £1.10 per order in 'charges' plus the fact that the prices are farrrr higher

Have a look on YouTube at some of the conditions inside kitchens that people order takeaways from -

'I rarely order takeaways anymore after watching these. Just knowing what is allowed to stay open is sickening.'

You won't kick this unless you replace it. You need to work out what it's giving you and the meet the need in a different way.

No advice but just came to say this is me. Minus the anti depressants. Literally order food 2 or 3 times a day. I’m typing this whilst eating Chinese from Uber eats. I reckon I spend 1500 a month on takeout. Would love to stop but genuinely can’t be arsed cooking

OP, odd as it may sound, this is an indicator that you've got massive responsibilities and you do your best to meet them.

Before I even opened this thread, I suspected you were the mother of a disabled child. Why? Because food addiction and binge eating is incredibly common for carers. Over-eating and overspending on food is an outlet that doesn't cause intoxication or compromise your capacity to care for someone the next morning.

So before you reproach yourself for this, please be reassured this is normal human frailty. You have a demanding life, and you needed something nice. You instinctively turned to something that wouldn't interfere with your ability to meet your children's needs.

I had the same problem, I have bulimia so binge eating is an issue and I also have adhd so struggle with cooking and got into a terrible cycle where I was eating takeaway almost every night, sometimes I’d even get a meal and then a bit later get another somewhere else. I have managed to get control of it now so I’m mostly not getting takeaway more than a couple of times a month.

I switched to ordering hello fresh and Gousto boxes, I think because it still gets delivered and I still get to choose meals on the apps (just in advance) it still sort of fulfills that gratification urge for me but it’s cheaper and healthier than getting take away. Sometimes when I’m getting the urge to order takeaway food I go on the hellofresh app and just change my meals for the next week instead, it doesn’t always work but sometimes it does. A big issue for me was meal planning and cooking too and I find that with the meal boxes cooking is a lot easier as everything is pre-measured out and there are step by step instructions and the meals are never too complicated.

The other thing I did was delete all the apps. Yes, it’s not a perfect solution because you can just download them again (which I do do sometimes) but it makes it a bit harder and gives another chance to rethink which means that sometimes I am better able to stop myself. I also make sure I have treats in for an evening, I buy myself things like Gu puddings so that after the meal I’ve cooked for myself I will have a treat. It’s still not the healthiest but it’s cheaper to have a posh pudding to look forward to after a meal than to have takeaway every night to get that comfort food.

It’s the extra charges for me too, @Southpoint—
If I order a sandwich for $10-15 (in the States), between the service & delivery & those other mystery charges, the final bill ends up over $25. PLUS, here we’re expected to tip, so there goes another $5 at least.
It offends me to have to pay $30 for a $15 sandwich.

I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been having a baby in NICU; no wonder you wanted some comfort. Can I ask what makes you think it’s an addiction? It sounds more like a coping mechanism for a hard day which most of us have, be it a glass of wine, a bag of chocolate buttons etc. I think we personally have just accepted this is how it’s going to be until we have more energy and we’ll tackle it when the kids are older.

well done for trying to make a change, it’s more than we’ve done!

Try cutting to two a week and go from there. Get lots of nice food in.

Find your reason (there will be one).

When I wanted to stop smoking 15 years ago, the kick up the arse I needed was the amount of money I was spending: I wrote it all down, analysed it, was horrified and that was my 'JFDI' thing.

You will have a JFDI thing too, you just have to find it.

I routinely feel the same, OP. I don't have your excuse but I run out of energy running after two small children. Older one is a fussy eater so I don't actually want to eat the bland food I make for them. After feeding older one and a baby and cleaning up, I'm done with anything that requires effort for the night.

Quick fix solutions are...

• Microwave meals. Some can be relatively healthy.
• Picnic-style food that requires no effort. Some nice bread, cheese, cold meat, a pre-prepared salad, for example.

Both of these are cheaper and at least no worse for you than takeaway. I would just make sure you stock your fridge with "no effort" food.

@UberEatsAddict , we’re similar- by the end of the day, we’re so tired and it’s the only time we get to relax that we just order out. I think some of the replies you’re getting on here are a little unfeeling, like saying you’re in charge. Yes that’s true but you have to want to change. Tbh right now, we’ve just accepted that this is an expense we’re willing to bear as we enjoy the food and we don’t drink, gamble, smoke etc.

Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Why not try cutting down by one takeaway a week to start with? Baby steps and be kind to yourself, life with small children can be boring and sometimes, if a treat is what you want at the end of it, is that really such a big deal?

But as you want to cut down, I’d advise one less a week to begin with and take it from there.

I am the same I think. Looking for the ‘reward’ for a long day. I order when I am tired…

Just wanted to post and say you’re not alone OP, I have fibromyalgia and 4 teens who don’t like anything at the moment. It’s just easier to order takeaway especially when I’m tired after work.

I’ve told them we are having a no takeaway January they can all make their own dinners if they don’t like it, there’s stuff in the freezer they can throw in the oven they’ll not starve.