How often do you eat takeaways?

[Freyaaaa]

I work in a pretty stressful job and often have to work overtime. Lately, I've noticed that I'm eating 4-5 takeaways a week and sticking to simple foods like sandwiches when I'm at home.

While I haven't put on weight yet (I'm still in my mid-20s). Using "Just Eat" is so easy and convenient, but I'm becoming increasingly concerned about my health.

I came to this realisation when the takeaway driver said the staff at the shop were surprised when they found out I was a female in my 20's apparently they thought I'd be a bloke in my 40's.

Now I'm too ashamed to order from them again. 😭😂

How often do you eat takeaways & how do you make time to prepare your own food?

Never. Batch cook weekends and freeze if you don’t have time to cook

When you learn to cook, make the same thing over and over so it becomes muscle memory. The last thing you want to be doing when you're tired and hungry is learning a new recipe and measuring ingredients. X

Once a week at the moment. Either fish and chips from the local chippy (not too expensive as we share the genuinely massive portions), Subway or fancy burgers and fries. Curries, chinese etc where we live are 💩. I don't like pizza or McDonald's or anything.

We should probably do it a bit less, but like the op, we're busy, stressed and both work FT.

Edit to say: it isn't purely a time thing. I don't want to fry fish in my house for example, and for a few reasons (don't have a frier, it would stink, I hate handling fish etc).

Twice a month usually. It was a lot more, as it became so easy to order on the apps. But I really thought about what a waste of money it was, when I cook (even though I HATE cooking) better and healthier.
So we've cut it down now. Sometimes my son and DIL come round for Takeaway and movie night and we enjoy that.
We see takeaways as a treat now and not as regular food.

currently eating fish cakes quite a lot - simple to shove in the oven and microwave vegetables. Feels extravagant to put the oven on for a single fishcake - but compared to the cost of a takeaway...
I get "too good to go" takeaways maybe once a month - but I'd rather go to a restaurant than spend £20 or so on a delivered takeaway.

@Freyaaaa Ooh, I love m and s food, they do a lovely variety of vegan food, so tend to stock up for the freezer.
Cooks frozen food is good too.

Three Deliveroos so far this year, between £40 and £54 for three (expensive one was Greek and it was lush). Two chippy teas and I think DH and DD may have had Dominos while I wasn’t around.

It’s expensive, we have okay variety but a lot doesn’t travel all that well.

On recipe boxes OP the only one that seems to do proper one person boxes is Gousto. Mindful Chef claim to but you get half the protein and the same amounts of everything else as the two person box. Boxes are pricey but still usually cheaper than takeaway, healthier and more variety. With portioned up ingredients and easy instructions you might find you ‘accidentally’ learn to cook.

I think you could easily sort out a routine that was a recipe box, one takeaway, two ready meals and two really simple meals a week, and see where you go from there.

3 or 4 times a year.

We’re at our peak now of about once a week, I’ve just returned from maternity, work has been INTENSE and the kids have been ill (as have we) a lot. So once a week they have fish fingers and baked beans and we have either chippy tea or takeaway curry. I don’t feel guilty at all, it’ll stop at some point but right now I need the leeway and we eat well the rest of the time.

Once a month. I have to be strict on that though as I agree it is tempting.

Do you have DC or is it just you?

If just you, you'd be better off spending the money on prepared salads from M&S with some chicken or fish.

If you have DC you could try cooking a couple of things at the weekend to have during the week and find some easy meals you all like alongside that - jacket potatoes, burritos using tinned beans etc.

I also get a Hello Fresh box now and again as that makes meal prep easy.

Maybe once a month after pay day.

We have a takeaway once a month. Sometimes twice although I often order so we have some leftovers the following day. There is me and my 17 yo.

i work full time but tend to batch cook on a weekend when I am being organised. I am vegan and make lots of things from scratch. I might do a soup, a couple of sauces, a grain, pasta/chick pea salad and some tofu crumbles or chunks so that in the week lunches and dinners come together more easily.

When I cook on a night, I often make meal that come together easily. Curry, chilli, pasta, stir fry. These use only 2 pans and come together often in 30 mins ir less. I can make a pasta sauce for instance in the time it takes to boil a pan of water and cook the pasta.

i almost always make double so we eat it twice and the next time I just need to warm it up. personally if I were ordering a meal box for 1 and could afford it I would oirder 3 meals for 2 and have them all twice. I have used them on various introductory offers but don’t do this myself (double up) as they are quite pricey.

Also nothing wrong with cutting a few corners either. A decent ready meal or jar of sauce (just saute some veg to add it too) is much healthier than a takeaway. I can’t see anything wrong with treating yourself a couple of times a month to a takeaway either, especially if one is a carvery dinner (which can be a lot if work for one and is trickier with the multiple pans and timings).

Finally if you do cook, once you can make a curry or chilli you are happy with, make 4 portions, have it twice that week and freeze some to have the week after. Be your future friend.

We have takeaways once every few months.

Defo learn to cook, OP. I'd recommend a multi cooker like a ninja or instant pot. It makes cooking anything so quick and easy. Pasta, rice, soups, stews in the pressure cooker. Meat in the grill or airfryer. Fish and veg in the steamer.

Almost never. Maybe four times in a year, maximum, as a treat. I can't justify the cost.

I had a lodger who got a meal box. I think she got the two person one and ate the same thing twice, either leftovers the next day or cooked two days in a row and alternated the leftovers on the next couple of days.

I've never had enough disposable income to get takeaways often and used to just do similar but without a subscription. or put a portion in the freezer for another time.

It's easier if you WFH some days. Appreciate it can feel harder to go out to work, get home, then cook, because it can be quite late by the time you eat. I have an air fryer and do jacket potato on those days (I only go into the office when DC are at their dad's).

Usually we get takeaway pizza on the last Friday of the month, as a payday treat. This month we actually had Mexican food delivered on Friday as well as last week’s pizza - I realised the chicken I was about to cook for fajitas looked a bit dodgy. (Delivery took so long I would have been better sending DP to the shop for more chicken and it wasn’t that great when it did eventually arrive!)

I’m home alone quite a lot as DP works about 40% of the time abroad. I struggle to cook for myself tbh - I really enjoy cooking and am a pretty decent cook, but I am lazy too. I tend to eat a lot of jacket potatoes (stuff like tuna, coleslaw, cheese) with a salad on the side, microwave/oven meals from M&S supplemented with veg, and also defrost stuff from the freezer like chilli, curries, soup that has been cooked previously.

I live alone and hate cooking. However, I have never ordered a takeaway just for myself! Maybe I should start?!

I am fortunate enough to live a stone’s throw from a gigantic M and S and buy a lot of ready meals and bags of salad, jacket potatoes, etc.

I usually cook a roast chicken meal once a week and eat it over two days (DDog assists) so I keep scurvy at bay.

(DDog assists) so I keep scurvy at bay.

That's a strange name for a dog! 🤭🤣

Never. We might get a sausage roll from Greggs if we are out but never more than once a month

Maybe twice a year?

Mostly for financial reasons. I could afford a weekly take-away if I wanted, but by the time I'd dicked around choosing what I wanted, ordered it, and waited for it to come, I could have just made something at home with what I already had in.

I cook extras of things for the freezer as well.

Last night I made a butter chicken curry. And there's now 2 extra portions in the freezer in microwaveable containers. I'll just do a packet of microwaveable rice with them, and that's an easy dinner ready in about 6 minutes.

Never. Can't get takeaways where I live so I've not had one for years.

Once in a blue moon because it’s so expensive!

Dd (15) was here unexpectedly last night rather than with her dad, and we got a takeaway because I had no plans for dinner. But it costs a lot.

Suggesting that blokes are more “worthy” of takeaways was weird of them though

It’s interesting reading this as it’s made me realise how much impact the food delivery apps are having on people. I think it’s important not to feel shamed in any way, ever, it’s counter productive. Make your plans and decisions based on your own judgement about what you want. It can be surprisingly easy and quick to cook nice food but I didn’t bother much in my twenties for similar reasons!

Mmm, takeaways and deliveries are massive greasy treats where you have no idea of how much fat they've added. So don't do it.