Nearly a grand on ordering food in less than two months, please help

[HelpIsOverdue]

I can’t say too much about my situation and my lifestyle as it’s really quite outing but long story short, I order food practically everyday. I have a diagnosed eating disorder but there’s a 8-12 month waiting list before even getting an assessment for the type of help that’s required so I won’t be having therapy for that anytime soon.

Today, I felt really stressed about my weight and money and decided enough is enough. I went through my transactions and saw that from January 2025 alone, I’ve spent £476.32 on Just Eat/Uber Eats/Deliveroo. I spent £598.64 in December. I’m shocked. I knew I had a bad habit but this bad? I’m always stressed and my way of de stressing isn’t picking up a cigarette but it’s going online to order food and comfort eat.

Have people really overcome an eating disorder? I know I need help and I understand if people don’t sympathise as it’s a lot of money but I really can’t live like this anymore. Any tips or advice on how to take small steps will really be appreciated, thank you

What sort of food are you ordering?

Are you ordering farty foods like pizzas and burgers or healthier options?

That's doesn't matter.

Would you like to cook for yourself or do you want your meals delivered for better value?

I used to get diet chef. If you're not trying to lose weight then there is hello fresh or gusto.

If you want to learn to cook then get a recipe book and have a supermarket bring the ingredients.

Firstly, go into the apps, close your accounts and delete the apps. Throw out any takeaway leaflets. Cook a couple of basics eg spag bol in large quantities and put some in the freezer. Make a meal plan for the week. And so ...to fail to plan is to plan to fail!

These wretched companies know this and exploit our vulnerability.

If you’ve got £500 to spend on just eat could you use that for some private therapy .

What about one of those fresh meal deliveries instead where you cook fairly healthy meals?

This is desperate OP. Whatever your income I doubt that is sustainable let alone likely unhealthy. Here is a route to help SHOUT and specifically for eating disorders there is BEAT

BEAT
can you delete the apps tonight and remove the card details from them so the immediate temptation is reduced a bit?

Batch cook meals you like and freeze them. Do a selection so that you can chose what you want for dinner and take it out to defrost in the morning.

You'll save a fortune and eat much healthier food.

This. Use the money for therapy. Allocate it at the start if the month.

Why are you waiting for therapy when you’ve got a spare £500 a month?

Use that money to pay for therapy.

Can you get a private session & therapy ?
No matter how much it costs, it will surely be better for you (and cheaper) in the long run.

The op has an eating disorder, and you’re not supposed to use mounjaro if you do; she’s not stated what kind, or her weight so I think thr recommendations for it are premature,

Are those takeouts just for you or for family members too?

To save money, can't you start by getting quick, oven food like pizza and ready meals like curry? It will be slightly healthier because portions are smaller but in any case cheaper.

I've done the same in the past OP (I'm still 'bad' - but not that bad!)

What really helped is getting the same meals I'd get delivered, from the supermarket. So keep plenty of good quality, frozen pizzas around, and breaded chicken/burger toppings. Jarred curries (nice, not budget, ones!), microwave rice and naan. If you don't have an air-fryer, I'd buy one - it can really replicate the kind of meals you could get as a takeaway!

That's true, I had not thought about that.

That's very true. You could have a therapy session a week and still have some left for one takeaway!

This. I found diet chef really good as I didn’t need to think about food, what I was going to eat, I had my set amount of daily food provided.

it was actually a lot cheaper as I wasn’t buying food except for fruit and veg. Having everything provided took the decisions away from me which is what I needed to reset.

if you’re not wanting to lose weight as pl said there will be other meal plan options.

Hi Op
Try not to beat yourself up. We all have our weaknesses / addictions, for me its perfume these days but used to be alcohol and that was v unhealthy.

Try and love yourself and your body and you will start to make better choices eg not eating when you are full / stopping eating when you are full.
Also I have lost weight this year but just getting up and doing stuff regularly, housework, etc. Every hour or so I decide something else needs doing (I work from home). It's a method that works for me xxx

If you have binge eating disorder, my friend had huge success with overeaters anonymously.

Except o/p admits she has an eating disorder.

plus we don’t even know if she’s overweight or needs to lose weight.

so it’s a bit irresponsible for people to be recommending it.

Just buy the jab. Significantly cheaper privately than your food budget.

Hopefully once you see you don't need crap food to make you happy you can break the habit

Spells too well to be Becki

Are you bulimic or is it comfort eating

If you can use that £500 towards therapy that seems like a good next step. You’ll need to do some research, eg to see if you want to go down the CBT route that has historically been used by NHS to treat eating disorders (my knowledge is at least 15 years out of date) or talking therapy to get to the bottom of why you are doing this. People do recover from eating disorders, and you can as well.

More immediately, have you tried circular breathing or breathing exercises when you experience a craving or impulse to order food? Maybe that could help in the moment. And affirmations like “I am safe, I am enough” can help too. You could try mindfulness and being really present in your body (but stop if it’s unpleasant - it doesn’t work for everyone.) Good luck OP.