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

I doubt a jab would help with something like bulimia

This. The Priory has eating disorder consultant psychiatrists who would do an assessment for about £300 and can then refer you for therapy and/or to see a dietitian.
Best of luck. I have BED and know how horrendous it is.

Break it down. If you're ordering food everyday then you probably aren't going to start cooking from scratch.

So try going to the supermarket and getting some really nice ready meals. Things you only have to put in a microwave or an oven - like a posh pizza etc.

When I lived in Central London, there was a marks and spencers food hall that I walked past every night on my way home. That was a time when we had hardly any food waste because we bought dinner each evening on the way back home. Not cheap but cheaper than a take-away.

So maybe if you can build a new routine - if you drive or walk past a supermarket- maybe you can stop off to buy dinner and treat yourself to a magazine/book/candle as being the incentive to go.

Maybe aim to do it 2 or 3 times a week. Maybe one of the days you go is a Friday night or Saturday. Then you can get 2 meals for the weekend.

Well I suppose because she's only just realised that she potentially has that money to use.

Also you make it sound so simple, like it's a straight choice between feeling sad & ordering take away vs therapy.

She has an eating disorder, that makes it much much harder.

@HelpIsOverdue I'm sorry you're having such a horrendous time at the moment. While I don't have personal experience of eating disorders, I've read and listened to enough personal accounts of the experience of them to recognise the absolute torture they subject a person to and I'm so sorry you're suffering so much.

The amount you've spent has clearly shocked you and if you think you can use that shock to get help by paying for some private therapy then absolutely do so. I would also suggest you speak to your gp and share with then the impact on your finances - it might help push you up the queue or open up short term crisis support.

You don't gp into detail about your eating disorder or how it affects you so apologies if advice is trite...But if you're able to recognise your triggers for eating and why / how it helps you emotionally in the moment, then you may be able to replace some of the behaviours.

Some people overeat because they're numbing emotions or trying to ground themselves. There can be healthier ways to deal with strong emotion in the moment. A burst of exercise can help - a brisk stomp around the block or taking up a sport. There are grounding exercises online too, the 5 things, 4 thing, 3things, 2 thjngs, 1thjng is quite good. Sometimes a hot (not scalding shower) can help - or a cold one.

You could also try replacing some foods with others so that you consume less. Try to identify what it is about the foods you choose which help in the moment - are you sensory-seeking? - and look for an alternative. Eg crackers instead of crisps, posh hot chocolate instead of packs of chocolate biscuits.

I'm making some assumptions about the nature of your eating disorder and how it affects you, so apologies if I'm completely barking up the wrong tree.

What I would say is don't try to change everything all at once over night. Make a couple of manageable changes this week, and then some more the next.

Hi op have a look at overeaters annonomous- you may find it helpful

I agree with all those that say pay for private therapy put of the money you use on take aways.

I would agree with others about looking into taking mounjaro. My SIL is overweight with what she describes as constant “food noise” and it has completely taken that away so she can concentrate on eating healthily. I would pick a time frame that you think would work (ie six months) and just do it for that amount of time as a reset.

Make a list of 14 dinners that are healthy, quick and easy to make so that you will REALISTICALLY make them when you are hungry. If they are too complicated you will be tempted to reach for the take aways again. Things that are barely cooking eg smoked salmon with a poached egg, or heating up a fresh ready soup from the supermarket. Buy them in rotation, one week on one week off. This way you will already know they are a healthy choice and you won’t be veered off course by unhealthy options (in theory).

On Sunday night delete all the apps you order food through so you can start the weekly food plan on Monday. New week. Fresh start. You can do this without it needing to be overly complicated.

good luck. Food addiction is real and very tough xx

Also the fees you pay for ordering in are ridiculous. One simple thing which might help is to say, ok I know I need to comfort eat but I'm going to walk to the shop to get the food instead.

You'll save a chunk of money just from not ordering in to start with and the physical exercise may help ground you too.

Hi there, very brave of you to open up about such a personal issue x
Have you tried recreating your favourite takeaways at home? May buy your self some cook books from amazon or utube is wonderful to research.
We all love a cheeky takeaway but maybe you could start with tweeking yours a little :) maybe order a child size meal to start with.

Are you ordering that on top of, or instead of, a weekly food shop?

Do you work? Are you bored?

are you overweight ? A little or a lot ?

Are you in debt ? Can you afford this habit ?

can you cook stuff for you or even buy microwave meals if not sure how to cook

I don’t know about you OP, but in the past I have meal planned but been unrealistic, I’ve planned to cook healthy meals from scratch every night then ended up ordering takeaway.

having a couple of easy, convenience foods from the supermarket available in your fridge/freezer is a good plan. Might not be super healthy but loads less expensive and less calories than ordering takeaway,

I’m on mounjaro now but I’m sure the only thing stopping me from having takeaway loads before was the fact I live somewhere where you can’t get deliveries other than dominos, and I’m tight with money!

The book intuitive eating is an excellent place to start in terms of addressing an unhealthy relationship with food.

There's an awful lot of assumptions on here that the OP is vastly overweight. Not helpful.

I don’t have any issues like this but having Uber eats and deliveroo apps on my phone meant I was ordering takeaways regularly and thinking about unhealthy takeaway food far more than I would like. These apps are designed for you to use them in an addictive manner and they don’t care about your health or bank balance. Please if you do nothing else delete the apps from your phone. Best of luck

If OP is spending this amount on takeaways perhaps she has bulimia or bpd. If she has bulimia then weight loss drugs are certainly not recommended.
Hope you’re feeling better soon OP. You can overcome ED (I was briefly bulimic many years ago and spent a fortune on binges aswell). I found low calorie snacks like watermelon or the sugar free hot chocolates/jelly helped massively when I had an urge to binge and wouldn’t feel guilty afterwards. Also swapping rice for cauliflower rice.
Wish you all the best OP :)

Mounjaro won’t cure the eating disorder. It would be better to tackle the ED first otherwise she could end up abusing the jabs.

I would spend the money you would have done on food in the next 2 months on a private psychiatrist who specialises in EDs.

Jesus people, the answer to someone with a binge eating disorder is not bloody weight loss jabs. There’s a lot of people on here clearly not dealing with their own disordered eating.

OP, engage with one of the eating disorder charities above and look into what support you can pay for privately with that money.

I really don’t think people should be recommending Mounjaro, nobody has any idea what type of ED the OP has and therapy of some kind would be way more beneficial long term .

Seriously, how fucking irresponsible for people to be telling the OP to get Mounjaro. Are you all seriously bloody thick!!!

Not one of you know her, her general health, weight or medical history.

OP please ignore these fools, they could actually be putting your health in danger.

Approach your GP or look at somewhere like the Priory or specialist providers for people with eating disorders and pay for an assessment. If ‘the specialist’ suggest Mounjaro, based on a proper assessment, then great.

OP doesn't say that she has the money to spend. Only that she's spending it.

Jesus wept, what is wrong with people recommending a drug to someone with an eating disorder without medical supervision?! Op please ignore these posts.

Are you feeling up to going back to your GP about this and seeing if you can get a private referral to talk to someone? It sounds like a very big hurdle to manage alone - and you sound unhappy. Or is there one thing you could change - for example limit yourself to one takeaway a day, then go every other day and slowly reduce your reliability on it. Look at something like Cook frozen foods if you find it hard to cook for yourself or Gousto/Hello Fresh if you can manage the basics.

Hi! There are loads of great suggestions on this thread like with food swaps, using convenience food or getting kid’s portions as well as having therapy. I’d echo all of those.

I have had BED and was only able to beat it through therapy to realise why I was doing it. I wasn’t even consciously aware of why I was doing it but it was basically because I was using food to fill an emotional void. Once I realised this, I was able to be self aware when I felt like ordering takeaway. I will say it took a couple of years to really recover even after that! Healing takes time. So please be very slow and gentle with yourself. It’s not realistic to change overnight.

Maybe as a baby step, you can go from say, five takeaways a week to three takeaways a week and use the money saved for one therapy session per week. It could take a while to make a breakthrough in therapy but it’s all about perseverance. I wish you the best of luck!

I’ve just re-read your post and had made an assumption off it you were overweight - I’m sorry, I read “comfort eat” and the amount spent on takeaways and made a big assumption.

obviousky don’t take mounjaro if you aren’t overweight or dealing with “food noise” in your head 24/7.

Would still recommend doing the 14 extremely easy / barely cooking meal list so you have a framework to work from moving forward

I know someone with an overeating-eating disorder & the weightloss jabs are a legitimate treatment plan - but I agree they should be undertaken with doctor oversight & in conjunction with therapy.