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 don't think anyone should be recommending Mounjaro for someone with an eating disorder. We don't know enough about the form of disorder and we certainly don't know that suppressing appetite would be a good idea 8n this case.

I say that as someone who is using Mounjaro and who thinks it's a wonderful medication that has completely changed my life.

I do think that you need to seek proper medical and psychiatric guidance and that if you have the ability to self fund it, then that would be a good use of the money you currently spend on take away.

Remove all the food delivery apps from your phone.
Take out cash to do a food shop.

Cut up all cards except one and lock up that other card. Leave that card at work or with a good friend locked up in box. It’s for emergency only.
Use that card to take out cash twice a month max.

Old school

Are there other actions you can take that bring you comfort, OP?

Do you enjoy a cup of tea and a book? A craft? Driving? Walking? Chatting with people? Watching people do crazy things on YouTube? Dancing like nobody’s watching?

While you’re trying to figure out how to get counseling of some type sooner, finding a substitution for the food delivery will help your bank balance. So work out what will work as something to do instead of ordering food. Delete the apps and block the websites (if you let people know what tech you have someone can probably help with how best to do this on your set up) so that it’s harder to order and easier to turn to your alternative.

There’s still will power involved here - you will need to decide to not give in to the urge to order and turn instead to your alternative. that’s why blocking the websites, etc. helps. But you might also find an incentive like having a chart on the wall with how much you spent in the last two months or with how much you save each time you do something different will help. Another tip I’ve heard but haven’t used is to record a message to yourself when you’re feeling good about things, telling yourself how great you are and reminding you that you can do it and that you’ll wish you hadn’t ordered the food tomorrow because you don’t want to spend 6k a year on delivery.

The long term solution is reaching out to the charities mentioned up thread and getting help. But until that’s in place, these steps might help you avoid spending quite so much.

Not if she's got an eating disorder. Therapy yes, mounjaro no 🙄

Well mounjaro could put her life at risk if she has an eating disorder and/or is not overweight.

I ordered too much 1-2 times a week. On jan 1st I deleted my food apps. I've picked up a pizza once cause I was having a very shit day. But only once! Going out to restaurants with friends does not count. Every time I don't get a take away when I really feel like it, I transfer the amount to my investments. Also with the savings I can buy higher quality food and it is a lot more motivating to cook. Take out has gotten so expensive that it no longer match the quality.

Mounjaro! You won't even want to order food or be able to eat it. Life changing and only £150-£200 per month so will save you money.

when Do you order food? In the eve I g only or during the day as well? You need to identify the routine and Chang it. So if you order food every evening at 7pm - eat at 6.30 and then go for a walk. Do you keep the left overs and binge in the night? Smother them with washing up liquid and bin them. Make sure your meals have enough fat and some carbs as well to make sure you are satisfied after a meal and not hi Greg an hour later. Get therapy privately- you can’t wait

If the take aways are because you don't like cooking, try cook!
COOK | Frozen Ready Meals, Delivered Meals, Prepared Meal Delivery COOK

Not cheap, but cheaper than deliveroo etc.

Also, if I can't be bothered to cook, I use healthy chains on the too good to go app & collect on the way home. Pure and Coco di Mama are good. But if you're a bit of a junk food addict, there is a lot of crap on there too, so maybe not such a good idea.

Yes OP. I did.
I don't know the extent or how your ED displays itself.

But i had a massive issue with binging for many many years. I had periods of restrictive eating too.

I found over the years for me I had forgotten how to eat normally. I couldn't tell my hunger cues, no idea when I was actually hungry or full. No idea on portions (my judgement would change with whatever cycle I was in and the ED would take over) I was driven soley for food as an emotional crutch.
My recovery initially i would have breakfast lunch dinner 2 snacks. Even if I binged, whatever happened in the day I would sit down and prepare, have meal. It was to start getting in a regular pattern and getting my body and mind to start responding to the rhythm and mealtimes.

Food was never the problem, it was my association to it. I stopped looking at good or bad foods and tried to just think of all food as food. It was quite a bit further in recovery when I started intuitive eating and listening to my body and judging portions on how hungry I was.

I went to an ED unit in my teens. It didn't help. Later on therapy wasn't accessible. But luckily I have been recovered for a decade now :) I know its a broken record but I did find mindfulness apps quite helpful too and journals.
My miracle moment was when I could have a chocolate bar and leave some for later! Once my body started responding it made things a lot easier, I guess it's a disconnect because of the illness :)

Also if your like me..forget about the money spent. Stressing about the binging and urges only makes them stronger and hit the fuck it button and order more.

Please please don't listen to people recommending mounjaro. It won't fix your disordered eating so the issue will still be there.

I had therapy for my binge eating disorder and it was one of the most useful things I've ever done. I still use the tools I learnt every day.

I've previously used UberEats etc too much, and I think it'd be useful to drill down into why/when you use it. In my case:

• hungry but realised too late
• not good at cooking appetising food
• going out to work hungry, and therefore always being caught short at 11am/noon
• lack of cooking facilities at work

I still occasionally get a takeaway but never from desperation. Instead I:

• plan in the morning/evening before what I'll eat that day, so there's time to defrost something, go to the shops etc
• keep list of five easy and ultra quick meals, and ingredients in
• weekly shop delivered on auto-renew
• healthy ready to eat options in freezer
• bought microwave for the office, and took meals/oats in

It may be different for you, but maybe something will chime.

Do NOT do this. There are a lot of disreputable places out there offering it and you have no way of knowing if it’s genuine or not. Cousin’s friend got it from one of those places. She’s now dead.

I spend a large amount of money on takeaway food as well. The plus side is that I can technically afford it and most of it is reasonably healthy.

it’s not how I want to be spending my money though and I want my diet to be better. I’m having good luck with a weekly meal delivery service. I tried a few before I found one that clicked for me. They aren’t cheap, but if the comparison is daily delivered takeaways they are a bargain.

The key is to order food you know you will enjoy, not order a bunch of diet food that you will hate. you are trying to build sustainable, long-term healthy habits, not work overnight miracles.

Start by getting your comfort foods delivered. They will be portion controlled even if they aren’t the absolute best meals. You can start adding better choices later. My box this week has lots of kale, not my favorite, but it’s good for me and I’ve learned to appreciate it.

make sure you have extra fruits, veggies, and some cut up cheese around for snacks in case you need extra. If you are sitting there starving you will place an order. Better to have an apple and a slice of cheese.

The poster means via a reputable pharmacy not any where dodgy.

😂😂😂

Maths bot great either, you have spent more than 1k

It does, it literally does fix disordered eating. I am a binge eater, sometimes with a purge. MJ has changed my life entirely, I am free of the chains of food. It is life changing. Don't say things so categorically when you clearly have no experience of MJ.

Miaow

Is that food just for you?
Do you buy other food in the month?
My husband and I can easily spend between £400-£500 a month on food, a big chunk of that is for fresh meat from our local butchers and delicatesant!

Some really poor advice on this thread. Im on the adult ED waiting list too OP, and spend similar amounts per month on food - i see you, it sucks.

No advice but youre not alone. Im working on reducing to every other day - its going okay so far, everytime i get the urge i tell myself i only have to wait until tomorrow.

And for the posters saying you have the money for private therapy - i cant speak for the OP but no i dont. Maybe if i didnt spend the money on the food i would, but addiction is a terrible thing.

The money i spend on food is already committed and i wouldnt be able to 'just stop'. In order to start private therapy, id have to get myself into months of debt (and pray eventually it worked and i could stop buying so much bloody food to get back to living within my means)

These things are complicated. Sending hugs.

you are trying to build sustainable, long-term healthy habits, not work overnight miracles.

This, 💯

Also, I forgot to say - as a comfort eater with depression & anxiety, ive found eating nutritiously really helps to level out the dips. So when things are bad I aim for one nutritious meal every day & try not to eat crap in the evening. Anxiety is always less the next day when I do this.

Might also be worth making sure you're not deficient in anything and that you're drinking enough. People say that the body confuses thirst for hunger, but I've actually found that if I'm dehydrated I crave rubbish & comfort foods and that it's not hunger but a craving. It won't cure your ED but it might help you to manage it x

but if o/p is not overweight she won’t qualify.

i have disordered eating and i really do think MJ would help in my situation.

however i am only just overweight atm so nobody can prescribe it.

if o/p has bulimia it’s unlikely to stop her purging. She may be normal weight or even be underweight. It may be helpful for some types of ED but we need to be really careful recommending wld, especially when we have no idea of o/p’s medical history.

it’s also wrong to be categorically recommending a wld in this situation. In could be incredibly harmful.

Yes assuming she fits the BMI rules of course. I have purged in the past but wouldn't say I have bulimia but it has stopped all that for me.

Wow, the people recommending weight loss jabs - how utterly irresponsible. You know nothing of the poster’s eating disorder, general health, nothing. What awful advice.