The problem: You’d much rather order a takeaway than cook, especially if you’re tired. Or celebrating. Or need cheering up. Or if you find a good Dominos discount code. Or if you just fancy it. After all, takeaways are just so much more delicious than anything you can cook yourself and you don’t have to wash up afterwards. Bonus. Once you get in the habit, it’s also too easy to be hitting up Just Eat every other night, and your bank balance is crying out in pain.
But takeaway dishes are so high in calories, and even with healthier options you can’t guarantee that they haven’t used loads of oil in the cooking process. You also don’t get any control over portion sizes which can lead to bumper meals and way too many calories for just one meal.
The solution: Be prepared. If you’re relying on takeaways because you’re too tired to cook at the end of a busy day, create a bank of recipes you know you can cook that don’t take a long time (a stir fry takes literally 10 minutes), or pick up something from the supermarket that’s easy to cook and not quite as high in calories.
If you just love the taste of your usual order from your local Indian or Chinese, we’re big fans of raiding Iceland for their frozen, easy-to-prepare versions. No, they’re not quite as authentic as the real deal, but they’re delicious, lower in calories and still take the effort out of cooking.
Treat takeaways as something special you have only every now and then instead of the default answer to ‘what’s for tea?’. Life’s too short to cut them out completely, but just be mindful that having them too often means that they’re adding unnecessary calories to your day, which will soon turn into excess weight.