HOW TO AVOID THE TAKEAWAY TRAP

Takeaways are the devil. So yummy and so satisfying, yet so greasy and so unhealthy. Dominos is 100% my greatness weakness. I literally crave it most if not every night, no word of a lie. The ease of ordering a takeaway whether that be over the phone, online or through an app, is health destroying. As a student, I am stereotyped in being someone who lives off takeaways however that it is not the case. I am relatively healthy, eating home-cooked meals most nights with the exception of a takeaway once a week which in my opinion is still bad. I think takeaways should be a rare treat, perhaps a once-a-month thing and no matter how much I believe this, I can't seem to ease myself from a once-a-week treat. 

Whether it's because of your mood, your job, stress levels, lack of time, ease or just cravings, takeaways are hard to keep off. If you struggle to keep off the takeaways like me, read below to see if a few of my ideas will work for you.

Read up about individual takeaways - the calorie content, the saturated fat (bad fat) content and the salt content in which high levels can cause some serious health problems, particularly to do with the heart.

Keep a record of how much money you spend on takeaways per month. Think of all the savings, shopping sprees or holidays you could be spending this money on!

Think about how you feel after eating a takeaway. Satisfied? Happy? Full? Guilty? Poor? Fat? Sluggish? I have to admit that I can relate to the last 4 words after consuming a takeaway.

Planning your meals and cooking them in advance in batches means that on a late shift when you're more likely to order than cook, you just have to heat your meal up in the microwave. This actually works. 

Eating small, healthy and balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day means cravings are more likely to subside or be prevented.

Write down the dates that you eat takeaways to get the full extent of when you eat them. I bet you'll be surprised at how many you have within the space of a month!

Of course this isn't going to be an overnight thing. It's going to take time and patience to overcome the thought of ordering takeaways but eventually, they will become a rare treat for you if you really try and stick to a maximum of one takeaway a month. We're all human so you shouldn't feel guilty about eating takeaways if they are a rarity. I hope to use these methods to overcome my bad habits which I hope will work. Good luck if you do too!

Do you struggle to keep off takeaways? Do you have any other suggestions to help prevent ordering a takeaway?