'I'd spend rent money on Deliveroo. It was non-stop'

Lachlan Munro suffered from food addiction and went up to 18.5st, ordering takeaways to the point he had to bin delivery apps. Here he talks about his disorder and road to recovery

- Lachlan Munro

I was obese as a child – I’d steal sweets. When I was sent out of class for disruptive behaviour, aged 11, I’d rummage through everyone’s bags in the corridor and take their crisps.

I hadn’t got stretch marks yet – but by the age of 34, I looked like a huge cannonball. My eating disorder started young. I had feelings I didn’t know how to process, and food helped me to feel okay.

My parents had separated, and I lived with my mum in East Sussex. She was a cannabis addict and not emotionally available. I remember her boyfriend getting angry with me as I was eating potatoes with my hands, as it was quicker to ingest it all.

My best friend moved to South Africa when I was about 13 and I ended up in a new group of friends drinking heavily. I became a DJ and music producer. Food wasn’t such a problem during my late teens, teens to early Twenties, because substance abuse took its place, but my life had got to a place where I had to quit drinking at 24, because it was killing me.

It just so happened that 12-step recovery spoke to me. I went to some meetings and they alleviated my desire to drink, which is kind of miraculous.

I got sober, quit cigarettes at 25, and picked up food again. Bang. I couldn’t deal with all the anger and the rage that came up – the unaddressed feelings. My food addiction was rampant. It was back with a vengeance because I had no crutch.

I went from 11.5st up to 18.5st over the next few years. I gave myself carte blanche to eat whatever I wanted, justifying it because it’d been so hard giving up substances.

At the time, I was living in Brighton and was doing takeaways. When Deliveroo became available, it was like convenience heaven. I was eating 7,000 calories in one sitting – I’d order three Deliveroos and spend £30 on each one.