War and Peas: The Struggle to Eat Healthy or Just Zomato It

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Every Sunday night, I make the same solemn vow. “This week, I’m eating clean. No Junk food, no skipping meals and definitely no Zomato”.
But deep in my heart, I know I will fail, the steady deductions from my bank account towards my Zomato Gold subscription know it too…

Cut to Monday, 7:42 p.m. I’m late for work. “Aah well, I can always have breakfast in the office” I groggily console myself. “Technically...... it’s not eating out, I’m being healthy”. My poor digestive tract would disagree as I slurp down the milkshake, walking back to my desk from the canteen. Solid food can wait till lunch anyways.


Back home from a tiring Monday,  try to be strong. I decide to go down to the PG mess or local kitchens and have a hearty home-made meal.

And right when I’m at my lowest, my phone buzzes — Zomato

“Hey, we noticed you might be hungry!!! Here’s 40% off on your favourites.”


And just like that, I’m undone.

Because the thing about food apps is — they know. They sense weakness. They wait for that moment between hunger and decision fatigue, and they slide in like a comforting, saucy friend.




But the fact is, for all the convenience and clever marketing, food apps have quietly made it harder to eat healthy, not easier.


Because when everything you crave, a butter-loaded parathas to brownies the size of your willpower; is a tap away. Healthy eating becomes less of a choice and more of a negotiation.

Earlier, eating healthy meant planning, effort, maybe even a trip to the grocery store. Now, all it takes is one push notification and I’m knee-deep in biryani menus, convincing myself that “it’s protein, technically.” 

Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit ; they don’t just deliver food, they deliver excuses, wrapped neatly with a discount code( hey, I'm saving money. Aren't I ?)


Sure, they offer Buddha bowls and quinoa khichdi, but how often do I actually order those? Almost never. Because when I’m tired, stressed, or just bored, I don’t crave nutrition;  I crave comfort. And these apps have learned that fast, when the most talent engineering minds in the country get lured by the lofty comps of such VC funded (ex)startups, that's bound to happen. But that's a blogpost for another time.




Let’s be honest, our modern lifestyles don’t leave much room for balance. We work late, sleep less, and eat on impulse. The apps aren’t to blame entirely, but they feed right into that pattern. Quick fixes and a dopamine rush at your doorstep; tailor made for a generation reared on social media driven instant gratification and AI driven cognitive atrophy of biblical proportions. We scroll for meals the same way we scroll for memes: mindlessly.

So maybe it’s not a war between peas and pizzas after all. Maybe the war is with ourselves; between what we want and what we know. Between the person who saves smoothie recipes on Sunday and the one who orders butter chicken on Wednesday.


And the uncomfortable truth? We need to do better. Not by deleting the apps or swearing off carbs, but by reclaiming a little bit of control. By remembering that convenience isn’t always care. That being busy isn’t an excuse to be careless.

Because in the end, the biggest battle isn’t fought in the kitchen or the checkout cart.
It’s fought in that tiny pause; right before you hit “Order Now.”


The only assured loser in this epic struggle, your wallet. But, aah well, as Sant Kabir had wisely said:

क्या लेके आया बन्दे,

क्या लेके जायेगा,

दो दिन की जिन्दगी है,

दो दिन का मेला ॥


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