Hey. Chefs life. Must change.
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Mediterranean Veg Soup sounds awesome!
Some of my go-to soups are (I'm on keto, so these may or may not be helpful to you):
Chicken Meatball and Spinach (kind of a riff on Italian Wedding, without the pasta)
Mock Potato Soup (pureed cauliflower with chicken stock, then loaded with bacon, green onions, cheddar cheese and roasted garlic)
Spicy Tomato Basil (essentially my homemade marinara without sugar, then red chili flakes, a little stock and heavy cream all whizzed up together)
Basic Bouillabaisse (I omit the shellfish, and just do whatever fish I have on hand, and toss shrimp or crab if I have it into the pot, then keep the veg simple and low carb)4 -
My son manages a restaurant and works long hours, too. He keeps his weight down by eating a hearty, higher fat meal for breakfast (such as fried eggs on whole grain avocado toast or an omelet with bacon), and then bringing low-carb meals to work and eating those for lunch and when he's there for dinner. He also gets Blue Apron meals delivered at home so he can just open whatever is in the box, put it together according to the instructions, and have dinner without really thinking.
But, the best advice I have for you is to see a dietitian. A dietitian will help you a lot. Mine is wonderful. She goes over my MFP diaries and gives suggestions. She gives me recipes. She keeps empty boxes of healthy foods, such as snacks and protein bars, so I can get ideas for things to eat. She goes over my macros and tells me when to try lowering or raising my macros (such as she had me change to 30% carbs and 40% fat). And she understands disease, which is the most important part for you. Seeing a registered dietitian who is knowledgeable about diabetes and high cholesterol can literally be a lifesaver for you. I found mine by researching online.2 -
L1zardQueen wrote: »
Thank you for sharing this! Great info in the original post, will be sharing with some friends who are looking to lose weight.0 -
I've always wondered- what's it like working as a chef and cooking food for a living?0
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Welcome, TheBigYin1984 ! Are you getting any exercise? LMK if you need a friend.
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Kimmotion5783 wrote: »I've always wondered- what's it like working as a chef and cooking food for a living?
Hard work. Long hours. Under appreciated.4 -
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Hi! Welcome! Feel free to add me! I am currently pre-diabetic and working to reverse it! Todays and likely tomorrow's diary will not reflect this. lol0
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Dear BigYin,
Welcome to a great place to get started with your big life change. I too work in the restaurant industry and am a big nibbler! But. It's so easy to let it get out of hand, as you well know. The long hours and stress used to lead me to emotion-eating and after-closing drinking with my staff. I realized that I needed to change this or I'd eat my way to an early grave. So, just like teresamwhite, I meal prep. I completely agree with her. Our profession is all about prepping/making/storing food!!! This is the perfect toolset for meal prep for a healthy you. I eat on a regular schedule and make MYSELF the priority not those "easy-to-grab-whatevers" sitting in front of me. Grab and go is not going to get you where you want to go. I eat before I get to the restaurant, keep my homemade protein bars close by to nibble on (just two a day) and have my lunch planned around the huge rushes my place has to deal with. I eat b-fast at 6am, protein bar at 9, lunch at 1, protein bar at 3, I'm out of my place around 3:30, hit the gym at 4, and eat dinner at 7. I calculate everything I eat in MyFitnessPal, tracking my macros carefully. I keep my cals between 1400-1600, 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. I've lost 20# and am now lifting weights. I also keep water on hand and drink about a gallon a day - literally. Never or rarely drink soda/alcohol (club soda I do indulge in). What I've found is that the stress from my job wears down my resolve to eat right. That stress isn't going anywhere. But what I have on hand - a protien bar instead of a couple or 10 cookies - has changed and allows me to stress-nibble and not die sooner. I would also suggest a gym membership. I don't know how old you are but my chef-turned-GM is 60. His back is destroyed and his shoulders are a mess. The huge kettles, sauce pans, 50# bags of whatever have all taken their toll. The more fit you are the better your body can take those commercial sized kettles and bags of potatoes. I like what I'm doing. I love working in the restaurant business. But you know what they say - If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Put down the french fry/chicken tender/cookie, pick up the barbell, eat better, drink a glass of water - repeat. But only if you want to live longer. Good luck!
Amy5 -
Yo, welcome to the MFP life. You can 100% do this!1
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Feel free to add me as a friend. My sister has a new challenge starting in January. It is very motivating1
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15 days in.
20.5lbs down.15 -
Congratulations! That’s amazing! You’re doing great!! I wish I could lose 15lbs in 20 days lol0
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Kitchen life really messes with your relationship with food. There are way too many gaps between normal meals eaten in a calm and relaxed manner. That leads to continuous mindless nibbling of whatever you find to get by, and then late meals that are way too big, and your whole day is so rushed that you tend to eat far too quickly and have no sense of when you are full until it's too late and you're too full and you've eaten too much. I too am a chef and reprogramming how I eat. I am finding that my portion sizes are way too big and I have a heavy hand with fats. Despite 15 years of cooking I am only now really getting an understanding of what the caloric impact is of what I am eating.
Baby steps. Right now I'm working on learning to not eat until I feel full, and that if I FEEL full I probably ate too much.
The other thing I do when I am line cooking at really intense jobs where there is truly no time to eat properly is bring big glass jars of smoothies to work to sip throughout the shift. Keeping my blood sugar stable usually keeps me from mindlessly stuffing carbs in my face when I get too hungry.3 -
TheBigYin1984 wrote: »Kimmotion5783 wrote: »I've always wondered- what's it like working as a chef and cooking food for a living?
Hard work. Long hours. Under appreciated.
Welcome--this is a ridiculously supportive community--which, when you're not feeling appreciated, is pretty awesome. What would you like to be doing? Are you working towards a goal, such as your own business? I know my over-eating and drinking is sometimes triggered by resentment for being...well not in charge, lol. But have found if I'm working towards a goal, I can shift my thinking.
Feel free to add me if you have any room for more friends. My diary is open. However, I'm more on the low-fat vegetarian/plant-based path, which is different from most people here. Disclaimer: I fell off the healthy and controlled drinking bandwagon this December--damn holidays. But hopping back on. I'm getting ready to eat veggie soup with leftover gingered carrots, rice pilaf, chick peas, sauteed onions, sauce, fresh herbs, and of course, chipotle.
As many have said, start with little changes--I think there's research that's the key to lasting change.1 -
Hey BigYin, just a thought.... Congrats on the 20.5#!!! But I'd be careful losing too much too fast. I completely get that it's great to lose the weight and (no surprise) I'm no pro but your electorlytes could get out of whack. I toss a Mio with electrolytes into my gallon of water to ward off problems and you might consider it too. I take potasium/magnesium to help too. I was keto from June-Oct which totally screws with your system so I learned the hard way to watch my electrolyes. I once watched a 400# cook go down on the line (terribly hot even for a line) and he nearly crushed the other guy he took down. He was dehydrated. I think the "weight loss gods" suggest 1-2# a week. I bet you're losing water weight. Great job but I hope you're careful and don't hurt yourself. The Mio will make it look like you're drinking nuclear waste! Just tell everyone it's pickle juice. That will keep them from drinking from your jug! Haha. Keep going!1
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Hello,
My fiancee and I are both chefs as well and trying to lose weight for our upcoming wedding. I've been struggling with this and honestly I've actually gained about 15# since we got engaged and I've finally realized that it's affecting my health. Happy to meet some other chefs who understand long hours and constant temptations.
Love the idea of the 'boxed lunches'. I struggle with meal prep since when I get home from cooking all day I'm tired and the last thing I want to do is cook more.2 -
Fellow chef here (sous chef) and looking for help, advice and friendly motivation. Particularly late night when I'm bashing out the orders or early morning when it's breakfast shift time. My weight fluctuates up and down constantly and I've put some on since becoming a sous. I keep trying to use MFP but all the tasting and checking seasonings makes me wonder how to input into the diary.1
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Well done on finding a system that works for you in this first stage of the battle - great weight loss so far.
While still winning so well, this would be a good time to think ahead to the long term.
For lasting weight loss, you need a lasting plan.
The main trick seems to be setting up a way of eating/exercising that will keep on working for you in the longer term AND which you are happy to live with.
Someone with will-power and motivation (like you) can exercise this and see great change - for a week - or a month or for 2 months or three or even four. However, will-power is stretched during this time and it will get tired.
Prep for this if you plan to win.
Can you find a way that uses what you have learnt about eating and living well and which you can sustain for a year or two years or ten?
What is your new normal going to be?0 -
TheBigYin1984 wrote: »Hey folks.
Time to start doing something about my health.
Diabetic, and have been a while now. Uncontrolled. Type 2.
Was at the docs a few days ago, and was informed I have high cholesterol. To the number of 12.
And told out of all his patients this week, I’m the one he is most worried about.
So that brings me here.
Started logging my food on Tuesday. Love the way it works.
My eating habits are out of wacky because of my work. I’m a chef. And work long hard days. Don’t eat and just pick at whatever is lying in kitchen.
So yeah. Hi everyone.TheBigYin1984 wrote: »Hey folks.
Time to start doing something about my health.
Diabetic, and have been a while now. Uncontrolled. Type 2.
Was at the docs a few days ago, and was informed I have high cholesterol. To the number of 12.
And told out of all his patients this week, I’m the one he is most worried about.
So that brings me here.
Started logging my food on Tuesday. Love the way it works.
My eating habits are out of wacky because of my work. I’m a chef. And work long hard days. Don’t eat and just pick at whatever is lying in kitchen.
So yeah. Hi everyone.TheBigYin1984 wrote: »Hey folks.
Time to start doing something about my health.
Diabetic, and have been a while now. Uncontrolled. Type 2.
Was at the docs a few days ago, and was informed I have high cholesterol. To the number of 12.
And told out of all his patients this week, I’m the one he is most worried about.
So that brings me here.
Started logging my food on Tuesday. Love the way it works.
My eating habits are out of wacky because of my work. I’m a chef. And work long hard days. Don’t eat and just pick at whatever is lying in kitchen.
So yeah. Hi everyone.
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