I work in a bakery...

I run a convenience store and I look at chocolate, chips, pastries, sandwiches and sodas 50+ hours a week. I'm pretty sure it's how I gained a good portion of what I have over the last 5 years. I'd especially snack when there was a slow time and since I don't get a lunch break, I would eat whenever I felt "hungry". What I do now is pack my lunch with a good variety of snacks and a sandwich so I have my choice.

I feel bad for you in that situation. That is a tough one.

Yup!! I work in a grocery store with a bakery, deli and restaurant in it. I feel for you. Between the donuts, chinese food, pizza and mashed potatoes I smell and work with all the time, it sometimes drives me crazy, but I keep moving and drinking water and tell those chocolate chip cookies beside me to just shut up when they scream my name. I also work part-time in a sort of fast food restaurant, or at least did for a couple months, until I couldn't stand it anymore.

Water really helps keep me from eating it, as does keeping moving and reminding myself of my goals and how I would feel if I gave in. "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips".

Edit to say: I almost always bring my lunch (a small sandwich and an apple) from home, too.

I have my own cupcake business. I do not have issues with overindulging in my own baked goods. I taste a bit of cake batter and frosting, and take a taste of the finished cake. But that's it. Occasionally, I'll have one cupcake.

If I were in your position, I don't think I'd need to constantly try foods. Sandwiches are sandwiches, cream puffs are cream puffs. There shouldn't be much, if any, variation in flavor or quality. Once you've tasted one, you've tasted them all. You should be able to make recommendations to customers without trying these foods every single day. Bring your own healthy food for lunch and don't try the pastries. Problem solved.

Not really "problem solved" with my emotional eating habits - it's just not as simple as not doing it, if it was I wouldn't have this problem. And, since lunch is free at work, and I get just over min. wage, I can't really afford to bring a lunch. But the lunch isn't the problem - it's easy to make a salad or a bowl of oatmeal -it's the pack mentality of "try this!" that gets me.

keep something with you at all times that you really like but is way lower calories than what you are eating at the bakery. a mini heath bar is 39 cal or take a tub of peanut butter and eat 1t of it... if you said "no thanks" and went to the things you brought instead maybe that would work

I kinda know what you're going through. I worked in a AMAZING gelato store and we were always snacking on the gelato so we could tell customers how the ice cream was that day. Sure, I loved it but I gained weight. My suggestions to you are:

1. Bike/walk to work if you can
2. Imagine something gross on the food that will turn you off: before you pick up that cream puff, imagine mustard replacing the cream. ew.
3. Find out WHY you're picking up that food - are you stressed, bored, tired or anxious? There are usually feelings behind the move.
4. Stay hydrated! Water will help curb those cravings and throw in a package of Crystal Light, yummm.
5. Chew gum if you can do it discretely.

Good luck

All of these suggestions are good work-arounds of the problem but the main issue I think is that you crave, your body literally craves carbs because it is burning some and turning the rest into fat stores and then you're soon hungry again. Continually struggling with it is a lose situation every time because it will always wear you down. The only permanent solution is to break the craving cycle and that won't be easy in your situation. "Opportunity knocks once but temptation leans on the doorbell all day long." Even the strongest so-called will power can't fight those kinds of odds indefinitely. Your long-term health is much more important than giving in to peer pressure. If these co-worker/friends really care about you they will understand.