Any folks who work with/around food out there?

Hausisse1
Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
edited November 17 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hey! I might be getting a job in the culinary industry. (excited!!) But being a health-conscious person who loves food, I'm afraid of gaining weight. I don't think I know of too many professional cooks who are overweight, actually, but it's still a concern of mine. I've looked up certain things (lots of lists online like "secrets of a slim chef" etc) but all the same I wondered if there was anybody on here who had dealt with it or is dealing with it right now and had advice? :)

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I work in an office where it is Halloween 24/7. I just step away from the candy bowls. I bring my own snacks and it is already logged.. Takes discipline and being mindful.

    If I don't eat it, I don't have to burn it later...

    Essentially I pre-log my day so there is never really any room for slip ups unless the food enters my mouth after I have been tied up and held against my will.
  • maroonmango211
    maroonmango211 Posts: 908 Member
    Honestly when I worked in the business was probably when I was my thinnest (before getting truly fit and healthy now) mostly because after a day around everyone elses food, I had no appetite, while cooking or afterwards. If you're worried about taste testing and such, either log as best you can what you try ( I know harder than it sounds) or quick calorie add a couple hundred to cover it.

    I actually find it harder to deal with scenarios like gia07 said, other peoples treats and snacks around.
  • Hausisse1
    Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
    maroonmango211 wrote: »
    Honestly when I worked in the business was probably when I was my thinnest (before getting truly fit and healthy now) mostly because after a day around everyone elses food, I had no appetite, while cooking or afterwards. If you're worried about taste testing and such, either log as best you can what you try ( I know harder than it sounds) or quick calorie add a couple hundred to cover it.

    I actually find it harder to deal with scenarios like gia07 said, other peoples treats and snacks around.

    Thank you! I am kinda worried about fitting my macros while taste testing, let getting enough protein and stuff. :/
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    gia07 wrote: »
    I work in an office where it is Halloween 24/7.

    are you hiring? cause i live for halloween (and dont care about the candy! LOLOL)

  • kabochia
    kabochia Posts: 4 Member
    I just started working in a café, and it actually REALLY kills my appetite. I also just put the food in a "this is for customers, not for me" category, and it's been fine. I make myself a really big, healthy, high protein shake at the beginning of my shift, and just sip on that to keep myself going.

    Also, if I wasn't tracking, it might be hard to resist snacking on what's around, but having to enter in bites of this and that is too much of a pain, so I just don't eat it!

    Good luck with your new job! Working with food is fun. :)
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    gia07 wrote: »
    I work in an office where it is Halloween 24/7.

    are you hiring? cause i live for halloween (and dont care about the candy! LOLOL)

    LOL...
  • jhood2015
    jhood2015 Posts: 2 Member
    I am a food service asst. director and it makes me not want to eat after cooking or being around food all day
  • Hausisse1
    Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
    kabochia wrote: »
    I just started working in a café, and it actually REALLY kills my appetite. I also just put the food in a "this is for customers, not for me" category, and it's been fine. I make myself a really big, healthy, high protein shake at the beginning of my shift, and just sip on that to keep myself going.

    Also, if I wasn't tracking, it might be hard to resist snacking on what's around, but having to enter in bites of this and that is too much of a pain, so I just don't eat it!

    Good luck with your new job! Working with food is fun. :)

    Thanks! The protein shake is a good idea. :) Do you usually keep a bottle of water with you, as well? All metabolic benefits of drinking a lot of water aside, I get super constipated (sorry tmi lol) if I'm not drinking water all day.
  • flaminica
    flaminica Posts: 304 Member
    I work in a grocery store. I know what people eat. Not what they think they eat or what they claim to eat, but what they're really putting in bags and carrying home. I've gotten many great tips and ideas from shoppers. Sometimes I'll try something new because it looked interesting, and sometimes if the shopper is friendly I've asked "How do you cook that?" and gotten great advice.

    I also know that you really are what you eat. There is a HUGE and very real correlation between fitness, weight and food choices. Everyone deserves treats, but people buying nothing but fatty, sugary, over-processed empty calorie foods are always the unhealthy looking ones.
  • kabochia
    kabochia Posts: 4 Member
    Hausisse1 wrote: »
    Thanks! The protein shake is a good idea. :) Do you usually keep a bottle of water with you, as well? All metabolic benefits of drinking a lot of water aside, I get super constipated (sorry tmi lol) if I'm not drinking water all day.

    Yeah, I drink water alllll day long. (I get constipated if I don't, too! haha) And I drink a cup or two of coffee to keep me smiling at people. :tongue:

  • Hausisse1
    Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
    kabochia wrote: »
    Hausisse1 wrote: »
    Thanks! The protein shake is a good idea. :) Do you usually keep a bottle of water with you, as well? All metabolic benefits of drinking a lot of water aside, I get super constipated (sorry tmi lol) if I'm not drinking water all day.

    Yeah, I drink water alllll day long. (I get constipated if I don't, too! haha) And I drink a cup or two of coffee to keep me smiling at people. :tongue:

    Are you able to meet your macros most days? :x
  • RosieRose7673
    RosieRose7673 Posts: 438 Member
    I was a server for 7.5 years. Just two jobs. My one job I was at for 5.5 years. I didn't track calories often during that time frame. But I did snack a lot in the beginning. My weight stayed the same all throughout that snacking period though. I was on my feet running around all day!! It was a super busy restaurant.

    From what it sounds like... You may be a chef or something like that. Always on your feet. So I wouldn't worry. Your TDEE will likely raise because of your increase in NEAT. Just be aware of what you're eating. But I agree with others... It almost makes you not want to eat after a while because of being around the food all day. You'll be fine!

    Congrats on the new job!
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
    I work as a hostess at a restaurant which sells food I used to crave ALL THE TIME. While I'm not the one directly handling it, I smell and see it almost constantly. You'd be surprised how little it begins to affect you! It's almost as if I'm completely desensitized now, it doesn't phase me. I found if you keep nibbling at things here and there, you reward your body for triggering these cravings. However, if you resist the urge in the beginning to be a nibbler, you begin to dissociate the sight and smell with the food and cravings. Your body craves food because when people experience hunger and cravings, they generally eat, and our body is simply just trying to do its job. When you ignore that, your body will tune to a different method and likely send you signals only when you're actually hungry, not just in the presence of something yummy.
    At least, that's how it happened for me! Confusing, I know.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    I don't work in the food industry, but I work in an office where there are constantly treats in the kitchen. On Tuesday I had to prepare my afternoon snack on the same table as a huge cookie cake, and any time we have a birthday there is cake or cookies or donuts. We also sometimes get surprise treats from local restaurants (usually subs, but once it was fried chicken) and people bring in candy and other goodies and stick them in the kitchen on a daily basis. My office is only a few feet from the kitchen, so any delicious aroma in there finds its way to me quickly.

    Doesn't bother me or tempt me. I prelog my days and I'm not willing to eat a smaller dinner or skip my planned snack in order to fit in a donut. I eat enough so that I'm not starving all day, so it's not a big deal for me to pass on the sweets.

    I'm human and I definitely "cheat" from time to time, but it's usually planned and never at work.
  • deniztuzu2
    deniztuzu2 Posts: 77 Member
    I work at my own pizza place and have gained about 50 lbs starting out( in 2 years). But about 5 months ago, decided to lose weight and have lost 70 lbs to date still working with pizza. It has been really easy actually having a kitchen at my disposal at work, I can cook or make whatever I want to aid my weight loss; so it is actually a big help working in the industry :smile:
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