Working in the restaurant industry-

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Garae
Garae Posts: 116 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Any tips on avoiding noshing? I feel like I just can't get away from it!

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  • jpaw1002
    jpaw1002 Posts: 322 Member
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    i also work in the restaurant, i try to bring snacks or my lunch. Ive just recently started this and it seems to work. drinking more water also helps :)
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    - Water, water, water: I avoid the pop!!
    - Limit myself to 1 4 oz ramekin of soft serve a day
    - Take the opportunity to make my free meal healthy (salad, turkey sandwich, etc) and munch on healthy foods like fruit!
    - Stay out of the kitchen as much as possible
    - Keep myself busy wiping tables, running errands, etc.
    - Reading a book when I have nothing to do haha
  • CrossOutTheEyes
    CrossOutTheEyes Posts: 3
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    Now that I am logging all my food in the food diary, it reduces the temptation to snack. I might want to stand there and eat the soup crackers, but knowing that I have to log all those crackers makes it not worth it.
    The hardest part for me is when someone messes up a dessert order and it can't be served. It's hard to eat "just one bite.."
  • nickscutie
    nickscutie Posts: 303 Member
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    I eat pickles when I am noshy at my restaurant.
  • MindyBlack
    MindyBlack Posts: 954 Member
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    I used to work at KFC and while I love the food I got so tired of it after a while it didn't tempt me much anymore. Also I learned rather than buy a meal to make up my own meals. Soup from the buffet and green beans. Maybe a piece of chicken without the skin. Frequently I brought a healthy lunch from home. I actually lost weight while working there due in large part to the physical demands of the job and making healthy food choices.
  • CrossOutTheEyes
    CrossOutTheEyes Posts: 3
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    I second the advice to drink more water! If I'm really craving soda, I'll have a couple sips, but I stick to water any other time. It helps to keep your mind off the food.
    I find that when I eat at work, it's usually because I'm bored, not because I'm hungry. If I am actually hungry, I just get a small salad. If you are legitimately hungry, eat something small and healthy. Don't snack on random foods. It's too hard to keep track of how much and what you are eating.
  • jen051279
    jen051279 Posts: 44
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    bump
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    I nosh a bit but only on veggies. I work in a scratch kitchen and my station has a lot of vegetable prep so veggies are what's in front of me all day. My boss will spit the high fat food if she has to taste it but mostly all she has to do is mention all the fat in what we just made and neither of us want it anymore.
  • Garae
    Garae Posts: 116 Member
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    Now that I am logging all my food in the food diary, it reduces the temptation to snack. I might want to stand there and eat the soup crackers, but knowing that I have to log all those crackers makes it not worth it.
    The hardest part for me is when someone messes up a dessert order and it can't be served. It's hard to eat "just one bite.."

    ugh that is what just happened to me. we had a mistake on a brownie sunday and i ate like a quarter of it =[
  • mindyydnim
    mindyydnim Posts: 7
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    I am a chef in culinary school now, and am also doing part-time personal chef services and baking cakes/cookies/breads for friends and family. On top of already being overweight, I gained another 30 pounds in 3 months when I started culinary school last August. It took me 9 months in school to realize that I don't have to eat *everything*! :tongue: Before school, I have a large, filling, low-cal/low-fat/high-protein smoothie that I make myself, and I bring a piece of fruit and a fiber bar to school to snack on. I do have to taste my food, but a taste doesn't mean I need to eat, eat, eat. Maybe this doesn't help you, but for me it was just about discipline and will-power. I got myself fat, and I didn't like myself that way, so I am doing what I know I need to do to get myself fit and healthy again.
  • helenoftroy1
    helenoftroy1 Posts: 638 Member
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    I worked in restaurants for 8 years, and because of that I'm on here!
    I know exactly how hard it is, but unfortunately my job and diet ended up in a trip to the doctors who told me I already had high blood pressure and stress, and would be prone to diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease if I carried on like that. I was working 70/80 hours a week eating one massive meal a day (thinking it's only one meal can't be that many calories) and then snacking on wrongly made food, left overs and boredom.
    I quit my job and got out of the restaurants, it was affecting my health. I look back now and think honestly I was always snacking drinking sips of fizzy drinks, too much coffee and energy drinks. The only thing I could suggest is make your lifestyle fit you not others with 9-5 jobs. Try and eat breakfast, this doesn't have to be at 8am in the morning, just when you get up. don't be tempted to eat late and drink fizzy water if you get bored of just water. Little changes can make a big difference. Stay clear of stodgy food like white pasta and creamy sauces, big lethargic induced meals and keep to stuff to help you keep on the go. chicken and vegetables with a tomato based salsa. If you feel healthier you will be healthier.
    Hope this helps!
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    I am a chef in culinary school now, and am also doing part-time personal chef services and baking cakes/cookies/breads for friends and family. On top of already being overweight, I gained another 30 pounds in 3 months when I started culinary school last August. It took me 9 months in school to realize that I don't have to eat *everything*! :tongue: Before school, I have a large, filling, low-cal/low-fat/high-protein smoothie that I make myself, and I bring a piece of fruit and a fiber bar to school to snack on. I do have to taste my food, but a taste doesn't mean I need to eat, eat, eat. Maybe this doesn't help you, but for me it was just about discipline and will-power. I got myself fat, and I didn't like myself that way, so I am doing what I know I need to do to get myself fit and healthy again.

    OMG I got so big when I was in culinary school. My classmates always said butter and bacon make everything better. I am a vegetarian but I decided to eat meat while I was in school to make life easier. I gained over 30 pounds and kept it on for about 8 months after graduation. It started to come off in the most unhealthy way: I went through a terrible break up, got the flu and then a cold in about a 3 week span. Dropped 15 pounds and after that the weight started melting off just because I was eating better at my job than at school and started to get back into an active lifestyle.
  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
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    Now that I am logging all my food in the food diary, it reduces the temptation to snack. I might want to stand there and eat the soup crackers, but knowing that I have to log all those crackers makes it not worth it.
    The hardest part for me is when someone messes up a dessert order and it can't be served. It's hard to eat "just one bite.."

    ugh that is what just happened to me. we had a mistake on a brownie sunday and i ate like a quarter of it =[

    That happens to me at work just about every day, but since I work in a gourmet pizza restaurant, there's always extra pizza everywhere! :grumble: It's soooo hard to say no...but after a while it sort of becomes a habit to say "no thanks".

    Edited to add: I bring my own food to work, and by now most people know by now to not tell me when there's an extra pizza or dessert in the back.
  • lizzil0
    lizzil0 Posts: 181 Member
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    I make sure to bring in plenty of healthy food I enjoy eating and logging it into my food diary beforehand. Then I just tell myself "I brought the food in, it's logged, that's all I can eat".
  • candicemaechling
    candicemaechling Posts: 152 Member
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    I bring easy things like fiber one/ fiber plus bars and make sure I eat before

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