Calling all Chefs!!

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TubbsMcGee
TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you NOT snack when spending all day in the kitchen sampling your foods and eating the scraps??

I’ve only been a chef for a year and have managed to put on 20 kilos...I’m at my heaviest weight ever!

Yesterday I discovered that chewing gum all day helped significantly, and drinking espressos helps with energy bursts.

What do YOU do to prevent massive weight gains?
Spend the majority of your free time in the gym?
Don’t eat meals because you get your caloric intake just from prepping?
...or do I just not have any self control?!

Prior to spending all day in a kitchen, I spent all day on the mat as a yoga teacher and was fit as. Now when I am reunited with people I haven’t seen in years, they don’t recognise me

Replies

  • Anvasilak
    Anvasilak Posts: 20 Member
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    I was in food service for many years! You have to plan your meals ahead of time. It's really difficult when your around good food all day! It's so easy to pick when your rushing around! The picking adds up. I tried to fill up on the healthier foods! The reality is your going to have these challenges everyday! Think about your health and limit the tasting to very small amounts! Your on your feet for long hours and the more you gain the more difficult long term it will be for you. Good luck Chef!!
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
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    I have the same problem even in my own kitchen. The other day I must have been hungry while starting dinner and ate ??? much hamburger as I was seasoning it for the chili. I ended logging 2 oz of extra hamburger, but it could have been more.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I don't know so many of the TV chefs stay so thin. They must not eat anything they make!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I used IF to balance out the day. I also would make a conscious effort not to gobble scraps. Or I'd count 'em. You have to taste as you go. Leave a couple of hundred cals for that. It's doable. Lost 8 lbs doing it.
  • AllSpiceNice
    AllSpiceNice Posts: 120 Member
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    I’m not a chef, but cook a lot at home. I would taste A LOT, and I also had the bad habit of cleaning up my son’s leftovers after meal time.

    Try putting aside a portion of something that looks close to the size/weight of one of your “tastes” or “scraps”. Weight it and log it. Remember you have to log every taste or scrap like that and see how it adds up.

    That really opened my eyes to the true “calorie price” I was paying to do all that tasting and leftover clean up. If the tasting is unavoidable due to work, then at least you have a better idea of how to adjust your calories for the remainder of the day. Or you might find ways to reduce the frequency and/or amount of food that goes into each taste.

    Good luck! That one was a tough habit for me to address, but I did, and you can too. :-)
  • cronus70
    cronus70 Posts: 189 Member
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    Typically I’m in the kitchen from 6:30am till 4 or 5 pm and most days I fast, guess I’ve just got used to it.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    It's a lot easier when you can't stomach the food served in the restaurant. Don't get me wrong, it's great food, but being on a low salt diet for so long makes it all seem very salty to me.
  • jlove618
    jlove618 Posts: 23 Member
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    I love cooking and I absoluteIy understand this problem. I have tried a few solutions for this: (1) I try to cook healthier so that if I am snacking, it is at least good for me and then compensate later when I actually eat the meal (2) keep healthy snacks out so that while I am cooking I can eat that instead of the bad stuff (3) I start cooking before I get really hungry so I am less tempted (4) I don't do a ton of prep beforehand so that I am constantly doing something and focusing on different aspects of the dish and so there aren't bite sized foods sitting around waiting to be eaten (yes this takes longer, but I find the distraction helps). I'm not sure how well they have worked, but I think it seems to be ok. good luck!
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    I don't know so many of the TV chefs stay so thin. They must not eat anything they make!

    Probably because the famous chefs can afford personal trainers to help them work off what they eat
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
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    I second the IF suggestion. Put your eating window overlapping work if need be (since I'm guessing you kinda have to taste everything?) . Then plan maybe lighter actual meals that are supplemented by the snacking. Good luck!
  • hydechildcare
    hydechildcare Posts: 142 Member
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    I was a chef for many years. I lost 30 pounds before my wedding while working 60 plus hours a week cooking and going to school to be a chef. My tricks was to eat before starting work (I started work at 4:30 am. So I usually ate before I completed any food around 6 am. I kept my water or coffee very close to me so I would reach for that first. I would pack a lunch and snack (or depending on the meal schedule I would plate up my food and go away.) I worked in a nursing home so I would get smaller portions of food since I new I would be trying different things. Then after work I would run for an hour and lift for 30-40 minutes. I would go to school for 1 hour and eat my dinner there since we would be cooking. I stop snack and mostly eating outside of work and school unless I had the day off. On my off days I would try to get two runs in. 1 on the treadmill and 1 around the neighborhood. While at work I would not do any starches unless I packed them, This was it was harder to eat an many calories. At school we had to try everything so I would start with a small plate and go back for more if I needed something.

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