is right there, in my place of employment. I work at an Italian Restaurant/Pizzeria. And oh-my-gosh, is our pizza good. It's a small business, not a chain, and it was started 15 years ago by an Italian family. Our pizza kicks Papa John's butt in the pizza department. I'm making myself drool. Anyway, you see my problem. Not a thing on the menu is healthy. We have spaghetti sauce, but they load it with sugar. We have sandwiches, but again, nothing is healthy. The turkey is so salty that I retain water for 2 days. And the bread they put the sandwiches on is not exactly nutritional, either. Fantastic, but unhealthy. The closest thing we have to semi-nutrition is a WW compatible calzone. It's 8 WW points, but I have no clue how to figure the calories, as I'm not on WW. The owner, my boss, has no nutritional info on anything on the menu. So you see my dilemma. I'm hungry (even though I eat before I go into work...if I eat before I go into work at 4:00, yeah, I am hungry by 9:00) and it's hard to say 'no when you are hungry. It's not exactly a place I can pack my own food, either (we don't even have a microwave there!). I'm going to have to be strong and not eat until I get home but man, is it hard!

I asked him once...he is not the original owner, so he didn't do the figuring. He bought the place 3-4 years ago. Grilled chicken would be lovely, if they had it, but all they have are deep-fried, breaded pieces of processed chicken things. And they don't have salad, otherwise I'd be eating that.

Not sure how long you've been working there or what type of relationship you have with management, but you might want to recommend adding a few healthy options. I think every restaurant should have at least 1 or 2 healthy options. It would be great for their business. Even the best steakhouses have a petit filet on their menu.

I admire the fact that your ability to work in a place like that and not eat everything in sight! mom and pop pizza places....my big weakness, I could eat a large pizza on my own from corkys pizza...anyway... Its probably not ideal, but maybe you could bring your own sandwiches, veggies, things like that to munch on so you have some healthier options around when hunger sets in? Or try to eat a meal high in fiber and protein before work so you feel full a lot longer and aren't as tempted?

wow if i were you i'd be typing that from under a table in the restaurant with a pizza in one hand and a carb coma on the way.

you are already much stronger than i am just by being able to work there and not eat pizza every 20 minutes. and hey, at least you go through the trouble of finding out calories...i don't even bother doing that when i order pizza myself.

I work at a restaurant, as well, so I completely understand the problem!!! Where I work we have (possibly) the most delicious Mac & Cheese in the history of the modern world, and it is soooooo hard to not get it whenever I work a double shift!! Luckily, we also have grilled chicken skewers, which I always get instead, and are really really good!! Whenever I'm feeling like it's impossible to resist the M&C I try to run down to the bathroom so I can take a peek at my thighs in the mirror. That usually stops ALL M&C cravings!! HAHA!

Depending on your relationship with everyone who works there, you can have them tailor stuff for you to eat while you're there, especially if it's slow in the kitchen sometimes. For example (and this doesn't work for the whole weight loss thing, but you'll see what I mean), there's a girl at work who LOVES our roasted chicken entree, but it comes with yams and beets. She hates both, so she talks to the kitchen and gets mashed potatoes instead...does that make sense???

Another thing you could do is bring your own bread/meat from home (so some whole grain bread and turkey that isn't as salty) and use their veggies, etc. to make a sandwich at lunch. Or, bring in some whole grain pasta and ask the kitchen just to cook it up with some whole veggies (not the tomato sauce) garlic & herbs during a slow period of the day. You can even bring some grilled chicken from home and heat it up in a pan with the pasta and voila!! You'll have a healthy meal that will still taste (and for all intents and purposes BE) fresh!

Hope that helps, and I feel your pain!

I eat before I go to work, but like I said, it only lasts so long. I'm eating right now; I have to be there in an hour, and I probably won't be home 'til 9:30-10:00. That's a long, long time to go foodless.

I wish I could take some food with me. It's against health code violations to mix non-restaurant food with food from the restaurant. So whatever I brought would have to be left out in the open...ew. I'm sure I'll figure it out, one day. I was just, you know, sharing one of my struggles. I know there's no easy fix for this, and believe you me, I've pondered over it. I wish we had an employee fridge, but right now, it's not in the budget, and there's nowhere to put it. I'm going to mention to him that we should have something decent on the menu, for people who might want to eat lighter. At least the walking is good exercise, right?

Definitely -- it's great exercise!

You could always bring something in a lunchbox with a cold pack in it?

But I just read about the "Jenny Special" -- glad you found something you can have!!

aww, the only thing i can suggest is packing your own lunch/dinner. Maybe suggest to your boss that he should have a microwave for employees? I used to work at mrs fields ( I Know!) and it was so hard to resist those delicious, warm, melty, cookies. We also didnt have a microwave. But I talked to my boss about it, and he brought one in for the back room. Problem solved. Then again, maybe you and your boss arent that close....hmmm my brother does what artsnsmarts suggested--he packs lunch with ice packs...