I work in an ice cream shop...help
 

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but really need some suggestions! I work in an ice cream shop, we're allowed to eat as much as we want whenever we want. This isn't a huge problem during busy shifts when there's no time to even sit down, but often we are pretty slow and eating out of boredom becomes my go-to. I know if I can stop eating on the job I'll lose some weight but I can't seem to stop myself! Does anyone have any suggestions or tips? I go into every shift telling myself no ice cream but then the cravings kick in and its all over from there on out. It's driving me crazy!!

I'm having this same problem, except for me, it's at home, whenever there's baked goods in the apartment. I tell myself all day at work, "Okay, I've had my one brownie for the day, that's all I need." Aaaaand then I get home and I finish the pan.

For me, my problem is easily enough circumvented: don't bake. Except, I want to be able to have those treats now and then once I get to the maintenance stage, and I need to learn how to control those urges so I can. :/

I'm afraid I don't have much to add as a solution. Your situaiton is a lot harder to avoid than mine. I haven't discovered much in the way of strategies to take care of it. The closest I've gotten other than "just tough it out" (which just doesn't work, either for brownies or ice cream!) is that I discovered alternate foods which are healthier and still satisfy those cravings. Are you allowed to bring outside food to work? I realized that I associate the taste of bananas with dessert: banana bread, for instance. So, if I'm craving dessert, eating a banana sometimes helps. Nothing to feel guilty about a banana. ;)

Distraction is a powerful tool for avoiding overeating, too. Like you wrote, I notice my own cravings are strongest when I'm bored, or otherwise not actively engaged. Maybe there's something you can clean when work is slow? That's what they always had us do when I was working in the burger shop, anyway. ;)

Best of luck! I'll be watching this thread for good solutions, because I want to be able to bake without putting an extra couple thousand calories in my body within a day!

I worked in Baskin Robbins in 1970 and I stayed at 120lb or less by not eating anything but ice cream on the days I worked. I was in college and worked 2 or 3 days a week. Since then I have had ten kids and been on prednisone off and on for years for an autoimmune disease and have trouble getting under 150lb.

Years ago my sister-in-law got a job in a bakery. Her sister's husband made the comment "I can just see what she's going to look like after a while." It may have been cruel for her sister to tell her he said that, but it made her more determined to prove him wrong, and she lost another 10 lbs while she worked there.

The only thing I can personally compare this to is that my DH loves baked goods and always has them in the house. The only thing I can do is tell myself that I have to avoid being tempted. It took a while, but now I can walk by them without even a blink.

Do you want to be thin more than you want that ice cream? Every day you can resist it makes you stronger.

Another thing you can do....allow one day each week that you can have some ice cream. That way you won't feel that you are depriving yourself.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the responses you guys! We are allowed to bring outside food and I do that but it's still hard sometimes! We also have bananas and coffee (banana splits and iced coffee drinks) so this week every time I start finding myself reaching for ice cream I grab a coffee instead and it has helped a lot so far! I ended up not eating any ice cream at all the other day.

Depending on what kind of person you are, this might work too--if you really would like to eat some, you can always "save up" for it and have a single bite at the end of the day, and enjoy the heck out of that bite (or half scoop or whatever). If you're the kind of person that would rather enjoy a little than abstain entirely that might work for you.

For me, constantly saying no just builds up and then I end up binge eating. I'd try having a banana with half a scoop (or whole scoop) of ice cream as my afternoon snack. That way you CAN have ice cream every day and you won't feel like you're white-knuckling your way through your day. This is also a good practice to learn how to enjoy things in moderation, and the banana will give you some fiber and help slow down the absorption of sugar in your body. (no sugar crash, lol) Once you feel like that's "easy" you can try to eat it every other day or eat smaller quantities of ice cream... etc.. etc...

Wow no way could I work in any food store as it is way to easy to pick all day!!

Does the ice cream shop have any healthy toppings that you could eat when you're bored, for example (unsweetened) fruit or nuts? If you can't resist snacking, it's better to eat something healthy than unhealthy. Healthy foods will make you feel more full, and then you'll be less likely to overeat.

Would it be possible to get a job that's not at an Ice Cream shop? Maybe a health food store like Snap Kitchen?

Why don't you just change the job?