I decorate cakes for friends and family. I spent 7 years working in a bakery as a professional, but now that I'm going to school full-time, I just do it on the side.
I have a HUGE problem, though. When carving and shaping cakes, I tend to eat all the scraps. Also, when I'm finished decorating, I find myself eating the leftover icing, too. I do NOT eat like this normally. To be honest, I've had a fairly 'clean' diet for around 2 years. It's almost like I have to eat it, rather than letting it go to waste.
Is there any advice for me?
I made a cake yesterday, and ate the equivilent to 3-5 pieces by eating the scraps and leftover icing. Maybe more!

Yikes - that would be tough!!! If it were me, I'd keep a big bowl of water nearby and every time I cut a piece off, I'd toss it in the bowl before I even thought about eating it. Like, just make it a habit so that it's done before your conscious mind catches on. Or maybe throw some cayenne pepper on it or something?

If you think about it, though, it's waste either way - either it's waste in the trash or waste in your body, messing up your diet. No one really wins if you eat it out of obligation

I was an assistant pastry chef last summer. So I can feel your pain! For me it was frozen cookie dough and "oddball" shaped cupcakes! Always eating them. Especially where I work you didn't get set breaks, if you got a break at all! So I usually grabbed whatever was at hand at the moment! Yay for the fine dining business. Blahh. Eventually I (thankfully) got sick of sugar! But I must have gained 10lbs that summer, while exercising! I agree with smisen! I had to chuck the stuff before I ate it. It took me awhile to make it habit, but once I did I felt so much better not eating that crap everyday! Eventually I just made a career move to a 9-5 no food included job! Although I still bake for family gatherings! Hehe. Good luck!

Oh man, I watch those cake making shows and drool over all the cake scraps that they just toss to the side! The scraps look yummier than the actual cakes to me...the cakes are too pretty to eat! They look like art, not food, lol. But the scraps...those just look like pure deliciousness.

Do you use a bowl to toss the scraps in as you're working? Maybe if you filled it halfway up with water or something so when you tossed the scraps in, they were immediately ruined. Or just toss them directly in the garbage?

I am a cake decorator as well, and I have that problem. My downfall is not the cake though, it's the BUTTERCREAM.... lord help! Luckily I have a dog and a boyfriend and a trash can. WILLPOWER