Waiter/Waitress Advice

I am a waitress and for the longest time I have always struggled with snacking on food while I work. The main problem is that I work during dinner and even if I'm not hungry (its just habit) I want to eat. If any of you are servers you understand that dilemma of being around food that you can just snack on at your pleasure, especially if you have a slow night at work. What do you guys do to avoid snacking?

Man! Do I know that one. I waitressed for over 12 years and struggled with the same thing. My suggestion is just to drink lots of water and try to stay busy. If you have time to lean---you have time to clen :) If you must snack--go for something healthy like wheat crackers with peanut butter or maybe some fruit. Good luck.

I'm a cocktail waitress at a sports bar so I do understand! I work the 3pm-2am shift and there are virtually no "healthy" foods to eat. Nachos, wings, cheese fries... ughh!

I bring some snacks with me sometimes, and I found that that just adds more because I eat the bad stuff AND that stuff....

Recently I started eating soup, (mainly clam chowder) and it keeps me full and away from the hot wings. But I still struggle with the snacking... one thing I try to remember is that we are on our feet ALL night so its not THAT bad!!! don't sweat it!!

another thing I do (which I probably shouldnt endorse) is drink diet soda to keep me away from the food.

qcmama: I love that saying... it cracks me up... i use it all the time to give others a hard time... i guess i need to take my own advice

kankan213: I know i drink that diet soda too and that does help except for i just get used to drinking it every night that its just ends up tasting so good with those croutons and french fries and peanuts. My work, like yours, has NOTHING good for you either. Fried food is the majority of what is in the kitchen. I guess i need to practice my discipline.

water water water!

I am a server too and with all the free food around it's hard to say no...i just keep drinking my water so I feel full, because I know I'm not really hungry, it's just habit or I'm bored because it's slow...also keep out of the kitchen, easier not to eat food if you're not around it as much...

I know this may sound odd being that you get free snack at work but, maybe you should bring your own healthy snacks and keep them in ziplocs. I used to waitress too.

The thing that irritated me a lot about that profession was that I never got a real break to sit down and eat. Maybe it's different at other places but I worked at 4 restaurants that were like that.

It may cost a little extra to bring your own snacks but at least it may help you feel better about yourself. Hope this helps.  

Original Post by tabathar:

water water water!

I am a server too and with all the free food around it's hard to say no...i just keep drinking my water so I feel full, because I know I'm not really hungry, it's just habit or I'm bored because it's slow...also keep out of the kitchen, easier not to eat food if you're not around it as much...

 

For some reason I can drink all the diet soda I want but as soon as i take a sip of water I gotta run to the bathroom every 2 min!!! Cant do that when people need more beer!

And Catherinerich I think that most places (unless they're super strict corporations) don't offer time to sit and eat. Especially if its a busy place. My problem is, I take my yogurt or fruit or what have you, and I end up eating that PLUS the junk.

Maybe I just have no will power :-/ lol

I was a hostess at The Original Pancake House...so unhealthy, but so yummy!

Thankfully they kept us insanely busy so I didn't have a chance for more than a sip of coffee...

When I had "extra" time I just had to restock, clean, take around coffee, take around more water, basically make another round to check on customers, etc.

If you can't/don't do any of that, then I would suggest bringing your own snacks.  I used to bring carrots sticks and apple slices for my break so I wouldn't order anything there!

I wouldn't feel TOOOOO guilty about having A FEW snacks though...waitressing is hard work and you're very active, sometimes you need a little energy boost!

kankan I am the exact same way... bringing in my own snacks only adds to my caloric intake at work. I just got home from work and today was great. I had two saltine crackers. thats it :) maybe talking about this is what i needed... i needed to get it out i guess.. Hopefully i can keep it up because its tough :/

I know exactly what you mean! I was a salad girl at a restuarant over the summer, meaning I literally stood in front of the salad station in the kitchen and made salads and desserts. Talk about tempting! I ended up munching on veggies and dressing and whatever came down the line ALL night. What helped me was munching on the veggies that were mostly water, like lettuce and cukes, and only letting myself dip one in dressing every 15 minutes. Seems like a lot, but lemme tell ya, it's better than every 5! 

i eat RIGHT before i come in, like most of the time i come in early and eat before i come on the clock. drink water all night. i usually find myself eating the evil croutons and cheese for the salads and when i find myself doing that i go find something else to do. i guess its the part time manager in me "there is always something that can be cleaned!!!" i try my hardest to stay out of the kitchen unless i need to be.

I think my biggest problem. Well there are two, but the first one is we are a REALLY busy sports bar so we have messups a lot. They put cx/chz nachos out that were messed up for the employees to eat, cheese fries, junk like that and its hard not to snack when its FREE! and right there!!!

The other problem is, I eat before my shift (3pm) and by 11/12am when I'm starving the kitchen is closed except for dun dun dun, FRIED FOODS!!! I always end up eating chicken fingers and french fries. Now I'm addicted to french fries dipped in bbq sauce. lol

Yes, other people with my problem!

I work at an Italian restaurant that has NOTHING diet friendly. It's especially hard because we've been slow lately and thats when I want to grub... on eggplant parm, fried cheese or spaghetti. Ugh, it's so frusrating.

So I started bringing snacks to work. Things like raw baby carrots, applesauce, or an oranges. Sometimes I bring in a Boca Chik'n Patty to work and put a little marinara sauce on it and melt a little bit of mozzarella on it. It makes a good little fake chicken parm.   They're pretty filling and on top of that I drink ALOT of water at work. LOTS and LOTS of water.

 

okay i ate some cheese fries that was a mess up and peanuts tonight along with snaking on others crap food and im paying for it. I feel soooooo sick, my body doesnt handle fried food AT ALL. Work has, like yours ms robota, been very, very slow. Tonight i got so hungry i couldn't help it. I WILL NO LONGER EAT THIS AWFUL FOOD! I mean when i serve it to people I cant help but think, oh my goodness if you only knew the calories in the food you are about to it..... and then I go and pick at it!

I would love it if some one us or all of us tried to hold each other accountable. Yesterday was so great for me and then tonight I messed up :( Well I of course work tomorrow so I will be returning with only good reports this time :)

chew gum!! (if you're allowed..)

 

If you can't chew gum, you could get those Listerine breath strips. The taste doesn't go with french fries, and I bet your customers would appreciate your fresh breath.

whenever you're really craving something but you know you're not hungry, tell yourself you'll wait 10 minutes, and if you still want it after then, then you'll let yourself have it.  but if you're waitressing you aren't going to be just sitting around doing nothing for 10 minutes straight, so you'll usually totally forget about it.  It worked like a charm for me last summer =)

I know what you all mean...except I am actually one of the cooks...I can't leave the kitchen and do stuff.  I am working with food all day long and it's not always the best food.  I do (most days) drink lots of water but like people said before if it's a busy night and you are running to the bathroom every 5 minutes it's no help.  I always try eating salads when I get hungry.  I would love to have some hot food every once in a while but it's hard when most hot food is covered in oil.  So it's not exactly a winning situation.  Just try eating the fruit or veggies that are around.  If you have wings you probably have celery around.  And usually most places have a fruit alternative to fries.  I hope this is helpful.