“Smallest size please.” Excitedly, I tried on my first chef uniform. The Le Cordon Bleu logo was printed clearly on the top left corner. To my dismay, the double-breasted jacket looked loose from every angle. “No smaller one?” “Sorry.” Uniforms supposed to project professionalism. In this ‘one design fit all’ jacket, no matter how many folds I rolled the sleeves and how tightly I tucked the jacket, I still looked like a teen trying to wear his dad shirt.

Together with other students, I waited in the demonstration room. The principal introduced us to the head patisserie chef. My oh my, she was a big mama. Was this because of all the sweet calories intake? I love patisserie but no, no, no, I couldn’t imagine myself “carrying twins” for years and years. I made a promise: I would put all my effort to learn from these great chefs, but I would never be an obese chef, not in my whole career.

Just how hard is it to stay in shape for chefs? Chefs live and breath food. They are constantly expose to hard-to-resist good food. Chefs often eat their meal at odd hours or simply grazing along when cooking or both. An easy way for chefs to release stress at the end of their working shift is gobbling down bowl of food accompany with alcoholic drinks. Yet, to me, staying fit is crucial as a chef. Imagine you are on your legs for at least ten hours a day. You move around the kitchen frequently, from the refrigerator to the oven; you stretch up and squat down to check the ingredients stocked in shelves; you carry pots and bowls fill with kilograms of stuffs like a dumbbell. It is indeed a physically demanding job that test your stamina.

To have stamina in a professional kitchen is to be able to keep focus and

efficient for long hours under high pressure. Staying active will definitely help in coping up with the pace in the kitchen. Michelin-star chefs, Chef Gordon Ramsay and Chef Michel Roux Jr. are keen marathon runners. More and more chefs make time in their busy schedule to exercise. The stereotypical chef’s belly  image is from the old days. Being a chef is no longer an excuse for being obese.

I am not saying that chefs or any cook who deal with food a lot should start running marathon or gave up all the butter and sugar. It’s no fun to eat fat-free blanched vegetable. I do indulge in real buttery croissant and creamy ice cream. I believe the key to healthy eating is to get fresh ingredient with good quality and savour each bite of it. You may be surprise that you actually don’t need to eat that much of food to feed your crave.