Fast Food: My Pizza Hut Years

Starting the job

Having left school and deciding not to go to college my first job was at Pizza Hut, where I worked full-time from the age of 17 to 25. I will never forget those years, as I made many lifelong friends while working there. Although the hours were long, I remember having a lot of laughs. However, this period also led to the start of some rather grotesque eating patterns. When I look back on this time, I am actually repulsed by the amount of food I used to eat. During my time there, I worked a lot of hours, which is no exaggeration. I typically worked most days of the week, with shifts from 8-5 or 4-12, and on weekends, I could easily be there from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day. As you can imagine, working such long hours required me to sort breakfast, lunch and dinner out for myself, and being in a fast-food restaurant meant endless options.

Balancing Meal Times with Work Shifts

Feeding myself in a pizza restaurant wasn't a challenge; if anything, it was far too easy. With food readily available, I would eat whenever I wanted, from early in the morning when my shift began until it ended or the restaurant closed. With options like pizza, pasta, desserts, and a buffet, I made the most of it, and this became a recurring pattern.

To give you a sense of what a typical eating pattern would look like on a shift. I would begin my shift at 8 a.m., knowing I wouldn't have breakfast before leaving home and could get food at work. Around 10 a.m., I would make a small pizza and have it as breakfast. Usually, a few others would start around 12, and by then, they would want to make a large pizza to share. After the busy periods, I would take a break around 2-3 p.m, just before the evening shift started or ended at 5. At this point, I would either make another small pizza or have some of the leftover buffet. Most days, at the end of my shift, I would also take a pizza home for dinner. Now this is just a typical 8am - 5pm shit, if i was working from 8am - 12 midnight this could double. On occasions, when working late nights and the thought of having more pizza I would resort to alternatives, this would normally mean ordering a Kebab and chips to be delivered or sometimes a curry.

The lifestyle

For eight years, this essentially became my lifestyle: working long hours and eating disgracefully every day. Adopting this eating pattern was all too easy but suited the hours and lifestyle I had at the time. When I wasn't working, I mostly just relaxed at home or hung out with friends, sometimes even going out for food as a way to socialise. In essence, my life revolved around food for those eight years, and looking back, I realise it was a significant factor in my gradual weight gain. During this time, I can't honestly recall my exact weight, but I would estimate it was around 25 or 26 stone.

During this time of gradual weight gain, I noticed my clothes sizes were increasing rapidly, moving from an XL to a 3XL faster than I could keep track of. Additionally, the jokes and comments shifted to focus more on my weight, which affected my perception of how others saw me and influenced my clothing choices.

Did I really consider what I was doing to myself? NO, I was obnoxious towards my health. I was aware of my actions, but despite the piss-taking, Jokes and banter from my mates, I ignored them and continued on my path of self-destruction.

What now

Having thought about this part of my life and way I lived for 8 years, Do i regret it, Yes.

In summary, my lifestyle was far from healthy during that time, and I didn't consider food or my long-term health as I do today. My eating habits back then were dreadful and now make me feel ill. Despite the terrible food choices during that period, I believe it played a role in shaping who I am today. Ultimately, I am now focused on undoing the damage I started.