I was recently doing some cleanup on my computer. Organizing old MSing docs and pics that have been passed down from computer to computer over the years, and I noticed a few things.

First off, I’m going on 20 years of mystery shopping! While that seems amazing, I also found a few pics from just before I starting MSing, and a number from each year since, and was disappointed. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s been a while since it came up; I gained 14 lbs. the first year I started shopping…and I’ve never lost it.

I was quickly aware of the weight gain, and how it related to dining assignments, working long hours at my desk, and the change in my life that MSing brought about. I have just struggled for many years to find a productive way to deal with it.

I remember taking a cruise assignment that was two weeks long, swearing off bread for the length of the cruise and being happy that I didn’t gain more weight. I remember committing to going to the gym for 1 hour each day in every hotel I shopped. I remember making a policy of always sharing my dessert, cutting out soda, avoiding buffets, limiting myself to two glasses of wine a day, non-fat, low-carb, whatever the diet of the year was and being happy I wasn’t gaining any more weight…but never returning to my original weight. In recent years, I started gaining even more.

I decided to make some more drastic changes in my life at the end of last year and took a 4-month break from MSing. That still wasn’t enough to effect change, however, so I went all-in; Joined the overpriced gym, hired a trainer and bought a FitBit. The good news is that it’s working. I’m more than halfway there. I’m starting to reincorporate mystery shopping into my new lifestyle now and learning a lot about what got me to this point to begin with.

1. MSing does not promote a healthy lifestyle. It encourages ordering a soda with every meal, 3-course dining and working long hours at a desk. The shops that send you to the gym don’t offer any bonus for actually using said gym, and the hotel shops that provide a gym seldom leave you enough time to actually use it! In 20 years of MSing I have 2 instances where I received a free personal training session, and probably 200 where I received a free soufflé.

2. If you want to include mystery shopping in your life and still have a healthy lifestyle, you need to base it on healthy eating habits. Now, I take the calorie-in/calorie-out approach. I track everything I eat, and every calorie I burn, and won’t put anything in my body that I haven’t already burned off the calories for that day. Sticking to water with each meal whenever possible. Sticking to two fine dining shops a month.

Yes; it limits the assignments I can take, but I’m feeling better every day. Missing pizza, but not enough to break down and actually eat one. I just like to smell it when I walk by the pizzeria. I’m also not spending nearly as much time in front of the computer, or being stressed out about deadlines. I’m sleeping better and actually spending less on food than I did when I was shopping a grocery store once a week and taking 10 dining shops a month, so I just wanted to post this as a reminder that we often lose sight of the forest for the trees. At least I did. For almost 20 years I was so enamored with the idea of getting something for “free” that I didn’t really understand the effect it was having on me.

Excellent points Steve! Don't forget, the metabolism slows down every 10 years. Weight gain happens if we don't change certain habits. For women, strength training is imperative. I should take my own advice.

I do a lot of bonused quick serve assignments. My drinks are always unsweetened tea or Powerade zero. I never eat an entire sandwich or bowl in one sitting. I get a veggie bowl more than I do a cheeseburger. When given a choice, the breads are whole grain.

For the sports bars with zero healthy options, I don't eat the entire appetizer. I bring over half of it home.

Also, I don't eat with my eyes. If my stomach isn't hungry, I don't need to eat.

Before I address Steve's comments, a tad on my background.

I began lifting 12/77 and, except for eye surgery that sidelined me for six weeks, have done so continuously to date. As I also compete, that is somewhat of a motivator. Just as with Steve, my weight rose at an alarming rate, with me thinking it was age affecting my metabolism. It was not until I was fired by MFI, with the subsequent plunge in weight that I realized my stupidity. In addition, my blood pressure dropped and I was/am no longer a borderline diabetic.

I completely agree with Steve's post and any additional comments from me would be repetitious.

@shopperbob the embarrassing part for me is that it took me so long to realize and address. I probably have to give credit to @MickeyB for turning me on to a calorie counting app at lunch a few months back. Combining that with the meals I was eating on behalf of assignments really opened my eyes.

Another behavior that I'm trying to change is learning to speak openly about it, which makes me accountable to my co-workers, family and friends. If we are meeting up at a bar and I just order water now, they are supportive.

Like Bob, I am also starting to see a number of other health benefits. My blood sugar has normalized. I'm sleeping better, snoring less, and the acid reflux that had been plaguing my life for the past few years is virtually gone. I'm saving $30/month on Omeprazole alone!

I am fortunate that I don't rely on MSing to pay my bills these days. I came into it 20 years ago at a time in my life when I was unemployed and hungry. The lure of getting paid while receiving free drinks and opulent meals, when I couldn't even afford the basic necessities, was overwhelming, and I don't have the will-power that HoneyBrown has. I unquestionably overindulged.

Even back when I started, and I tried to quit the Krispy Kreme assignments that had me bringing home a dozen donuts every week, I took heat from a scheduler and continued for months when I knew it was a bad idea. I'm not sure if the shops still exist, but you couldn't give the donuts away because you had to cut them open and take pics! I'm not someone who can have an oozing neatly quartered lemon-jelly donut on my kitchen counter and then just toss it out...

I have been on W W and lost over 60 lbs. While mystery shopping. I love El Pollo Loco cause it is healthier. I do Five Guys twice a year as a treat and get a little burger in a bowl. I go to the gym twice a week and do yoga twice a week. I am 66 and am feeling great. My daughter brings the donuts (explaining to them the cut ons, although it is now with a different MSC who does not require the cutting) and pizzas to work with her. For restauranr dining I get healthier food choices (such as fish and chicken and veggies).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2020 06:24PM by pegleg2000.

Good for you Pegleg and HonnyBrown. I'm with Steve. I love to eat and have little will power. I also love to cook and plan meals. I'm not considered overweight, but could lose a few. When I used to do the McD's shops I just could not not eat both sandwiches...not the fries ok, but both sandwiches.When they stopped the mystery shopping program, I lost 15 lbs. quite easily. Now, if only I would get banned from 5 Guys I would be in great shape. Since I've retired from my real job, I've noticed a few pounds creeping back on so I plan to work on that, but oh, how I enjoy a good meal and even a crappy burger now and then.

Fresh fruit and salad season is coming soon, thankfully.

Congratulations pegleg2000! WW is a pretty spectacular program. My significant other got down to his target weight with them about 18 months ago and has become a 'lifetime member' with free membership as long as he weighs in with them at least once a month and has stayed within fairly tight limits around his target weight. It is precisely the group support and accountability he needs--and which would drive me bonkers.

When we do restaurant shops I generally get stuck with the specific order requirements while significant other chooses healthier options. It is annoying that shop requirements are usually for the high calorie, fattier and/or fried options so I nibble more than dine and doggie bag so that I can repurpose the food for a healthier option for the two of us the following night.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Excellent points Steve! Don't forget, the metabolism slows down every 10 years. Weight gain happens if we don't change certain habits. For women, strength training is imperative. I should take my own advice.

I do a lot of bonused quick serve assignments. My drinks are always unsweetened tea or Powerade zero. I never eat an entire sandwich or bowl in one sitting. I get a veggie bowl more than I do a cheeseburger. When given a choice, the breads are whole grain.

For the sports bars with zero healthy options, I don't eat the entire appetizer. I bring over half of it home.

Also, I don't eat with my eyes. If my stomach isn't hungry, I don't need to eat.

Even with the metabolism slowing down, unless you have a rare health condition, it's not as drastic as it sounds. The large majority of weight gain and bad health is due to our eating choice and their frequency in maintaining good health via strength training and cardiovascular training.

In my early 50's I suddenly started putting on pounds without changing my eating habit. Over the course of a few months I had gained over 10 pounds and have found it very difficult to lose them. These pounds were due to changing hormones or whatever happens when you get older. I am not more sedentary either. I get a lot of exercise. So bottom line is the older you get the harder it seems to be to maintain weight...and then when you reach the oldest suddenly you are thin as you have issues eating. Ironic yes.
So tips I have in addition to above...if you are not required to order fries with your burger/sandwich, ask at the restaurant if you can sub out a salad or side of veggies. I did this the other day at BJ's and they gladly gave me a choice of soup or salad. Unfortunately when my entree came they had put the fries on my plate anyway.
Avoid fast food shops if you can.
It helps if you have a friend, neighbor or someone in your household who would love to eat what you bring back. I would not throw out food but my daughter will gladly eat whatever I bring home even if cut up.

I have not done this but it helps....immediately cut your restaurant meal in half when it is delivered. If it does not feel uncomfortable or like you will be outed ask for a take home box (or bring your own) telling them you are on a diet or taking half home to a sick friend....out of sight out of mind. A plate of food in front of me will be devoured. This would be simple to do on a fast or casual shop. Otherwise seeing the cut half on your plate might stop you in your tracks and remind you not to eat that half.

Don't linger at the table if you still have food left on your plate..either ask for it to be packed or move away to somewhere else to chat with your guest. If you are like me that food I decided I was finished with with slowly disappear into my stomach if I linger.

@pegleg2000 wrote:

My daughter brings the donuts (explaining to them the cut ons, although it is now with a different MSC who does not require the cutting) and pizzas to work with her.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look it at) I work in an industry that would not allow me to bring donuts and/or pizzas into work for others, so that was never an option for me. I tried giving the remaining donuts away to shelters, neighbors, homeless people, etc.

There are only so many places you can dump a dozen KK donuts on a weekly basis. When I finally quit, it burned a bridge with the scheduler. Other schedulers have been more understanding, though.

I think it's the combination of poor choices + the high-calorie requirements for shoppers Flash mentioned that really confounded the issue for me. Those donuts start at 190 cals and filled ones at 290. I was probably bringing 3k calories into my home each week just from the donut shops!

Even the 'healthier' In N Out required fries are 370 cals. Five Guys are 530 for the little fries! Fountain drinks are often required and on one shop, the guy cleaning the drinks area saw me filling my soda cup with water and explained that free water cups were available. That's when I realized I needed to cut out the FF shops as well. It makes you too memorable to add a drink and then not dispense a soda....

I don't do krispy kreme weekly. I probably do it every other month.

@sandyf wrote:

In my early 50's I suddenly started putting on pounds without changing my eating habit. Over the course of a few months I had gained over 10 pounds and have found it very difficult to lose them. These pounds were due to changing hormones or whatever happens when you get older. I am not more sedentary either. I get a lot of exercise. So bottom line is the older you get the harder it seems to be to maintain weight...

That's pretty much where I was at, Sandy. I spent Thanksgiving weekend with a friend who had recently married a doctor and his wife spelled it out for me clearly; Diet + Exercise is the only logical solution. Figure out how many calories your body is burning and consume less than that. Every Day. Take an Equinox assignment if you haven't done one, and they can put you a machine that gives you all the details you need for that.

Fortunately, we have many tools to do that now that didn't exist a decade ago. For me, the Fitbit + phone tracking is really helpful. It's the same concept that WW uses. They broke it down to the point system in the past because tracking caloric intake and burn was difficult. Technology has made that easier for us now.

@SteveSoCal - May I ask which app you are using? I used My Fitness Pal for years but stopped when they started charging a monthly fee.

@callinectes wrote:

@SteveSoCal - May I ask which app you are using? I used My Fitness Pal for years but stopped when they started charging a monthly fee.

MyFitnessPal is still free. The monthly fee is the premium version that includes more in-depth calculations you can live without.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Even the 'healthier' In N Out required fries are 370 cals. Five Guys are 530 for the little fries! Fountain drinks are often required and on one shop, the guy cleaning the drinks area saw me filling my soda cup with water and explained that free water cups were available. That's when I realized I needed to cut out the FF shops as well. It makes you too memorable to add a drink and then not dispense a soda....

Back when I was more hyperactive with more accurate measurements for my food when I was cutting and closely tracking my caloric intake, I can easily say that a little fries is easily more like 1000+ calories after weighing them for multiple visits to get an idea. The little fries nutritional facts info on their site isn't accurate due to the serving size they're stating they provided; however, the reality is that my local area's Five Guy's provide honestly a very, very generous volume of fries. By "generous," I literally mean "double" than the state serving size.

@callinectes wrote:

May I ask which app you are using?

I am using 'Lose It!'

It's a similar situation where you can use it for free or pay a fee for expanded functionality. I bought the 1-year upgrade to get it to sync with the FitBit...which I think was around $30.

That said, I don't often pay for apps, but this one was worth it. The FitBit app has tracking, but this is so much easier. You can scan your food that have UPC labels and it loads all the nutritional content, so you can also have it tracking carbs, fats, protein and the like. It also knows the details for just about every restaurant that gets shopped.

My only real complaint about this system is the auto-detecting software on the FitBit. It automatically tracks things like swimming & biking, but you have to be at it for 10-15 minutes for the watch to detect it. If I sprint to the gym on my bike, I get no credit for it. If I ride slower and it takes me 12 minutes, I get credit for the exercise. That seems somewhat backward.

[www.myfitnesspal.com] has been a free application for many years. It is calorie counting, exercise reporting, goal setting and progress tracking. Over time their library of calorie/nutrients counts by item and brand has grown substantially. It also has allowed me to enter frequent personal recipes so that the dish is a one stop entry. The individual becomes accountable to themselves for their own progress. It strikes me from what I have heard about Noom that accountability only to one's self is the goal from that program as well.

Eventually, though, there are no 'magic' answers in pills, hours of the day or days of the week that one eats or doesn't. The bottom line is what energy goes in and how much energy your system gets out of that and how much is left over to 'store for a rainy day'. Storage as extra weight/fat is, after all, storage for future scarcity. You can perhaps trick your body to accept a brief shortage without turning on its intense energy conservation mode, but a properly functioning body will always try to save at least a little for the future.

@Flash wrote:

Eventually, though, there are no 'magic' answers in pills, hours of the day or days of the week that one eats or doesn't.

This is the point my doctor friend was trying to drive home with me, Flash.

She had some reservations about Noom because of the fact that it lets the user set whatever goal they want, even if it's unhealthy. You can tell it you want to loose 20 pounds each month and it will simply allocate an unreasonably low number of calories that you are allowed to consume, and your body will be starved of nutrients.

Another difference I have noted (A co-worker is using Noom and we often lunch/exercise together and compare) is that Noom gives you back only 50% of your expended calories over your allotment for exercise, where Lose It! gives you back 100% of the calories you burn over the allotment. It keeps you at a specified deficit each day. For me, that's 200 calories and I have been consistently losing 1 pound each week.

I used the free version of MFP for less than 3 months and lost 23 pounds. It's a great program . The only reasons I quit using it were because I got where I could gauge calories well enough without the hassle, and because I figured out that if one meal a day was low cal that was good enough to keep me under the max calories I wanted to eat.

@Tarantado wrote:

@callinectes wrote:

@SteveSoCal - May I ask which app you are using? I used My Fitness Pal for years but stopped when they started charging a monthly fee.

MyFitnessPal is still free. The monthly fee is the premium version that includes more in-depth calculations you can live without.

I think I've mentioned on here before that both Hubby and I switched over to a whole foods/plant based diet about five years ago. I lost about ten pounds, but Hubby dropped 40...and was able to discontinue some meds and stop using his CPAP machine!

I have no willpower, and if I accepted every Five Guys shop the schedulers call me about the results wouldn't be pretty! However, if I do one or two a month, along with occasional fast casual and bar shops I can still keep my nutrition in line.

I wish that I could blame fast food. But it is not the culprit. My thyroid is wacky and difficult to treat. As a result, my metabolism is often scant to none. For now, I have shed two pants sizes and hope that this goodness will continue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2020 09:51PM by Shop-et-al.

I do not know about other states but California requires menus to have calorie counts. Some have them right on the menu, some have them on a separate menu you need to ask for. It is a real eye opening education looking at those. Once a long time ago I went to IHOP. I was about to order a plate of pancakes that sounded interesting until I noticed they were close to 2000 calories. I switched to a still delicious choice, pancakes with fresh fruit, that were under 500. Another time I noticed the calorie count on a cold drink at Starbucks...wow. I left and went across the way to one of the burger places that had fruit smoothies with under 100 calories.
Some items that sound to me like they would have similar calorie counts have 5x more calories to the point where that one item has over my daily allotment! Finding a tasty lower calorie menu items is often very easy.

When we go out to eat, i will order grilled chicken with no sauce and non-starchy vegetables. Also, no pasta, rice, potatoes, fried food, added sugar, bread, etc. I keep my net carbs at under 100g and have about a 30/30/30 breakdown of fat, carbs, and protein, with calories around 1500. I avoid packaged food and cook at home. Before the mystery shopping, we would eat out once a week. I try to keep it to that with the mystery shopping, but we have definitely gone over that some weeks. I have never been on a diet, but am always on a diet in a sense since it's a lifetime commitment.

Coyle is challenging since you can't bring home food. Other companies will let you bring home food, which helps with portion control. My husband likes the burger place, so he eats it if we go. He will get a lettuce wrap though and will only eat a few fries.

@panama18 wrote:

I used the free version of MFP for less than 3 months and lost 23 pounds. It's a great program . The only reasons I quit using it were because I got where I could gauge calories well enough without the hassle, and because I figured out that if one meal a day was low cal that was good enough to keep me under the max calories I wanted to eat.

@Tarantado wrote:

@callinectes wrote:

@SteveSoCal - May I ask which app you are using? I used My Fitness Pal for years but stopped when they started charging a monthly fee.

MyFitnessPal is still free. The monthly fee is the premium version that includes more in-depth calculations you can live without.

The premium features they now charge for used to be free. I'm a data nerd and loved those calculations. I tried using the free version for a while but it was a hollow experience. I should probably come off a few bucks and pay.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2020 11:52PM by callinectes.

I stay away from FF shops. In the 5 years I have been doing this, I have done one Five Guys and that was on vacation last year. When I started doing MS, I was doing tons of phone shops with a few on site shops. I gained 8 pounds in 6 months as I started neglecting exercise. Luckily, caught that just in time. My new rule is getting my work out done first, breakfast and then MS. Order restored!

I am also a big believer in home made food and that too from scratch. Sauces, dips, chutneys, jams or bread, everything has to be homemade. Kind of runs in the family. Have always hated outside food and drinks. Take my own homemade tea when I head out with a few healthy snacks tucked in my handbag. I have a few friends who would diet till they die but would never give up the calorie loaded, sick Starbucks stuff. And yes, anything with a ton of extra caramel, syrup and cream is not chai latte. It is revolting and repulsive at best.

I do one FF a week, when I have a full schedule for a day. My health insurance this year added free gym membership, so I go to the gym twice a week, and use the bike, as I had knee replacement late last year and the physical therapist recommended the bike as great exercise for it. I have lost 14 pounds since January. I started eating more healthy items a few years ago.

I rarely do food shops these days, mostly because of time constraints. But, I like wine and spirits, and I am a pretty good cook who loves delicious and sometimes rich food. As a female getting close to 60, my metabolism has slowed down greatly, so I should lose the 20 pounds that has slowly been creeping up on me over the past 15 years. Thankfully I just started a merchandising project that is going to help with that, as it requires a lot of lifting, bending, and squatting. I try not to rely on my folding stool and knee pad so that I am forced to do the squats. I hate gyms anyway and love the idea of getting paid to work out!

@JASFLALMT; It's great if you can find assignments that keep you active. My career unfortunately also has me sitting for very long hours each day, and often offers and endless supply of food.

90% of my shops are food or hotel assignments. Looking for the recent shops I've done, it's not just the FF stuff that's calorically problematic, though. It's the way the shops are structured that force the shopper to over-order. Most FF places would allow the option to order one item of the menu and still be able stick within healthy eating guidelines for the day. It's when you add the required drink and sides, or the second drive-up visit, that it gets into the unhealthy range.

Coyle has many health-centered restaurants in my area, and I love those assignments, but the bar requirement, combined with a three course meal requirement make it extremely difficult to eat responsibly. For the one I did last month, I ordered a glass of white wine, drank half at the bar and brought the remainder to the table for dinner. Though this restaurant offers very low calorie options, and we split both an appetizer and dessert, the meals was still over 1,000 calories for me with the wine added in. I also had a breakfast shop that required ordering a specialty coffee drink and appetizer. I ended up leaving most of the food on the table. I had an airport shop for a famous chef cafe that gave me a pizza big enough to feed three! Luckily it was before the travel virus fears were spreading and I was able to share the pizza with everyone in my row on the flight.

Most of these shops are designed to test the upsell, which is not to the benefit of the shopper.

The one assignment I have to praise is The Habit. It's great that there are so many in the L.A. area. You can order whatever you want with no restrictions. Turkey burger on wheat bun with a side salad and just water...no problem!

I did one once for a place called Seasons 52. Their claim to fame is that nothing on their menu is over 400 calories. The issue is that with most of their food in order to fill up I had to order an entree (ala carte) and sides as a lot of it was not at all filling. I was already up to 1200 calories before the dessert. I saw lots of families eating there with young children but it did not look like a menu my kids would have enjoyed when they were that age.. I guess that is how the thin and famous who live around here stay thin. I tried it twice and then gave up. I really did not enjoy the small portions and the way the bill added up with each morsel of 400 calorie food I ordered. I did love that the 400 calorie cheesecake was served in a largish shot glass. Just enough to be tasty without digging in to eat all of a 1500-2000 or so calorie slice.

Wow!