Pastry Chef Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader brings her nationally informed pastry expertise to Sepia and Proxi, in Downtown Chicago. She supports the inventive, American cuisine of Sepia with like-minded creations that spin time-honored desserts into attention-grabbing re-imaginations. At newly-opened sister restaurant, Proxi, Sarah’s whimsical desserts are inspired by the global menu, drawing from international flavors for light and bright dishes. When Sarah isn’t in the kitchen creating decadent dishes,  she enjoys spending time at her Bucktown home with her husband and dogs. An active runner, she will participate in her third Chicago Marathon in fall 2019.

Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle While Working in the Kitchen

by Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader

As anyone working in a kitchen knows, it can be challenging to stay healthy and keep your personal wellness in check. There are many different approaches to take that give you the necessary work/life balance to excel at work and in your personal life. Here are five ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle while working in the restaurant business. 

Eating Healthy

I’ve been working in kitchens for about 13 years, and there are many weird little things about kitchen life I have grown to deeply love. One of them is family meal. Some places I've worked, we all sit down together every day, some places we all grab a plate and hover over our stations and eat quickly. Either way, I love the tradition of every day all of us pausing and taking a moment for ourselves. And that it’s something that happens in every kitchen.

In the last two years, I've realized I've outgrown being able to count on staff meal. Sometimes it’s healthy and satisfying, like chicken and rice, and sometimes one of the cooks really wants deep-fried everything, so that's what we're having. And deep-fried everything is delicious, but I can’t wake up early the next day and perform the way I want to if that's what I eat the day before. I don't want to take the joy away from the cooks who are excited to make and eat a fun meal, so I've begrudgingly accepted responsibility for feeding myself and often bring my own food.

We always have salad with every meal so I can always count on that, but at the beginning of the week I bring in healthy food for myself. I have stashes of protein bars, nuts, peanut butter filled pretzels, and cottage cheese on my station at all times. That way, if staff meal is a little too..intense for me that day, I have something to make my salad seem like more satisfying of a meal. Sometimes I give in and eat fried bologna sandwiches for lunch, I’m only human. Oh and drink lots of water, its free and it will really change the way you feel. 

Exercise

I’m a crazy person and I love running. Not only do I love running, but I run marathons. Exercise is important to me because it gives me a chance to clear my head and regain mental clarity and keeps my body in check. When I’m running frequently, my body is in good working order and is in better condition to go up and down the stairs a bunch, lift huge rondos of jam, and cart things back and forth between the restaurants.

When I take a week off of running, either from being sick or just feeling tired and indulgent, the day-to-day stuff that’s hard on my body feels much harder. I used to think since I worked in a kitchen and was on my feet all day lifting relatively heavy things frequently that I must be in decent shape. Then I started exercising and realized I was very wrong. 

Setting Goals and Stick to Them

I consider myself to be a fairly self-motivated person, but I know the best way for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to make goals and commit to them. I’m not the kind of person who can lose weight by saying I’m simply going to “eat healthy” because then I’m able to justify the things I want (like saying, I ran this morning so I deserve a slice of pizza).

I love running the marathon for many reasons, but one of the reasons I continue to do it is it keeps me accountable. I love running, but I also work a lot and love sleeping. I wouldn’t have woken up at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday to run 17 miles had I not signed up for the marathon. And since I did, I’m going to put in all the hard work and early mornings that I need to in order to be sure that I have the best 26.2 miles that I can.

It's great to run on the lake shore trail in Chicago on Sundays in the height of training season. The path is filled with people wearing shirts from previous years or marathons from across the world. It’s really powerful to know that we’re all there because we made the same promise to ourselves. 

Work / Life Balance

I talk about work/life balance a lot, especially in the past couple years. Being a pastry chef is a weird job. Most people who love baking work a 9-to-5 job doing something they don’t hate but don’t love, come home, have a glass of wine, make dinner, and bake a cake. So cute! So fun! But baking cake is my full-time semi life-consuming job, it’s my identity.

I have dedicated my life to dessert. And I’m lucky. But once your passion becomes your full-time plus job it leaves a hole in your life for the things you do outside of your career that bring you joy. It can feel a little confusing. For many years, my life was going to work for 12 hours, drinking wine, sometimes reading cookbooks, and going to bed. Every day. I thought since I was doing what I loved for a living, it meant I didn’t really need interests outside of that.

Eventually I saw that I was wrong, and started to feel like I needed something that was just for me. And I was right, I did. I feel significantly more satisfied with my life now that I have found a passion again. When I’m running, my mind often drifts to work. What my days ahead look like, or how I need or want to change the menu. And when I’m at work I find myself thinking about what path I’m going to run, and what I’m going to treat myself to after the week's long run.

Having multiple things in my life that I get to count as passions make each one of them feel more joyful. Spoiler alert: getting drunk every night does not count as a passion, it’s unfulfilling and damaging. If you drink, do so in a reasonable capacity. And get some sleep. you’re worthless to everyone, including yourself, if you don’t take care of yourself. 

Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Taking care of your mental health means lots of different things to different people. For me, running and keeping active is what helps me maintain mental clarity. In the weeks in which I run on a regular basis, I am more patient and interested in engaging with others. That isn’t the fix for everyone.

One of my assistants who makes her mental health a top priority keeps herself in check by seeing her therapist on a regular basis and putting together Lego sets. Whatever helps keep you mentally sound is important, and be honest with your employer about what your needs are if it requires help on their end.