12- Hour Night Shift

CougNurse2011

Hi all,
I am a R.N. and work 6pm to 6:30am. I am looking for some insight on what to do as far as my eating patterns go (not necessarily WHAT I am eating, thats a whole different post! ) My eating schedule goes like this on the nights I work:

5pm- Eat "breakfast" (usually oatmeal with raisins or toast with PB)

2am- Eat "Lunch" ( usually salad with tuna or bagel with cream cheese with an apple and a veggie)

7am- Eat "Dinner" (usually whatever I have left over from my lunch)

9am- Go to bed until 3pm.

My question is, should I be trying as much as possible to not eat during those middle of the night hours (10pm-6am) and just eat like a "normal" person? I know this is a very broad question but looking for some people with night shift experience who have been successful with weight loss and their eating pattern. Thank you guys so much!

TimothyFish

I see nothing wrong with your current eating schedule. You aren't likely to get up at noon to fix dinner and if you don't eat mid-shift, you'll be hungry and more likely to snack on something.

ems212

I used to work 7PM to 7AM, 5 nights a week. My schedule was relatively similiar to yours. I would eat "breakfast" at 4:30PM, lunch at 1 AM, and dinner at 7:30AM. Then sleep from 8:30 - 4. The only challenge I found was getting back into the rhythm of day shift, but after a week or so I was alright. I also found that if my dinner (7:30AM) was light, I would sleep a lot better, and I had improved weight loss results.

RodaRose

Focus on getting enough sleep.
That could be even more important than the food.
The times you eat do not matter. Eat when "normal" is for you. (There are lots of us here with various versions of wacky schedules.)

skullshank

calories can't tell time.

when you eat doesn't matter.

MsHarryWinston

I work nights as well. I eat 7pm/12am/3am/sometimes 5am depending/7am only on gym days for a pre workout protein boost.