People who work the night shift (overnight)

Blessedlady41

Hello, Im kinda new to this site, but would love to hear from people who work overnight, an how they handle there eating habits, an what time of day they workout..Just kind of curious so I can still some tips.. Thanks a bunch...

jxmom

This is something I've struggled with but what I normally end up doing (depending on what time I go in) is eat before work dinner at my normal time. I then have a snack a couple hours later then lunch (regular meal) then another snack if needed. Sometimes I'll plan to have a full breakfast and skip the second snack or do both depending on how long my shift is. The key for me is to have more frequent smaller meals.

timkane46

I work 2 12 hour day shift and 2 12 hour nights each week. It took a little while to gt used to but I eat every 4 hours

TheMinxyMissK

I work nights every 4th week, as my shifts change about. I just class my day from when I get up to when I go to bed. I normally have a large meal before work, and then another meal whilst I'm there with plenty of snacks whilst I'm there too.

impudentputz

I still eat 3 meals and snack as i usually do.

Meal one: is about an hour or so before i go into work. (8-9pm ish)
usually 500ish calories maybe a bit more depending on what i made

snack 1: about midnight usually a snack bar or yogurt

Meal two: around 2:30 -3:30 whenever I start getting hungry
about 400 calories, typically a salad with some sort of protein on it, sliced grilled chicken, homemade chicken salad just something to flavor it up a bit

snack 3: is usually a two part snack, this is where I eat the fruit i bring to work with me. Apple and banana usually

Meal three: Is the smallest meal of the day, at about 7am ish.
Generally a bowl of cheerios or something just to make sure I dont try going to bed with an empty stomach. about 300-400 calories for that meal

Do I eat the best food? Not really, but luckily I stay under my goal and very rarely do I ever get hunger pains.

ptaradactyl88

Hi, I'm Tara. I guess I technically work "swing shift". I go to work at 4pm and get off work at 1am (CST). I have breakfast when most people are having lunch. I agree that smaller meals more often is generally good advise. I also try not to eat or drink anything after midnight. If your shift is later you can consider not eating within 3-4 hours before going to sleep. I won't even pretend that I have the best and greatest advise, you have to decide what works best for you. I like to excercise early in my day. Walk the dog first thing when I get up to start the day right then weight training mid afternoon before work, more walking on breaks and lunches at work. I can only do yoga before bedtime, anything else winds me up too much and I cannot sleep. Again, find what works best for you.

20HJIGSAW

I'm in the military and work nights or whenever they decide they need me. I wake up about 10am eat a snack as soon as i wake up. Then i eat another snack at 12 and then i eat lunch at 2pm. I eat either a snack at 5 or when i get to work at 5:30 I have a visalus shake at 8pm. I have a snack at 11pm. I have a snack at 2am and another visalus shake at 4 or 5am. In between if I get hungry a eat apple or celery mostly. I never starve or feel too full and I lose weight. hope this helps

alecialudwickjones

Husband works 3rd so I entirely switched our daily schedule. We eat breakfast (eggs, grits, etc. actual breakfast) at 8-8:30pm and lunch is 1am or 3am then dinner Is around 9am. We go to bed around 12 or 1pm and back up at 8. Not a lot of snacking and if it does happen it's usually a yogurt or fruit.

Blessedlady41

Ok thank you all very much that helps, because I have been eating dinner around 3 or 4 taking eve nap at 6pm then at work at 11pm. But I am actually full all night, but when 7am rolls around I am starving like crasy. So then I come home an usually eat a bowl of oatmeal or bowl of cereal a piece of toast with peanut butter an head to bed...So I guess I should eat a little something at night, but I honestly don't get hungry till after work... Hmmm.. Thanks though for all yr comments

andreamontes30

I track all calories from midnight to midnight. I have the craziest schedule. I work 7 days on night shift, 7 days off. 2 of my night shifts I work a double and don't get off work til 2:00 pm. Then twice a month I work a weekend job where I work an 8 hour shift and 8 hours off for 3 shifts in a row. Since my hours vary so much it is hard to stay on a real eating schedule so tracking calories from midnight to midnight is what works best for me. Most people's night shifts aren't quite as wonky as mine are though.

tinarn1120

I work night shift, 7p-7a 3-5 nights per week. It has been a struggle to lose weight because I always find myself craving a large "dinner" type meal when I get off of work in the am. I have to fight the urge, since I know I am heading to bed. I usually stick to a protein shake or light breakfast (when I can fight the aforementioned urges lol) and then nothing really during the day if I'm headed back to work that night.
I'll eat a meal overnight like 2-3 am, and another problem I have is "grazing" at work; coworkers and patient families are constantly showing appreciation for staff with food and it's easy to pick up a bunch of calories one small bite at a time!

keishadanielle9

I no longer work night shift but when I did..eating is what helped me stay awake! It was hard. I was at my heaviest (147) which is almost overweight for my height (4' 11). Best thing to do is keep yourself busy so u wont eat out of boredom or to stay awake. Hope that helps.

BlueEyedDevil88

I pretty much treat the night as a normal day. I do eat less smaller meals which helps. It also helps I really dont have a chance to take my breaks...lol so I normally just get my lunch, which i make very clean!

As far as eating times...I get home from work around 8 AM, just go straight to sleep, wake up sometime in the afternoon, thats when I start my logging for the day. I usually have a shake and hit the gym, then my "breakfast" at night, clean snacks when I can throughout work!

Msstacieh

I was just talking about this too. I've been working the midnight shift and I try to at least consume 1200 calories. I am still not use to it yet.