Late Night Eating

ddelisle2008

So I work overnights as a caregiver which includes a lot of sitting around as everyone is sleeping. During the day I do really good as far as eating healthy and the right portions and try to not eat after dinner, but working overnights that sometimes hard to do. What are some healthy snacks/food or alternative or ways to keep yourself from just eating late at night.

takop20

I struggle with that all the time. It's so hard. The best way to avoid it is to sleep but since you can't do that then you can just have some cut up fruit/veggies. Try to not eat carbs. That's the worst.

erimethia_fekre

Just like if you were to work a regular 9-to-5 job, eating in the middle of the night (or whenever you should be sleeping and you have interrupted sleep and decide to eat) is the time you should not be eating. Treat your overnight shift as if it was a regular day shift for someone else and incorporate healthy eating into those times as if you would on a day shift schedule.

Chances are if you're asking this question, you'd have a hard time finding healthy choices during your shifts no matter the hour span. Just a matter of having those healthy choices around and sticking to it.

punkrockgoth

This same thread is happening over here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10308579/evening-snack-tips-on-how-to-avoid#latest

Well not quite the same, but same idea. Late night snacking, eating at night.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

takop20 wrote: »

I struggle with that all the time. It's so hard. The best way to avoid it is to sleep but since you can't do that then you can just have some cut up fruit/veggies. Try to not eat carbs. That's the worst.

Fruit and veg are carbs?

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

OP, just save some of your calories for your late night eating.

jacklifts

Overnight shifts are a completely different animal. I've been doing overnight shifts for 3+ years, and still not used to the change in circadian rhythm. The big problem in my opinion is that intense grogginess that happens around 2-4am, when you have to be mentally alert. I don't really have a solution. Yesterday for example, i ate about 1800 calories in 30 minutes to try to get my brain to work right - it did. But it was an especially difficult night. Most of the time, I can go without the extra snacking by just coffee and crystal light, sometimes add in sugar free jello, carrots, etc. What helps me is delaying the time I start eating to 4p-6p if I can. So dinner with the family becomes "breakfast", and I usually have about 1000 calories left to eat overnight.

Like I said, I'm not sure there's a definite solution. Implementing a few strategies however may help to minimize the days of calorie overage. Definitely eating during the day (don't you sleep during the day though?) won't allow you room to eat overnight.