Working night Shift and Dieting

Krystasfocused25

Hi all! I am needing some advice on dieting while working night shift. Specifically times and what should be eaten on this shift! Thanks guys

Gerbsxyng412

I work 3rd and it is hard.. what is your sleep schedule like ? I work midnight to 7 so I sleep from 10:30ish am to 6 pm.. get up make supper and spend time with the hubs, go back to bed 9 to 10:45 get up and around for work. On the way to work I have a shake... at 2 I have a protein snack.. at 4 I eat lunch which is protein and veggies at 7 when I get off and before I go to the gym I will have a shake or some kind of protein meal then when I get home around 8:30 I eat a meal then wind down for bed.

MrsLannister

I work 5:30 PM to 4:00 AM. I don't eat when I wake up, because I usually have nausea from the metformin. I eat yogurt during my first break at 7:15 PM. I eat dinner (usually Lean Cuisine) during my lunch at 9:15 PM. I have either fruit or yogurt during my third break at 1:30 AM. Finally, I have either cereal or a Bacon Gouda from Starbucks at 6:00 AMish. I go to bed around 7:00 AM and get up at 2:30 - 3:30 PM.

Do you guys keep your schedule on your days off? I sit in boredom most of the time.

DobieSM

This is the thing I struggle with. I work a fairly physically demanding job overnight (7:30pm-6am), which I love. The amount of pure exercise I get 4 nights a week makes me feel great! But the biggest challenge for me is my darn eating habits. I almost never bring real lunch, and end up getting chips and soda from the vending machines late at night, and eating unhealthy food when I get to work at 7pm. When I get home, I go straight to bed and skip breakfast and lunch. And so begins the cycle again... On my off days, I binge eat so much junk

I usually sleep during the night on my days off, but lately I've had random days off, so I just end up staying up all night.

ladyraiah

I work 10 hour night shifts: 9:30pm to 7:30am. I usually go to the gym right after work so I'm generally home by 10, in bed by 11. If I'm particularly tired, I'll skip the gym. I sleep until 5 or 5:30, have dinner with the family and pack a lunch for work. These days my lunches are usually a Lean Cuisine supplemented with a salad or vegetable side because it's easy. I almost always bring a small sweet snack because I get a sweet tooth around 2am. Right now I'm using the 90 calorie fiber one chocolate chip brownie bars. They go great with my coffee. I eat my lunch between 1:30 and 3am depending on how busy I am. I will have breakfast about 6:30am. I try to have fruit and oatmeal, but sometimes I get eggs and sausage from the cafeteria. I don't snack. I eat around 1500 cal/day, so my lunch is between 350-500 cal. I try to keep my total calories while on shift to under 800, so I have a good chunk for dinner. If I go to the gym I'll have a small second breakfast when I get home, usually toast w/ butter, an egg, and some fruit (less than 300 cal total). On my days off, I revert to a normal schedule and eat a normal breakfast/lunch/dinner, and rarely snack as it tends to get out of control for me. I've lost 40 lbs since February following this general plan.

I think the important thing is to plan an actual lunch, Lean Cuisines are great if you aren't too concerned about the sodium content, they are so easy to grab and go and most of them are actually pretty good. You can make a big salad in advance and just put a cup or two in a container every day, just make sure you dry the lettuce thoroughly before storing (even store it with a few paper towels) and it should keep for 3-5 days. Hungry + tired is a recipe for disaster.

bshrom

I work 3rd shift 6pm-5:30am and honestly for me meal prep is key. I honestly don't know how anyone would manage healthy eating on this shift without meal prep. I cook 2 times a week and eat healthy for 7 days off of that. I of course add fresh fruits, fresh salads, and lots of steamed veggies to whatever I prepped ahead.

leejoyce31

DobieSM wrote: »

This is the thing I struggle with. I work a fairly physically demanding job overnight (7:30pm-6am), which I love. The amount of pure exercise I get 4 nights a week makes me feel great! But the biggest challenge for me is my darn eating habits. I almost never bring real lunch, and end up getting chips and soda from the vending machines late at night, and eating unhealthy food when I get to work at 7pm. When I get home, I go straight to bed and skip breakfast and lunch. And so begins the cycle again... On my off days, I binge eat so much junk

I usually sleep during the night on my days off, but lately I've had random days off, so I just end up staying up all night.

How is this impacting your weight? Are you gaining?

jillybeansalad

I just log for when I get up (that's the day that I start my log) and even when I work into the next morning beyond midnight, I just keep logging as it's the same day. Sorry, if that is too wordy.

My sleep seemed to have a large impact on progress, but that's true for "day walkers" as well. It was just more difficult to master for me. It's difficult to have the same intensity for all my workouts and creating the consistency of my calorie burn.

As others said above, planning is a big part of being successful. Be it meals or sleep.