Eating Healthy and Working Midnight Shift

cameralikeagun

So, I work midnights at my job, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday I work twelve hour shifts from 7pm to 7am. Fridays 11pm to 7am. I'm having trouble figuring out how to keep a healthy eating schedule on these hours. When I come home from work I am terribly hungry and ready for breakfast after not eating much all night, but after I eat breakfast I most definitely want to go to sleep until a few hours before I have to go back to work. It's hard to eat healthy and on a what seems to be proper schedule on these days. I can't find the time to exercise on the weekends either because I am so tired.
Does anyone else out there work a midnight shift? Do you have any advice on how I should schedule my meals?

leester

I have oatmeal for breakfast at 5:00 a.m. When I get home, I go for a walk before going to bed. If I go to bed, I will never get up to exercise because I am way beyond tired.

megamom

I work 12 hour night shifts also. Usually I will eat my meal of chicken breast and salad around 1 to 2 and then when I get home I have a bowel of cherrios and a banana and go to bed. As a nurse my job is physical with lots of lifting and walking so I don't exercise on my long stretch at work, on my week off I ride bikes and work out. So far it is working for me. I stay within my calorie range and walk during my break if I get one. Good luck finding out what works for you.

ChuckieB33

I work 6p-6a for an 8-day stretch at a time. For my tracking of calories, I have 5 headers: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Meal, In Betweens, and Coffee. My schedule goes as follows:

I usually get home around 7am, eat a bowl of cereal (In Between) and go to bed. I try to get up before 2pm, so I can eat a light lunch (In Between. And I keep it light because I know I will snack when I get to work,) do my workout, shower and then get back to work. Once at work, I eat what I consider my 2nd meal of the day. Around 10-11, I eat my 3rd meal. Throughout the night/morning, I snack on fruits and veggies so that I do not load up on the horrible food that is always laying around in the lunch room. Around 2 or 3 am, I will eat a salad (1st meal) or something else low in calories to get me through until I get home.

I also drink plenty of water and, I admit, waaaaay more coffee than one should ever be allowed. *Trying to cut back on that one! I walk around, as long as the weather is cooperating, instead of driving the truck.

As I am writing this, it seems that I eat a lot, but the trick is, to keep it healthy and to have little snacks every few hours to keep you fueled. I keep track of every little thing as much as possible so that I stay on point with my eating. By eating a lot of low-cal mini meals to get me through the shift, I hardly ever go over my allotted calories, but I am usually not too hungry or too full.

I don't know if this is a proper way to handle a midnight shift, but it works for me and I keep taking off pounds. Seems a little slower when I am on midnights, but I am still losing!

Good luck to you, and I hope this helps you out a little...