Shift Worker

rhodesjem

Hey all.. I'm new on here and I'm a shift worker who needs help. I'm trying to eat and excercise my way back to a healthier version. I was wondering does anyone here work shift days, afternoons, overnights and holidays? How do maintain a 1500 calorie count a day when you work like this? Thanks for the feedback..

deannalfisher

I've worked shifts in the past - not right now thought

how long do your shifts normally run? do you have access to a fridge/microwave while there? how often does your shift change (from day to night etc)

rhodesjem

Yes.. I have access to both.. My shifts are 2 days 2 afternoons 2 overnights.

othella30

Have y

rhodesjem wrote: »

Hey all.. I'm new on here and I'm a shift worker who needs help. I'm trying to eat and excercise my way back to a healthier version. I was wondering does anyone here work shift days, afternoons, overnights and holidays? How do maintain a 1500 calorie count a day when you work like this? Thanks for the feedback..

rhodesjem wrote: »

Hey all.. I'm new on here and I'm a shift worker who needs help. I'm trying to eat and excercise my way back to a healthier version. I was wondering does anyone here work shift days, afternoons, overnights and holidays? How do maintain a 1500 calorie count a day when you work like this? Thanks for the feedback..

U tried taking your lunch and veggirs to snack on during your shift? This works for me.

rhodesjem

Yep been doing eggs veges healthy snacks. I'm curious when you have to work 10pm-6am what are you eating if you eat all your 1500 cals during the day already

deannalfisher

what worked for me was adjusting my eating pattern - so if I had a nightshift, I ate "breakfast" at around 8pm (my shift started at 10pm), then "lunch" around 3am and dinner when I got home from work

rhodesjem

Okay I will try that sounds interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

deannalfisher

exercise - figure out what works best for your body - I used to workout as soon as I got done with my shift (we had a gym at work); before heading home to bed - others do better working out prior to their shift

rhodesjem

Yes i'm trying a schedule out seems to be working so far . Hoping to stick to this plan

HWeatherholt

I have never been a true shift worker, but in my job prior to this one, my hours varied day to day, some days I would have to be work at 8am and some I didn't have to be there until 7pm and every 16 weeks it would change. I also worked pt in retail at the same time with hours varying from week to week.

But, one of the things I did was to concentrate on the day and how many calories I have eaten that day, regardless of the time. And since I wasn't necesarily eating breakfast as the first meal of the day, I changed my diary labels to read 12am - 4am, 4am - 8am, 8am - 12pm, etc.

barracudamuscle

I work 12's 7 days a week for months on end (deployed) I think the hardest thing is not eating out of boredom.

When I am slammed I tend to forget to eat as crazy as that sounds. Today for instance by the time I had a break it was lunch time, by the time I got around to making my tuna salad it was past lunch so I only ate 900 calories for the day. I could eat more but why, I will feel full in a couple of hours and goto bed then eat in the morning or early lunch if I can. I get days of riding in the high 900's-1200 then get a day where I overshoot and have a overage of 100-200 if I'm not tracking in my head every thing in the day to log when I have access to the internet.

I do try to have a structured day but a lot of it is the same meals. But I will "forecast or predict" my day so I can eat accordingly. I will go into MFP when I wake up and check email from home and put in my 6 egg white omelet with onions and a little cheese, lunch/dinner 2 cans of tuna with 3 tsp of light mayo and 4 teaspoons of sweet relish.

From there I get a good baseline of what my "dinner" meal will allow if I even want dinner. Some days I have room for the occasional cookie, some days I lapse and forget and come close to my limit or overshoot by 100 calories if I don't mentally keep track.

My hardest thing is with my job I don't have access to wifi to carry my phone around and log into MFP as I sit and eat, its a chore but I've been losing 30+ pounds the last 2 months doing this method.

Structure, predicting your meals and not eating out of boredom is key. I drink black coffee and sugar free redbulls to get a little bump and get my head on straight quite often but those are low calories and usually get me past my hunger/boredom eating while keeping me awake.

Good luck!

rhodesjem

Thanks a lot barrucda. I'm going to make it work one way or the other.

rhodesjem

Thanks HWeather. That's a smart concept for switching it up.