Shifting Shifts- Confused on how to eat

Waterbug08

Hi All- RN here, usually day shift though recently working many doubles and strange shifts around the clock, minimal rhyme or reason to the times

My question to all you experienced MFP folks- how do you chart food and activity? Especially if you don't sleep at all with extra shifts and such? I don't know which day to put it on, which meal, etc.

I was up all day yesterday, worked all night, slept 5 hrs and am now awake though going to bed at 'normal' time tonight.

Any suggestions welcome. Sometimes I just avoid eating so i don't have to worry about it which isn't the best.

ugofatcat

I am not a nurse (yet, I graduate in May) but I work some night shifts as a tech. If I eat, I just log it. Sometimes if I eat at 1 AM it gets logged on the next day as breakfast.

The past few night shifts I eat before I go and try not to eat anything (shifts go from 7 PM to 7:30 AM). I figure I should be sleeping during this time and wouldn't be eating, so I shouldn't be eating now. I don't get hungry during this time.

Then I come home and sleep from 9 AM to 3 PM, then eat around 3/3:30 PM/

Basically, if you are eating, log it.

PAV8888

I would suggest that you change your diary's headings to time periods.

Depending on whether you want four or six or more categories break it down by times.

Midnight to 6am, 6am to noon, noon to 6pm, six pm to midnight would be one system.

You then log by the time that you ate it what it was that you ate. Preferably before even eating it.

While daily goals are good to keep us focused, weekly and monthly averages are what generate results.

deannalfisher

i break my MFP diary up into time periods - since my schedule is always fairly hectic and then just log what i eat in the time period i eat it - i hestitate to call them meals because i tend to graze...that way if you are on a night shift and eat "dinner" at 6am, you just log it in the 6am block; if you eat breakfast at noon - ditto

MegaMooseEsq

I don't have the shift issue, but I have found that I do best with more frequent, small meals. Just find something that works for you and try to be consistent. I have buckets for "before work," "at work before noon", "at work after noon," "after work before dinner," "dinner" and "after dinner."

And yeah, I really recommend averaging by week or even twice a month instead of day-to-day. It all comes out the same in the wash.

dfnewcombe

@Waterbug08 do not avoid eating because of concern where it should be logged. Food is fuel and as a nurse you know you need fuel to do your best work.

I work nights 6:30 pm to 7 am generally 3 nights in a row. My first night back I am up most of the day with maybe a 45 minute nap. I do try to limit calories that day before- light sandwich, yogurt. I bring 3-4 meal or snacks to eat about every 3 hours through the night. They are pre-measured and pre-logged. Everything I eat at night is logged on the day before. As soon as my shift is over, I consider it the next day so if I have something when I go home before I sleep it will be logged on the next day. I do generally avoid eating when I go home, but if I am hungry and think it will help me feel better- I eat it. I log it and figure it into my calories. When I wake up I have a protein shake and then log and pack my night shift food. So my food on work days is logged from about 0700 to 0700. My fitbit counts steps until midnight so the exercise calories are logged from midnight to midnight but I don't find the time mismatch matters. I keep my caloric intake 1200-1500/day and aim for a fitbit caloric burn of 2200-2500/day. If something happens and I go over on my caloric intake goal to say even 1800- I don't fret it too much as I usually still have a deficit. I need to be at my best for work and there is already a strike or two against us night shift people. Usually the last time I eat is about 0430 or 0500 and when I go home I usually go right to bed.

Since you may not know when you are working extra hours late into the night, bring 2-3 extra 200-300 calorie snacks that are "frequent foods" that will be easy to log if you eat them. Hopefully they are things that if you bring them to work, but don't eat them they will still be good for the next day so that are always ready for an emergency. The worst thing I have found is to be working without a planned food supply because if things get bad- I will search the candy drawer which leads to sabotage....

Waterbug08

exactly @defnewcombe! The dreaded back room and the barrage of 'treats' brought in. today it was cheese bread, Cheetos, candy overnight, and then for day shift a family brought cookies and an MD brought donuts. So nice, of course, but a hard no.
I'm thinking yes to packing snacks, i just need the will not to eat them during a normal shift on top of lunch, and save them for the doubles.

Thanks all!

JRSINAZ

I use the mobile app when out and about. Meal prep, meal planning taking my food with me in a lunch cooler helps

kschr201

I work shifts and I just changed my diary to time periods with 6 slots on them. So I just log it when I eat it. Some days come out looking way under or over but I look at the weekly trend/deficit

erica_healthy

Yep, I struggled with when to log on nights, and just found it so much easier to go with hours like 0000-0400, 0400-0800 ect

jennifer_417

I removed all the meal headings from my diary so everything I log just goes generally under that day. Other than that, I just log midnight to midnight.