Losing weight on night shift

RoseofSharon75

Hello, I've never written a discussion on myfitnesspal before but I have a question for you all. I have been working night shift at a casino as an EVS worker and I am unintentionally losing weight. I have ate like a horse and am still losing. I have no idea how. Most forums I've read people have problems gaining weight on night shift. Don't get me wrong it's a good thing for me. I want to be losing. I started out at 245.2 lbs and I'm now down to 219.4. Have any of you ever had this happen or any idea why?

missysippy930

Same reason anyone loses weight, you’re eating less calories than your body burns.

ElizabethKalmbach

I suspect you're eating less because your food choices are atypical and limited by time of day.

When I worked midnight to noon, my weight dropped to the lowest it's ever been because I was getting up at 9pm and "going out for breakfast" meant that I would have a choice of steak or pasta or something for the first meal of the day and that was too weird. So I just stayed home and ate before going out. Similarly, there was *literally* no place to go out for my "lunch break" at 4:00 in the morning. So, I packed a healthy lunch. When I was ready for my "big meal of the day" at noon, a lot of places weren't serving dinner menu yet, and the temptation to over eat at Subway just wasn't there....

MikePTY

Night shift, day shift, it all plays by the same rules. Weight loss is calories in vs calories out.

Is this a new job? What were you doing before it? As an EVS worker I imagine you move around and are active quite a bit during your shift. If you went from being sedentary to working, that would explain your loss very easily. Your body is now burning a lot more calories than you did before. So even though you feel like you are "eating like a horse", you are still taking in less calories than your body burns in a day. That is what is causing you to lose weight.

A word or warning tho: the more weight you lose, the less calories your body burns as it takes more energy to power you with a heavier frame. So while "eat what you want and be active at your job" may be working for you now, eventually it will slow and likely stop if you don't start to work on watching and tracking what you eat closer. Eventually you will have to reduce intake. But for now it seems to be working for you so you don't need to make any drastic changes yet.

kshama2001

RoseofSharon75 wrote: »

Hello, I've never written a discussion on myfitnesspal before but I have a question for you all. I have been working night shift at a casino as an EVS worker and I am unintentionally losing weight. I have ate like a horse and am still losing. I have no idea how. Most forums I've read people have problems gaining weight on night shift. Don't get me wrong it's a good thing for me. I want to be losing. I started out at 245.2 lbs and I'm now down to 219.4. Have any of you ever had this happen or any idea why?

Are you a lot more active than you used to be? Is your Activity Level set at Sedentary when it should be higher?

RoseofSharon75

MikePTY wrote: »

Night shift, day shift, it all plays by the same rules. Weight loss is calories in vs calories out.

Is this a new job? What were you doing before it? As an EVS worker I imagine you move around and are active quite a bit during your shift. If you went from being sedentary to working, that would explain your loss very easily. Your body is now burning a lot more calories than you did before. So even though you feel like you are "eating like a horse", you are still taking in less calories than your body burns in a day. That is what is causing you to lose weight.

A word or warning tho: the more weight you lose, the less calories your body burns as it takes more energy to power you with a heavier frame. So while "eat what you want and be active at your job" may be working for you now, eventually it will slow and likely stop if you don't start to work on watching and tracking what you eat closer. Eventually you will have to reduce intake. But for now it seems to be working for you so you don't need to make any drastic changes yet.

I used to be a nurse aid but I did not work for 4 months before starting this job. I do move around a lot. I stand on my feet and walk around for at least 7 hrs. I knew I was burning calories. I just didn't feel like it would be that much.

RoseofSharon75

kshama2001 wrote: »

RoseofSharon75 wrote: »

Hello, I've never written a discussion on myfitnesspal before but I have a question for you all. I have been working night shift at a casino as an EVS worker and I am unintentionally losing weight. I have ate like a horse and am still losing. I have no idea how. Most forums I've read people have problems gaining weight on night shift. Don't get me wrong it's a good thing for me. I want to be losing. I started out at 245.2 lbs and I'm now down to 219.4. Have any of you ever had this happen or any idea why?

Are you a lot more active than you used to be? Is your Activity Level set at Sedentary when it should be higher?

I had it set to lightly active but I switched to active.