Working Night Shift

valerievillarreal77

So I have been on nights for a few months now and am having trouble maintaining a consistent schedule as far as meal prepping and hitting the gym. Does anyone have any tips or tricks they use while on nights? Also do you reset your MFP at midnight or log everything you eat that night for the previous day?

nossmf

Be advised, I used to work a schedule which rotated from days to swings to nights and back, so my advice may be a little different from somebody who works exclusively night shifts.

For logging, I found it easiest to be consistent if I logged from midnight to midnight, aka by calendar day. If the calendar says it's Tuesday, 22 June, then any food eaten during that calendar day goes on that log. True, some night shifts I eat before midnight, and some after, so from one day to the next may be a bit skewed, but I worry more about my weekly consumption than any given day.

I personally always found more energy for working out before the shift rather than after, when all I wanted to do was go to bed. I suggest waking up far enough in advance of your shift that you can exercise pre-shift.

Meal prepping is definitely a pain, so my big question in return will be if you have access to a fridge and a microwave. If so, then it may be useful to dedicate one day off as a "meal prep" day, making large batches of various foods... spaghetti, soup, stir-fry, etc. Divide into tupperware containers and freeze, then for any given shift you can simply grab a meal and go, reheating it at your discretion.

Personally, I always get the munchies during night shifts, far more than during any other shift, and portion control completely goes out the window. It's SOOOO easy to load up on sodas, chips and candy, so make a concerted effort to get a variety of other foods you don't mind snacking upon, whether fruit, carrot sticks, sliced red/green peppers, pretzel sticks, jerkey, etc. On your food-prep day, also place one serving into sandwich bags, which you take with your frozen meal. By all means, if you want some sweets each night then have some, but it's crucial you take the time to set out a single serving in advance. Some examples I've used are (in a sandwich bag) one serving of semi-sweet chocolate chips (eaten one at a time to make it last longer), one serving of Hershey's kisses (unwrapping each one slows you down), and splitting M&M's into single servings (most gas station bags are 2-5 servings per bag), again eating one at a time.

If I'm only doing 1-3 night shifts in a row, I tend to use an energy drink to help, but I take it BEFORE I get tired. So if I know I start to crash at 3am, I take the energy drink at 2 am, maybe a little before because I want the effects to be wearing off about the time I get home to bed so they don't interfere with my ability to go to sleep. If I'm working 4 or more night shifts in a row, by the time I reach number four my body clock has sufficiently adjusted so I avoid the energy drinks.

As an alternative to energy drinks, consider getting some form of exercise every 15-30 minutes throughout the night, whether doing a set of pushups and deep knee bends at your desk or take a walk around the office / work area.