Official Nightshift thread!!!

anichole85

so true about keeping money in the pocket

Every time i tried to move my chair and do a quick walk w/ a youtube video 911 rang...i gave up. I did finally get to call an officer in and go outside and walk for 20 min.

Lynz888

When I first started working night shift years back, I worked with upbeat and energetic people. Right now I have a lethargic crew.
I'm glad I found this, support would be nice!

allie7383

lol i hear ya... i get to walk around the lab, though right now it's waaay slow and i've been on my butt for most of the night.. i've taken to moving my feet like i'm marching when i'm sitting so at least i get some movement in... i took advantage of the slowness and ordered Turbo Jam haha! it looks sooo fun, I can't wait to get it!

edit: I'm currently working with only 1 other person tonight who's my age... the rest are about 5 years away from retirement.. i feel the lethargy!!

anichole85

Lynz- My crew right now is rather lazy. I'm used to my wanna be troopers that run traffic all night. I'll get those guys back soon enough. They rotate to days every month.

I'm seriously thinking about bringing the carmen electra strip tease work out dvd my hubby got me a few years ago to work and doing it when the guys are gone...just have to figure out which computer to put it on lol

allie7383

haha that's awesome! I'd love to bring my leslie sansone and do it on break since i get an hour, though we don't have showers near us, and no way could i sit around for the rest of the shift all sweaty! :embarassed:

anichole85

I don't usually even get a chance to break a sweat since someone always needs me on the radio or phone or 911 ring. lol But I do get to control the AC

KnightOwl

i'm on this whole weekend, thru monday night anichole! fun way to spend the weekend

at least it keeps some money in my pocket!

Meeee too!!! Gotta love that weekend differential on top of the overnight one :-p

teetee1281

There is overnight and weekend differential pay? I knew there was a night one, but not one for weekend too. I really have to get a civilian job. Being recallable 24/7 is not always the coolest, but I do love my job and the reason that I do it!

allie7383

There is overnight and weekend differential pay? I knew there was a night one, but not one for weekend too. I really have to get a civilian job. Being recallable 24/7 is not always the coolest, but I do love my job and the reason that I do it!

heck yes there is! lol it's the only good thing about working the weekends.. the ultimate though is having a holiday on a weekend haha... speaking of holidays.. i'm on again for thanksgiving and xmas.. though it makes me a bit sad to miss those days, i won't miss the pigging out that i usually do, esp. when it comes to the munchies my aunt puts out before dinner!

teetee1281

For Thanksgiving I should be okay, but for the Christmas and New Year's, I will be the new guy to the command and just coming off of leave. Hopefully, my husband and I can line our days up because we've been separated for 2 years next month. When I get back with him, he'd be going to ship and I don't know their schedule.

What do you do?

allie7383

oh wow, that must be hard to be apart for such a time! i work in a hospital in the lab/blood bank... we've been kinda slow the last few weeks, and tonight is no exception. i'm counting the minutes til 7am. what do you do?

teetee1281

I'm in the Navy. I'm pracitically a paralegal for the JAG. It's 11:45 am where I am, so I'm happy for this thread because the world is asleep when I awake. It is kind of hard, but he and I both met in the Navy and this is something that we both want to make a career of, so we make the best of our time home.

Is it true, that I can't donate because I am over in Bahrain (Near Iraq and Kuwait). I like to donate but I get tattoos too often and now I am here.

allie7383

I don't work with the donor aspect of blood banking, I'm the one who sets up compatible units for patients in surgery, traumas, etc.. Though from what I know, and the one time I psyched myself up enough to go donate, there are geographical restrictions. Based on how long you're in a place, you may be unable to donate, period, though for most cases they'll hold you off for a year or so. I hear ya with the tattoos! I know you have to wait a year after getting tattooed/pierced.. here's the rundown:

http://www.bloodbook.com/donr-requir.html

lmwhite3473

This question may have been answered already but here goes. I am starting the night shift AGAIN. It is the 2-2-3 12 hour shift scenario. My question is how do I log my food for the previous day or that day. I hope this makes sense. Like when I get up Sunday afternoon. I would treat that like a new day? When I get off Monday morning and that being my day off after I get a few hours sleep (usually 4 so I can sleep that night) when I get up treat that as a new day? The problem is that usually when I get off work I usually eat before sleep, I know that is bad but I sleep better. It has been 5 years since I have worked nights and I can not remember how I did it last time all I know is that I lost a huge amount of weight during that time ( that I eventually put back on working days). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

allie7383

I work 11pm-7am, and what I've been doing is start my day at midnight. I changed the titles of "breakfast, lunch dinner" to brackets of time. Midnight-8am, 8am-4pm, and 4pm-Midnight. I usually have some type of lunch/snack during work so I take that as the start. For me, it keeps things organized a little better.. Good luck!!

lmwhite3473

That is such a good idea. i never would have thought of that. Thanks for sharing.

allie7383

No prob, if you try it, or something similar let me know how it works for you!

lee112780

Hi Guys,
Has anyone ever taken Melatonin to sleep? I looked up Night Eating Disorder ( in my case...morning) and I definatly show signs of it. I cant go to sleep without eating carbs, then I wake up, eat more carbs and go back to sleep. It's an awful, awful habit. I'm always half asleep when I do it, so I don't really use my brain. This is what I read about Melatonin:

Your body has its own internal clock that controls your natural cycle of sleeping and waking hours. In part, your body clock controls how much melatonin your body makes. Normally, melatonin levels begin to rise in the mid- to late evening, remain high for most of the night, and then drop in the early morning hours.

I'm thinking because of working this shift, my melatonin may be low. It's natural, and worth a try. What do you guys think?

teetee1281

Lee, I've never taken that before, but I am pretty much a sound sleeper throughout the night. I seldom wake. Before trying to take something to help you, maybe you should look over your food diary and see when you are eating the most carbs. I'd try changing my eating habits to include more carbs at certain times before taking something.

mark996

Another night shifter here. Working as a polce/fire/ems dispatcher, will transfer to patrol soon however, which I'm sure I'll stay on deep nights even after that. I actually adjust pretty well to nights/day shifts. Here at our police department, it's not too bad, we used to have a dungeon, but just had a new building built, we're on the 3rd floor with several large windows. We have a fully furnished gym at our disposal as well, so it makes it almost impossible to have an excuse not to work out. I usually do weight training before shift and cardio during my lunch. We are a larger department, at least 8 dispatchers on during evenings, and 6 here in early morning with at least 12 officers on the streets, along with fire and ems personnel.

Most of my issues stem from eating junk food while working. I've learned I can't buy anything or intice myself with any junk if I just put it out of mind out of sight. My automatic response to people now is just no thank you. We have birthday parties and all kinds of parties up here, it's tough sometimes, but worth the effort to have a learned response of just saying no without even thinking. Also reading on here, and other forums I frequent help to keep me in line.

allie7383

Mark, I hear ya with the bday parties and other such things. Fortunately most of that stuff takes place on dayshift, so I don't find myself staring at cake too often. I did take cake decorating classes last year though, and believe me it can be hard to be around all the deliciousness! I've found that bringing my lunch every night is great, since it gives me no reason to head to the cafeteria where there are loads of things I shouldn't be eating.
I had a binge day on Sat, and felt soooo upset with myself afterwards, for just doing it, not exercising, plus it being the TOM all in one.. :sad: I've had a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints, unopened in my freezer since I bought them, and I'm going to be giving them to my friend. Def the first time ever that I've actually wanted to give those things away!

mark996

I did carb cycling when I trained strong man pre competition, and had refeeds, where I got to eat anything and everything for 24 hours before a carb depletion for 6 days, and LOVED it...it's good to get a little treat here and there, don't sweat it. The stress of worrying about what you just ate is probably worse for your health then a cheat meal every now and then.

ahmmurphy

I work 11pm-7am, and what I've been doing is start my day at midnight. I changed the titles of "breakfast, lunch dinner" to brackets of time. Midnight-8am, 8am-4pm, and 4pm-Midnight. I usually have some type of lunch/snack during work so I take that as the start. For me, it keeps things organized a little better.. Good luck!!

That is a fabulous idea!!!! Never thought of doing it that way but it makes sense given that 3 squares doesn't exactly happen when you're working nights. I'll have to give it a try

anichole85

can i just say that who ever left the box of candy bars to sale in dispatch (for their kid's fundraiser) is EVIL.


i'm trying to resist. I don't need one.

allie7383

stay strong girl!! lol, the other day I was the bad one.. I made cupcakes for my friend's bday and had a few left over so I brought them to work so I wouldn't eat them haha! plus I just like to have people tell me I make good cupcakes :happy:

anichole85

I gave in..sigh.

Guess that's what happens when you are too busy to eat all day and forgot to bring dinner.

allie7383

I left my dinner here the other day, didn't get a chance to get on break due to blood bank chaos! Totally forgot it was in the fridge, so I didn't have to worry about bringing it tonight lol. Just ate actually.. chocolate cheerios and lime flavored yogurt.

anichole85

I have some string cheese in the mini fridge in here...I'm hungry but I don't want to eat. I feel like I'm going to puke. I'm super nervous...I'm shooting a wedding this saturday (for my dispatch partner) I'm terrified.

chelseagirlfl

Hi! Everyone- I am a police/Fire/EMD Dispatcher I work 1745 hrs to 0600 hrs..Every night I do 4 hours on Police Radio, dispatching officers to calls, 4 Hours on Teletype or Phone answering 911 and non emergency and 4 hours on Fire Dispatching to accidents and medical calls. I work 48 on and 48 off, but I pick up so much Overtime that I am always working. I love MFP. It's really nice to see all the other over night members..I have a really hard time logging foods and figuring out when to log if one day or the other...so I do 5-6 meals and try to eat a little every few hoursd, but when you never know what your day is like...sometimes you it what you can , when you can.

I'll be checking this thread often..

lee112780

Hey Chelsea,
I normally start my meals at midnight...starting with lunch, breakfast when I get up, and dimmer before work. Im sooo tired of the night shift, but doesn't look like Im getting out of it anytime soon. I work for Verizon Fios btw....making sure the infomercials run at night