Night workers - need food ideas

nataliestead4

I was wondering if anyone as some advise for me?

I work 4 waking night per work doing 11 hour shifts with a 2 hour commute, This leaves me very little time for anything other than sleep when i get home.

I have only been doing night work 3 months but I find I just can't eat meals on work days, During the day i sleep and then when at work i just can't sit down to meal ! So I tend to snack on things like : smoothies, yoghurt & fruit & crisps or toast.

I know this is unhealthy and it then leads me to binge eat on my off days

Anyone else in same situation or got a solution for me?

RaineyLaney

I work night shift too. I take a big vinyl lunch bag (with a couple ice packs to keep foods cold) with me every single night. I also have a bag that has my drinks in it too. I am able to eat lunch and snacks at work though. We have a microwave and a fridge, but the fridge in summer is always so full, I could not get all my food in there, so now do the lunch bag.

I have an open food diary. I eat 6 times a day and most is at work. I will eat something light and quick when I get home usually and off to bed I go.

haroon_awan

I was wondering if anyone as some advise for me?

I work 4 waking night per work doing 11 hour shifts with a 2 hour commute, This leaves me very little time for anything other than sleep when i get home.

I have only been doing night work 3 months but I find I just can't eat meals on work days, During the day i sleep and then when at work i just can't sit down to meal ! So I tend to snack on things like : smoothies, yoghurt & fruit & crisps or toast.

I know this is unhealthy and it then leads me to binge eat on my off days

Anyone else in same situation or got a solution for me?

You have identified both the problem and solution.

Problem: You can't sit down to eat a meal at work (but you can have snacks at work).

Solution: Figure out why you can't sit down to eat a meal: (What is preventing you from doing so?)
Are you self-conscious about what you eat around others?
Do your managers not want you to eat during your break?
Do you think that eating at night will somehow lead to weight gain?
Do you have a dislike of cooking and cleaning?
Do you not want to cook because you find you don't have the time?
Are you struggling with the change in your body clock from working nights 4x/week rather than 7x/week (IIRC there have been studies to that show individuals work better when working nights 7x/week rather than half of the week, such as your case of 4x/week because of the difficulty of switching from day shifts to night shifts every few days)?
These are just some ideas.

Alternatively, just just eat more/bigger snacks.

bridgew24

Easiest is soup! Easy freezable and easy to make in bulk. And you can quickly whip up some rice to bulk it out.

nataliestead4

I love cooking and do intend to make everything from fresh most grown in my garden its more to do with my body clock Im just not hunger through the night and on the rare occasion I've eaten a meal I either feel sick or sleepy. I'm a lone worker and due to the natural of my job I don't get breaks I just eat & drink on the go!
I will defiantly try the soup tonight. Thanks everyone