Working Overnights

KnightOwl

I just started a job working overnight shifts from 10pm until 6am, 4 times a week. Needless to say this throws off my sleep patterns, and when coupled with my second job 4 days a week, I get very little sleep during the week. I know this is horrible for me, but I have to pay the bills. I keep hearing horror stories about how many overnight people gain weight. Does anybody have any insight as to how I should be eating if I am staying up for 24-30 hours straight? I just can't seem to figure out a good pattern. If I eat during the day, I'm still always hungry at night. HELP! I want to lose weight the right way, but when I'm at work all night, I am STARVING by 3am. I find myself constantly going over my calorie needs because I just eat more often than I would if I went to bed every night. Any suggestions would be great...and I know that there has to be other MFPers out there that work those overnight hospital shifts like I do! Any success stories? Thanks for your help!

allie7383

Hey Knight, check out the Night Shift thread that was recently started! You'll def get some good suggestions. Feel free to friend me as well I've been doing nights now for 3 years, and there are plenty of people on here who have more experience than me!

sjmandrew

I work shifts at a hospital too and do about 8/month. I start at 19.30 and finish at 08.00. I tend to eat my main meal of the day a couple of hours before I start the shift (often a huge salad with lots of fish or chicken), take a snack with me (usually fruit and yogurt) that I'll have around 01.00, and then have something filling but low calorie (like porridge) at about 06.00 which sees me through until after my sleep. I find having your main meal as something with lots of protein helps. If I eat soup I'm hungry again in a couple of hours.

As for staying up after a night shift, I would keep having regular low cal/fat snacks through the day, drink lots of diet coke and remember that because you are awake for so much longer than the average person, you will be burning more calories and your calorie allowance with be higher than you think anyway. If you can aim for one big meal a day plus a number of healthy snacks as and when you are hungry, you should be ok. And don't get sucked in to eating goodies that people bring in to share on nights like chocolate and sweets - once you start it's so hard to stop!

Best of luck.

Lauris83

I've recently changed my meal plan to bfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner-snack. It seems to be working so far. Working late sucks because I wake up after only 4-5 hrs some days and so I end up eating at like 11 am then having to stay up till 4am. That's a long time, enough time to eat eat eat lol So with my meals broken up like that, I can eat 6 times a day just as long as they are smaller meals. If I space them out good, I stay content till 2-4am. If I get home and I feel hungry I'll have a rice cake or fiber bar before bed, but that's not too often.

KnightOwl

Thanks so much for the advice. sjmandrew- thanks for the great tips.

leanmass24

Breaking up the meals is a must. also if you are going to the gym, go before you go to work. It helps me have the energy to stay awake all night. If that doesnt work 5 hour energy does a good job for me, and doesnt give the jittery feeling as long as I am not too tired. there just comes a point when you have just been up too long and nothing will work until you rest. I pulled two jobs like you for a while It is not fun at all. It is really not worth it IMO. So try to find a job that pays enough and dont give up. Also if you are staying up that long and you start to feel weak you need to eat something no matter what MFP says. Dont eat a big meal, but a little snack will work wonders. Hope things get better for you soon. Dont give up on your weight loss goals.