Master Your Metabolism...

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I just recently read Jillian Michaels' book 'Master Your Metabolism'. While I found it to be quite enlightening and informative, she stresses that you need to be done eating and no more food before 9 PM. That's all well and good, but what about those of us that work second or third shift? I am done working at 11 PM and go home to make dinner, and am usually in bed by 1:30 AM. Her plan centers around a person eating breakfast at 7 AM, lunch at 11 AM, a snack at 3 PM, and dinner at 7 PM. Most first shifters I know go to bed around 10 or 11 PM..so the nothing but dinner before 9 PM is great, 3 to 4 hours between bed and dinner. How do I adapt this for my life and shift hours?

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  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
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    Oh god, that whole "eating before x time" thing ticks me off because of how untrue it is.
  • emmooney235
    emmooney235 Posts: 85 Member
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    This is one of the reasons I never thought about getting on a healthy eating routine while working retail! Try to make a food schedule work when in one week you could work anywhere between 5am and midnight and breaks (if you get them) are at the whim of management and customers. I wish I had been told to toss that idea out the window, maybe I wouldn't have gained 20+ pounds in the last year in my office job. I have noticed that with a more routine schedule I get hungry about the same time everyday. I think it's better to listen to what your body wants rather than force a meal or snack when you don't want it, especially if you know you'll want it latter.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    So... I guess she's never worked in medicine, law enforcement, military.... Anywho, I'd get what I could from a book I already paid for an ignore the stuff that doesn't apply. I'm not really a fan of Jillian anyway. WHAT is the point of screeching at people like a wet hen anyway? I remember coming across her doing this while channel surfing. I remember thinking how I'd probably sucker punch her in the face for doing that to me, but realized folks know what they're getting into on TV.
  • ktrout87
    ktrout87 Posts: 8 Member
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    There was a lot of useful information and tips in the book...and I kind of get the whole routine thing. But I work in medicine. Its just frustrating, I guess.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    I just recently read Jillian Michaels' book 'Master Your Metabolism'. While I found it to be quite enlightening and informative, she stresses that you need to be done eating and no more food before 9 PM. That's all well and good, but what about those of us that work second or third shift? I am done working at 11 PM and go home to make dinner, and am usually in bed by 1:30 AM. Her plan centers around a person eating breakfast at 7 AM, lunch at 11 AM, a snack at 3 PM, and dinner at 7 PM. Most first shifters I know go to bed around 10 or 11 PM..so the nothing but dinner before 9 PM is great, 3 to 4 hours between bed and dinner. How do I adapt this for my life and shift hours?
    sorry she's talking absolute nonsense. So 9pm. What timezones is that in? Does out include daylight saving time?. So at 9,01pm if you eat do you turn into a pumpkin?
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    I work 4 on 4 off constant night shift.. Miraculously I've still lost weight. The human race were not a bunch of lard arses prior to the invention of the clock. Disregard the info about 'set times to eat'.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    I work graveyard 11pm-7am 5x a week and I am losing just fine. Sure, working nights can make it more difficult but not impossible. Unless you have some medical reason, get an upset stomach, etc. etc, the whole timing thing, don't eat before "blah blah blah" is just a myth. For an example, I avoid eating at minimum 2hrs before I go to bed and the reason I do this is because I will find myself needing to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of my sleep. I also avoid eating before working out. I get queasy if I go right after eating. The key is to find out what works for you.
  • velvet_violence
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    I too am a full time grave worker and well, I wake up around 9 pm on the nights where I don't have class. If I am supposed to have breakfast, it's happening then in the form of dinner. Otherwise I would have to wait til I get home and, well, that is also not allowed. From what I have heard in other sources it's more a means of avoiding late night snacking. I have to admit 9 pm is awfully more generous than the 5 or 6 pm tptb were touting ten years ago or so. :tongue:
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
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    if im not mistaken that whole "dont eat after x time" is based off the assumption that most people are in bed by 11, i think itd be better just to say dont eat 2 hours before sleep
  • asciiqwerty
    asciiqwerty Posts: 565 Member
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    i try not to eat too close to bed time becasue it leaves me bloated, uncomfortable and i then don't sleep well,

    but i don't think this is a hard and fast rule
    if you sleep fine, then eat away IIFIYM

    log it. eat it. and move on
  • afortunatedragon
    afortunatedragon Posts: 329 Member
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    I think, all the "don't eat after ... " is done not out of science but out of "sounds logic, easy and doable"
    I saw diets explaining you can eat literally what and how much you want, but only before 2 p.m.
    So all it is, as you are not able to eat all and everything before 2 p.m is a calorie restriction.

    Doesn't work in the end.
  • whtyoupick
    whtyoupick Posts: 16
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    Two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar half glass of water, two teaspoons of cinnamon, and teaspoon of garlic once a day. I also recommend looking into probiotics.
  • thegilly6
    thegilly6 Posts: 137 Member
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    For me, I find that if I eat too late it makes me "feel" more hungry in the morning. I also believe that WHEN you eat has NO bearing on your metabolic schedule.

    OP, I think you must also realize that Jillian is obviously speaking to an average audience of folks that work the basic banker's hours.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    Hahaha... I have "bankers hours" but my main workouts don't happen until 7 PM or 7:30 PM, by the time I get home and settled, etc. It's closer to 9 PM or 9:30 PM by the time I am eating my dinner. Also... I almost always have a snack e.g., bowl of popcorn or cereal right before I go to bed.

    From my own personal perspective...

    First, I find that eating before bed, especially fiber, actually helps to keep my metabolism from tanking overnight. It keeps my digestion up and running all night and I almost always find myself being a few ounces thinner in the morning as a result.

    Second, whateever happened to eating a few small meals per day to keep your metabolism and digestion going all day long?

    Third, and last... How about this for an idea... Learn to listen to your body and feed it when it's hungry! The whole notion of set times to eat and certain foods to eat because of a certain time to me is BS.