Awake too many hours in the day...

iftcheiaf

Okay, here is my dilemma and maybe someone has suggestions. I get up at 3 a.m. pretty much 7 days a week. Occasionally, I can squeeze in an hour or two nap maybe once or twice a week. But most of the time, I am on the go from 3 a.m. until the earliest 9 p.m., but usually 10 or 11. That means that I am awake usually 18-20 hours a day. That's a long period to find time to eat...or to try not to overeat. On a good week, I can get to the gym 6 times a week, so I'm pretty active, although I have a desk job in my house where food is readily available. Oh yeah, and I wake up famished, so I usually start my breakfast at 3 a.m. Any suggestions on how to keep within my calorie goal in the 18-20 hours that I am going nonstop? Thanks for any suggestions...

iftcheiaf

Okay, here is my dilemma and maybe someone has suggestions. I get up at 3 a.m. pretty much 7 days a week. Occasionally, I can squeeze in an hour or two nap maybe once or twice a week. But most of the time, I am on the go from 3 a.m. until the earliest 9 p.m., but usually 10 or 11. That means that I am awake usually 18-20 hours a day. That's a long period to find time to eat...or to try not to overeat. On a good week, I can get to the gym 6 times a week, so I'm pretty active, although I have a desk job in my house where food is readily available. Oh yeah, and I wake up famished, so I usually start my breakfast at 3 a.m. Any suggestions on how to keep within my calorie goal in the 18-20 hours that I am going nonstop? Thanks for any suggestions...

barracudamuscle

Ah yes, another midshifter like myself. I totatally see where your coming from as I am on call 24/7 and also work 12/7 but still have other reports and oversight to do in the meantime so I have those long hours, like yesterday I got 2 hours sleep in a 48 hours period. Maybe try an old trick I found awhile back. Make sure you drink a full glass of water before and after you eat. Also try to munch on food items that are scarce on calories but will fill you up, like celery, carrots, 100 cal packs, basically go for the low cal stuff. On nights where Im feeling hungry but dont want to stuff my face I drink water, which doesnt always help so if I have any left in the fridge I'll drink a diet barqs root beer which helps tide things over. Just my .004 cents (inflation)

iftcheiaf

Thank you.! I feel like since I started this schedule is when I put on the pounds. I'm not sure if it's not enough sleep messing with my metabolism or just the fact that I have more time to eat. I like your suggestions and will use them. Thanks again

thalli1

I saw a show on 60 minutes that was about sleep deprivation. It showed some research that said that not getting enough sleep leads to weight gain and even obesity. They deprived initially healthy college students of sleep and found that they ate a ton more when they were not sleeping well. They became prediabetic after only a week or so. The vast majority of the research shows that you need 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. There were some other health risks due to the lack of sleep too.

sgtinvincible

Ift, I read a report just this morning that Harvard did a study on how sleep deprivation contributes to obesity.

Give this article a gander (yes, a gander), it's pretty interesting. (I am guilty of far too little sleep myself, gotta start getting to bed earlier...ugh)

http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/study_links_sleep_deprivation_obesity.shtml

Manda86

Ift, I read a report just this morning that Harvard did a study on hos sleep deprivation contributes to obesity.

Give this article a gander (yes, a gander), it's pretty interesting. (I am guilty of far too little sleep myself, gotta start getting to bed earlier...ugh)

http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/study_links_sleep_deprivation_obesity.shtml

*pouts*