any nurses find weight loss and excercise hard to stick with

tras19

Hi all just wondering if there are nurses etc who work long shifts and find it hard to find the time to excercise and eat on the go etc? Im knew to this website it seems great though. really need epople to motivate me. lost a stone in the last year getting married in 8 weeks need another few pounds down and want to be toned on honeymoon, happy enough so far just need to get to the final hurdle.

blondie1238

I'm a nurse who works night shift, and at first I found this really, really hard to stick too! It's been 5, almot 6 months though and I've lost 12lbs (I know, only 12, but I've finally got the hang of it!). Friend me if you need support! I know what you're going through! That goes for anyone that replies to this post! :happy:

aferbet

I am a nurse and work nights. On my days off I tend to get up early and go to the gym. Sometimes I will sleep most of the day and go shortly after my kids get home from school. Other days I don't make it there at all. I do work in my 20 minutes of the 30 day shred every day along with a 5 min ab workout and that tends to help. I also track how long I walk at work. Stick to your calorie goals on here and you should do fine. Feel free to add me if you want.

Amanda

tras19

cool thanks so much i know this is such a stupid question ive never been on a forum before (not great with computers) how do i friend you? ya am on nights aswell its so much harder to do excercise on nights. back on days next week though.

tras19

aha think Ive figured out the website.

TVanD

Shift work sucks and i can never get any exercise in when working 12 hour shifts day or nights, and most diet programs dont work for me as i eat at all different times. This one allows me to change the times i normally eat at to better reflect my day as a 24 hour period. So I completely understand your frustrations of trying to create/maintain a healthly lifestyle. Goode luck and keep at it!!

JenniferNRN

I'm a nurse too who used to be on nights but I work days now. I find that for me it's very much about the calorie tracking and more importantly, the planning. It's too hard for me to find good stuff on the go, so I try to bring my food, planning out my whole day or night ahead of time, whether it is leftovers, snacks, or frozen meals. Fresh fruit, appropriate portions of snacks like pretzels, yogurt, veggies and low calorie dip, all good foods to take to snack on at work. Good luck!

tiffanyvc

I'm a nurse, and yes, it is difficult. It took me a while to get into the pattern of going to the gym, but once I got it, it stuck. I go to the gym 3 to 4 days a week, sometimes after work, sometimes before, depending on my schedule. And I love going on my days off, because there's not as much time pressure (but my days off are usually filled with other important things - errands and such, so I don't often go to the gym on those days). I've found eating at work to be my biggest problem. I eat to keep myself going. I have to be reeeeally careful.

melissatedford

Though I don't work nights like all of you, I still find it hard to find time between work (office manager and head nurse of a pediatric clinic), kids, and home to eat right and exercise. Eating on the go, as you mentioned, is definitely one of my downfalls, but this site definitely puts things into perspective for me with all of the food choices it has with caloric values. I've learned that even eating on the go, can be done in a more healthy way than grabbing a Big Mac (though tempting lol). There are "healthier" ( I won't use the term HEALTHY) choices at fast food places, McDonald's included. I too, as mentioned earlier, account for the running around at work...hey, it's walking right? I try to do Pilates at home, and or take the kids to the park and walk while they are playing...easy way to preoccupy them, while still getting my exercise in. When I find myself struggling to stick to a healthier lifestyle, I have to remind myself that in the end, the benefit WAY outweighs the struggle. Don't give up!! It's worth it

tras19

ya I totally agree Ive recently started bringing in my own meals and healthyish type snacks chopped celery and carrotts and cucumber with sweet chilli sauce to nibble on and it really helps. Ive started jogging on my lunch break on days but nights are a disaster for excercise. its always hard to avoid the cadburys roses or milktray in the nurses station but have been way better since christmas.

llysak

So nice to see I am not alone on this subject! I am actually a clerk that works only night shifts with 2 kids and starts full time school in September for nursing. I never know how to eat on nights. On top of working nights and trying to eat healthy I also am Celiac. If anyone has tips I am completely open to any ideas!

Friend me and we can help motivate eachother.

jimswife1

I only work weekends 12 hour noc shifts, so its not too bad. But I do wear my pedometer to work and I make a point of getting my 10,000 steps in. I park farther away and I never take the elevators. I always have a bottle of water on hand. I eat light at noc, I just can't get the hang of eating a heavy meal at noc. When I first started working, I would get an upset stomach. I have done my share of days, evenings and straight noc's, but when the opportunity came for wknds, I jumped on it. Most of our weekenders have been there 20+ yrs and I have 8 in, so it was sweet.

katymae

I'm a nurse, but I work day shifts. I never try to fit in exercise on my work days. I work 12.5 hour shifts and get to work early to look up my patients, so I leave my home at 5:45am. No way I am dragging my behind to the gym at 8:15pm when I get home...it's shower, then bed! I don't feel that badly about not working out on those days because most of my shifts are so hectic, I probably put in a few miles hustling around. It is hard to keep calories in check when I'm eating to fuel myself, but if you consider the extra calories expended doing all of that work, we really end up burning off a lot!

pwaide

I work 12 hour shifts at work on the weekends. I work out five days a week, skipping these two days. While I just started, I already know that one of my biggest problems is going to be not snacking on the weekends at work. I am a stress eater.

monkeybu

Hi there, I'm a nurse and these days I only work part-time - usually 1700-2300hrs with some on-call as well. On my last shift I went home and got called back 1/2 an hour after I got home I ended up having 3 hrs sleep. Consequently I snacked all through the next day because I was tired. Research has shown that nurses and other shift workers are more likely to struggle with their weight and maintaining a healthy diet and I've certainly found it to be true throughout my career.

One thing I do these days is always take fruit to work as a snack for when I get hungry - it's quick and convenient and way better than buying a chocolate bar from the vending machine!

AquaAura

I find it hard working shift work I might work 7 to 3:30 or 2:45 to 11:15pm or a night shift all within one week. I've put on 20kgs since I started nursing I thought I would have lost weight being in a relatively active job. But night shifts and lack of sleep with two children to worry about really messes with your metabolism.

Then there is trying to fit in exercise !! and trying to survive nights without eating bad foods I don't know about anyone else but I am not a carrot stick at 2am kind of girl lol

tras19

I know I was the same Id usually reach for the bar of dairy milk chocolate or tayto crisps at 2am but having tried the chopped up veg with dips the last 2 weeks of nights its seems to be working a treat for me.

nursekj

Yes I find it really hard with shifts and stress, we all in same boat, but we have to make ourselves a priority sometimes. hint i dont take small change to work so I cant use the snack machine, as we down in the operating theatres its too much effort to go up to cafe, but needless to say lots of my colleagues are excellent bakers lol so theres always some food or biscuits when you hungry after that 5hr scrub lol. so i try to head to the gym after work and in summer our hospital has a gorgeous outdoor pool.