working night shift

3audkids

Hi, any tips for working night shift? Its hard to workout when I never seem to get enough sleep. Also eating right is a challenge. Any help would be awesome!

MdmAcolyte

I used to work night shift for General Mills, and when I got off in the morning, Id go for a run (we lived in the country so it was nice and peaceful and I didnt need to worry about dirtbags and traffic). That was years ago. I have a manual treadmill I bought cheap from Walmart now, but I miss those country roads.

Eating right is easy. Get a good insulated lunch bag and pack it "appropriately" religiously. On Sunday's a try to do make-ahead lunches like tuna salad, chicken tacos, etc. for the week and snacks are a must for between meals. Good luck!

yesthistime

Join this group:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/508-night-crawlers

And follow this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/536410-official-nightshift-thread?hl=night+shift+thread&page=12#posts-7623414

Welcome!

DPernet

Everybody is different. There's 18 of us that do night shifts at work, and everybody has their own way of coping. Although to be honest, Not many of us are trying to be healthy

Personally, I have my breakfast just before the end of the shift. Something heavy like porridge. When I get home, I go straight to bed and I try to sleep for at least 7 or 8 hours.

When I get up around 3pm (ish), I usually try to go swimming and then have 'dinner' with the family at around 5 or 6pm.

I pack my 'lunch' and breakfast ready for work again at 10pm. Lunch usually consists of some fruit, a tuna light lunch with pitta bread or something else equally light and healthy.

Try not to eat to stay awake. It's very tempting to just drink a soda or have some chocolate to try and stay awake. I use fruit and nuts instead now and lots of water.

chrishaupt

Hi I'm new to this and just started here with myfitnesspal, I was directed by a personal trainer to this web site 12 rules why you can't loose weight and the 12th rule is sleep! check it out!

12) You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep

When you’re short on sleep your insulin sensitivity decreases and your cortisol goes up. Both things lead to less than optimal fat loss. You also miss out on the critically important Growth Hormone boost that comes each night during deep sleep. If you want to lose more fat you have to get more sleep. Most people will ignore this and some of you are probably reading this at 2am. Unfortunately this just might be the most important thing on the whole list. More sleep improves EVERYTHING. Make it a priority.

here is the site, hope it helps.
Cheers

http://jasonferruggia.com/12-reasons-youre-not-losing-fat/

cathyL11

I've worked night shift for years and years ---When my kids were small it was much harder because they had to be ferried here and there and my sleep was a lot more sporadic. I usually have very little trouble sleeping now except for the really hot days in summer. One thing I might invest in this summer is a window installed air conditioner.
Currently I have a floor fan that is remote controlled, I can reach for my remote and turn it on, up, or off with very little effort as long as I always put the remote in the same place.
I also have a very heavy curtain to block out the light.
Sometimes I also use an eye shield.
I Turn off the phone.
I use ear plugs or sometimes I just listen to podcasts on my i-pod -- in the summer the fan provides white noise but in the winter the podcasts droning away in my ears help me to stay asleep. I always need something to cut out the outside noises like door bells, leaf blowers, barking dogs, cats pleading to be let inside and my husband holding endless phone conferences on speaker phone (he works from home.)
I have cut out all caffeine because I think I sleep longer and more deeply without it.
I try not to drink too much before bed but my kidneys usually wake me up anyway after about 4-5 hours of sleep -- I wish there was a way to shut them off for 8 hours straight like they do during night time sleep or rarely on cool, rainy, overcast days.
I usually sleep from about 9am to 1 or 2 pm then I get up and shuffle around like a zombie.
I try to allow myself time for a 2 hour nap or lie down just before getting ready for work at 10 PM. I try to schedule myself for stretches of nights at a time and that way I can get into the swing of daytime sleeping.
Exercise is hard to fit in. My job (RN) involves lots of walking during my shift and sometimes my legs and knees feel swollen and tired so it's hard to make myself go to the gym. I do crossfit for exercise so if I do go - I usually manage quite well when I get there -- it's just that sluggish feeling after work that prevents me from going. Still working on that. I have access to our cardio center at the hospital I work at so if I get off work early (like at 5 am) because of a low patient census,I sometimes go down there and use the elliptical trainer before I go home

We rarely sit down for family meals. I usually do marathon cooking sessions on my days off so that we have home cooked, ready to reach for food in the fridge. I use my slow cooker a lot, I roast a chicken every week and make lots and lots of salads ahead of time using pre-washed mixed baby greens, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red pepper, and avocado. I usually scoop out a big bowl of salad to bring to work and top it with diced roast chicken and diced avocado -- I don't use a dressing at all. I bring beef or buffalo jerky for snacks, and I'm experimenting with home made pemmican (animal fat and dried beef) -- it may not sound like diet food but a small piece goes a long way and sticks to your ribs. I also sometimes pack a few nuts and dried fruit to bring with me. Sometimes instead of salad I bring a bowl of some slow cooked casserole that I've stored in the fridge.

I don't have much of a social life and I don't care to so that makes it easier to work night shift. It's harder when you have small kids, or are dating someone, or trying to live a normal life --- I long ago gave up on the idea of a normal life and I just life my life for me, sleeping when I feel like it and socializing when it suits me.

3audkids

Thank you for the tips!!! I definitely have to get more sleep!!

Lplou

I definitely need more sleep. When on nights I can only ever sleep about 4 hrs during the day. It's horrid! All my bad food choices are when I am trying to stay awake on night shifts lol! I feel you're pain!