Night Shift Work- When to eat

aboutnow

I have just started back recording everything I'm eating. My shift is usually 7;30-6a. I'm a willing participant in the area of working out, but eating habits are awful. I don't eat enough. Need encouragement, and would like to be a part of the midnight group posting. I'm starving when I leave, but manage not to lay straight down after eating. Thanks, Gee

silverlining84

My schedule is all over the place but it's *supposed* to be 2 day shifts from 630-630 and 2 night shifts from 630-630 then 4 days off. When it's my swing shift from days to nights i'll usually be over my calories. On my night shifts my calories are a bit less than average because I try to sleep as much as I can. On night shifts I try to make it a habit of eating every 3 hours. I don't know if this option is available to you but I tend to keep some healthy snacks at work in the fridge when it's my days on. Things such as fruit, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, etc.

AnnBassham

I work the Dupont schedule on one week we work M-Tu-W from 6:00am to 6:00pm take Thursday off then work F-Sa-Su from 6p-6a. This week always ends the healty habits for me I also commute an hour each way so I eat to stay awake. Our wellness coordinators advise taking a walk at lunch and on breaks but we don't get them. We have a kitchen in our work center and stay at our desk it is not a job you can walk away from for a few minutes. I try to plan all my meals to stay around 1200 calories a day but still the scale doesn't move. I'm not going to give up I've started giving up an hour of sleep to get in a walk before work and I do feel better. Any tips from other shift worker would be appreciated.

DonnaJ954

Hi I work a very similar schedule I try to fit all my calories into the 12 hours in the middle of my day. It does however mean a little deprivation in the beginning of the day but I would rather do that then run out of calories at 2 am. when the vending machine is calling my name.

alereck

Eat when you are hungry, if you are having problems staying under your allowed cals then pre log. I eat more when I work nights (every weekend) because I sleep half my normal amount of hours. Prelogging helped me when I was cutting.

spleeft

Little late to this thread,
I work an insane 7-7 rotating shift, Im active and always trying to eat and live healthy. Shift Work DisOrder is something Ive been studying for a while now. Circadian misalignment is the root cause and a very new field of study. Ive been working with a leading PhD researcher on circadian rhythm phase shifting using bright light, melatonin, and sleep hygiene.
Id be happy to share if anyone is interested!