I work overnights, what's the best way to plan meal times?

TamAD48

Hi I'm new to this site. Was referred here by my doctor after he diagnosed me with osteoarthritis in my knees and said that I should lose weight to take the pressure off of them.

The main problem that I have is that I work the overnight shift (midnight to 8am) so my meal times are not the same as everyone else's. I have been working this shift for several months and so far I pretty much just have breakfast and then one other meal during my awake time. So I'm not having the three meals a day that everyone is suppose to have.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to plan out specific meal times while working this shift? Any help would be greatly appreciated, because right now while I'm ready for breakfast everyone else is ready for dinner, and then the opposite is that when I'm ready for dinner they are ready for breakfast.

spunkfish

Hi I'm new to this site. Was referred here by my doctor after he diagnosed me with osteoarthritis in my knees and said that I should lose weight to take the pressure off of them.

The main problem that I have is that I work the overnight shift (midnight to 8am) so my meal times are not the same as everyone else's. I have been working this shift for several months and so far I pretty much just have breakfast and then one other meal during my awake time. So I'm not having the three meals a day that everyone is suppose to have.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to plan out specific meal times while working this shift? Any help would be greatly appreciated, because right now while I'm ready for breakfast everyone else is ready for dinner, and then the opposite is that when I'm ready for dinner they are ready for breakfast.

I also work nights. If I'm working an eight hour shift I eat my first meal around 0100. Then I snack around 0300 or 0400. I try not to eat when I get home unless I'm hungry or I have extra calories left over. Sorry if that didn't help

Oh, and it might also help you if you eat a small snack before you leave for work!

hula808

I often work nights. I just bring tomorrows breakfast with me to work. I have a snack around midnight ( fruit or lowfat muffin and cheese) and eat " breakfast" around 3-4 am...then go home and go to bed without eating around 8:30.

BelindaDuvessa

Hi I'm new to this site. Was referred here by my doctor after he diagnosed me with osteoarthritis in my knees and said that I should lose weight to take the pressure off of them.

The main problem that I have is that I work the overnight shift (midnight to 8am) so my meal times are not the same as everyone else's. I have been working this shift for several months and so far I pretty much just have breakfast and then one other meal during my awake time. So I'm not having the three meals a day that everyone is suppose to have.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to plan out specific meal times while working this shift? Any help would be greatly appreciated, because right now while I'm ready for breakfast everyone else is ready for dinner, and then the opposite is that when I'm ready for dinner they are ready for breakfast.

Honestly, just because you work the overnight shift doesn't mean you can't eat on a regular schedule like everyone else, especially if you have a set "lunch" time. It's hard to get out of the mindset that "Breakfast" is 5am-11am. Breakfast is the first meal of the day, where you break your overnight fast. That's it. I've worked overnights for 2 years now, and the rules are the same for overnights as they are for days.

Plan your meals (and exercise). I recommend taking your lunches and snacks to work. This will help get you over the "Well, everyone is eating dinner, but it's my breakfast" mindset.
Track calories (and exercise)
Change one habit at a time to not get overwhelmed. This one is the hard one. Most people try to turn a new leaf overnight, and that's just not how people are made. It's easier to take it slow and easy. Those changes will add up.
Remember, this is a lifestyle change, not a "diet". It's not a fad, or a gimmick. It's a change for the rest of your life.
Get support. I like this site for tracking, but for support, I prefer Sparkpeople.com. That's just me though. What's important is that you have a support group of people cheering you on, to help you get through this.

lauren128m

I also work overnights and finding meal times is still very difficult because half the week I'm up all night and half the week I'm sleeping at night. I find that if I bring healthy snacks like fruits or something low calorie like ice pops or mints to suck on to keep my mind off of hunger. It's nearly impossible to stick to a certain meal plan. I've been doing overnights for almost two years now and my body still can't adjust to the constant switching. I eat a special k protein meal bar every morning to hold me over at work and it usually gets me until about 11 am.

I know working the overnights can be tough but I don't think it's entirely bad to eat during the night just as long as your eating good foods.

sdowler1231

I worked the night shift for years (either 7p-7a or 3p-3a) and getting into a regular routine is difficult - but not impossible. You need to face your day just as you would if you were working days. When you wake up for the day, eat breakfast. Eat lunch at the same interval you would during the day, and then eat dinner approximately 2-3am. Follow the premise "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper" and eat your largest meal for breakfast, lighter for lunch and smaller for dinner. Incoproate in healthy snacks. While many people will tell you not to eat at night, that only applies if you work a normal schedule.
Also, you need to schedule in routine exercise, and include both weights and cardio. Since you have Osteoarthritis, you may need to stick with lower impact cardio like a bike or eliptical trainer, and start light on your weights and build up so you don't inflame your arthritis so much that you become so sore that you quit exercising (that's the last thing you want to do!)
I hope you find this advice helpful!

imthelobster

Meal frequency, by the way, doesn't matter. I usually only eat two meals a day -- I'm doing Intermittent Fasting, which means I eat between 12pm and 8pm, and fast the other 16 hours a day. Within that 8 hour period, I have two large meals to fit my calorie requirements for the day.

If eating two times a day works better for your schedule, just make sure the meals are large enough to account for the calories you need!

ETA: Meal time doesn't matter either, your body doesn't know whether it's day or night, it just knows when you wake up and when you go to sleep.

Philly462

I work straight nights, too and have arthritis. I work the 7p to 7a shift. Usually when I am working eat breakfast when I get home, lunch around 6p and then I eat my supper at 2am. With a snack at 10pm. This has worked for me. That way when I am not working I still get my breakfast at a normal time and it is easy to switch back to eating during the day.

ElectricWoman

I work a rotating schedule of two 12-hr days (5am-5pm) and two 12-hr nights (5pm-5am) followed by 4-6 days off. It took some getting used to but over the last ten years I've finally figured out what works for me on the night shifts: breakfast within an hour of waking up (around 10am-2pm), a large lunch around 6-7pm and a small dinner between 10pm and midnight. I also bring healthy snacks (fruits, veggies, cottage cheese and my daily treat of dark chocolate). I usually have my last snack around 2-3am but I don't have 'breakfast' until after I wake up to start my next day.

Good luck!

TamAD48

Thank you so much for the helpful advice....I will definitely get something worked out for this.

Today was day 1 of using this program and so far I am very impressed with it. I have already recommended it to a few friends of mine.

pamelad77

I work nights too, 7pm to 7am. Do 4 nights on then have 4 off, which is very nice, but it can be hard keep switching from nit to day mode.
I found the easiest way for my diary was to change the meal names to time brackets and then log my food in these rather than by the traditional meal.

So I got 00:00 - 06:00
06:00 - 12:00
12:00 - 18:00
18:00 - 00:00

This way, it doesn't matter whether I'm on night or day mode, and can carry on logging as accurately as possible.

Pebble321

I think you need to experiment to see what works for you.
My husband works nights (6pm - 5amish) intermittently and his routine usually looks like this:

Main meal: 4pm before going to work. Usually whatever I've cooked for dinner the day before.
Light meal (sandwich): 10 or 11 ish.
Snack: 2 or 3ish. Usually fruit or muesli bar or both
Breakfast: 7am before going to sleep. Usually fruit and cheese and crackers.

lisa28115

I work nights too, 7pm to 7am. Do 4 nights on then have 4 off, which is very nice, but it can be hard keep switching from nit to day mode.
I found the easiest way for my diary was to change the meal names to time brackets and then log my food in these rather than by the traditional meal.

So I got 00:00 - 06:00
06:00 - 12:00
12:00 - 18:00
18:00 - 00:00

This way, it doesn't matter whether I'm on night or day mode, and can carry on logging as accurately as possible.

mine schedule is something like this
my diary is open if you would like to look
dieting is not easy and working nightshifts are killer
I am still trying to get my groove on, I just started with nights back in november :bigsmile:

lacroyx

ahh ) = osteoarthritis in your knee? I found out recently I have it as well but in my ankles. I work nights as well. Everyone is different. What works for some many not work for others. What I do is I don't worry about labels such as breakfast, or dinner. I don't worry trying to eat 3 meals a day. Most days I have 2 meals. 1 at work and 1 at home after work. Sometimes the day is hetic and with my erratic sleeping and working sechdule I only have time for 1 big meal. I especially do this if I know it will mess up my sleeping cycle. To me sleep is key. As long as I hit my calorie intake goals and macros, it doesn't matter when I eat. I don't log my food on MFP but on a different site. I just log midnight to midnight.