Working Night Shift

chikiteta1

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting. I'm hoping for some tips to help me along. I work 12 hr nights 3-4 days a week and its hard to keep track of my meals because my days/nights overlap and when I get home I am sooo hungry and its hard not to eat before i go to sleep in the morning. does anyone have any tips how to make this work since I dont have a regular day schedule like most people? Thanks in advance!

jcpmoore

How do you handle your schedule the rest of the week? Do you get up during the day or the evening? Check out the Night Crawlers group here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/508-night-crawlers

They can probably give you the most help.
Good luck!

chikiteta1

Thanks a lot! I didn't know they existed.I'll definitely be checking in with them for some guidance!

GodsyGirl

I do the same thing on the weekends. I just plan accordingly. I will have something light like a bowl of cereal before I go to bed in the morning and I do alot of peanut butter crackers and fruit and veggies (low calorie) so they can sustain me till I eat my big meals. And of course I drink alot of water. Thats what I do. Hope that helps.

jleadie

I also work 12 hour shifts/ 6 days a week. noon-midnight. I track all day and then workout after work and log that workout on the day I logged food NOT the day you are going into. It has worked great for me.

Opal6779

Hi, I work nights too. I do usually a 12 and an 8 each week - so not as much as you - but I keep my eating schedule the same as my off days. I eat normally throughout the day before I go in. At midnight - while at work - I start counting calories for the new day and usually just bring in a snack to eat during the night when I start to feel hungry. Then when I get home I have breakfast and then go to bed. I sleep through lunch time, so when I wake up I have dinner with the family and then usually have enough calories left so that if I go back in that night I can have a snack - greek yogurt or something with high protein maybe. Then I start over again at midnight. If I do not go back in that night then I am just on a regular eating schedule the next day. It's been working for me so far, and I realize it's a weird way to do things, but I have never liked to eat a full meal during my overnight shifts, just something to snack on to get me through the night without feeling starved in the morning.

ImprovingEla

Hi, I work night shifts too and I count my calories from when I get up to when I go to sleep.
So of course the first night shift is the longest day and I usually count 300 Kcals more for that day.

Getting out of the shift means usually to me that I have a very short day and not reach my Kcals.
So maybe thats the way for you too.
Otherwise a moderate workout before nightshift to save up some extra Kcals is also not wrong, that way you can have an extra meal.

And I too eat before I go to bed. Just something light and easy, but something that fills up, for me Rice crackers are the way to go.

PunkyG210

Hi, I work 12 hr night shifts also. I don't always have time to eat at work. I've been bringing things that I can nibble on through the night...fruit, raw carrots, celery, protein bars, protein powder etc. I still don't always have time to eat everything I bring. Got home this morning and I'm starving. I'll eat before I go to bed because I'm usually awake for a few hrs when I get home. If I do eat before going to bed, I try not to eat a ton of carbs. I tend to consider my days to run from 12am to 12am. The night before I have to work at 7pm, I stay up til approx 4am, so I'll have "breakfast" somewhere between 12am and 4am. When I wake up, I have "lunch" before work, then I try to eat "dinner" at work. I try to eat my carbs at work when I'm most active. On my days off I eat more of my carbs during the day. Honestly though, I don't stress over it too much, because you can make yourself crazy trying to make an abnormal schedule of eating and sleeping into something more "normal". The only thing that irritates me sometimes is not being able to eat at work because that leaves me under my calorie goal for that particular day. I figure, if I can manage to get in enough calories to be at my BMR goal then I'm good. I say, do whatever works for you. Eventually you'll figure out what works best for you.

amys141

I recently used to work a night shift - 7pm to 4 am. I would count my calories from the time I got up to the time I went to bed, my first meal being breakfast and so on, not getting hung up over what time of day it actually was or even what day it was. As long as you do it the same way all the time you should be okay. Try not to eat too heavy in the middle of the night, while you may get used to being up, your body (inclduing your digestive system) never truly adjusts to it, so I have read...

risu21

Hi! I work 12 hour night shifts three times a week too..I've been puzzling over this for a while. It's easiest for me to count from midnight to midnight, but inevitably I go over on the nights I work. I feel like I start out the new day at a deficit. I usually work every other day and have to be up for my kids, so I sleep about four hours before I go to work and then sleep about four or five hours when I get home, after they go to school. I try to keep my overnight intake low (usually yogurt) but it's tough. I've been starving and craving carbs a lot lately. Losing willpower....*sigh*