6pm to 6am shift

DonalGregory
DonalGregory Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
This is going to be hard. I start a new shift from 6 pm to 6 am and trying to figure out how and what I am going to do with food during that time. I know basically when you get up, dinner would be more of breakfast late night would be lunch and morning would be dinner. But I can not see myself eating tacos in the morning and a bowl of cereal in the evening.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I should play this out?

Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    If it is simply you are uncomfortable with the idea of eating certain foods at certain times... then don't.
  • celshade
    celshade Posts: 131 Member
    Anyone have any suggestions on how I should play this out?

    Best bet for shift work like that would be mini meals in my opinion. Don't do breakfast or dinner, just sleep enough and snack often.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Quit
  • DonalGregory
    DonalGregory Posts: 10
    Quit

    quit diet or quit job? I can not afford to do either...


    Mini meals may just be the ticket.... never thought of that...
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Don't eat tacos in the morning or cereal in the evening (although there is nothing wrong with either one, especially a good bowl of cereal at night).

    Eat food, what you like, when you like. No magic formula or magic time.

    Eat food.

    or...

    Don't.
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
    I'm confused- are you saying it will be difficult mentally to eat cereal at night time or vice versa? I think once you get used to it that it won't be so bad.

    I also agree with the "many meals" option- several small "meals" so that it doesn't feel like "breakfast, lunch, dinner", etc.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    who doesn't like eating a taco in the morning?
  • FoamyRiver
    FoamyRiver Posts: 276 Member
    Don't let the time determine what you eat. My husband works swing shift and the days he works 6pm-5am he prefers breakfast type foods when he gets home from work. He also prefers something lighter because he knows he's heading to bed within an hour or two. When he gets up he will eat something more substantial and something more along the lines of lunch rather than breakfast because he knows he won't eat again until his "lunch break" later that evening.

    Be sure to pack some snacks to take to work until you figure out what is going to work best for you.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Eat whatever you feel like eating regardless of the time. There are many weekend mornings when I have the leftovers from the night before for breakfast because it's easier and more appetizing than cooking up some eggs or oatmeal. And I know several people who have breakfast foods for dinner all the time.

    If I was you, I'd be more concerned about making sure I planned my foods and packed some good snack food for these overnight shifts. I don't know about you but I have a hard time saying no to sweets when my energy is low and I can imagine it would be pretty low especially for the first week or so while you get used to this shift. Make sure you pack plenty of healthy snacks to get you through - protein bars, fruit, nuts, etc.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    I get up, make a double sized stir fry, salad, pasta dish or whatever, eat half tub half. I also take a sandwich or a soup and some snacks. I make sure get to have my carb option within four hours before I finish, so I've got energy to go straight to the gym. After the gym I usually have a breakfast type meal before bed.

    You could easily make several dinners on a weekend and tub them. You could use the meal or recipe function on here to make it easy to enter them.
    It's really not hard to plan.
  • knk1553
    knk1553 Posts: 438 Member
    I have a few friends who are night shift nurses and who did their night shift clinicals and my dad also worked night shift for a while. They all say the most important thing is to treat the day like you would if you worked days. So wake up however much time you normally do before you have to be at work (for me its 1 - 1.5 hours so I would have to wake up at 4:30/5pm) and eat meals the way you normally would, then when you get off work at 6am, stay up like you normally would if you got off at 6pm, watch TV, surf the web, workout, do whatever you would do before you go to sleep, then sleep like you would at night, blackout curtains work wonders for this.

    So for example

    Wake Up: 4:30pm
    Breakfast: 5/5:30pm
    Lunch: 11pm/midnight
    Workout: 6:30am
    Dinner: 8am
    Sleep: 9:30/10am
    Throw in snacks like you normally would.

    Not saying you have to do it that way, but just a suggestion. I don't require much sleep so 6 hours is plenty for me, if you require more, adjust the schedule accordingly, if you eat more than 3 meals and 2 snacks, adjust accordingly, if you are having a hard time sitting down and eating chicken and broccoli at 8am, have breakfast food then, plenty of people have breakfast for dinner, including myself.

    It may take a week or so to get used to it, but you'll be able to!
  • leantool
    leantool Posts: 365 Member
    i'm in health care and my shifts are erratic and sometimes i'm on the toe for 24 hrs at a stretch.i usually eat a lighter dinner before a night shift, and pack a healthy snack along for the late night hunger,breakfast is usual, but no caffeine,lunch is the main meal , may be a little late in the day , after i have had a good days sleep..
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    who doesn't like eating a taco in the morning?

    They slow cook all night, ready first thing in the morning.
  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
    My OH works nights, he gets up, eats a dinner (main meal) takes a pack up to eat throughout the night, and eats something light when he gets in before he goes to bed. He isn't watching his weight (he doesn't need too!) but it works for him.

    Alternately you may find that eating several smaller meals throughout your waking hours might work? I found this better for me when I did a stint of nights, it was a bit of trial and error but eventually I something that worked
  • bonjour24
    bonjour24 Posts: 1,119 Member
    when i work nights i make sure i have everything planned. i usually have a pretty big 'brunch' type of meal before i go to work (a few hours after i've woken up, and after i've worked out). i'll take healthy snacks (like carrot sticks, and something healthy but sweet like yoghurt). and a more filling meal for about 4am. i also like to take some bread, so i've got toast as a back up plan- on a night duty, there's always time for toast! some people get munchy when they work nights, others appetites just plummet. you'll work it out!
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I think after you work for a few weeks, you'll find that it doesn't really matter what you eat and when.

    My husband works 5p to 5a. He gets up at about 3:30, gets dressed and drives to work. He eats his first meal probably about 7pm. Then, he eats again about 2 or 3am. And he'll eat something when he gets home before bed.

    As far as what he eats, it's just pretty much whatever sounds good and/or whatever I pack in his lunch. His first meal is usually leftovers from the night before.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    I get up, I eat my supper, whatever I would have normally had for supper. I pack the same kind of lunch i take on dayshifts and eat when I'm hungry. Some guys I know don't eat much on backshift, I am always starving so I eat throughout the night. I never worry about eating "breakfast " foods or anything. Sometimes I'll have a snack when I get home before I got to sleep. I do find there are somethings I just don't feel like eating. You just need to figure out what you like to do, there are no rules.

Categories