any advice from 3rd shifters

I work nights and have for 3yrs now. My schedule is kinda messed up. I work sometimes 1 night then off a couple or work several in a row then off 1. I guess it depends If i have extra cal during the night then ill eat them. Probably not much help to you if you work a more consistant schedule then I do. As for the exercise part i never work out after i get home, always when i wake up. So far I really haven't noticed any difference calorie wise then when im awake during the day. I try to eat like a normal day person usually, breakfast in am supper in pm and lunch whenever i'm awake. (soory if im not making much sense been up for 20hrs)

*I try to go to bed asap after work and am usually up by 4pm. That's why i don't work out in the am. you'll just have to see how you feel after work. Good luck! It is possible

Depending on how tired I am I will work out when I get off, if not then I just wake up a little earlier. I try to keep all my meals on one day, it just makes it easier for me. Once you start im sure you will figure out what works out best for you, its definitely hard at first, but it gets easier :] Good Luck!

Personally I love working my 3rd shift factory job. Full spectrum bulbs in the workplace help out a lot for starters. I work 11-7 and I eat my lunch at work at 3am, and have 2 other breaks where I have a piece of fruit / veggies with almonds. Lunch lately has been an avocado, greek yogurt with protein powder mixed in, or oatmeal with fruit, cinnamon, and walnuts. I eat 600-800 calories typically during work. I used to drink coffee / tea all night long, but got off of that. I drink 1 or 2 cups of coffee / tea when I eat my dinner before work. Sometimes 1 more cup with lunch at 3 am.

When I get home at 7 or so I relax for a few then workout at 8. Currently doing Insanity. Otherwise I would be running 3-10 miles. I eat a quick recovery shake after my workout and lazily make breakfast. Nearly always eggs and toast. I go to bed between 10 and 12 depending on how awake I am / what other things I need to do.

I get up between 6 and 9 (2-3 hours before work) depending on if I'm cooking a few days worth of food or reheating what's already made.

For a while I got up early to exercise but that runs the risk of not falling asleep on time ruining your workout plan. After work has been a lot easier for me.

Once you get used to change its not a big deal. I find it preferable to first shift personally. I'd rather stay up all night than get up early.

And working 3rds the past 6 months hasn't slowed down my weight loss at all. Hope you find this at least a little bit helpful.

i am pretty new on here and i am being interviewed for a 3rd shift position. any advice from the 3rd shifters on how to continue my weight loss progress? what are your exercise and eating habits?

this may sound like a stupid question. but does your body function any different eating at night? if im eating my lunch at 2am sorta thing? does your body process food any different? would it be any more difficult to lose weight? is it better to exercise before or after a shift? im just scared that im going to give up trying to lose weight going into this.

It depends on the schedule you get. For me, I work 12 hour shifts. 2 days on, 2 off, and every other weekend. If I do pill pass at work, then I log that as fitness. But my main exercising is done on my days off. I don't do any extra exercise on the nights I work because frankly, I have a hard enough time getting enough sleep most days, so I concentrate on that, and save working out for the days when I have the time to concentrate on it.

I log my food from midnight to midnight, and just log the food under the time range that I ate it in. Trying to figure out Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner got to be way too confusing for me. I bring 2 decent sized meals to work, as well as 2-3 snacks.

As far as I can tell, my body doesn't process the food any differently. So long as you are eating at a calorie deficit (which MFP usually calculates for you, depending on how you input your information), you will lose weight (generally, so long as no other medical problems are present).


ETA: If you have the MFP app, you can pull up a graph with your weekly totals on it. I look at that to judge how my calories are for the week, as opposed to looking at each individual day.