3rd shifter- need help

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MeganneRN
MeganneRN Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a nurse working 3rd shift. I find it difficult to maintain my calories (1500) when I am working because I eat in the middle of the night., then again when I get home and then when I wake up. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to space out my calories on the days that I work????

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  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
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    Try splitting some of your meals up, and make sure you get plenty of sleep.

    I do a 12 hour noghtshift. While I eat a few more calories than you feel free to add me and follow my diary
  • losingweightfindingme
    losingweightfindingme Posts: 109 Member
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    I also work night shift as a nurse. I end up having an extra meal on the night of the 2nd half of my shifts...but I make it a small meal, like a half serving of a regular meal. I also load up on low-cal snacks (like fruit and veggies) on that day so I don't feel hungry and tempted to snack in excess or overeat.
  • iveyroze3
    iveyroze3 Posts: 89
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    I am also a nurse. I work 12 hour nights also. I am fairly new to this but I make sure I make healthier choices and no fried crap from the cafeteria. Bring healthy snacks in case you get urge to eat something bad. I concentrate on eating few sugars/carbs because I get very hungry when I eat them. Protein anf fiber help. I also constantly drink my water,which i used to not do. I eat a healthy snack about 3 am so I don't go to fast food when I get off . Don't let yourself get too hungry. I also eat something light before I go in which helps. Before I'd sleep all day and not eat but one meal. Well that just doesn't work. Sometimes I just drink a protein shake in between meals for a way to keep me full and fueled. Hugs, Hope I have helped.
  • princessrisariri
    princessrisariri Posts: 162 Member
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    Tech support here rather than a nurse but I work 12hour night shifts for a week or so, then 8 hour day shifts for a week, then a 8 hour night for a few days, some time off then onto a 12hour day/60 hour week. Then it rotates to another pattern.
    I feel like I never know when I am working as am always checking the rota.. and there is so little routine I find it hard to get a shop in or anything.. so when it comes to eating I take the time I am awake as the 'day' and try to make sure I store as much food as I can at the office that I can make small meals with.

    For example tonight I am working from 8pm to 8am (now is my 'lunch break' haha)

    I wake up around 6pm and have something resembling breakfast.
    Small snack at around 9pm
    A lunch type meal at midnight
    A bigger meal at around 6am.
    If I have enough calories left and feel I need it maybe another snack before I got to bed at 10am.

    Then sleep through all day.

    I figure it doesn't matter when you are eating as long as it is within the same rough timeframe as a 'normal' day.

    So always wake up, have something small, 3 hours later something a bit more, then again 3-4 hours later and then something more 4-5hours or some more


    I think such shifts contributed to weight gain as when I first started I would wake up eat a microwave meal or call in subway/macds on way to work then starve myself until around 2am then feel weak with hunger and order another takeaway with one of the other workers, snack and drink energy drinks all night then grab more crisps and sweets or a sarnie on the way home to bed. I also used to always tell myself I wouldn't eat all night so not take anything with me, then obviously feel starving and just give in to whatever I could get which was always takeaway.

    So try not fall into that pattern.
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    I've been on nights for a little over 5 years now, working in a hospital lab from 11-7 though. Maybe try cutting out eating when you get home, which would leave more for later.. One of my habits that i'm again trying to break is eating before i go to bed. Most of the time I have my lunch break 2 hours into my shift, which leaves me hungry again by the time i leave. when i get home i'll allow myself some tea, but that's it. i go up right to bed and then get up around 2:30 and work out, which leaves me the rest of the day free and with a good amount of cals for dinner, etc.. good luck!

    just editing on to say also: i've avoided the cafeteria for well over a year now as i know i'm tempted by all the fried stuff, and just bring my lunch.. there is a whole big nightshift thread that you can also follow and i'm sure you'll hear tons of suggestions for dealing with this crazy shift!
  • westernjoy
    westernjoy Posts: 175 Member
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    I work rotating 12 hour shifts.2 days then 2 graveyards. I try to eat light on graveyard. I feel like crap if I eat anything heavy. And 8 to 12 glasses of water. Still eat 5 to 6 times a day. Try to stay around 1400 calories.and don't eat after 3:00am. Shift run 6 to 6
  • MeganneRN
    MeganneRN Posts: 2
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    Thank you everyone! Its nice to hear all the different opinions and options!! I have the issue of craving sugar at the end of my shift. My shifts are 7p-730a. I usually eat my lunch between 1a-2a. I have been trying to eat only fruits and veggies during this time.
  • dylsmom99
    dylsmom99 Posts: 32 Member
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    7p-730 am er rn here too.. took me forever to figure out what to do,, my biggest issue is sleep .... heres what my day usually looks like,,,,

    6pm dinner,, protein carbs salad,,,

    10 m,, snack,, usually nuts or veggies..

    1 am,,, snack,,,

    3 am snack,, usually yogurt

    8am,, breakfast.. high protein low carb.,

    ice water constantly!!! constantly,,, i usually leave it on counter and sip it after every task i do,,,,, ( in a level 1 trauma center there are lots of tasks!)

    9 am-11 gym..
    1130-530 sleep,,,,

    start all over,,,
    the trick is to keep snacking all night,, it keeps your metabolism going,,,,

    i love my night shift but am actually thinking of tang day position to make my weight loss easier even though i hate those day people,,,, gotta find what works for you...
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Metabolic rate is not increased with constant snacking. That being said, I have worked the night shift (midnight-8am) for a little over 2 years and the only issue I had was working out after I got off. I couldn't sleep, so I changed my workout to when I get up (3pm-4pm). I train fasted so I just wake up and go.

    There have been countless studies proving that when you work has no bearing on weight loss or gain. What matters is your overall calorie consumption.
  • Sheeshy
    Sheeshy Posts: 133
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    I work at a hotel 11pm to 7am - I feel your pain calorie-wise, but I'm pretty sure my job is a bit less stressful than yours. ;) I work 4 nights and I have 3 off, so there's a lot of switching up my eating and sleeping schedule. I finally took a normal day - one where I get to sleep at night, and wrote down the times that I would eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. So say I wake up at 7 am, Breakfast at 8am, Lunch 12 pm, Snack 4 pm, and Dinner 7 pm. Then I applied that to my night schedule. On days I work nights I'm up at 2pm. B 3pm, L 7pm, S 12 am, D 3 am. Hope that helps!
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    I work graveyard. 11pm-7am. I track midnight to midnight. I don't do 4-6x meals/snacks. Usually I eat 2x a day. Once at work and once at home. There are times when I will eat all of my allowed calories in 1 meal as well. I do this when I know I will be busy with work, gym, errands. Working nights I make sleep my #1 thing.
  • robinaddison
    robinaddison Posts: 232 Member
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    I worked nights for years. The first thing I did was rename my meals. Instead of breakfast etc, I named them meal 1, meal 2 etc. This gets me out of the "breakfast in the morning' mentality as I always switched back to sleeping at night on my days off. I then decided that my 'day' was the period of time from when I woke up til when I went back to sleep. This means that frequently my day crosses over the calendar date but that's not a big deal. I hit the gym after work.
    In terms of what to eat,I've always found it hard to love salad at 3 am...but oatmeal is filling, comforting and low cal at that time! Drink lots of water - it's really easy to get dehydrated on 3rd shift. I find that drinking non caffeinated herbal tea (mint is my fave) throughout the night helped a lot - something warm without the coffee jitters.
    Hope that helps
  • MaryWunderful
    MaryWunderful Posts: 1
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    Fellow third shift (7p-7a) RN checking in. I work 3 12-hour shifts in a row, then sleep at night on my 4 nights off. I count my day from midnight to midnight. I give myself a little leeway on Mondays (my first day off of the week; I work weekends), and kind of do a "cheat" day that day since I'm awake during the day more than I am when I'm working. The worst habit I had that I managed to break was waking up at "lunchtime" (anywhere from midnight to 2 a.m.) on my off nights starving, and having to eat something. I found having a snack before bed (which I know isn't usually encouraged) helped to curtail that middle of the night hunger.

    And like others have said, I make sure to always have plenty of healthy snacks on hand at work. Our cafeteria is absolutely abysmal when it comes to healthy food (ironic, since I work in a hospital), so it's a lot less tempting to eat the crap that's available there.
  • Hbazzell
    Hbazzell Posts: 899 Member
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    take a look at my diary... I work three 13 hr shifts soemtiems overnight. I changed my meals to time frames. Maybe that will work for you too? I choose midnight as my "new day" even though I sleep. But you can choose your relief time as your new day.
  • leaffan12
    leaffan12 Posts: 52 Member
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    Bump - interesting topic as I work the night shift as well (will read and comment later)
  • Kellyeee2013
    Kellyeee2013 Posts: 221
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    I do soooo well on weekends because I wake up later and there is no stress or bordem etc. So I hear ya! I work as a therapist so am sitting a lot and am at my desk a lot. I find it challenging because I wake up at 7am and go until 4:30PM and am up until 11PM. Not the same as your shift, I know. But, I find it challenging because it is such a long day and I eat more cause I am doing more.

    Ever since I adjusted my calorie intake properly (not the silly 1200 that MFP recommends!) I find that much easier. I would fill up on as much protein as you can. In the mornings I usually have 2 boiled eggs and a protein shake with an apple and peanut butter. This leaves me feeling full until lunch. Keep low calorie snacks with you: apples, special k bars, veggies and dip, banana, etc. If it is just a matter of being bored and wanting to snack try having tea or water instead. Pay attention to when your body is most hungry, maybe this is when you should save your larger meals for.
  • rtrcarrie
    rtrcarrie Posts: 50 Member
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    Not a 3rd shifter, but an odd shifter here. I work 12noon to 8:30p. (working a regular shift on this holiday today) I had to change my sleep pattern around so I could still eat a real meal for supper when I get home. Kid is grown and hubby is disabled homemaker now, so that wasn't too hard to do for me. I am an xray tech at a hospital and do understand the sporadic meal/snack issue though. I have low fat granola bars, 100 calorie snack packs, yogurt, and diet shakes for snacks. I find always having the same thing to snack or meal on gets me in trouble quick and I wander off to get a burger! I make sure I eat b-fast and lunch of 200-300 calories each and generally have a snack in between. Then I have another snack or two between lunch and getting home to a 300-400 calorie meal t 9p. Bedtime isn't till 100-12p so I am on a regular eating schedule that way. I will sometimes have a snack as a desert after supper, but try to keep that not past 10:30 and popcorn works best there for me. If you can change your times of eating around to not eat within 2 hours of bed I had better luck that way.
  • Crowdofcooks
    Crowdofcooks Posts: 2 Member
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    HI there! Also a 7p-7a night shift nurse.....I have a snack when I wake up (around 3), then a meal around 5....I log this meal as my lunch, because I do eat a "breakfast" around 0430. My dinner is then the meal I eat around 1130p or midnight. So, for me it's breakfast at 0430, lunch at 1500, then dinner at midnight, with several snacks in between. Thats for the three nights I work, then I try to keep it normal on my four days off. Easier said than done, I know! I haven't been doing this for long, but this seems to work pretty well for me, and just know that there is someone else out there that feels your night shift pain!! :flowerforyou:

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