night shifts

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angelicamendoza2
angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Working graveyards has made it pretty difficult for me on my weight loss journey. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions because coke and chocolate are no longer an option.
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  • McManda89
    McManda89 Posts: 27
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    I asked the same question yesterday when I first joined, basically I mapped out my day like this ( I work evening shifts btw ).

    Average Schedule VS My Schedule
    Wake up 7am
    Wake up 1pm
    Go to work 8am
    Go to work 2pm
    Eat Lunch 12pm
    Eat Lunch 6pm
    Go home 5pm
    Go home 11pm
    Eat dinner 6pm
    Eat dinner 12am
    Go to bed 9pm
    Go to bed 3am

    Just treat your schedule like a regular day and base your meals off what time of day it would be for an average person, like say you get up at 9pm and leave for work at 10pm, well that would be 7am and 8am for an average person. You'd eat "Lunch" at around 2am, eat dinner when you get off work.
  • angelicamendoza2
    angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
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    Thank You I hadn’t really looked at it that way but it makes perfects sense.. My problem here is that I work with a bunch of men who eat all night long and don’t seem to gain a pound. I am so used to eating to stay awake that these last few days have really been hard.
  • laurenh729
    laurenh729 Posts: 16 Member
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    ive wondered the same things myself, i have been on nights for 2 years and with a little extra effort ive done ok... its extremely hard to watch others eat all these snacks while your sipping on your water :) i had a much easier time when i was on 5 nights consecutively, now i do longer days and they are spread out so my body never knows when day or night time is (and i dont sleep for 24 hrs, 2 days a week, so its def gotten harder to loose) what i always did (and was successful) was on those days i slept through a meal, id pack and bring one with me. id eat breakfast with the kids, go to bed, wake up eat dinner with the fam and bring a *Lunch* with me. that way, when they are *snacking* i had something to eat too!
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    I work 8:30pm-8:30am. 24 hours is 24 hours no matter how you look at it. I have my food diary split up into time segments and Iog my food into the time slot that I ate it, being sure to not go over my goal for the 24 hour time period. I bring all of my food to work with me and pre-log everything so there's usually little variance. If it doesn't fit in my budget, I (99% of the time) don't eat it. On my overnights, 4p-8p is when I am on my way to work. I usually have a protein bar to prevent me from eating stupid things. Then I eat my breakfast before clocking in. Around midnight or so I eat a meal and I eat another one closer to morning so I'm rarely truely hungry.

    8am-12pm
    12pm-4pm
    4pm-8pm
    8pm-12am
    12am-4am
    4am-8am

    Or whatever works for you. No need to complicate it. My diary is always open but I currently have the flu so don't judge.

    I also work part time during the day, so I just log my food in whatever time slot it fits in.
  • AboutT1ME
    AboutT1ME Posts: 39 Member
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    try walking around to stay awake, that's what i do and you can add it to your exercise. eating to stay awake is a big mistake, were i work we talk about random world issues and science to keep the brain going. My co worker listens to music to stay engaged in thought and we drink lots of water, water can be just as good as coffee. it does take a bit of time to get use to our odd schedules
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
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    i just added "at work/nights" to my log. Keep it as simple as you can.

    To combat boredom eating, or staying awake, i just make darn sure i don't pack very big of a lunch and i don't bring cash. I had to do this because i used to bring in extra food just so i would have something to do.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    If you need to eat regularly to help with staying awake, schedule in healthy snacks.

    I usually eat 6 times a day and although these are at times of a 9 to 5 worker, as the previous poster said just shift your day to tie in with your work times.

    I eat breakfast when I wake
    Snack after around 3 hours
    Lunch around 2 to 3 hours later
    snack 2 to 3 hours after lunch
    dinner 3 hours later
    snack before bed


    Drink caffeine if you need it but stick to calorie free choices. Include protein/carbs/fat with each meal/snack to help fuel you through your shift.

    Snacks like the following may help:

    nuts
    apple with peanut butter
    greek yoghurt
    cereal bars
    carrots and hummous
  • terrigrace
    terrigrace Posts: 199 Member
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    It definitely messes with your metabolism and makes it hard to lose weight. Preplanning is probably your best defense. I found my self getting hungry in the middle of the night and tried a lot of different kinds of snack items. For me, protein was my best bet. I use protein powder in milk and add it to my coffee all night long. Nuts are a great crunchy snack and beef jerky is a favorite filler too. My current favorite is Nice! Maple Bacon Jerky from (I couldn't believe it either) Walgreens. It takes a while to find what works for you. don't be afraid to try new things and think outside the box. Good luck!
  • angelicamendoza2
    angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
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    I know exactly how you feel, I am going on 2 years as well. I know that another one of my problems is not getting enough sleep  I work 12 hour shifts 4 nights a week..and working nights doesn’t seem to be getting any easier.. I’ve never been thin and I am not trying to be but at this weight I draw the line  It has been super hard and I have tried pretty much everything out there. I have come to terms with the fact that I have to eat less and move more 
  • mkeller234
    mkeller234 Posts: 121 Member
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    I also changed my settings to reflect the times of day, as others have done. It's been working well so far, I never have to question where something belongs. Try to keep your log starting 12AM to 12PM, that way you don't have to fight the system which will automatically change to the next day.

    I used to believe that the midnight shift was responsible for making me fat, but that seems to have only been an excuse.
  • angelicamendoza2
    angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
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    i just started doing things like jumping jacks and squats during breaks :) i cant believe i hadnt thought about it.. Ok maybe I had but was to lazy.. No more room for lazy :) Thank You
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
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    nights does make it harder but it is only an excuse.
  • angelicamendoza2
    angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
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    Thank you all for the support God knows I really need it.. I have tried so many different weight loss techniques and have finally realized that I am my own biggest enemy. I need to eat less and move more.. no more excuses. Thank You all once again for the suggestions, I will definitely take them into consideration.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    nights does make it harder but it is only an excuse.
    ^ This. I've lost all my weight working nights. It's just a workshift. No-one forces you to overeat just because it's night. I get 5 hours sleep max between my shifts and work 3 jobs. I refuse to hide behind excuses anymore, and I've got some pretty good ones.
  • AboutT1ME
    AboutT1ME Posts: 39 Member
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    ya night shift is the only way ive been able to loose weight, i can actually move around on this shift.
  • LoseYouself
    LoseYouself Posts: 249 Member
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    Weird. I think it's a matter of making conscious choices no matter what time of day the shift is.

    I'm not just talking, I do night shifts.

    I used to do more of them than I do now, and EVERY time I'd do a set of nights, I'd drop a couple pounds. I used to eat a lot of things like fruit, protein shakes, oatmeal with flax, eggs (before I was vegan), etc. I never want junky foods on night shifts.. just famiilar healthy breakfast foods for the multiple days I was on night shifts. I was also eating the exact same amount of calories as I would on any regular day. Now that I do night shifts less often, I find I barely eat on them now. I'm just too tired, my body is cold and slowed down. I just cannot get enough water at night though! I'd be fine if I ate early in the evening before my shift, then just went through the night with lots of water, some coffee, and a bunch of soy milk for my coffee.

    If I did ALL night shifts, I'd adapt intermittent fasting to my work schedule where I get all my calories in a shorter span of time so I'm not eating that much at night. It doesnt restrict calories, just a smaller eating window. For example, on a 10pm-8am shift, I'd eat all my calories in 2-3 large meals from 4pm-2am daily. Currently I use intermittent fasting but on "normal" days I eat between 10am-6pm.
  • angelicamendoza2
    angelicamendoza2 Posts: 71 Member
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    I agree and by no means am I trying to use it as an excuse. It has just been really hard because my body is used to me eating all these unhealthy snacks during the night that now that I don’t eat them it’s pretty hard to have them around.
  • LoseYouself
    LoseYouself Posts: 249 Member
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    I agree and by no means am I trying to use it as an excuse. It has just been really hard because my body is used to me eating all these unhealthy snacks during the night that now that I don’t eat them it’s pretty hard to have them around.

    yeah, it seems to be a common and legitimate concern for people.

    People I work with always bring in grocery bag of junk food (chips, pop, chocolate) and subway or fast food with multiple cups of coffee to prepare for the night. I just personally never understood it. From the first day I EVER did night shifts all I crave is cereal, oatmeal, fruit, protein shakes, coffee, water, and toast! Breakfast food all day long! lol. I'm glad I never started that habit, because I can see how it would be difficult to break it once it's established. I'd likely eat out of boredom if I brought snacks.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    If I did ALL night shifts, I'd adapt intermittent fasting to my work schedule where I get all my calories in a shorter span of time so I'm not eating that much at night. It doesnt restrict calories, just a smaller eating window. For example, on a 10pm-8am shift, I'd eat all my calories in 2-3 large meals from 4pm-2am daily. Currently I use intermittent fasting but on "normal" days I eat between 10am-6pm.
    Yeah, a lot of people just naturally do intermittent fasting on overnights.
  • AboutT1ME
    AboutT1ME Posts: 39 Member
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    The worst part about night shift....having all the candy to the right of me...next to the pop tarts

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