Balancing Diet & excersize with work schedule

When do you go bed?
I'd probably try & go to sleep at like 2am, get up at 10am. Means you'd have a few hours left before you have to head to work.

well, you work the same ~9 hours as I do, and I like to get 8 hours of sleep too, which leaves you with ~7 hours per day to exercise, meal plan, etc. that isn't too bad! I get up at 5.15, get ready (coffee, shower, toilet etc) and leave the house between 6-6.30 ( i need time to get moving in the AM!),walk 12 minutes to the gym then spend 1-2 hours at the gym, and go straight to work. work from 9-6, get home around 7, in bed by 8.30-9 (i try to be!). I do most of my grocery shopping on friday and most of my cooking on friday as well (our weekends run friday-saturday), as otherwise I don't have time.

Yes, this is a lot of prep and planning but it's worth it. On friday, i will make a LOT of roast/grilled chicken breast, and/or whole roast chicken (skinless, taht i shred and freeze), and/or patties - these all go into the freezer. I also usually make one or two cooked vegetable dishes (eggplant stew, mushroom, green beans etc) though lately i notice that I'm eating less of these so i may just cut them out. I also make a big pot of hard boiled eggs and make sure we have enough salad fixins', fresh fruit, 5% feta cheese, tuna and so on. so there is always *something* available.

My gym bag is unpacked and repacked every evening before I go to sleep. salad box for work is also prepared the night before - in the AM i'll grab a portion of chicken and toss it in to reheat at work.

this ^^ is what works for me. YMMV - see what works for you.

Replying just because this is also my struggle. I have a similar schedule, but I have to be there at 2 versus 3:30. The only thing that worked for me was making myself get up at 10 am. I had coffee, breakfast, facebook, and MFP til 11:30 at the latest and then did my video (jillian Michaels 30DS). That left me enough time to talk on the phone, have a protein shake and/or snack before showering for work.
I stayed consistent in that routine for 2 weeks and then somehow fell out of it and have been worthless for 6 months now.
...Gotta get back to it is all I can say for myself...and maybe a schedule similar to that will work for you.

Oh, and the reason I didn't stay consistent longer is because I let myself get roped into hanging out later with friends when the weather got warmer. This usually involves drinking beer and obviously more calories...hence my very. slow. weight. loss.

I am just starting out so I don't have pointers on much, but I do work nights. Lately I seem to be grilling meat of some form (steak/chicken/fish) at the start of my week, packing a medium size low fat tortilla, avocado, and some low fat asadero cheese. About 1/2 way through my shift and when I get a chance to eat I just pop it into the microwave (sans the avocado) nuke it, top it with the avocado, and maybe have a small salad on the side. Its really tasty and filling. Other than that I am a salad freak. Can you snack outside your break?

@igunyan :So working nights, I normally eat my lunch about 2 hours after I get here, eat dinner about 3-4 hours later, and then have a snack about 1-2 hours before I go home. That way when I get home I can just go to sleep and eat breakfast when I get up. I dunno it works for me. But I can also eat while I am at work between breaks. As far as avocados sliced...they are heavenly! I never used to eat them in anything other than like guac, but I have recently discovered that I love them sliced on pretty much everything from salads to sandwhiches, to burgers, to mmmm yep pretty much everything thats not sweet! lol.
@cornfritter: Depending on how you feel about cold meat (other than cold cuts) you could still do this, just toss the avocado with a bit of lemon or lime juice to keep it from browning pile it all in a tortilla or put the "guts" in one foil pouch or ziplock and then the tortilla seperate and combine when you're ready to eat! And I used to work at red lobster (totally didn't help my weight thing) and would go out to the parking lot for a "non smoke smoke break" and eat. But youre right you don't always have the luxury of stopping to eat...maybe try to eat a bit more in the mornngs? if you are only eating once in the morning and once at night maybe try to have something with a little more sustenance to help you get through the day? ( idk why I am on such a tortilla kick lately) but you could do like a fruit breakfast burrito, or a regular egg white/avocado/low fat cheese breakfast burrito? idk like I said I'm just starting out and figuring out what I can do that tastes good and isn't gonna kill half my calorie in take.