eating while working night shift

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sherylbrown14473
sherylbrown14473 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello.
I work the night shift as a nurse and I am having problems figuring what are the best times and how much to eat without eating heavy and going to bed. I do try to eat the most during the night, but sometimes that is impossible. I do the curves circuit training when I get off in the mornings 4 day a week. Anyone else a night owl????

Replies

  • JakeBrownVB
    JakeBrownVB Posts: 399 Member
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    meal timings dont effect weight loss. eat all ur calories in 1 hour, eat all your calories in 20 hours, makes no difference.
    eat them before bed, eat them during bed, no difference.

    Only difference will be glycogen fluctuations and how much you weight at what times of the day, but weight fluctuations are not representative of fat gain or fat loss
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
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    YEP! I work from home, but I'm my husband's ride to work, so I follow whatever schedule he's on. Right now, we wake up around 5 pm and go to sleep around 8 or 9 am. First thing I did was to get my schedule down. I thought, ok, 3 pm is basically my 8 am. So where in the world is it ACTUALLY 8 am when it's 3 pm here? For me, it was India. So I changed my time zone in MFP to New Delhi. That way I'm not splitting my days while I'm still up. Then I thought about how my schedule was when we were on day shift. Then I figured out that 5 pm was my 10 am (breakfast time!), 10 pm was my 3 pm (lunchtime!), and 3 am was my 8 pm (dinnertime!). So those are my marks of when to have a main meal and it makes it super easy to fit snack and a nighttime treat in once I knew those numbers. Hope this helps! :D
  • LHamlin530
    LHamlin530 Posts: 1
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    I'm a night shift dispatcher...so I sit on my butt in front of a computer for 8 hours 5 days a week. I gained a lot of weight with this job due to not having healthy food options in the middle of the night and on slow nights eating just to pass the time. It is really hard for me to stop wanting to eat just to eat. I have found that drinking LOTS of water has been helpful to me and when I am hungry and I have made myself somewhat of a schedule to try and stick with on when to eat. But it's hard to do because some nights get crazy busy. I don't know what hours you have, but I don't eat heavy after halfway through my shift and I stay up at least an hour after I workout/eat when I get off in the morning so my body can burn off as much as possible.
  • sherylbrown14473
    sherylbrown14473 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thanks for the input. Good luck to everyone, whatever your journey may be.
  • BonnieandClyde29
    BonnieandClyde29 Posts: 1,026 Member
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    I try to eat before midnight, and start my new days from there and drinking just water!!! so I don't snack!!! Every once in a while I do because it is hard to just sit there especially because I sit on a damn chair and by myself, but I have been doing good with no soda or coffee. Best advice I could give you always have water with you.
  • sloanranger1957
    sloanranger1957 Posts: 11
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    Hiya, I work night on a 4 on 4 off basis. My day starts at 12 midnight. I have to section in my diary. 12minight to 12 miday and 12 miday to 12 midnight, works a treat for me

    Hope you get sorted.

    Jo x
  • xLadyKx
    xLadyKx Posts: 9
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    I work 3 nights on a row 10-7 and when I get off I have to look after the kids so I get very little sleep. I have found tracking from midnight- midnight the best way for me too.
    I have breakfast at normal time (8/9am) then I have what I consider my main meal at lunch time (1/2pm) and then I take sugar free jelly and a salad into work which I eat between two breaks at 11pm and 1.30am
    So far so good, I don't appear to be hungry between meals.

    My only problem is I don't know whether to add a few more calories on the day's I'm working as its not a desk job, I'm in a supermarket constantly on the go for 9 hours!
  • chuckwicker
    chuckwicker Posts: 17
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    I'm a night shift dispatcher...so I sit on my butt in front of a computer for 8 hours 5 days a week. I gained a lot of weight with this job due to not having healthy food options in the middle of the night and on slow nights eating just to pass the time. It is really hard for me to stop wanting to eat just to eat. I have found that drinking LOTS of water has been helpful to me and when I am hungry and I have made myself somewhat of a schedule to try and stick with on when to eat. But it's hard to do because some nights get crazy busy. I don't know what hours you have, but I don't eat heavy after halfway through my shift and I stay up at least an hour after I workout/eat when I get off in the morning so my body can burn off as much as possible.

    I can totally relate. I've been dispatching for 19 years.. 8 of those on nights. GOOD TIMES
  • chuckwicker
    chuckwicker Posts: 17
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    I'm also a dispatcher and I've been back on night shift for 5 1/2 years now and I treat it like day time. I get up around 7pm and around 9 i'll have my breakfast. I take Smart Ones meals to work with me and try to eat every 2 1/2 to3 hours but that's not always possible. I also try to snack on some fruit off and on as well. When I get off work I usually go walk 2-3 miles (if not more) and go home and have another meal about 9 am. After that it's just wait for my sleep aid to kick in and go sleep. This may not be the most effective way to do it but when I lost 70lbs 2 yrs ago it worked (but i've stopped and gained it all back like a moron) and it's working now so far.
  • wannabeadancer27
    wannabeadancer27 Posts: 44
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    I work nights as well and you basically have to listen to your body. It also depends on your sleep needs. I eat my largest meal of the day after I get off work (which is early morning), and then I work out and run errands. I usually only get about 6 hours of sleep, which is more than enough for me. If you're someone who needs 8-10 hours of sleep, then you might have to consume your heaviest meal of the day at work. I, personally, don't get hungry during my 8 hour night shift, so I only bring small snacks (if I bring anything at all.), which probably isn't healthy and isn't conducive to my weight loss, but this is what my body tells me to do.
  • irunforcookies
    irunforcookies Posts: 111 Member
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    I have been working graves for 10 years now. My struggle has always been eating to stay awake, or out of boredom. I work in a hospital lab, so the grave shift can be slow at times. Here is what has worked best for me - I do the midnight to midnight thing as well, the day starts new at midnight for me. I choose not to eat much at work. I work a 10 hour shift, so I will get my biggest meal "dinner" at home before I leave, that way I am not tempted to eat a big meal at the hospital cafeteria. I pack a light meal and healthy snacks to munch on during my breaks. This is the key though - during my 30 minute lunch break I go for a jog instead of sitting more. My job tends to be inactive most of the time, so using this time to exercise really wakes me up, and prevents me from overeating.
  • LuLuAgueci
    LuLuAgueci Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm a nurse and rotate between days/nights. Usually when I'm on nights my biggest successes come when I pack my dinners for the overnight. Usually when I'm on a string of nights, I wake up between 2-3:30pm and I'll eat something when I wake up. I usually leave for work around 5:30pm to get to work by 6:30pm and I try to have a snack while getting report (usually like a small wrap or shake). I then usually have my dinner anywhere between 12:30am-2:30am (depending on how busy I am!). And then I usually pack fruit or yogurt or another snack for later in the morning. My biggest weakness is breakfast sandwiches on my way home from work so if I try and get a snack into me between 5-6am then I usually can walk right by Dunkin Donuts ;)

    Biggest things for nights is bringing your own food (I pack more than I think I'll ever eat so I don't have any excuses to eat the junk around the nurses station all night) and drinking lots of water!

    Fellow nurses, feel free to add me as a buddy :)
  • sherylbrown14473
    sherylbrown14473 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you my fellow night owls. All of you have given me some good advise. I kind of do a little bit of what all of you do already, so I was not too far off track. Have a good night.
  • rgugs13
    rgugs13 Posts: 197 Member
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    I'm a biologist who works on the commercial fishing boats in Alaska. With my previous company I worked a 12 hour night shift and treated it just like any regular day, except I watched the sun set in my morning at 7pm. Now I work on smaller boats and work when the fishermen work, so my schedule is all over the place. I eat when they eat on the boat, but when I'm on land waiting for my next assignment, I try to keep a regular schedule, eating about every 4 hours. I don't eat anything super heavy or full of protein within a couple hours of bed, either. I'm bringing protein powder with me this time around to help curb hunger during long work times so I don't pig out when I finally get food.
  • lioness0806
    lioness0806 Posts: 115 Member
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    YEP! I work from home, but I'm my husband's ride to work, so I follow whatever schedule he's on. Right now, we wake up around 5 pm and go to sleep around 8 or 9 am. First thing I did was to get my schedule down. I thought, ok, 3 pm is basically my 8 am. So where in the world is it ACTUALLY 8 am when it's 3 pm here? For me, it was India. So I changed my time zone in MFP to New Delhi. That way I'm not splitting my days while I'm still up. Then I thought about how my schedule was when we were on day shift. Then I figured out that 5 pm was my 10 am (breakfast time!), 10 pm was my 3 pm (lunchtime!), and 3 am was my 8 pm (dinnertime!). So those are my marks of when to have a main meal and it makes it super easy to fit snack and a nighttime treat in once I knew those numbers. Hope this helps! :D

    Thanx for this. It helps me a lot.
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
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    When I was fortunate to work nights :laugh: I never ate much at all until probably around midnight & then it was never good stuff because I always usually felt nauseous....I would try to have a meal as soon as I got up if I was hungry. It can be tricky.
  • Woolified
    Woolified Posts: 65 Member
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    I'm a nurse and rotate between days/nights. Usually when I'm on nights my biggest successes come when I pack my dinners for the overnight. Usually when I'm on a string of nights, I wake up between 2-3:30pm and I'll eat something when I wake up. I usually leave for work around 5:30pm to get to work by 6:30pm and I try to have a snack while getting report (usually like a small wrap or shake). I then usually have my dinner anywhere between 12:30am-2:30am (depending on how busy I am!). And then I usually pack fruit or yogurt or another snack for later in the morning. My biggest weakness is breakfast sandwiches on my way home from work so if I try and get a snack into me between 5-6am then I usually can walk right by Dunkin Donuts ;)

    Biggest things for nights is bringing your own food (I pack more than I think I'll ever eat so I don't have any excuses to eat the junk around the nurses station all night) and drinking lots of water!

    Fellow nurses, feel free to add me as a buddy :)

    ^---This is me to a T. I rotate on days and nights 7a-7p or 7p-7a as an RN in SICU. For night shift I pack a massive lunch full of tons of fruits, veggies, lean protein (I love those flavored Tuna Packs!); and I too see my biggest success while on night shift. It is easier for me to squeeze my Insanity work out in right after I wake up before a night shift too. When I am on days its very hard to work from 6:30am to near 8pm some nights, then come home exercise an hour, eat, and crash so I can do it all over again. The other thing is that while on night shift, I never enjoy adult libations... for me that is a glass, or a couple of red wine at night...I know that is currently the thing that is hindering my loss. Now I am spinning off topic. But yeah, pack a great healthy lunch, drink water in between and that seems to be the ticket.
  • heatherbrosigyaskow
    heatherbrosigyaskow Posts: 28 Member
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    I work nights from 7p-8a three days a week as an RN. I bring lots of smaller meals & snacks into work with me and only eat when I'm hungry. I don't always eat before bed, but after a long night at work sometimes I need to or I won't fall asleep. I started drinking more water, but stop around six am or I'll never get any sleep. You need to do what works best for you, everyone is different. I work with a RN who can't fall asleep on a full stomach so she stops eating at 4am.

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