Official Nightshift thread!!!

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  • Jessifer123
    Jessifer123 Posts: 159
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    Hey Guys!
    Would love to join the "nightshift" thread. I am a nurse and have been working nightshift for almost 4 years. I personally like the nightshift but do find it hard to keep a schedule and easy to grab junk food. I joined this website a few months ago and did really well for about a month then slacked off...now i'm back and want to stick with it!! Its nice to know there are others in the same situation...I know I need all the support I can get!!
  • leanmass24
    leanmass24 Posts: 304 Member
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    Thanks guys! I can totally see where youre coming from - there is a TON of stuff to read on here. It's incredibly encouraging to know there are other nightshifters out that have the same struggles that I do. With all the blogs and message boards, I'm really hoping to stay out of those big chairs! haha

    Thats why we are here ;-)............. Stick around here long enough and you will learn how to stay outta the big chairs and be the healthiest person you can be. You will make some like-minded friends and making friends is always fun. They will help encourage you to do the right thing when no one else will.

    Jessifer- Welcome to the nighshift thread. Read through the previous posts and you will find some good tips on how to stay away from the the junk food and to manage schedules better. With better diet and exercise you will find it easier to cope with the nightshift and do what you need to do to stay healthy. I wish you all the luck in sticking with it this time.
  • egbkid
    egbkid Posts: 164 Member
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    I will be working night shift next weekend, 11 P until 7 A Friday night, and 7 P - 7 A Saturday night. It has been a LONG time since i have worked this shift, but with my new job it is in the rotation, so i will be doing it every 6 or 7 weeks.

    I plan on eating a big breakfast / dinner before work and only taking snacks with me. Nothing but Subway will be open after 10. When i get home in the morning, i plan on having something light, like butter toast, and crashing. Then when i wake up having another medium to large breakfast. I will only eat 2 meals Saturday (I hope). Saturday night i will have a 1 hour lunch at 2 AM...what am i to do with that?? I live close enough to walk home, but all i could do when i get there is check my emails and read...which is what i will be doing all night.

    I work at a call center, 90% of our customers are 9 to 5 people, so i will be lucky to get 3 calls during my shift. Thankfully, i will be able to play online games and take movies, books and needlepoint to keep myself entertained. The queues have to be manned, whether we get calls or not!

    My sister used to do the same job i have now, she said when she pulled the night shift, she would go to Subway on her break and sit in the TV room and watch 'dirty' TV (is there really anything else on at that time of day?). Of course, she was pregnant at the time...I don't really need Subway. We are connected to a mall, if i knew i would not have the security guards after me, i would run around there for the hour!
  • leanmass24
    leanmass24 Posts: 304 Member
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    EGBKID- I would make my first meal the biggest something like grilled chicken with a cup of brown rice and a few servings green beans or whatever veggie you like... then snack the rest if the night apples, oranges, bananas, maybe a protein bar to help keep you full(I like the crunchy peanut butter clif bars or the chocolate chip), for your 2am lunch you can eat a healthy choice meal they are about 300 calories and light if you get the good ones. I like the fire roasted tomato chicken, subway is ok, but the deli meats have alot of sodium in them. I usually go over the sodium when I eat subway. If you are hungry in the morning when you get off of work egg beaters and multigrain toast is a good meal. low calories, low fat and not too many carbs. It is better to eat protien before you go to bed an limit carbs since they turn into instant energy and straight to fat if not used(at least that is what I hear). Hope this helps.
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    Lean- thanks for the post before, glad i'm not the only one feeling exhausted like that! funny you mention just trying to move around, b/c that's exactly what i was trying to do haha. i was at my bench, all wasunder control, the machines were doing the work, and i swear if i had rested my head against the bench for more than 10 seconds i'd have completely passed out, so i practically started walking in circles lol. i had red bull twice this week, but i try to keep away from it b/c i def get tight in the chest if i have it too many days in a row. i also check the MFP message boards like crazy, esp if it's a slow night haha.
    i remember reading some random tidbit that said people who fidgit tend to lose a tad bit more weight, just b/c of the constant moving they do... So as i'm sitting here, with no work to do, i'm moving my legs up and down like i'm walking/running in place hahaha. i have to say that it's kinda hard sometimes b/c i'm not one who has a habit like that lol.

    welcome to all the people just joining us! this thread has been awesome for tips about sleeping, meal planning, diary keeping, exercising, you name it! tonight i just had a coffee on break b/c i made a bit of a mistake here, and have been dwelling on it, and just thinking of how i'm gonna get yelled at come monday morning since our boss freaks out about the smallest of things.. i have absolutely no appetite, and actually feel about nauseated lol. ugh!
  • MegJo
    MegJo Posts: 398 Member
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    Hey Allie - sorry to hear about all the stress you have! EEK! But I know what you mean. It's amazing how our jobs affects weight gain and loss. And the fear of getting yelled at really sucks. Sorry! But keep it up, you're doing something right to have the weight loss that you have already! As for "running" while sitting down - I do the same thing!! I work in a room with 3 other dispatchers and sometimes they see me doing silly things under my desk like bouncing my legs up and down. But it works! I have a bodymedia "bug" - one of those things you wear on your arm that keeps track of the amount of calories you burn. I even tracked it to see if you burn more calories standing up instead of sitting, and you do! Just standing in place. I do that at work a lot too. We're lucky because our terminals can be moved up to standing height just by hitting a button. So in my 10 hour shift I try to stand for a total of 4 hours. I'm hoping doing all those little things will add up to weight loss.
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    oh that's good! i recently bought a HRM off ebay, just a watch-type one, which only about $10, just to try it out and see if i actually use it before i go and invest more into a better one that may just sit on my table... the funny thing is that after bouncing my legs up and down for a while, i go to stand up, and my legs get kinda wobbly lol.
    i work in the lab/blood bank in a hospital, so depending on what bench i'm at and how busy it is, one night i can be sitting on my butt watching a movie, and the next night be lucky to sit for more than 30 seconds lol. fortunately i'm on vacation come monday, so i just have tonight and tomorrow to get through, then a week of relief!
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    Im at work tonight sooo sick with a cold :sad: just wanna go home!!! But they dont give me sick days yet because Im a contractor...terrible!
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    Hope you feel better soon Lee :flowerforyou:

    I just got home from swing shift. A patient coded just as I was leaving so I stayed back a bit to help out. Going to days after tomorrow and frankly looking forward to it. I love swing shift and nights but they are socially difficult. I should sleep right now, esp since hubby is in bed waiting but not tired
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    Enjoy the days cutmd! next week i'll be on vacation, so i'll be outta wack for a bit, but will have tons of time to get workouts in.. maybe even start TurboFire! :glasses:
  • nicu0227
    nicu0227 Posts: 12
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    Hello everyone... this week will mark a month of working out and trying to eat right..this was my first weekend working and recording on MFP...I realized that I don't drink my water as much and I didn't even get a chance to chart my food for Saturday...I tend to do much better during the week when not working nights...(go figure)..I need to just keep working on getting my transition right when returning back to work on the weekends.....Hope everyone had a great weekend...
  • bjpkwiltz
    bjpkwiltz Posts: 12
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    I am so glad to see so many people here, after 30+ years of working nights you 'd have thought I would know I wasn't the onlyo ne in this boat!!!! After 2 on, 1 on call and called in at 0200 , 1 off and 1 on, I am off for 3 days, had a wonderful breakfast- protien pancakes wiht fruit before I went to bed and woke up feeling GOOD!!!! for the first time in I don't know how long.
    Marinating some shrimp to cook along with brown rice and a zucchini.....and after some newspaper time, a great evening!
    Have a good week everyone!,
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    boy do i miss shrimp sometimes :( i used to love it, but then one day while out to dinner with my family on vacay a while back, i got really sick not long after i had eaten some.. same thing happened again the next 2 times i ate it, and the couple other times it may have slipped into my system.. had to stop eating it.. it's weird because i can eat crab and love love love lobster, but when it comes to shrimp... it's my personal poison, ::sigh::
  • MegJo
    MegJo Posts: 398 Member
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    MMmm I like shrimp too -- but I've never actually cooked it for myself. I had no idea how important protien is to loose weight/be healthy until recently. Once I started calculating it I realized I am WAY under what I should be. Just had some tuna for a snack... How you do guys get in your protein? Any good food ideas?
    -Meg
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    Thanks Cut! I am feeling much better :smile:
    I love shrimp too! I think Im gonna try to make my own shrimp lo mein
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    MMmm I like shrimp too -- but I've never actually cooked it for myself. I had no idea how important protien is to loose weight/be healthy until recently. Once I started calculating it I realized I am WAY under what I should be. Just had some tuna for a snack... How you do guys get in your protein? Any good food ideas?
    -Meg

    Hey Meg, I actually changed my goals to eat a lot of protein too...its GREAT for weight loss, keeps you full. A few things I like are:
    eggs ( bard boiled either alone or in a salad) or for breakfast
    Protein shakes. I make a great one, its listed under "PB shake". Its Peanut butetr, banana, mik, and chocolate protein powder...loaded with protein! You can also add it to oatmeal.
    Chicken, fish, meat, nuts too. :smile:
  • MegJo
    MegJo Posts: 398 Member
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    Thanks!
    I also rediscovered eggs... (wow thats sounds funny to say). Once I started tracking everything I was amazed at how many CARBS I was eating - WHOA - way too much. And I did have much protein at all. So I started changing my breakfast - I would normally have a bagel, which is like 50-60 carbs and now instead I have eggs which are loaded with protein and have little carbs.

    That protein shake sounds gooood. I just started that too - but I just using crappy vanilla mix in milk. I will be trying yours asap!
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    Another thing I thought of ( cause I just ate it) is turkey chili. The meat and beans add tons of protein. You can make a lot too and freeze it. If you just google it, you will find tons of recipes.

    Yea, that shake is great!
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
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    i just found a thread all about soups, and the first thing was this turkey chili which i printed the recipe for, sounds great and makes like 8 servings! can't wait to make it!!
  • KnightOwl
    KnightOwl Posts: 38
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