Official Nightshift thread!!!

Hello fellow nightshifters. I've been on the site now for a little less than 2 weeks and have been browsing the forums and saw the thread here. Thanks for making it available. I've been on nights (10:30p-7a) for 19 of the last 20 years and have struggled with bad eating habits that come along with having low willpower in addition to being opposite from everyone else. I look forward to reading updates and successes and sharing those as well.

Hi Damage, welcome to the group!

Glad to see other night-shift dieters! I have been working night shift 7p-7a for most of the last 7 years. I work a weekend option contract so I am working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights, then I do clinical teaching for a class of LPN students on Wednesday and Thursday 6:30a-2:30p. My life is pretty regimented as far as sleeping goes. I basically sleep when I'm not at work! I have been forcing myself to workout on my 2 days off and trying to squeeze in 30 minutes of cardio on my work days. I don't have a ton of weight to lose (I would be happy with 10 pounds).

The difficult thing for me about nightshift eating is that we are busy until about 2 or 3am (I work ER) and so I am snacking early in the shift because there is no time for a meal break. By the time we get to sit down to eat, it's almost breakfast time. I need good healthy snacks that are quick and easy to fix, good for you, quick to eat, and satisfying... am I asking too much?

I am an emergency dept doc and I too work 11p-7a. Also four children at home... Sleep not always easy. My hardest time is the last day of the week I work and I stay up all day to "reset" I never know how to spread 1400 calories over 24 hours up so I usually just try to eat healthy every 3 to 4 hours and restart the next day. I do crave carbs though when I am tired!!

7:42??? lol why 7:42?

I am not sure why they have these times. I work at Chrysler and they run everything on 6 minutes, tenth of an hour. Break is 9 minutes long and lunch is 22 minutes. Been this way ever since I started.

Anyone working this Friday night? I'm dispatching for fire/rescue tonight - its a little slow. I always hear my stomach more when I don't have as much to do! But I can only eat what I brought, I guess that is the good thing about being strapped to a desk!

Monday is my first weigh in since using MFP - I'm hoping it will reflect all my hard work!

Have a good weekend for those of you who are off!

Im here tonight too!

I usually have trouble on my "weekends" too Lee - even if they don't actually fall on saturday and sunday. Days off are tough for me. I guess I'd try to stay busy and maybe plan what you're going to eat,and when at the beginning of the day. That can really help me stay on track. Lately I'll plug what I plan to eat into MFP when I wake up. That way I can see what it'll amount too - and however many calories I'll have left over. It also helps me at work, it keeps me from snacking because I know when my next meal will be.

ps - I guess I jinxed myself - we have a superstition around here in the dispatch center; we never say "slow" or "quiet", I guess it really is true because we're slammin' in here! It's taken me almost 40 mins just to type this out!

and atleast u are not bored...I am always bored here...but I have movie channels on demad, so Ill watch a new movie, or two lol

Ashton. I work 10 pm to 6 am as a security guard and do freelance graphic design on my free time.
At work, I stand post at a small guard shack in front of a gated community, while another guard does patrol.
While on post, hardly any cars come in, and we have probably one issue per month that requires more than 5 minutes of my attention. So, I spend my nights budgeting for the month, drawing, setting up games for my friends who play D&D with me, and browsing the net on my phone.

The most I was doing daily that was active was walking to and from work, however due to me larger appetite I was also spending most of my waking hours with some sort of food in hand. Crackers, chips, cookies, etc. Anything. While at home, the computer was where I was at. I decided, after about 2 years of that, to finally get off my *kitten* and do something more active, regularly, and change my diet.
Currently on week 5, rollerblading daily, and eating about 1/5 of what I used to...