Night Shift Work- When to eat

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  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    just curious if anyone else is trying to lose weight while working a night shift job.

    right now my schedule looks like this..

    Work 11pm-7am

    While at work, I eat a PB & J sandwich around 2:30am and a nutrigrain bar for a snack at some point during the night.

    Usually I go to sleep hungry when I get home at 7am because I dont want to eat and then sleep because Im afraid it will turn to fat.

    I usually only sleep 4-5 hours and then when I wake up around Noon I have Meal #1.. usually a protein shake or egg whites in a tortilla

    I wait an hour or 2 and do my INSANITY workout.. usually have another protein shake (meal #2) after workout around 4pm

    then meal 3 "dinner" around 6pm.

    then take a nap from 8pm-10pm , get up and go to work, repeat.

    and suggestions how I can tailor my eating schedule to optimize weight loss results and not starve my body in the morning??
    You optimize weight loss by being in a deficit. Eat whenever you want.

    Been working the night shift for the last 4 years and losing OR gaining weight has never been a problem.
  • RyanJK85
    RyanJK85 Posts: 580 Member
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    We should start a night shift group

    there is :) go check groups
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,804 Member
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    We should start a night shift group

    there is :) go check groups

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/17370-3rd-shift
  • RyanJK85
    RyanJK85 Posts: 580 Member
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    I work 9pm 630am Sunday night through Thursday morning and this is what I do....

    Meal one: around 11pm at work

    Meal two: around 230-3am at work

    Meal three: around 6pm

    Workout : 645am-830am

    Sleep around 10am - whenever, no later than 5pm

    I add snacks in there when I am hungry. I try to avoid eating after I am home. But sometimes hard as I go to gym when I get off work. This seems to work for me.
  • b218w
    b218w Posts: 76 Member
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    when i was working 11-7a( now im 7-3p) i ate my first meal at around 2am then a snack around 5/6a then i got home and did stuff(morning college classes,gym etc) then i ate another meal at around 12/1p then i slept and woke up at 10p to go back to work.....i dont have an appetite as soon as i wake up....it takes about 3/4 hours for me to feel hungry.....
  • ironmadien
    ironmadien Posts: 8 Member
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    Hello, I am having troubles myself. I work @ 3rd shift @ a bakery. Trust me, after you make all the stuff, you really don't want to eat it. I have a hard time finding time to eat anything anyway, cause of the schedule and what I have to do. I am supposed to eat 1340 calories a day. A lot of times, I will have toast with some PB cause I can eat it fast and go. Other than that, I try not to eat much cause as soon as I get home I go to sleep. Well normally. I try to make sure my other meals are full of fresh veggies, and maybe some hummus or something. Not to much though.
    It's funny cause people pick on my a lot, saying I shouldn't be hungry cause I work in a bakery, and before that a restaurant. Let me tell you, the choices....ya, NOT that great! You could eat an ENTIRE days worth of calories and then some in like 2 things.
    Does anyone else have a hard time with working out? I do, although I do a lot of running around the place, it isn't the same. Having just moved and such, I have yet to find a gym. Walking is as good as it's getting right now.
    Anyone have any ideas for these things? I hate going to bed hungry, 1. a hard time waking up, 2. feel sickish. Good meals to take along that can be eating within 3-5 minutes(not protein drinks, as I get sick every time I drink one), any kind of snacks that would be low calorie. I am almost always hungry, but thankfully if I have to make pate a choux(cream puff/éclair paste) and then smell of the donut grease, it makes me not so hungry. I get through the night, with out eating much. Thank you so much for your help.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    wow...

    no...

    eat at your lunch break.. a meal.. you sleep during that day and stay up all night.. so adjust your intake so you eat while you are awake..

    When I worked over nights I dinner when I woke up, lunch while at work (not snacks) and breakfast when I got home. Actually worked very well in keeping me energized. .. I always needed a snack for the 3/4am drag..

    It's really similar to working any shift, you just adjust your meals times to when you are awake and hungry.
  • EMTFreakGirl
    EMTFreakGirl Posts: 597 Member
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    I am a paramedic and work 4 jobs, two of which I normally pull 24-36 hour shifts. Sometimes I get to sleep, but not always. It's usually just a series of naps when I can grab a few minutes. (The trip back to base from the hospital is usually good for 20 minutes or so..and I find that I actually sleep better in the back of an ambulance! :tongue: ) I find that if I don't have ready to grab "meals" to enable me to eat something every 2-3 hours I can get a bit cranky, not to mention the possibility of dangerous drops in my blood sugar as sometimes my sustained job-activity can be more intense than any workout you could imagine. As I can't really plan a meaI-time, I pack a cooler with protein shakes, preportioned baggies of nuts or grapes, a couple hard boiled eggs, and a greek yogurt. If I am "stuck" up and running for a full shift then at least I can fuel up between calls(and naps.)
  • Arbeidslyst
    Arbeidslyst Posts: 129
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    When I work night I work 10pm-7am. I eat roughly every 3rd hour when I'm awake. Every second meal is a snack, usually fruit. So three 'meals'.

    Fruit
    Usually Leftovers from dinner
    Sandwich of some sort

    I eat breakfast in the morning before going to bed, because I hate going to sleep on empty stomach.
  • mrmust
    mrmust Posts: 1
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    I work 6p-6a tuesday through Thursday. I only get 3-4 hrs of sleep because I have 3 rescued chihuahuas that need my attention. I usually try to get an hr. nap in there sometime too. I am so exhausted I have no motivation to work out on the days that i work and then that makes me feel miserable! I bring a healthy meal and eat around 7-8pm but them people bring CRAP! to work and I eat tons of that! HELP!!!
  • aboutnow
    aboutnow Posts: 1 Member
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    I have just started back recording everything I'm eating. My shift is usually 7;30-6a. I'm a willing participant in the area of working out, but eating habits are awful. I don't eat enough. Need encouragement, and would like to be a part of the midnight group posting. I'm starving when I leave, but manage not to lay straight down after eating. Thanks, Gee
  • silverlining84
    silverlining84 Posts: 330 Member
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    My schedule is all over the place but it's *supposed* to be 2 day shifts from 630-630 and 2 night shifts from 630-630 then 4 days off. When it's my swing shift from days to nights i'll usually be over my calories. On my night shifts my calories are a bit less than average because I try to sleep as much as I can. On night shifts I try to make it a habit of eating every 3 hours. I don't know if this option is available to you but I tend to keep some healthy snacks at work in the fridge when it's my days on. Things such as fruit, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, etc.
  • AnnBassham
    AnnBassham Posts: 31 Member
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    I work the Dupont schedule on one week we work M-Tu-W from 6:00am to 6:00pm take Thursday off then work F-Sa-Su from 6p-6a. This week always ends the healty habits for me I also commute an hour each way so I eat to stay awake. Our wellness coordinators advise taking a walk at lunch and on breaks but we don't get them. We have a kitchen in our work center and stay at our desk it is not a job you can walk away from for a few minutes. I try to plan all my meals to stay around 1200 calories a day but still the scale doesn't move. I'm not going to give up I've started giving up an hour of sleep to get in a walk before work and I do feel better. Any tips from other shift worker would be appreciated.
  • DonnaJ954
    DonnaJ954 Posts: 1 Member
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    :smile: Hi I work a very similar schedule I try to fit all my calories into the 12 hours in the middle of my day. It does however mean a little deprivation in the beginning of the day but I would rather do that then run out of calories at 2 am. when the vending machine is calling my name.
  • alereck
    alereck Posts: 343 Member
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    Eat when you are hungry, if you are having problems staying under your allowed cals then pre log. I eat more when I work nights (every weekend) because I sleep half my normal amount of hours. Prelogging helped me when I was cutting.
  • spleeft
    spleeft Posts: 2 Member
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    Little late to this thread,
    I work an insane 7-7 rotating shift, Im active and always trying to eat and live healthy. Shift Work DisOrder is something Ive been studying for a while now. Circadian misalignment is the root cause and a very new field of study. Ive been working with a leading PhD researcher on circadian rhythm phase shifting using bright light, melatonin, and sleep hygiene.
    Id be happy to share if anyone is interested!

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