ANY SHIFT WORKERS OUT THERE?!

londontart
londontart Posts: 27 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all!

I'm a staff nurse who works 12.5 hour shifts either in the day or over night. The day shifts tend not to be a problem but I find on nights my healthy eating goes totally out the window (not to mention how hard it can be to log!!) I usually wake up before shift and have breakfast, then will have two snacks overnight and a cup of coffee. Snacks tend to be wholegrain crackers with peanut butter, nuts, maybe some berries, a small salad. Again, this works well if I have a couple of nights in a row as I go home and sleep. But the last shift for the week means I don't sleep to try and re-set my body clock (I tend to have an afternoon power nap). I end up eating all day and going really over my calories. This then gets into a pattern for about three days (usually the time I have off before I go back on shifts). Does anyone have any tips to maintain healthy eating on shift work? I usually get three days off a week doing nursing but some how I never manage to fit in a really good workout either! The job is very demanding and I do work in emergency medicine, so I can get very tired. My friends have told me we burn a lot on shift, this is only true up to a point as surely after time my body will get use to the amount of running around i do at work ?!! Usually when I've set my pedometer at work on an average shift it states i've burned between 280 - 320 calories.

Any help/tips/advice would be much appreciated!! :)

Replies

  • bohen10
    bohen10 Posts: 5 Member
    I am in a similar situation in the veterinary field. I usually work day shifts with an occasional on call at night. I try to plan for the possible overnight and leave myself calories but it doesn't always work out. When I do the overnights I eat dinner before i leave and I bring healthy sneaks (lots of fruits and veggies, salads, nuts, balance bar) and try to balance them between before midnight and after. I try to drink a cup of coffee or 2 depending on if i got sleep before my shift and try to pound water.

    When i get home I sometimes binge eat I think just cause I'm tired. Such a tough situation! My over night shifts are sometimes spent sitting next to patients or i'm up and moving trying to keep busy and awake.

    So hard to stay on track!!

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