Shift Work [disorder?]

I worked shift work for 9 years. I think I ate during those shifts more to keep myself awake than anything. It takes a little while for your body to adjust.

I never had any success with fighting the exhaustion, but I was also later diagnosed with a sleep disorder and it was advised that I stop shift work. Many of my co-workers, that were able to get past the exhaustion issues, said that being able to keep the same schedule (even on days off) helped. It was too hard on their bodies to switch their sleep schedules back and forth. If you have a hard time sleeping during the day, get some room darkening (also called blackout) curtains.

I've been doing all three rotating shifts (days, evenings and nites) for almost 30 years and still struggle during nights... I do 7 night shifts in a row and like a poster above, find that I do better with more "snack type" healthy foods, especially the first couple of shifts..then I move on to more of a "breakfast" when I get up in the evening, and lunch and dinner thru the night.. but it's hard to face tuna at 3am sometimes lol . logging my food that first night of midnights threw me for a loop when I first came here, because I logged everything I ate from the time I got up at 7am Monday morning, thru the day and then carried on thru the night as well.... I think I racked up about 3500 calories the first "day" I was on nights :bigsmile:

And between the joys of menopause and 30 years of shift work; sleeping is still a challenge, and when you're tired and your internal clock is messed up and you can't sleep.... food can often be a temptress).

However, being on MFP and learning to eat healthy and move my parts, has helped immensely. I still struggle on nights sometimes; broccoli and I just cannot be friends at 4am some days; but I don't beat myself up when I go for a toasted English muffin and peanut butter instead anymore.. as long as it fits into my macros I make it work for my life.. hang in there and good luck!

I've been working straight midnights (19:00 -> 07:00) since August of 1989 (25 years this summer) & have flipped my schedule by 12 hours....my breakfast is 19:00 hrs (7 pm); my lunch is midnight & my supper is 09:30 hrs (9:30 am) & my sleep is usually 10:30 am 'til 17:30 (5:30 pm) ->18:00 hrs (6 pm) so I'm still getting 7 hours sleep....I always try to stay with that pattern even on my days off but if I do have family or recreational activities that interfere I find it's best to 'stay up past my bedtime' & if possible get a late start for that next shift or cut out the goofing off the next day & pull 08:00 hrs (8 am) to 18:00 hrs (6 pm) for a 10 hour catch up....works for me just to be opposite to dayshift while as much as possible retaining the dayshift pattern & sequence of activities

I'm a nurse so shift work is all I know.
I force myself to eat well throughout my shift. However on a day shift (12 hours) I have my 3 meals but still feel the need to eat when I get home. I have tried saving my last meal for at home but still ended up eating at work.
Night shifts vary sometimes I am not hungry and don't eat other times I really binge.
Shift work not helpful with weight loss

It's difficult but not impossible. It took a bit of trial and error for me but I found eating once a day works the best for me. I get sick if I go workout within 2 hrs of eating something and also my sleep gets messed up as well.