shift work and calories

thunder5
thunder5 Posts: 11
edited September 23 in Health and Weight Loss
I work shift work, therefore that means I work days and nights 12 hour shifts. MInd you I am in health care and am on my feet throughout my shift.....I still find it very difficult to manage my nurtition during my nights.

I have no issue on my first night becasue I eat well balanced meals during the day and get all 3 plus snacks. I am also able to get a good cardio and strength workout that morning. But the day I sleep before my next night is awfull. I sleep through breakfast and lunch, wake up really hungry then have to eat up untill midnight to get my 1700 cals in. After midnight ,the night of my first shift, I try to eat a bit of nutritional stuff and that meal I add as lunch for that day. But I am not hungry after midnight which I assume is a natural response of the body. I then eat slight after midnight again on the lsecond night but then again go home and sleep again missing out on breakfast and lunch to only start putting food in my body for the first time since early am at 3 in the afternoon. ( I am not quite sure how this all sounds......)

I am looking for any suggestions or thoughts on this. I feel these two nights really mess up my food diary and my eating.

Replies

  • CarolHudson11
    CarolHudson11 Posts: 372
    I used to work nights and it's hard, but I completely switched my days......I would eat breakfast at 3, lunch around 7-8pm, and then dinner around midnight-1am. A couple of snacks in between, and then the day I sleep is my "night". Maybe that will help? I hope so! But, I worked 12-hour night shifts for years, so I got used to it!
  • TaraDenise
    TaraDenise Posts: 164 Member
    I agree with CarolHudson. I did the same thing when I worked shift work. I did it for about 6 yrs.
  • Knlash29
    Knlash29 Posts: 14
    My husband has a similiar prob;em being that he works 48 hours as a medic...he will go all day and night running calls and tries to eat in between sleep, calls, and paper work. He gained 30 pounds when he first started working like this years ago and has since learned that the key is be making healthy choices with plenty of protein. He also makes sure that when he is up he tries to eat small meals or snacks ever few hours to keep the metabolism going strong. My suggestion would be to say if you get up from sleep at 3 then eat breakfast at 3 and act like you would if it was during the day but only at night with smart choices, but if you are up all night and then all day because you just got off shift and are trying to get back to sleeping nights then I would say from midnight to say 5 dont eat anything, dont weigh that morning either and start your day at 5 like you would normally. I would also make my weigh day the day before you go back on shift. Hope this make ssense to someone besides me...lol. Keep with it you will find something that works for you!
  • thunder5
    thunder5 Posts: 11
    hummm....nice thought. I could be having my oatmeal etc. at 3 am, a small snack when I get home or before I leave work, then when I get up at 3 lunch and then a snack mid evening, then dinner before midnight and repeat untill I am off my nights.

    you guys are awesome! My only problem......I lose my appetite after midnight so the breakfast might be tough to get in me when I am tired.
  • AriesOx
    AriesOx Posts: 66
    I just started using this, so I may not be the right person to be answering, but I so far I treat my night shifts as a "day". I log all of the calories for the time I'm at work for the day I start the shift (I work 6pm to 6am). I tend to stay up late the night before and sleep late the day of my first night shift, so this doesn't screw me up too badly. So I have "breakfast" between 4pm and 6:30pm. I have lunch around 8 to 9pm. I have a snack between 11 and 1pm, then I have "dinner" (usually more like breakfast food, but log it as dinner) at about 3am. I make sure I drink lots of water during the shift too.

    My job is sedentary, so I'm not burning many calories at all during my shift. I've also always been a night owl, so it is possible that this is why the transition hasn't been too horrible for me. Not sure if it is the correct way to be logging it, but it is the way I'm going to use :)

    Good luck, hope you find something that works for you.
  • txlilangel4ya
    txlilangel4ya Posts: 17
    I am currently on nights. The way I make it work is I usually get up about 1. Within 30 minutes I eat breakfast. 2 Hours later I eat a light snack my workout about 30 minutes before my snack. lunch is usually around 5 that way I can eat right before work. about 7pm I have my evening snack. and my Dinner is around 9pm. I work from 1730 to 0530. this usually works for me. you can always adjust it. Just be sure to make sure your last meal or snack is at least 3 hours prior to going to bed. You don't want to eat when you get home. Hope this works. If you wake up around 3 just adjust everything by 2 hours.
  • girlsaint
    girlsaint Posts: 209 Member
    I searched for this topic, it is a problem that I find quite difficult to manage. My family wants time with me, and before I go to work, I am presented with the family supper.....at the dinner table, full meal deal. Problem is, what I would like to do is flip my day around completely. Have a bite of a breakfasty thing and then pack my bag with a healthy meal choice to pop into the microwave at work. My job is physically demanding, but I am just easing back into it after almost a year off. I don't want to snub the nice meal that has been prepared, but if I eat that at 5pm, by 3am I am famished and end up eating crap out of the snack machine. (In the past I have spent up to $20 in change in a snack machine that the healthiest choice is a 310 calorie Otis Spunkmeyer cookie... no wonder I weigh what I do)

    I want this to work after I get back into the full duties full hours rotating 12 hour shifts, but I think it is going to be a challenge to organize my meals and schedule my exercise.

    Anyone have any success exercising only on their days off?
    Any tips for eating with a family/work balance in this situation?

    My schedule runs like this.
    2 on 2 off 3 on 2 off 2 on 3 off
    Alternating days and nights 7-7
  • wtbyerdocmd
    wtbyerdocmd Posts: 58
    I work nights too and will get up and eat my breakfast at 9 pm (whenever I get up) and then eat every three to four hours. I pack vegetables cut up and add a protein. I find water and gum help me through the night and usually eat my "big meal" that I pack which will include a carb around 4-5 am if I get a chance and then home, kids on bus, 2 year old into the car to the gym for workout before going home and sleeping.
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