LOSING WEIGHT ON NIGHT SHIFT

RedL1988
RedL1988 Posts: 55
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I WORK AT A HOSPITAL AND WORK NIGHT SHIFT MOST OF THE TIME. ANYONE HAVE GOOD TIPS ON STAYING ON TRACK, AND HOW TO COUNT CALORIES WHEN YOUR SCHEDULE IS SO DIFFERENT?

Replies

  • AprilVal
    AprilVal Posts: 940 Member
    I too have problems with this.. One day I work day shift, next day i work mid shift, then the next day I work until 11pm.. I hate it. It makes it hard to be consistent with losing weight. I hope you find some answers that can be shared with everyone..
  • kiannlouise
    kiannlouise Posts: 310 Member
    My mum does 2 days, 2 nights and 2 off.... she usually walks/jogs to work... she also takes healthy snacks for throughout the night :) shes lost something like 20kgs! so it can be done :)
  • dniapas
    dniapas Posts: 29 Member
    I started a topic just like this one last night. My challenge is that I'm only working the night shift for two days, then I go back to days. Either way, it's quite a challenge. I found that I have to count my calories ahead of time and pack what I plan to eat over a 12 hour shift.

    I packed a couple of low calorie sandwiches, some Quaker rice cakes (apple Cinnamon and chocolate chip), an apple and plenty of water. The temptation to stop off on the way in for fast food was strong, but there are alternatives.

    Good Luck!
  • jgoff3003
    jgoff3003 Posts: 189 Member
    I am studying nursing and was worried about this and spoke to some nurses on my placement and they said they make lunch their main meal of the day (their dinner equivalent) and usually have a steak or what they would have for dinner at lunch time and have a sandwich or salad at dinner time.
  • tiffsNEWlife
    tiffsNEWlife Posts: 145
    I currently work 5pm to 1am. Its kind of hard to keep track of things. I usued to work 11pm to 7am this is even harder. But think of it the same way as days. When you wake up (after working all night) eat your breakfast. Then you lunch, then dinner. It is a little bit harder to do this because you are on such a different time table. But, I just did it as a normal day. I would work out before I went to bed or right after I woke up and then went on with my day.
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    I'm a nurse who works night shift. i'm on night 3 of 5 right now.

    It's best to just think of your night shift as your "day" (and I don't mine daylight". So when you first wake up, have a meal. Even if it's at 4pm or 5 pm, I put it under my breakfast. Then plan for another meal before your shift and exercise if you plan to. Dinner would be at work or right before if you're starting at 2300 like me (I don't always like to eat on my shift so I eat a lot in a shorter time period but it's all healthy and substaining to get me through my shift. Can of tuna in my bag just in case)

    Another thing you could do if you strictly work nights is change the title of the meals on here. You can do that by going to the home tab and settings. So you could have something like "1st meal" "right before shift meal" "during shift meal" "after shift snack' or whatever you want. I just keep mine on breakfast/lunch/dinners because i have a night/day rotation.

    As for eating, make sure your meals are dense in nutrients. Lots of protein to keep you fuller longer.

    And avoid the so many treats in the lounge :laugh:
  • ShrinkinMel
    ShrinkinMel Posts: 982 Member
    vow to sleep a good restful 8 hours, not a broken up nap here and nap there. Sleep helps keep our hormones level. I read in Jillian Michael's Mastering your Metabolism book that its the only time we release human growth hormone is a certain point in our sleep cycle and if we don't get a good 7-8 hours we will miss out on that. It helps greatly with metabolism and isn't something we want to miss.

    You might do good to sleep the 8 hours preceding work not the 8 hours after work or you may do fine the other way.
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    I started a topic just like this one last night. My challenge is that I'm only working the night shift for two days, then I go back to days. Either way, it's quite a challenge. I found that I have to count my calories ahead of time and pack what I plan to eat over a 12 hour shift.

    I packed a couple of low calorie sandwiches, some Quaker rice cakes (apple Cinnamon and chocolate chip), an apple and plenty of water. The temptation to stop off on the way in for fast food was strong, but there are alternatives.

    Good Luck!
    It can be challenging for sure as I find when I go from either or there's time for another meal in there. i've decided I either need to take more naps since I've been more sleep deprived or maybe it's a time to ork out. Haven't decided yet
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    vow to sleep a good restful 8 hours, not a broken up nap here and nap there. Sleep helps keep our hormones level. I read in Jillian Michael's Mastering your Metabolism book that its the only time we release human growth hormone is a certain point in our sleep cycle and if we don't get a good 7-8 hours we will miss out on that. It helps greatly with metabolism and isn't something we want to miss.

    It can be hard to do that though when it's your days off and you're coing off night shifts. I have errands and stuff to do. I usually sleep for 4 hours ish and then get up. I'm tired, but I have things to do. Then I go to bed at more "normal" times.
  • dniapas
    dniapas Posts: 29 Member
    Well, starting at 9am I'm off for two days, so I plan to squeeze in a lot of physical activity. It's really cold here, so I'll probably wind up at the mall where I can have a good brisk walk indoors.
  • RedL1988
    RedL1988 Posts: 55
    I started a topic just like this one last night. My challenge is that I'm only working the night shift for two days, then I go back to days. Either way, it's quite a challenge. I found that I have to count my calories ahead of time and pack what I plan to eat over a 12 hour shift.

    I packed a couple of low calorie sandwiches, some Quaker rice cakes (apple Cinnamon and chocolate chip), an apple and plenty of water. The temptation to stop off on the way in for fast food was strong, but there are alternatives.

    Good Luck!
    It can be challenging for sure as I find when I go from either or there's time for another meal in there. i've decided I either need to take more naps since I've been more sleep deprived or maybe it's a time to ork out. Haven't decided yet

    See, I am PRN.. so some weeks i will work 5 midnights, the next week 1 midnight, 1 day, 1 evening, some weeks i am off all week. So my schedule gets flipped around a lot. this last week for instance i worked midnights mon, tue, thu, sat and i am at work now. I work evening shift tuesday and wednesday and dont work again until monday, which i work midnights. So how do i deal with my time tables changing all the time?? It is beyond frustrating and makes it very difficult to count my calories!!
  • isislc
    isislc Posts: 140 Member
    Ok, this definitely sounds like the topic I should comment on. I work 4.5 days a week for my main job for hospital support in the state. My four days start at 8:00p - 8:30a each shift and my half shift starts at 2am and runs till 8:30a. Ok, enough of my work schedule. I had the same predicament as you guys did and didn't seem to lose any weight until I finally worked out a system.

    What I do is, leave my main meals for the night shift and then I have snacks during the day when I wake up and if I'm slightly hungry. Here is a quick break down of what and when I tend to eat something.

    7p Small Meal/Lg Snack
    10p Snack
    12:00p Dinner
    2a Snack
    3:30a Lunch
    5a Snack
    7:30a Large Breakfast
    Then about 1-2 snacks throughout the day if I should wake up.

    I pretty much stick to this type of meal plan and if it is an off day, I just flip flop it. I make my Breakfast a big one so that I have enough time to digest enough I can go to sleep shortly after I get home. It also helps so that I don't wake up as often because I get hungry. Had that happen over the weekend when I didn't eat enough and felt really sick with an open pit feeling in my stomach. Once I ate something that feeling went away. Then I get a quick workout in if there is time and go straight to bed. Hope this helps.
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