Looking for motivation and tips on losing weight as a third shifter

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JellyBelly0507
JellyBelly0507 Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Hello! I'm new here. I'm getting married in a year and need help with adding exercise and calorie counting into my daily routine. I have 3 kids, work third shift, and go to school on tuesday and thursday mornings. It's so hard for me to make time to exercise and watch what I eat but I want to lose weight for my wedding. I know getting good rest is important to weight loss but right now its hard to add something to my routine that won't cost an hour or two of sleep. Is anyone on this shift who has had success with dieting?? Please tell me this is possible!

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  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    It is possible. I work 12 hours shifts from 7 pm to 7 am. I dont have young kids anymore like you ( their young adults) but I was fat for almost 20 years. I lost 124 pounds all while working nights and simply counting calories using MFP.
    I started out hardly exercising at all. You have to realize, that although exercise is important for toning and good health, it is not strictly necessary for weight loss. I am still not a huge workout person. I go to the gym maybe once or twice a week. I have started lifting weights at home though. Food wise, here is what worked for me. My first day of work is always the toughest, because I am up for about 23 hours straight. When I was losing I would have to spread my daily calorie allotment over a lot of hours. It was tough, but I did it.
    On my work days, I eat breakfast about 5 pm, then snacks and lunch and dinner at work. On my days off, I switch it atound to normal people time lol.
    You need to figure the correct amount of calories to eat, and day or night, it doesnt really matter when you eat them. Use an on line calculator to find our your tdee (total daily energy expediture) and subract 15 to 20% from this.
    Good luck!
  • harlequin0318
    harlequin0318 Posts: 415 Member
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    Yes depending on how many hours you are awake - the logging can get confusing, and staying under your goal can be tough. I just log from 12a-12p and call it a day, no matter if I work a 16 hour shift or a regular 8. I try to keep it simple. As for exercise - just try to do more than you've done before. Whether its just 20 minutes of walking, or resistance training at home, body weight exercises - something is better than nothing :)
  • annieboomboom
    annieboomboom Posts: 176 Member
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    I have struggled most of my life. Lots of issues but the bottom line is that the one diet that works, that actually changes how I feel, is Atkins; low carb diet.

    This time around, I had to get real about wine. Not easy but it gets away from you over time and I needed stop altogether, mostly to know that I could and also, the truth is, it does impact any attempt to lose weight. Self sabotage I figured. How much did I really want to lose that weight? A "come to Jesus" meeting with the self. Will I stop for ever?
    Probably not, because now I know I can stop at will when I need to.

    My muscles ached, I was stiff, my joints hurt.
    I exercise every day; the gym and pilates 2X's a week. And STILL I gained weight.
    First, I stopped the wine. That was week one. Not a huge change in weight, didn't really miss the wine, just the habit of using it.

    Then, I decided to go back on Atkins. THE RIGHT WAY! I read about resetting my fitness pal to a low carb diet and did that on Friday. It is Monday morning and I have dropped 3 lbs. I don't ache , I am not internally cold all the time, I walked down the stairs this morning normally, not sideways like I had. My joints no longer hurt.

    Part of my journey is deciding I really want to do this; there are so many reasons why we hang on to weight and each of us has to face that truth.


  • JellyBelly0507
    JellyBelly0507 Posts: 2
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    I was always scared to eat at work as if late night calories were worse than calories during the day...idk....but i guess it's all the same. Thank you both for the tips :)
  • HanreCornelius
    HanreCornelius Posts: 32 Member
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    I'm a busy mom. I noticed that just preparing your food the day before helps a lot... I just log my food once a day. And when I'm hungry I just grab my lunch box and munch away... Easy and quick and it doesn't give me the excuse to snack on unhealthy foods... And I only cook once a day! Score! Lost 9.2lbs just by doing this

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