Night shift

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birklyn
birklyn Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone know what I'm meant to do for calories whilst working on a 12 hr night shift ? I stay up both days either side so use my calories in the day but struggle to do a non stop physical job with no food or drink

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  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
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    multiply your daily calories by 7 for the week and eat that much for the total 7 day period? (or whatever other number of days you need to average it over, doesn't need to be 7)
  • lace323
    lace323 Posts: 4 Member
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    I work nights as well. I do my "day" mid night to midnight. I generally eat most of my calories the first day of my first night bc I don't sleep the first day. Then I eat my breakfast after midnight, my lunch before going to bed, dinner when I wake up. I generally don't eat a lot when I'm working so I manage to stay within my calories everyday. It works for me when I work the lifestyle. My problem is this winter I've been sick and lazy.

    I hope that helps. I hate night shift but don't see my life being any different anytime soon.
  • lace323
    lace323 Posts: 4 Member
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    Oh, I just read that you stay up both days. That's rough! I do mine in a row so I sleep inbetween. My switch days I just eat smaller meals /snacks. But I'm also tired and when I'm tired I could careless about food. I'm crazy I guess but I swear I got fat because I don't eat if I'm not tracking my food and my body says he'll no I'm not burning this I may need it later.
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Get more sleep.

    When I did 12 hour night shifts I ate a small meal every 3 hours that I was awake. My meals went midnight to midnight so I ate more on the first day, and less on the last. I also took a 3 hour nap before my first shift and slept for 6 hours following my last shift.

    Sleep is an important part of physical health and weight loss. On the days I didn't sleep enough my weight loss stalled.
  • L8riser
    L8riser Posts: 20 Member
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    I agree with dave4d. Eat every 3-4hours while awake and try to get plenty of sleep. I don't work 12 hour shifts (only 8 hour shifts, 11pm-7am) but the family stretches my days a little longer. I have a 1-3hour nap before work, drink a protein shake with chia seeds before work, meal around 3am, drinking lots of fluids (mainly water)throughout the shift, a small snack on the drive home (because I don't want to go to bed hungry), sleep for 4-5 hours, have "breakfast" when I wake up in the middle of the afternoon, and my "lunch" is usually 1/2 a serving the family is having for supper. This usually repeats for 2-5 days/week, depending on schedule. I switch back and forth from day shift to night shift quite regularly on my rotation, so that throws a monkey wrench on my diet...so I have learned recently, to plan my meals in order to stay within my calorie allotment. As for counting the calories, I go from midnight to midnight- just be consistent.
    You say you go non stop without food or water at work, if you can't have a proper sit-down meal at work, well then put a protein bar, a baggy of nuts &/or a cheese string in your pockets and carry a water bottle (hint:eat the cheese first :)). You just have to be creative, everyone will have their own way of coping with night shift. You can add me as a friend if you want
  • thenewkayla
    thenewkayla Posts: 313 Member
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    I work second shift not night shift but I do my calories from the time I get up till I go to sleep .. feel free to add me as well
  • msbengbeng
    msbengbeng Posts: 59 Member
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    I track mindnight to midnight. I work from 1830 to 0730 I was putting to much fuss into creating some wonder solution, but came to realize it was not worth my time. I am losing just fine. Simplify as much as possible to create habits you can actually stick too! Have a great one fellow night shifters!
  • birklyn
    birklyn Posts: 2 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your advice I will try plan my meals better if I have a night shift to do , I work days too and never a set Rota so that's why it's hard to balance it all , so far I manage to still loose weight even though I crave to eat during a night shift , think I will try the idea of setting calories to weekly instead of daily x x
  • snarlingcoyote
    snarlingcoyote Posts: 399 Member
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    I did that sort of shift work (2 nights, 2 swings and then a day) when I was in Grad school. I'm impressed that you're even thinking about counting calories!
  • lizbrown81
    lizbrown81 Posts: 2 Member
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    I work the night shift every second night and am up for the day before and after as I have a small person soon to be two small people and childcare is expensive so we both work. I feel your pain mate, I tend to move my dinner and have it in two halves same as the following days breakfast. Onshift we aren't allowed to leave the building as we lone work with vulnerable adults so of its a good night I do some yoga and a couple of mini workouts (bodywieght movements and intervals of jacks, squats, running on spot) Hasfit on YouTube is good as well as Erkhart Yoga - this gives me some extra calories for a snack and keeps my energy up. As others have said the key is fluids - sometimes you aren't hungry but actually thirsty. Sugar free gum, teeth brushing and protein rich snacks like nuts and lean jerky help pick me up when I'm reaching for the junk.

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