Any night shifters?

peacelovekates
peacelovekates Posts: 17
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
any night shifters willing to share their tips and tricks on eating healthy, working out and staying on track all while sleeping through out the day? (Note I am a coordinator at a hospital on 3rd shift; 6pm-6am and spend the majority of my night behind a desk doing paperwork)

Replies

  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Hi. I work nights. What I do is track midnight to midnight so that all of my days are the same and match up with my fitbit burn. I use my fitbit to k ow how much I burn at work (can vary depending on how busy we are). I work ems, so we do quite a bit of physical activity at work. What I do is exercise in the AM when I get off work.
  • peacelovekates
    peacelovekates Posts: 17
    Thank you for your answer. I too have been doing the midnight to midnight diary tracking. While my job isn't as active as yours, it's nice to know I'm not alone in the night shift struggles. Are there certain snacks you find more filling while working? I find myself starving all night (probably out of boredom)
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    I worked 6p-6a at my hospital for 2 years I just went to days 3 days ago. But what helped me was going to the gym before work because I was to tired after work and on my days off Id go to planet fitness at like 2-3am when no ones there. I get the best workouts in then. I started bringing my own lunch and avoiding the cafe and vending machines. Working nights is tough!
  • peacelovekates
    peacelovekates Posts: 17
    @Sunshine48205‌ thank you for your input :) were there certain foods or snacks you brought to work with you that felt more filling? Finding myself eating out of boredom and its not always healthy food
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    I loveee sweets so to calm my cravings I bring a yoplait light yogurt to work everyday. I usually ate my dinner around 2or 3 am and didint eat anything after that. You can look at my diary for ideas. Breakfast is the largest meal dinner is always smaller. Meal prep is important. & for me, I leave my debit card and money at home because I'm weak and will go to the vending machines the first chance I get or to mcdonalds.
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    Breakfast is pretty filling. I eat 2 eggs with tomatoes chopped and turkey (in an omlete style) then I put that on a tortilla and I eat a banana before work (around 4pm)

    I bring a tuna sandwich with mayo and my yougurt ( I eat around 9-10pm)

    my dinner is usually 4oz boneless chicken with 1/2 a can of green beans (low sodium) and uncle bens brown rice (they come in little cups so I just pop the top off and heat it up) and I eat that around 2-3am.
  • peacelovekates
    peacelovekates Posts: 17
    @sunshine48205 I'm a little different in the aspect that my breakfast at 4pm is small, I eat snacks around 9/10, eat dinner at 12-1am and then another snack around 3. However, I completely understand leaving the debit card at home! McDonald's loves me and I it.
  • peacelovekates
    peacelovekates Posts: 17
    Thank you! I might try to eat like you for a day and see how it goes. I appreciate your quick response and help :)
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    ahhh yes Me and Mcdonalds are... I mean were, the best of friends. Its said that your biggest meal should be breakfast, but I dont see anything wrong with your way. You stop eating hours before you sleep so its all the same.
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    no problem. I asked about night shift people in here before and no one replied. I'm like really? Are we that rare?!?!?!
  • peacelovekates
    peacelovekates Posts: 17
    Do you ever find yourself starving when you get off work? If so, do you go to bed hungry?
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Greek yogurt is a great snack, lots of protein and filling for the calories. I also find Special K cracker chips to be a respectable substitute for potato chips, way fewer calories for the volume.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    peacelovekates wrote: »
    Thank you for your answer. I too have been doing the midnight to midnight diary tracking. While my job isn't as active as yours, it's nice to know I'm not alone in the night shift struggles. Are there certain snacks you find more filling while working? I find myself starving all night (probably out of boredom)

    I absolutely love a chicken dish I've been making. I add about 200gtams (300cals or so) of fresh grilled chicken (cold), a half a can of small pre sliced olives, and about 200 grams of sliced tomatoes (medley). Altogether it is about 400 calories and keeps me full for a while.

    Other snacks I bring:
    -greek yogurt
    -pre portioned pop-chips (in case i want something salty because my partner buys a bag of chips lol)
    -cut apples
    - cheese (I prefer Cracker Barrel individually portioned cheddar or Kraft string cheese)
    - A serving of some vegetable
    - Fruit

    What I do is pack a cooler I can keep in the ambulance. I bought rubbermade lunch blox, so they stack nicely and snap together.
    peacelovekates wrote: »
    Do you ever find yourself starving when you get off work? If so, do you go to bed hungry?

    Since I work out after work, I tend to eat a small something. Otherwise I wake up ravenous.
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    Well I dont really feel starved. Once I did and ate another yogurt then went to bed but usually I'm so sleepy that my sleepiness trumps my hunger. But really I felt ok. not starved but not full... I lost about 40lbs ....then gained it back because I fell off.
  • Sunshine48205
    Sunshine48205 Posts: 41 Member
    thanks! I'm going to add sliced apples to my list because I'm still not meeting my calorie goal.
  • seattlerain
    seattlerain Posts: 189 Member
    Nurse with rotating schedule! I work some nights.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Sunshine48205 wrote: »
    thanks! I'm going to add sliced apples to my list because I'm still not meeting my calorie goal.

    Sliced apples are awesome. Precut into pieces so you don't even have to touch them (I'm grossed out by finger food at work). I prefer Fuji apples because they are sweet. Sometimes I will throw a bit of cinnamon and sugar on them if I need a sweet treat.
  • 505n8v
    505n8v Posts: 20 Member
    My schedule is not like yours, I work 2am-10am. Meal prep is really important. On my day off, today, I'll prep what I need for the next 3days, chicken, veggies, quinoa, etc....and portioned out in containers. I carry a 75oz jug of water with me too, so I know I've had my 8 glasses for the day. I joined a planet fitness that is on the way home. So after work, I change into my workout gear and get a workout in before I get home, whether I want to or not, lol....
  • Smallc10
    Smallc10 Posts: 615 Member
    I have to bring snacks with me on my nightshift work (midnight to 8AM) or it doesn't work for me). I bring a cup of yogurt with blueberries and walnuts mixed in, Any type of bean dip from hummus to a lemon/dill cannellini bean dip with various vegetables to dip in to it throughout the night as I get the need to munch, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter weighed out with a sliced up apple, I also bring a pre-determined amount of tortilla chips to kill any salt cravings that I get and will bring a 100 calorie guacamole once or twice a week. Basically if I bring all of my snacks and don't have any change on me then I have to eat the healthy ones that i bring. I don't eat a meal usually when I'm actually on shift, I just graze throughout the entire night and make sure my snacks fit within my goals for that day
  • Smallc10
    Smallc10 Posts: 615 Member
    Oh and I always workout pretty much right after I wake up from night shift because the gym closes at 7:00 and I wake up around 5-5:30. I hate going in the morning because I'm too exhausted so it is prior to work or not at all.
  • GM205
    GM205 Posts: 10 Member
    seattlerain wrote: »
    Nurse with rotating schedule! I work some nights.

    I work rotating 12 hour shifts in a call centre and since I've started I've put on all of the 23lb I lost in my last job (days only, on my feet all day, no time to eat then). I track midnight to midnight but find some days I'm "awake" 18-19 hrs so it's hard to stay in my cals. I'm always really hungry on nights and crave sugar from lack of sleep!
  • cvandenbraak
    cvandenbraak Posts: 7 Member
    A lot of water, Quest bars and new WW Oatmeal is filling.
  • melbelair
    melbelair Posts: 6 Member
    My schedule is a mess of days and nights with no set pattern. I'm a nurse in on a mental health unit and do a lot of sitting on nights. I always log midnight to midnight. I pack a ridiculous amount of veggies and log everything I packed before I go in to work so I know what I have left for calories if I get extra snacky (random nights are brutal for my appetite. ) I've also started doing beach body videos in the lounge on my breaks or jogging outside if I can find a partner and the weather is nice. I find the exercise makes a huge difference. Wakes you up and burns calories.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    7P-7A night shift nurse here. I work in a busy delivery room, so it's hard to do anything on a schedule. I log everything, food and steps, midnight to midnight. I changed my diary settings here to 12A-6A. 6A-12P etc etc. Makes it easier to record rather than trying to figure out what exactly is breakfast. Before work, I eat a real dinner. Breaks are never guaranteed here. I stopped eating the hospital food (mostly because they close at 9P - apparently we don't need to eat at night) and avoid Starbucks 99.9% of the time (open 24/7 in the lobby) for it's prices and not so nutritious offerings. (not all bad and it's easy to find the info, so I give them credit for that.

    I bring apple slices and PB which I eat before midnight. I also bring, but don't usually eat all of it - Laughing cow cheese, Greek yogurt, hardboiled eggs, a few ounces of fruit with light chocolate syrup on it, and what I call my "stress chocolate" (keeps my coworkers alive when they torture my soul). Ocassionally I will order out when the group does it, but not usually a meal, I had wonton soup the other night. There's a bakery nearby that makes and delivers fresh cookies between 10P-3A and I'll do ONE chocolate chunk cookie about every other time we order (it's been a couple of months since I did this). I find lots of choices work for me and make me want less food.
  • lindaloo1213
    lindaloo1213 Posts: 283 Member
    edited March 2015
    I work 5 nights a week, 9pm-6am. I take about a 40 minute nap when I get home and then get up to take my daughter to school. (my husband works from 7am - 5 or 6pm so he's not much help in getting me any sleep) I go to the gym after I drop her off and my almost 2 year old goes to the gym daycare while I work out. We go home have lunch and I clean or play with him until we nap for about an hour or so and then pick up my older from school. Make dinner, clean up bath the kids and head of to work again. So I dont get much sleep. I log food from after my morning nap until the following 6am. I work very hard to make sure I plan my food for work so I dont raid the vending machines. Lots of fresh/frozen fruit, oatmeal, yogurt and salads. I can get a lot of food prep done between the gym and nap time. I just have to make this work, bad enough I dont sleep, being morbidly obese on top of it is just not an option.
  • salocowen
    salocowen Posts: 4 Member
    I am a Sleep Technologist. I usually work 9p-7a. I log midnight to midnight, which works fine most days, except my first day/night off when I have more awake (eating) time.

    On work nights, I usually eat "breakfast" about 5p. Then "lunch" at about midnight. I'm usually hungry before then but make myself wait so I can log on the next day. My lunch is usually a frozen dinner or leftovers. I usually take a cheese stick, yogurt, and a piece of fruit to snack on. I'm hungry again by the time I get home so I usually have a bowl of cereal, (another "breakfast") then go to bed.

    I've struggled with labeling my meals as "breakfast," "lunch," or "dinner." Nothing seems right.

    I haven't been working out, but ideally I would work out before work. Exercise before bed wakes me up too much.
  • xeno8604
    xeno8604 Posts: 193 Member
    I work from 7PM to 6AM and I do my work outs before work at around 3 to 4pm, shower, eat then head to work. I also use the gym we have located here where I work, and since I get an hour lunch I can easily knock a 30 minute work out.

    I just started going on runs right after work, I am prepping for a half marathon run.

    Some of advice I can give is plan and prep your workouts and meals, this way you get the most and can save alot on time. I used to, and I need to do this again, cook 4-5 meals at once on the day off prior to going to work (what is considered my Sunday), that way I can just grab and go, focusing more on me time, chores, errands, and work outs.

    My food diary is a little wonky with labeling but for the most part it works for me.

    Hope this helps, if any.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    I track midnight to midnight. I don't stress over food labels or having food types at proper times. I want pizza for my first meal of the day, i.e. what some would consider breakfast, or bacon and eggs for my last meal, then I do. I focus on hitting my calorie and macro goals.

    Since I work in IT, it's a pretty sedentary job. I try to get in at minimum of 5 miles walking on days I don't workout. I'll take the stairs, use the bathroom on the 1st floor even though I work on the 3rd. I keep a small water bottle to drink from and get up to refill from the water cooler, park far away from the building I work at, anything to add up the steps and mileage. The days I do workout at the gym, I usually just come into work already wearing my gym attire. The nice thing about my workplace is that there isn't really a strict dress code. This allows me to get off work in the AM and head straight to the gym.
  • peacefrog08109
    peacefrog08109 Posts: 44 Member
    I work 7p-7a 3 nights a week and was doing the midnight to midnight as well. I found I was having trouble with keeping a healthy day to day calorie count when switching back to normal. I just changed my meal times to a 6am -6am to see if that helps. It's a little annoying to have to back up a day when logging after midnight but hopefully it will be a more accurate account of how I actually eat.
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