Eat a strick diet while on night shift

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jeremyheadley1
jeremyheadley1 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a nurse and I work from 7pm to 3am. I am having trouble managing my caloric intake because I am up for so many hours throughout the day and night. I usually get home around 4 am and sleep until 11am and I may take a hour nap in the afternoon. So I am spreading out my alloted calories over 17 hours. I am trying to loose weight so I am on a low calorie diet. I am struggling with my hunger and the amount of calories I can have. Anyone have any advice?

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  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    I've seen a few threads where other nurses in your situation have offered great advice. Try a search with "night shift" and "nurse", a bunch of good stuff will come up.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    jeremyheadley1 wrote: »
    I am a nurse and I work from 7pm to 3am. I am having trouble managing my caloric intake because I am up for so many hours throughout the day and night. I usually get home around 4 am and sleep until 11am and I may take a hour nap in the afternoon. So I am spreading out my alloted calories over 17 hours. I am trying to loose weight so I am on a low calorie diet. I am struggling with my hunger and the amount of calories I can have. Anyone have any advice?

    You need more sleep.
    Change your goals to one half pound a week.
    Log carefully so you know that you are getting enough protein. Get enough fat/oils. Also eat low carb vegetables for their micro-nutrients and fiber.
  • liz4440
    liz4440 Posts: 15 Member
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    Do you have a 24hr gym you can go to
  • liz4440
    liz4440 Posts: 15 Member
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    Do yo have a 24hr gym you can go to?
  • Dawn410
    Dawn410 Posts: 120 Member
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    I'm a nurse too. The best thing you can do for yourself is pack your food. Not just a lunch, but all your food. You know what times you are hungry. For me, on a 3pm to 3am shift, I know I will want dinner at 6, and a snack around 11. So I pack a healthy, light dinner, some cheese and grapes for snack, and maybe a pear or some salted cucumber slices for boredom eating at 1 am. When all the other night shifters order their crap food (pizza or wings or chinese) at 10pm, I say no, because I know I have yummy choices for later.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    If you're really hungry, then maybe you need to eat a bit more. How much are you eating/day? What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~2200 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    Also, how are you exercising?
  • jeremyheadley1
    jeremyheadley1 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the advice. Currently my goal is to be at between 175 and 180 lbs I currently am at 195lbs. I want to reach my goal around the end of August. MFP gave me a diet of 1630 calories per day and that is no problem to achieve during a regular 12 or 13 hour day but when I add on the extra hours I work it spreads I this diet very thin. Does any know of some low calorie low sugar snacks. I really like fruits but I don't want the extra sugars and I need something that is quick and easy to put in my bag or pocket at work.
  • lastfarewell
    lastfarewell Posts: 45 Member
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    How about string cheese? Quick and portable.

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