Night shift worker help!

linsey0689
linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Since I couldn't find any post about this I thought I would start my own. I'm looking for tips from those who work night shift. When do you eat? I'm a nurse in a nursing home and "snacking" during a good part of the shift (1030p-730am) is somehow the norm among the nurses. So give me tips those that work nights when do you eat and what do you recommend eating?

Replies

  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
    I've found that intermitten fasting is working really well for me. I work 11pm-7am, sleep 8am-3pm, then I eat from like 4-9pm. For whatever reason, I just don't get hungry during my night shift, even after 9 months of doing it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    From the responses I generally see, is you just modify the times of breakfast, lunch and dinner. So breakfast at 9pm, lunch at 3am, dinner at 8am. As long as you log things consistently, you should be good.
  • LADYDEBORAH1984
    LADYDEBORAH1984 Posts: 64 Member
    I do the odd night shift 8pm-8pm I eat fruit but the fridge is full of chocolate! I had 2 flakes and choc buttons the other night, because the night is just so long. I am no help obviously!
  • LADYDEBORAH1984
    LADYDEBORAH1984 Posts: 64 Member
    Meant to say 8pm-8am
  • Snooozie
    Snooozie Posts: 3,461 Member
    I work rotating shifts including midnights; there are a lot of groups on MFP for ""3rd" shift, nite shift workers etc you might find checking them out helpful as well... just use the search feature and type in words like "3rd" "third" nite shift etc... i'll see if I can find a few links for you.. hope this helps
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    I have work night shift 11pm-7am and have lost weight, albeit slowly over the span of 5 years. Honestly there is no "right time" to eat nor is there certain foods you have to consume. I focus more on hitting my calories and macro goals in a 24 hr period. Because of my sleeping and workout routine, I personally eat 2x in a 8 hr window. Once at work between 4AM-6AM and again at home between Noon-2PM. I found I have to wait 2 hrs after eating before doing anything at the gym otherwise I get sick. It's the same thing for sleeping. It messes up my sleep if I go to bed immediately after eating. I will end up needing to go to the bathroom, interrupting my sleep. It comes down to trial and error and finding out what works for you.
  • Roaringgael
    Roaringgael Posts: 339 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    I've found that intermittent fasting is working really well for me. I work 11pm-7am, sleep 8am-3pm, then I eat from like 4-9pm. For whatever reason, I just don't get hungry during my night shift, even after 9 months of doing it.

    This is me too. Night shift eating can give me indigestion. I have the odd drink of tea or coffee during the night and occasionally I may eat some toast around 0600hrs but usually not.
  • worstcaster
    worstcaster Posts: 217 Member
    I usually eat before I go in for my shift. I don't usually eat during my overnight, but do drink a lot of water. If it was a busy shift I will sometimes grab breakfast in the early morning.
  • 21deadmonkeys
    21deadmonkeys Posts: 20 Member
    I've been working midnights for years. I just log my meals as usual. I eat breakfast at 10pm, lunch around 2:30am and dinner around 11am. The only thing is that I have to remember to log my breakfast for the next day instead of the current one. Also, Fridays are hard because I'm usually up for close to 24hrs and I generally go over my calories on that day.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    I work 7P-7A three times a week and have for years. It's in a busy delivery room and breaks are not guaranteed or a regular thing, so you have to get creative. I changed the MFP diary settings to midnight-6A, 6A-noon, etc. Trying to figure out what meals to put in the default categories was too annoying. I use the same midnight to midnight settings and record food on the appropriate day. I've read posts (there are lots of night shift threads out there) from people who log food in a different way and it seemed too complicated. This works for me.

    Since a real break is never a sure thing, I eat a real dinner before I leave for work, usually chicken and veggies. I bring lots of food that I can grab on the run, eat at the charting area and put down if it's an emergency. Also they have little prep time if any. I love apple slices and peanut butter, pistachios, Greek yogurt, cheeses, chicken, baby carrots, cucumber slices in rice vinegar, protein or granola bars (currently trying the Quaker ones that are based on Girl Scout cookies). I even include some chocolate or a serving of cookies. I have found that I don't eat all of it, but it makes me happy knowing it's all there. What I don't have, gets used the next shift.

    Besides the night shift tips/food threads, there's an Official Night Shift thread in the Chit Chat and Games category which is fun to drop in on when I have time. It's nice to "meet" others who don't work conventional hours.

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