Any overnight workers here?

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Petey413
Petey413 Posts: 3 Member
in Motivation and Support
With working overnights (11pm -730am) so hard to keep a regular eating habit, so just wondering what my fellow night owls eating schedule or habits are

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  • JayKay987
    JayKay987 Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm a shift worker. Mostly 4pm-12, but I have a few overnights (11:30pm-7:30am) and morning shifts (7am-3). Eating patterns are a struggle when your sleeping patterns bounce around.

    I find I have a hard time eating in the middle of the night, so I usually have one of those meal replacement shakes (eg. Boost, etc.), then I usually have a simple breakfast when I get home right before I go to sleep. I know normally you don't want to eat right before bed, but I don't want to be woken up due to hunger.
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
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    Try the Night shift thread . http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1171754/the-official-nightshift-thread/p133
  • SongDragon
    SongDragon Posts: 205 Member
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    I also work every shift known to my job. I get really hungry by six a.m. so I pack cereal and fruit. I also snack on chocolate covered espresso. Not so good. Also, I drink a ton of water. I eat when awake or hungry the next day. Usually right after working out and small bursts at a time. No sitting and snacking, though, because zoned out I could polish off a bag of patio chips probably and I hate potato. So pre set meals can be helpful.
  • Tolstoy26
    Tolstoy26 Posts: 134 Member
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    I work nights 12am-10:30am. I don't have the best eating schedule but usually eat a snack around 2 am, lunch is 4:45am and then breakfast is 7:45. If I'm hungry I'll eat a snack when I get home around 11am but sometimes I'll just crash if I'm too tired.
  • Petey413
    Petey413 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thankyou all for the advice :)
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,157 Member
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    I work 7P-7A three times a week and the days vary. I changed my diary here to six-hour time blocks and log the food in the appropriate spot. I eat a real dinner before I come to work - busy hospital unit where breaks can be a scarce thing - and I bring small items I can grab easily - yogurt, cheese, hardboiled eggs, veggies, turkey bacon and even some "stress chocolate" (which keeps me happy). I found this works better for me, especially on the shifts where I'll be off later that night - I don't want to eat most of my daily calories by 6 AM and have little left when I wake up in the early afternoon.
  • bjlaff
    bjlaff Posts: 16 Member
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    I hate shift work lol!! I agree, so hard to keep a regular eatting habit. I work 12 shifts so when I roll to nights from days I try and eat the same kind and amount of food as I would working days throughout the shift.
  • beverlyjlarson
    beverlyjlarson Posts: 104 Member
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    I work 20:30 - 04:30. I normally get to sleep around 06:30 and get up around 14:30. I treat it like any normal day. Breakfast when I wake and meals and snacks accordingly. I try to keep as close as I can to the same schedule on my days off as well. This makes it easier to stick to my plan.
  • SenditToSarah
    SenditToSarah Posts: 49 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I added a night shift meal to my food diary (I called it Fourthmeal...anyone remember that Taco Bell campaign??) and that's where I record the main meal I bring with me for the night. I find that in any given day, I only end up recording three meals; it just depends on my schedule that day. Still, it takes out the guesswork...no more trying to decide if a 2am meal is breakfast or dinner.

    I try to stick to a 24hr format--anything after midnight goes on the next day--but when it makes sense, I fudge it a little. For example, I slept most of Friday to get ready for my overnight shift. All I had was a couple bowls of cereal with fruit in it over the course of the day. I had a snack a couple minutes after midnight, and since I'd barely eaten anything all day, I counted it on Friday instead of Saturday.

    Finally, preset meals are a MUST for me. I bag up healthy sandwiches and snacks so I can put together a grab and go lunch bag for an 8 or 12 hour shift in a snap.
  • SenditToSarah
    SenditToSarah Posts: 49 Member
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    kar328 wrote: »
    I don't want to eat most of my daily calories by 6 AM and have little left when I wake up in the early afternoon.

    I HATE when that happens...miserable evening!!

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