Terrible schedule, have ??s about meal plans

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jennyloie1
jennyloie1 Posts: 35 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I work 12 hr graveyards as a cop. I try and workout before work and then sleep from about 7 am until 2 pm. I eat 4-6 meals that are healthy, but I'm concerned that eating throughout the night and sleeping through the day is hindering my weightloss goals. Advice??

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  • dsedmondson
    dsedmondson Posts: 9 Member
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    I am a retired Georgia Trooper, the Midnight's always messed me up. I kept my weight under control while on the job. I rarly ate while on my shift unless it was a drink (v8) or a small snack. After sleeping I would have breakfast at lunch time and a lite supper before my shift started. It worked for me, we only did 7 in a row and then back to swing shifts so I know how hard it is to regulate. Good luck and be safe.
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
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    I think as long as you are sticking to your calorie goals in any 24 hours (or even across the week works for some) then you should be fine. You can change the meal names in your diary so maybe having it set out as 2pm - 5pm, 5pm - 9pm etc instead of breakfast lunch etc might help you plan your meals around your shifts?
  • jennyloie1
    jennyloie1 Posts: 35 Member
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    dsedmondson wrote: »
    I am a retired Georgia Trooper, the Midnight's always messed me up. I kept my weight under control while on the job. I rarly ate while on my shift unless it was a drink (v8) or a small snack. After sleeping I would have breakfast at lunch time and a lite supper before my shift started. It worked for me, we only did 7 in a row and then back to swing shifts so I know how hard it is to regulate. Good luck and be safe.

    I could try something like that and then just have a couple of protein shakes during the shift with some fruit and veggies. As I'm sure you know, sometimes eating is the only thing to keep you awake when that dreaded 3 am rolls around!
  • jennyloie1
    jennyloie1 Posts: 35 Member
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    blueboxgeek wrote: »
    I think as long as you are sticking to your calorie goals in any 24 hours (or even across the week works for some) then you should be fine. You can change the meal names in your diary so maybe having it set out as 2pm - 5pm, 5pm - 9pm etc instead of breakfast lunch etc might help you plan your meals around your shifts?

    I just worry that the back and forth is messing me up. I hate that I'm on three 12 hour shifts and then back to normal people schedule for a few days. Grrrr.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    edited March 2016
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    jennyloie1 wrote: »
    I work 12 hr graveyards as a cop. I try and workout before work and then sleep from about 7 am until 2 pm. I eat 4-6 meals that are healthy, but I'm concerned that eating throughout the night and sleeping through the day is hindering my weightloss goals. Advice??

    I work 8hrs 11pm to 7am. Typically workout after I get off work and sleep from about 3pm to 10:30pm. My meal times are not set in stone. Usually I eat 2x, once at work between 4-6AM and again around 11am-1pm. It's been slow but I have steadily lost over the past few years. Forgot to add, as for advice, I mainly focus on hitting my macros and calorie goals and I found tracking midnight to midnight works the best for me.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    jennyloie1 wrote: »
    I'm concerned that eating throughout the night and sleeping through the day is hindering my weightloss goals. Advice??

    It's not. When it comes to body composition, meal timing, meal size, and meal frequency have absolutely no effect. All that matters is total calorie intake for the day. You're fine.

  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
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    jennyloie1 wrote: »
    blueboxgeek wrote: »
    I think as long as you are sticking to your calorie goals in any 24 hours (or even across the week works for some) then you should be fine. You can change the meal names in your diary so maybe having it set out as 2pm - 5pm, 5pm - 9pm etc instead of breakfast lunch etc might help you plan your meals around your shifts?

    I just worry that the back and forth is messing me up. I hate that I'm on three 12 hour shifts and then back to normal people schedule for a few days. Grrrr.

    If you stick to your calorie limits you should be fine hun. Although personally for me, those kind of shifts would leave me wiped out and when I am tired I tend to use food to keep my energy up, which of course makes it hard for me to stick to a calorie limit.

    But when you eat isn't important for weight loss, just limit your calories to a small deficit and you should see some results :)

  • sportsguy5555
    sportsguy5555 Posts: 7 Member
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    I recommend 16-8 intermittent fasting (not trying to get into a argument about IF) my hours are very similar to yours. I found this works the best for getting pounds off and getting lean gains at the same time.
  • jennyloie1
    jennyloie1 Posts: 35 Member
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    sportsguy5555 wrote: »
    I recommend 16-8 intermittent fasting (not trying to get into a argument about IF) my hours are very similar to yours. I found this works the best for getting pounds off and getting lean gains at the same time.

    I'm not sure what this means? 16-8 fasting? I'm not up to date on terminology apparently.
  • dee1204xo
    dee1204xo Posts: 1 Member
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    Hey how do you change the names as meal 1 meal 2 meal 3 ?
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    dee1204xo wrote: »
    Hey how do you change the names as meal 1 meal 2 meal 3 ?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings I don't know if this link will work from the app but it should from the MFP website
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    jennyloie1 wrote: »
    sportsguy5555 wrote: »
    I recommend 16-8 intermittent fasting (not trying to get into a argument about IF) my hours are very similar to yours. I found this works the best for getting pounds off and getting lean gains at the same time.

    I'm not sure what this means? 16-8 fasting? I'm not up to date on terminology apparently.

    There's different methods for Intermittent Fasting. 16-8 method is where you have a 8 hr window and eat your daily intake and then fast i.e. stop eating for 16 hrs. An example, your 8 hr window can be from Noon til 8pm. Eat during those times then at 8pm stop and don't eat again until the next day at Noon.
  • jennyloie1
    jennyloie1 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate it!

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