Losing weight and night time job.

I'm a nurse and work nights. It's not that hard- eat less. Bring your food to work. If anything it's easier for me because I'm busy at work, go home and am tired and sleep. Run on my days off and I'm good.

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I have been on 3rd shift for 4+ years and it is very tough to resist snacking. In my field, I talk to and interact with zero people, so the clock ticks slow most nights.


My advice: eat more fruits, yogurts and chew gum. It helps subside any cravings.

Beastie1982 wrote: »

Usually I try not to eat at night just light snacking and fluids. I eat normal breakfast just after coming from work but after that I'm going to sleep what I think is not good. I'm getting up around 4 and then I'm eating lunch. Dinner is around 7 after that I'm going to gym. I'm trying to get my exercise 3x a week but sometimes is very hard. I feel like I don't have enough energy.

If you can, keep to the same sleep schedule whether you are working or off. Certainly make sure you prioritize sleep -- get enough hours-- drop other things in order to take care of sleep.
It is o.k. to eat just before bed as long as it is not interfering with your sleep.

I work 730pm to 710am as a nurse. When i first started nights 2 years ago i noticed the weight gain. Since then I've lost it all but at a cost. Working days were so busy and i'd always be on my feet. I never watched what i was eating and didnt have to. Now i watch everything and calorie count it. On my shifts i always pack a large salad and x2 large vegetable soups. Also just one funsize mars bar in case of emergency.

I work two jobs which both have odd hours that are frequently changing. No two weeks are the same. My work day can be as long as 4:30am to Midnight.

What works for me is just eating when i'm hungry/can.

I meal prep lots of small meals that I can freeze then reheat when needed. Super easy!

I've been working nights off and on for a few years as an RN, 7p-7a. I don't keep a night schedule on my days off because I have a five-year old and significant other and want to actually see them, so my Monday, I start out with a normal day, stay up 24 hours, then sleep and go back. After my Friday, I get a short nap, then stay up the rest of the day to get back to my routine. I've found a few things make it easier for me at work:

1) I pack my own food, and I keep it in smaller portions. I'm a grazer, and the way my shifts go, I tend to graze and rarely have large meals. So I bring smaller portions of food, and make it easier stuff to heat if need be, like leftover meat and veggies, or prepared soups/fruits/salads, whatever, usually a day in advance before I start working. I also make sure I drink plenty of water and/or tea (mostly tea, let's be real), because working shifts tends to really dry me out. So I have a giant pitcher for making tea, which helps.

2) I log 12a-12p, regardless of whether I'm working or not. I don't log my "wake" hours, because those vary so extremely, so I log those 24 hours as my day, regardless of my sleep schedule.

3) I suck at working out in the morning, whether I'm off work or on, so my workouts are generally always around 3pm. Days when I'm working, I sleep around 8:30am after work, I wake up around 3, workout for an hour or so until about 4:30/5pm, pick up my kiddo, then go into work at 6:30pm. I usually try to workout the first day I'm back, then sleep and maybe take a rest day the next, but the time frame of 3-5pm usually works well for workouts to give me enough time to get back to everything, no matter which day back to work it is for me, and I usually aim for 4-6 workouts per week, just spaced however it falls with work.

4) If I miss a workout or am feeling like I need to wake up, I'll bring my HR monitor with me to work, and then take a break and walk the stairs for 20 minutes. Just up and down, and I count the number of times it takes me to get a round in, then I log it as exercise. Obviously don't always get to do that, especially when I'm stuck on the ICU side, but on a lot of nights, I can manage 20 minutes, and the stairs are usually totally empty.

5) I have a Garmin Vivosmart HR monitor to give me an idea of sleep patterns, HR, steps, whatever. Nice insight to how much activity I really do during the day, and some incentive to get up walking, etc. FitBits, whatevers work too, I'm sure, and I had a Vivifit for two years that I loved from Garmin. Any activity tracker is actually a bit more helpful with giving you a better picture of how you function.