Losing weight and night time job.

I work night shift (7p-7:30a) as a nurse and I think it's all about finding something that will work for you. For me, on work days I wake up at 4pm and go workout. I'm home by 5-5:30 and I have plenty of time to shower and eat before work. The days before I work I always prep my meals for the week. I'll pre-track my food and then adjust as I need to. As a nurse, sometimes I don't get time to sit down for lunch at work so I always pack tons of fruits and veggies and have healthy snacks stashed in my locker.

im not a nurse, but i think working the graveyard shift would be easier as far as eating, i would bring my lunch and snacks. plus i think if you were home cooking, you would eat more? Best of luck

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.