Night shift nurse

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rkjonesrn
rkjonesrn Posts: 1 Member
in Challenges
Need some friends and some tips on how to stay healthy working night shift! Let me hear some of your favorite grab and go snacks. As an ER nurse, I don't get a lot of time and typically don't get a break. Need to lose 10-15 pounds. Goal weight of 140!

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  • lavender624flood
    lavender624flood Posts: 30 Member
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    I work from 1-9 six days a week. Two friends and I are starting a Whole30 on Monday plus 8k a day. Want to join in?
  • shyjoy
    shyjoy Posts: 60 Member
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    I had to go nights for awhile too. This is super hard on your health, but good for your wallet. If you are like me your shifts can get super stressful and you want your brain to be sharp. I always have a bunch of celery and cheese sticks and I stick with really low carbs. Try finding that in your hospital, I always take a roasted chicken breast with a tossed salad because I'm still so delusional that I will get a lunch moment. Sugar free jello helps when you just need that something and ditch the diet coke for water. Ha, I should take my own advice.
  • maggie2092
    maggie2092 Posts: 54 Member
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    I'm also a nurse, I work in a busy, understaffed ICU. I work all 12 HR shifts, 2 days, 2 nights, then 5 days off! The day shifts I manage okay, but my night shifts are harder. I would love to hear how others manage.
  • Holly_Wood_888
    Holly_Wood_888 Posts: 264 Member
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    rkjonesrn wrote: »
    Need some friends and some tips on how to stay healthy working night shift! Let me hear some of your favorite grab and go snacks. As an ER nurse, I don't get a lot of time and typically don't get a break. Need to lose 10-15 pounds. Goal weight of 140!

    I don't work nights but I do have a fast paced job, sometimes working until 9pm .. I was wondering if you had considered pre making shakes? Doing some research on the best protein powders of course, vega powder is decent and so is Bio Protein ..... I find it really convenient to have mixed nuts on hand and protein bars without a lot of sugar in them. Clementine's and grapes seem easy when it comes to fruit because you can pocket them along with raw baby carrots.

  • teenerqm
    teenerqm Posts: 2 Member
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    Yikes!
    I'm sooo glad I'm done with night shift. It totally messed with my system. I hardly ever took my thyroid meds and I was gaining a lot of weight and was sooooo cranky towards my family. Worst 3 years of my life.
    The only positive things I did was once my boys were at school I'd walk the dog, then sleep with the curtains open. I used a sleep mask because I knew I needed to sun. The bad thing was I was only in bed for 5 hours each day. I had to wake up to pick my kids up from school, but unlike the morning time, I'd walk there. The school is just over a mile away, so at least that was something. 2 miles, one fast, each day was all I got.
  • amberofak
    amberofak Posts: 1 Member
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    I feel your pain. I try really hard to pack healthy food but sometimes it doesn't happen or I short myself and 3 am becomes carb craving hell, and no matter what I'm starving when I get home. I can't sleep with an wmoty stomach so I'm trying to manage the crazy cravings by eating healthy snacks in the car on the way home. It means I can just go pass out too instead of making food when I walk in the door.
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Watermelon, Celery, Cucumber, carrots, almonds, and popcorn are easy grab and go snacks. Meal prep is essential for overnight since usually only crappy fast food options are available. I lived on grilled/baked chicken and steamer bags of veggies. Salads are great too, tuna packets, and any fruit.
    I worked out immediately following my shift, but if you're awake earlier in the day that's a good time too. Find a schedule and stick to it. I know it's tempting to stay awake on your days off but that's going to hurt you more than anything if you do it consistently. Also, midnight-0300 on a day off is a perfect time to hit a 24 hour gym - there's nothing else to do and no one there!
    For tracking, I organized my diary by times, so at midnight I'd start the new day but knew where to put my food because of the - this helped me keep track instead of adding unnecessary confusion during logging (for example, 0000-0400 usually had my "lunch", 0400-0800 had "dinner", and 1600-2000 had "breakfast" foods....)

    ETA - This is all based on my personal experience -but you obviously have to do what works for you. I've worked night shift on and off for 5 years in the ER.
  • gettingmarried817
    gettingmarried817 Posts: 27 Member
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    I've been working nights for several months now and it was a little challenging when I started to figure out how my day worked and stuff. I will be going back to days eventually, so I stayed with the 12:00am to 11:59 pm cycle for my day for logging. I don't generally eat a lot during my shift as I still have dinner with my family before going to work each night, so I just keep snacks in my lunch box. On any given night, that usually looks like a fiber one layered bar (love the salted carmel one), some almonds or sunflower seeds or peanuts I weighed out into servings, an apple or banana, and some some sugar snap peas or cucumber slices. I may not eat it all each night, but its nice to have the options.

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