Working nights

Pandilopolus · April 2017

Hi everyone I'm new to this "healthy lifestyle" thing. Any other night shift workers out there? How do you stay strong while at work? What does meal prep look like for you? And when have you found the best time to try to get a workout in? Trying to keep my metabolism up when it naturally wants to slow down at night time. But on my days off I'm awake during the day. Any suggestions for success?

Fatandsassy224 · April 2017

Hey, I thought about responding to you a while ago, but I never did. So sorry. I am a nurse and work 12 hours shifts: 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off. So, needless to say my body's drive for food is pretty weird and scattered. My night shifts, I do a combination of power through the first part of the day - I wake up for a night shift somewhere around 3pm as I work 7-7s. I pre-log everything, and then pack it up. My food on my nights isn't that much different than my days other than the fact that I am to have more high fat "snack" foods. For example working in a 1/2 cup of almonds into my calorie allotment rather than my dessert chocolate.

My meal schedule ends up looking like this (and it is basically routine by now, I don't think about food much on nights because I eat the same time and the same foods a lot):

5pm: light breakfast (family dinner): Maybe 3-4oz of protein, and two vegetables.
10:30pm after the bulk of my work on nights: Snack time!: I will start with my almonds and slowly eat them all over the next 30 minutes.
Midnight: Lunch: Tuna, Naan, vegetables
Last meal of the night is dependant on which night break I get 1:30-3:30 or 3:30-5:30. If I break early I will eat my end of work snack at around 4am, if I break late I will eat it at 3am: Normally an apple, or other fruit, with some cheese.

Other snacks I pull out whenever I need "something" but I don't generally eat after 6am as I am in bed by 8am.

It is hard to go off track at the hospital because there aren't really other valid sources of food at night as the cafeteria is closed. As to workouts, I try to pretend that exercise doesn't exist on my day shifts as I get 13k-15k steps just running around at work. When I choose to work out, I might do something between my last day and first night when I have 24 hours off, then I go back to ignoring exercise until my days off. To me, it isn't with being extra hungry or tired when I am already working a hard shift.

I hope this helps somewhat, I don't know much about metabolism on nights as my job is still pretty physically active on nights that I will still end up losing if I keep myself in deficit. What I do though, is I don't weigh myself until my first full 24 hours back on a daylight schedule after my last night shift.

ARectorRN · May 2017

I work nights as a house supervisor. I would love to have friends who are on the same struggle bus to help keep me motivated to stay on this healthy journey.

Starryknight13 · May 2017

Work nights in hospital housekeeping. Also single mother of three. Maintaining a routine is definitely a challenge. I'm a natural day sleeper though so I guess it's easier for me.
So far I have a fairly good one going. Nothing is set in stone but generally I walk and do yoga after work before going to bed around 10am. Sometimes that gets pushed aside due to other responsibilities. I also try for one in the evening around 3 or 4 but that one is less likely.
I've switched to a plant based diet, but not completely. I eat mostly whole raw veggies, beans (hummus ect),eggs, granola, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds. Meal prep is rather easy when less cooking is involved. I try to keep a trail mix of the fruit, nuts and seeds with me at work to snack on along with my lunch of either salad, hummus and veggies, or something similar.
I do cook regularly but Its only about twice a week. It's usually grilled chicken breast used for salads/wraps, a vegetarian dish, or comfort food (when I crave it).
Now to be honest I must confess to having binge days every so often. That's when I eat pizza or do family cookouts. I try to keep those minimal. Lol
I also split my sleeping. I sleep four hours during the day and get in a two hour nap before work. Well I try to anyway. Again sometimes live gets in the way.
Also I use supplements. I drink Body Fortress Nos Blast at the beginning of my shift in order to give me an energy and focus boost.
I find the best advice is to not be too hard on yourself. If you try to be too rigid it is hard to maintain momentum I find. It used to be very difficult for me to maintain any semblance of a routine but so far this has been working for me. Almost a year now. It's been an evolving process though. I wouldn't recommend making too many changes right away. These fitness apps definitely help by keeping you mindful.

stm83 · May 2017

Dragonstar1369 wrote: »

Work nights in hospital housekeeping. Also single mother of three. Maintaining a routine is definitely a challenge. I'm a natural day sleeper though so I guess it's easier for me.
So far I have a fairly good one going. Nothing is set in stone but generally I walk and do yoga after work before going to bed around 10am. Sometimes that gets pushed aside due to other responsibilities. I also try for one in the evening around 3 or 4 but that one is less likely.
I've switched to a plant based diet, but not completely. I eat mostly whole raw veggies, beans (hummus ect),eggs, granola, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds. Meal prep is rather easy when less cooking is involved. I try to keep a trail mix of the fruit, nuts and seeds with me at work to snack on along with my lunch of either salad, hummus and veggies, or something similar.
I do cook regularly but Its only about twice a week. It's usually grilled chicken breast used for salads/wraps, a vegetarian dish, or comfort food (when I crave it).
Now to be honest I must confess to having binge days every so often. That's when I eat pizza or do family cookouts. I try to keep those minimal. Lol
I also split my sleeping. I sleep four hours during the day and get in a two hour nap before work. Well I try to anyway. Again sometimes live gets in the way.
Also I use supplements. I drink Body Fortress Nos Blast at the beginning of my shift in order to give me an energy and focus boost.
I find the best advice is to not be too hard on yourself. If you try to be too rigid it is hard to maintain momentum I find. It used to be very difficult for me to maintain any semblance of a routine but so far this has been working for me. Almost a year now. It's been an evolving process though. I wouldn't recommend making too many changes right away. These fitness apps definitely help by keeping you mindful.

Dragon star.... We have very similar life schedules....I could have written that post.

kellyfeb78 · May 2017

I work nights in a warehouse, I eat my dinner about 6.30 pm, have a snack of under 100 calories on my break, eat 300 ish calories breakfast when I get home. After sleep I drink 2 teas 1 being green tea and usually some Danish bread toasted or cracker bread with low fat cheese spread then gym for 2 hours, home and repeat lol. The weekends for me are my struggle as I'm not busy working so often think about food all day!

Working nights

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