Night shift, workouts and sleep routine need help with.
FitterboyAzz
Posts: 13 Member
Hi y'all .
I have been working night shift for 3 years Now, my hours are usually 2am til 12pm. But often have problems sleeping in too much. (Need some help to fight this).
I work as a garbage collection truck driver / garbage bin washer. (Job is quite active, as the trucks I'm in require you to manually put garbage bins on the rear of the truck. So no magic arm stuff).
My diets way better Now, trying to lose weight. Have lost 45kgs in less than a year. Been on a 1200 - 1800 cal diet.
After work ill have a nap in car for 30mins to 60mins,
From about 2:30pm, I usually goto the gym to do cardio workouts. I'll do a 60min 14.5% high incline walk at 5.8km. then after 4pm I'll do a 30min to 60mins of swimming laps in a 50 metre pool, freestyle with flippers.
Then after workout I might socialise with the other regulars at pool for an hour or so, whilst using sauna and spa. Usually leave at 630ish or later. Depending what time I start workout, if i have finished work later or napped longer than expected.
After 7pm ill be at home. Eat dinner by 730pm and goto bed by 830. But sometimes may not sleep until 9pm.
Waking up for work is the major problem now. I set alarm for 1am but keep hitting snooze, until it gets to late, it gets to about 215am sometimes. And I'm meant to be starting at 2am. Been sleeping beyond alarm time way to much. Need help to get better at this.
Any advice.
I have been working night shift for 3 years Now, my hours are usually 2am til 12pm. But often have problems sleeping in too much. (Need some help to fight this).
I work as a garbage collection truck driver / garbage bin washer. (Job is quite active, as the trucks I'm in require you to manually put garbage bins on the rear of the truck. So no magic arm stuff).
My diets way better Now, trying to lose weight. Have lost 45kgs in less than a year. Been on a 1200 - 1800 cal diet.
After work ill have a nap in car for 30mins to 60mins,
From about 2:30pm, I usually goto the gym to do cardio workouts. I'll do a 60min 14.5% high incline walk at 5.8km. then after 4pm I'll do a 30min to 60mins of swimming laps in a 50 metre pool, freestyle with flippers.
Then after workout I might socialise with the other regulars at pool for an hour or so, whilst using sauna and spa. Usually leave at 630ish or later. Depending what time I start workout, if i have finished work later or napped longer than expected.
After 7pm ill be at home. Eat dinner by 730pm and goto bed by 830. But sometimes may not sleep until 9pm.
Waking up for work is the major problem now. I set alarm for 1am but keep hitting snooze, until it gets to late, it gets to about 215am sometimes. And I'm meant to be starting at 2am. Been sleeping beyond alarm time way to much. Need help to get better at this.
Any advice.
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Replies
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Eat more. You’re tired because you’re seriously underfueling your body.1
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Eat more?0
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Yes. You should be eating 1500 net calories at minimum, and likely a lot more due to your job. Undereating can cause fatigue, along with a host of other health issues.2
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You See, in my mindset I worry because I eat 900 cal before gym and according to treadmill after high incline cardio walk I've burnt 1200 cal in an hour. And plus the swimming adds 500 to 1000 cal. So ends up being 2500 cal exercised with it.
I weighed 145kgs last year. Goal is 75kgs because docs and Google said that was my healthy weight to be at. I'm now at 106kgs.0 -
Agree with @malibu927, even at 1500 or 1800 you're likely still at a decent deficit compared to your TDEE based on the physicality of your job and workout habits.0
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So what should by eatting intake and exercise cal should be . Trying to lose 1 to 2kgs a week0
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Did you enter your stats into this site? What did it tell you?0
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Yeah ive been using diary on here. If that's what You mean.0
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FitterboyAzz wrote: »Yeah ive been using diary on here. If that's what You mean.
You should have entered your age, height, weight, activity level and the amount of weight you want to lose per week when you started. That spits out a calorie goal. What was that number?0 -
But how did you come to be eating 1200-1800 calories? Was that what MFP recommended? You can also try a TDEE calculator elsewhere online to corroborate and/or adjust MFP's numbers.
1-2 kg/week is also widely considered a very aggressive and potentially unhealthy loss rate, 1kg/week maybe, if you still have quite a bit of weight to lose.
What are your current stats (age, height, weight) and goals beyond that 1-2kg loss rate? This will help me and others provide more directed advice.0 -
I just read somewhere on google that 1200 to 1800 cal was the best way to lose weight.
I am 26. Male. 6ft 2 (188cm). Weight is 107kg (75kg is my goal to get too).1 -
It’s time to enter your stats in to your profile.0
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I am shocked no one else is pointing out that you are going to sleep at 830pm and trying to be at work at 2am for a 10 hour day? so at best you get 4 hours of sleep.. Then work a physically demanding job and hit the gym.. I would suggest cutting down on a bit of the workout and or socializing at the gym. I would want to be in bed at 6pm if I got up at 1a.5
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FitterboyAzz wrote: »I just read somewhere on google that 1200 to 1800 cal was the best way to lose weight.
I am 26. Male. 6ft 2 (188cm). Weight is 107kg (75kg is my goal to get too).
That doesn't take into account your stats or activity. 1500 is the minimum for men. I'm a female, ten years older and eight inches shorter, and with my active job I net 1800-2000 a day after exercise.0 -
I'm less worried about your eating and working out, but the fact that you're only getting a consistent 4-5 hours of sleep. On average, most people need 7-9 hours of sleep a night, 6 at minimum. Insufficient sleep impacts your ghrelin and leptin hormones. ghrelin is what signals your brain to eat. With lack of sleep, your body produces more ghrelin. Leptin is what signals your brain to stop eating. When you don't get enough sleep, your leptin levels plummet, signaling your brain to eat more.
Also, there is a cortisol spike that is attached to sleep deprivation. This causes your body to conserve energy to fuel your awake hours, i.e. hanging on to fat for energy instead of burning fat.
I work night shift as well (6:30 pm-5:00 am) and my schedule is as follows:
6:30-5:00= Work (snack at 9:00 pm, lunch at 12:30 am)
5:00-5:45= Drive home get ready for the gym- snack/breakfast in there somewhere. (Usually an apple and peanut butter, pear, some form of cereal or oatmeal, etc.)
6:00-7:15= Gym (60/40-weights and cardio)
7:15-8:00= Shower after gym, get ready for bed.
8:00 am- 3:30= sleep
3:30-5:45= getting ready for work, eating dinner, any chores/errands I need to do before I start my day over.
Granted, I am on about a 1400-1450 daily cal intake (via MFP stats) so, you may be needing more since you're more active.
I just know from personal experience, and testing it out, the sleeping process is so very important to weight loss. Not only does it allow your muscles to rest, but it also impacts your hormone levels.0 -
1200-1800 is very generic and likely fits the majority of the population. However, several factors put you outside the norms; you’re above average height, your job is more physical than most, and you dedicate a good portion of each day to exercise. That’s not to say that you can’t try to lose at 2kg/week, it’s generally not advised due to issues that can create like the fatigue you’re already dealing with. You could also consider alternating your swimming and other cardio activities to allow for more free time you could dedicate to sleep, which I would imagine improve your workouts and leave you feeling fresher after work.
For what it’s worth, 75kg is pretty lean for 6’2” depending on your lean mass (assuming you have quite a bit given your job). I’m 28, 6’1” 79kg, ~14% body fat and I think I would struggle to hit 75kg.
Nice job on the first 45kgs, btw!2 -
Thanks
So what is the best routine for me to follow? How much food should I eat and exercise burn off?
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I think you need to cut some if your gym time. It sounds like you're there for up to 4 hours.
Are your meals prepped? Have that done on a day off and eat right after the gym so you're not eating right before bedtime.. Even have some snacks in your bag. Try different meal times.. are you eating before your workout? Do you get a lunch break?
And get to bed! I wouldn't last a week on that little bit of sleep.
I think the nap is giving you a false sense of rest, then the gym keeps you awake because your mind and body is stimulated by activity, socializing and eating.
Good luck0 -
I used to work 4pm to 2am shift and what I did was split my day. I would wake up at 12 noon, have brunch, get stuff done like shopping, bank, post, whatever daytime only things needed to be done then I'd go to work. Staff meal was 6.30pm. Then I'd have a Snack around midnight. I'd go home straight after work and have dinner and then do workouts, etc until 5am then sleep till noon.
That way I was well awake for the job yet still had a social productive life. I think the main issue i had at first was to try to simply move the clock around and apply a day time routine to my nightlife. You don't have to go to bed at the end of your day and you don't have to start your day with work. Me getting up 4 hours before work meant that I could have a bit of a sleep in if I needed one. And because I had around 4 hours each side of work I felt like I had 2 days in one which meant my level of productivity was incredible. I had local friends for my afternoons and I had American/Canadian friends ( games, forums, social media ) for my early mornings. And since I'm from Europe the time zones worked for me.0 -
So if the app on here is telling me to eat 2300 cals a day. How do many cal should I burn at the gym / pool?0
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FitterboyAzz wrote: »So if the app on here is telling me to eat 2300 cals a day. How do many cal should I burn at the gym / pool?
However many you want, within reason. Remember that the way MFP is set up a. you’re already in a deficit, and b. you should be eating back at least a portion of the calories you burn through exercise.0 -
Do as little or as much as you want.. important part is having accurate numbers if your eating calories back.0
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Other thing is last few weeks I haven't lost much. It's like I've platued despite my routine..0
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?0
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weight loss isn't going to be linear - its a slow, steady race - how frequently are you weighing yourself?0
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What was a shock to your original unfit body is now routine for your much more efficient self. Plateaux are just your body saying "Ok I get it now !" And after a while it'll start again. Remember our bodies are naturally designed to build fat stores for the winter. Spring could bring new challenges.0
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FitterboyAzz wrote: »Other thing is last few weeks I haven't lost much. It's like I've platued despite my routine..
How much is not much?0
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