Working 12 hr nightshift- need to loose 90 lbs!

When I work 12 hour nights in combination with days I just run my calories midnight to midnight and I think in terms of three meals in the 24 hour period rather than "breakfast lunch and dinner". Seems to work even with the switch.

It is hard but doable. I don't eat when I get home from nightshift, whether it is my day off or not. After my last night shift I finish at 7.15 and am in bed by 8 am and don't eat before going to bed (I will have eaten around 2am or 3am at work). I get up at lunch (12 or so) and have my "breakfast" then and only stay up until 10 pm so I just have dinner and a few snacks and then I am just on normal day time like everyone else.

When I go back on to to nights I try to get a few hours sleep in the pm before my first night. Then I eat dinner in the early evening, a meal sometime later during the shift plus some snacks. Last eat is usually by 4am at the latest (otherwise indigestion!). Then I go straight home after shift and go to bed without eating. Sleep until anywhere between 3-6pm. Have "breakfast". Go to work and have two "meals" during the shift and then repeat until days off.

How many days off do you get? Do you sleep well during the day? Sounds to me like you are making it harder on your days off by sleeping too much in the day after your last night?

One of the big things I had to conquer was eating lots of high calorie, sugary or salty snacks during my night shift because I was tired and it was easier. It starts a bad cycle.

I personally believe that after 20 years of nights that people make it hard for themselves when they stay up too long after the shift doing chores etc. It is unavoidable sometimes if you have kids etc but I think it makes you more vulnerable to bad choices because you end up tired at both ends of the day.

aliciadawn2529 wrote: »

I have a terrible time actually going to sleep once I lay down I don’t sleep those full times I wake up for about 20 minutes and toss and turn then fall back asleep. I don’t drink any sodas and I only eat fast food once in a blue moon . My biggest issue is that I usually only eat one meal a day . Recently I have been trying to get 3 good meals in but I just don’t have an appetite I’m in the nursing feild and hardly have to time to eat at work. I get two days off a week and I go to college part time.

aliciadawn2529 wrote: »

Yes! I feel like the sleep is what my problem is! I went to doctor today and he said that 90 lbs is not realistic goal because I don’t have that much fat too lose I have a ton of muscle. So basically I would have to lose my fat AND some muscle to be at a goal weight so I have changed my goal to 60 lbs for now!

If sleep is a problem try a moderate calorie deficit and focus on getting your sleep routine sorted. A lack of sleep can impact you in all sorts of ways, increasing hunger and making us less active. Don't try to have too many drastic changes going on at once. Perhaps rather than trying to go full daytime mode on your days off just get up a little earlier or go to bed a little later, much like day shift folk do on their weekends, for example if you're normally asleep for 10am and up around 5pm for your shift, go to bed at 12noon or get up at 2/3pm , that shouldn't have too much impact on your routine and you can still get those little daytime tasks done.

Some things that have helped me improve my sleep:

• Blackout Curtains and Eyemask - I used to wake as soon as it was getting light which is not ideal if you're on weird shifts
• Blue Light Filter on phone and keeping bedroom for relaxing/sleeping.
• Vitamin B, D & Magnesium Supplements if you don't see much daylight chances are your Vit D is probably a little low. A lot of people find that Magnesium or Melatonin supplements help with poor sleep and B Vitamins help with energy levels.
• Finding a suitable macro split, I find higher protein & fat works best for satiety, carb bloat sometimes makes it uncomfortable for me to sleep, so I tend to keep the carbs for earlier in my day.
• No caffeine for at least 5 hours before bed.
• 10 mins of yoga.
• I also find a White Noise app, relaxing music or a sleep hypnosis MP3 helps me drown stuff out if I am particularly stressed.

There is nothing wrong with eating one meal a day, as long as it has adequate calories and nutrition for your needs. Meal timing and frequency studies have shown that there is little to no bearing on weight management, so whatever works best for you will help you achieve your calorie deficit.