Change of schedule causing over-eating

quiksylver296
quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I got called out late last night and got home about 11:30 (I'm usually in bed by 8:00). This is such a trigger for me. I ended up about 700 calories over for the day after I dove into the chocolate after I got home.

I can't come home and go straight to bed. I need time to wind down. Unfortunately, that wind-down time involves snacks. I'm totally fine when I don't get called out. I eat dinner, dessert, go to bed, and start again the next day.

There is no predicting when I'll get called out. I may not get called out at all on my on-call weeks, or I could get called out multiple nights per week.

I've got to figure out how to navigate this situation.

Replies

  • opalle
    opalle Posts: 234 Member
    I've recently undergone some major changes that includes doing a few shifts a week where I'm not home until 11pm and have the same issue with over eating when I get home. I also can't goto sleep right away.

    How I'm handling it is just accepting that I will be hungry when I get home and planning out healthier options for snacks. Even if it wasn't a planned shift, having something healthy available when I get home is better than heading for the chocolate or in my case diving into a bag of chips 🙂.

    Another thing to consider is those extra calories may not be extra if you are more active during the night when working than you would be at home. If you're normally in bed by 8, that's 3 hours of activity you wouldn't have had so some of those calories are being used up.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    This is how I ended up overweight in the first place. I have a job that often requires me to work 14-hour days. I'd eat 3 meals at traditional times during the day, but then, when I got home around 11:00pm, I'd eat another meal in my "wind-down" time. Usually a sandwich and some chips. I had no idea how many extra calories that was giving me for the day.

    Once I started tracking, I realized this was a major problem area and I needed to stop doing that if I wanted to lose weight. I also realized that I wasn't really hungry when I got home, it just seemed like a good time for some food as I relaxed before bed.

    Now, I go about it in one of two ways. Sometimes, I force myself to just go to bed. I usually have to get up early, even after working late, and I came to realize how important sleep is. Most nights, by the time I finish getting ready for bed, I'm wound-down enough to go to sleep. Even if I still feel a bit wired, after getting into bed, I discover that I'm more tired than I thought and fall asleep rather quickly.

    If I don't have to get up early the next morning, I have more incentive to stay up for a bit. People say this all the time, but brushing your teeth and keeping your hands busy can really work...especially if you are not ravenously hungry. I watch some TV...something dumb that I don't have to concentrate on, and play a silly game on my ipad. It's weird how keeping my hands/mind occupied with playing this game greatly reduces my urge to get a snack.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,365 Member
    When I was on call, I would usually come home wound up and snacky. I made a point of keeping a couple of pre-planned snacks on hand that I could go to quickly when I got home at odd hours. Usually it was one savory, one sweet so I was covered no matter what my mood was B) . It's been over 15 years since I did advocacy work, so I don't really remember what my go-to's were. I'm just guessing here....but I'm pretty sure Late 1990's/ 20-Something Me made very different choices than Present Day Me would! But mostly it was being sure there was a choice of something handy to eat when I got home, and then a quick and easy breakfast for the next day. My rule was just that whatever I stocked up on could ONLY be eaten after a call. Otherwise, Past Me would probably have inhaled some intoxicants and plowed through the whole stash before call week even started, lol.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 703 Member
    I used to have a second job in the evening at weekends, often it would be the early hours before I got home. I also needed a bit of wind down time before going to bed.

    I would have herbal tea and a slice of toast and nut butter. The tea took time to cool, I'd sit and read while I had it, it felt substantial enough. Often I wouldn't really feel like breakfast in the morning because of that so it all evened out.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,621 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I got called out at 11:00 pm last night. Got home around 1:15 am. You know what kept me from snacking?!? Thinking about coming back here and having to admit it. :D I had a flavored water and made it through.

    Good show! In some ways, habit change is like training a pet: Every successful case makes the next success come a little easier. You're going to find a new eating pattern that works for you, as long as you keep working at it. Keep reporting, if that helps, eh? 😉
  • mfp_sucks
    mfp_sucks Posts: 52 Member
    I eat something small every 2 to 3 hours and drink a lot of water during the day. This keeps me feeling full long into the evening hours.

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