NIGHT SHIFT

I have the same problem with working nights. If I get the chance I try to walk the hallways, I also drink plenty of water so I don't get the midnight munchies.

Bump for later

I just started nights as well (we switch days to nights every 6 mos.) my schedule is: Sleep at 0800-about 1300, gym 1400-1600, ready for work and then arm up at 1745.
Days off my time at the gym can go up to 3 hours a day.
As I've posted before I've gotten into this eating habit of grilled chicke or grilled fish, fruit, veggies and coffee lots and lots of coffee. My nights are a little different though. Right now I'm on the leeward side of base where everything closed at 1800-if you don't bring food over here you're pretty much screwed-or it's like the best diet ever.

I'm a night shift RN, work 12 hr shifts 3-4 times a week. I try to work out the first shift I'm on and any day I'm off. The morning after my last shift I try to work out in the morning. It helps trying to get me back on a "real life" schedule.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM!

I have a food cart and I work Wednesday-Saturday (sometimes others as well). Those days I don't get to work until 5pm and I usually don't get home till 4am. Weekend nights I work even later (for the bar crowd) and don't get home until between 5-6am! This makes my sleep schedule even crazier... and it rolls over into the rest of the week!

I am super lazy when it comes to getting up in the morning (afternoon) so its really hard to go before work I've done that as well as dragging my butt to the gym after work (working out at 4:30-5:30am). I changed my settings and relabeled my meals to be time ranges instead, so it starts "before 3, 3-6,6-9,9-12 and so on... but the last one says "After".

This helps with my food logging, but its still really hard to balance my body. To keep a regular schedule, to keep my body balanced and keep myself healthy, seems like its balancing on a fine line.

I have no idea where to log my stuff on which day because of the night shift thing. I want it to somewhat correlate to my food to that day's exercise but I always get confused how to log it and end up logging nothing :-( At least i'm thinking about it!

I work nights, which is the reason why I put lots of weight on. Biscuit there and then, few pieces of cheeses and anything else I could find.
How I work it out now is this:
I don't ever sleep before going on to my first night shift so I have my three meals during the day and have the last meal at around 7 pm so I don't get hungry before midnight. After midnight, I count it as a new day so I have breakfast at around 2.30 am or even later if I can manage it. When I get home I will not eat as I do not want to go to bed with full tummy.
Depending when I wake up I have lunch and then tea. As I don't start my night shift until 9pm I try to eat my main meals at home because I do not stop for a break until after 1-ish in the morning when I think of having a breakfast. I do usually have a sandwich for my breakfast (with lots of salad) as that seems to fill me up quite well and I do not feel hungry and tempted to have a snack of some kind. If I get really desperate around 5 am and feel hungry I make myself a hot chocolate and that does the trick. I managed to lose some weight. I lost 14 lb in 6 weeks with some emotional binge eating days in between when I ate everything and anything I got my hands on. But that is just me, I need these off days sometimes. Otherwise I would go crazy as I love my food and sweets. One good thing is that as the time goes on you really start to think about what you eat and how much and your off days are not as sinful as before.
I only started to lose weight when I joined MFP and although it is totally addictive the support you get is brilliant.
Good luck to you all.
You are welcome to add me if you like.

I'm glad I found this post as I'm due to work my first set of night shifts since starting logging on MFP. Tonight is my first night and I don't sleep before starting nights so I will have had my usual 3 meals before I go. I've some fruit and a yoghurt to take with me for when I get hungry and I've got a special k cereal bar to have when I hit that 3am wall of tiredness. Taking a big bottle of water with me. I will probably be on my feet for most of the shift if it's a busy one (I work 9pm - 8am). When I get home I'll have breakfast before I go to sleep. As I'll be sleeping I guess I'll miss lunchtime but will have a normal evening meal before going to work and again will take a selection of snacks. I also find that things like a wholemeal pitta bread with reduced fat houmous is also a good one. Some like to have a "main meal" during the night but I just find it bloats me and makes me uncomfortable.

I am a full time nursing student and also work in the hospital. So I don't have a set schedule at all. When I do full time practicum rotations I have 2x12hr days and then 2x12hr nights, or maybe 3x12hr nights if I can get in a paid shift at my job following practicum shifts. I find what works best for me is to treat a night like it is a day-I keep basically the same schedule just swapped around, although I don't eat any large meals on nights, mostly just snacking. I always bring fruits and veggies to work on my night shifts, and things like almond butter and cottage cheese. I tend to work out at weird times anyway so that doesn't make a huge difference for me (I often go for a run at like 11pm-so on night shift I'll do something first thing in the morning instead).

Another GREAT option for exercise, depending where you live in relation to where you work, is either commuting by bike, or if you live too far away to do that (as I do) you can drive part way and bike the rest! Guaranteed exercise and it will help you with energy levels at work too!