breakfast, lunch, dinner confusion
kgfpowell
Posts: 20 Member
I have been working over nights for 12 years. I have NEVER been able to get my eating habits in order. I don't know when to eat what meal. I think this is why I have gained 45 lbs in the past few years. I go to work 1130 pm monday thru Thursday and work til 930 am then I come home and work for my son's business answering the phone til 1pm. when do I eat and when do I exercise ? any helpful stories you would like to share will be extremely helpful.
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hey, im the same way, i just started doing nightshifts almost a year ago, so once i started MFP i knew id have to fix my time differently. I work from 6pm to 6 am, 3 days in a row, so generally i sleep most of the day until at least 1pm, so i typically dont get hungry until 2 or 3, and i usually eat dinner at work around midnight. So instead of how most do there time from midnight to midnight, i do mine from 10p to 10p, granted i have to wait 2 hours before being able to chart anything if i ate after 10 but its really seemed to help me. and through out the day when i do get hungry i try to grab a banana or i buy 80-100 calorie snacks to keep me going until when i eat at 12. Hope this helps!!!!!0
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I'm still trying to figure it out..lol:bigsmile:0
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You have 6 meals on your diary. So for three of them, keep them for when you are working nightshift, keep the other 3 for when you are off, or pulling a dayshift. Mine goes like this:
0030 - 0600
1630 - 1845 (snack if off)
2200 - 2359
Breakfast
Dinner
Supper
Note that I work 12 hours, so I set mine up different from what you would if you work an 8 hour shift. This works well for me. It is something to think about.
Good luck to you guys.0 -
I have breakfast on my 4am break, lunch when I get home at 10am then sleep to 3-4ish pm, dinner with the family at 5-6, walk with the family after dinner (at least we try to), kids in bed at 8, do strength training for 15-30 mins, sleep til 10, go to work.0
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I have the same problem, I just eat what I want and log it wherever i think it fits but recently I found you can change your settings on MFP and actually make it so it doesnt say breakfast, lunch and dinner and you can put in times or whatever you want to put in.0
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I can hear ya on when to eat and when to work out. I have been working nights for the past 12 years as well. Its tough for us night crawlers. Fortunately I work 3 - 12 hours shifts. 7p-7a. with the occasional 4th shift in there every couple weeks. My wife also works nights and works the opposite nights. So trying to juggle our own schedules, throw in there 4 kids ranging from 11 to 3 months. So this is how my wife and I have done it. She has changed her labels on MFP to meals instead of the normal breakfast, lunch, dinner. Mine are still the same. I still eat to a somewhat normal schedule. Dinner is still dinner, because it is our family time. Snacks are what I log throughout the night. I eat breakfast before I go to bed in the morning, and If its my day off lunch is obviously lunch. Its hard to have a normal eating pattern, but its also as hard to have a normal pattern working nights. So you have to try to figure out what is best for you. Especially if you are working as many hours as I think you are. As far as exercise goes. I used to workout after I got done work. Drop half the kids of at school and then hit the gym. However we quit the gym and I now have a road bike setup on a indoor trainer, for the cold months, and have been riding at night after the kids go to bed on my off nights. When I work out in the AM it seems to help me sleep better, and then when I workout at night it puts my day at ease and finishes the day, helps me fall asleep at night.
As I tell my other half, you have to make time for yourself to work out. You spend so many hours for others, 30-60 minutes a day out of 1440 each day is not that much.
Hope you get some ideas from the responses.
Good Luck.0 -
I think after 32 years of shift work atleast 12 years nights I have finally cracked it:
An hour before I go to work ((I start 2200)I have breakfast = usually cereal (porridge or allbran) or scrambled eggs, mushrooms & tomatoes with a piece of toast.
Between 0100 and 0200 I have lunch = meat & salad roll (ham, chicken,
steak) and a Vaalia probiotic yoghurt -it seems to have stopped "night duty tummy ache"
Betwee 0400 and 0500 I have a Tony Fergusson berry munch meal replacement bar +/- a piece of fruit.
When I get home I will have egg of some description if I haven't had it for breakfast the previos day.
Lots of water with each meal.
I tend to sleep from around 0900-1000 to 1800-2000!
This is since I started MFP.
I only eat the evening meal (dinner) the day I finish nights, likewise I have two break fasts the day I start nights (no dinner)0 -
I changed my food diary to have only one section called "my foods" simply b/c my life doesn't fit around breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I work 7p-7a in ER. I consider the start of my day when I wake up whether it be 2,4,5pm and the end of my day when I go to bed (8,9,10am). I bring light and quick meals (some prepared in advance) and plenty of healthy, fulfilling snacks to work with me. I try to eat something about every 4 hours whether it be a meal or light snack. It keeps me from binge eating and having hunger pains. Planning ahead of time is key for me.0
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I have mine listed as breakfast, lunch, dinner, overnight, snacks, drinks.
My shift always is changing so I slide my night shift food into that category . I count mine on the day my shift starts not ends. If I sleep threw breakfast or lunch or both if I'm lucky
I just skip those ones. I only keep the drink category to keep me honest with my soda and drink calories . I'm getting better at that cut most of the soda out and if I do its diet. 0 -
Yeah, I get confused on my days off. The days I work, breakfast is around 4pm. Lunch at midnight. Bedtime snack around 5 or 6am. But sometimes I like to be awake during the daylight hours. Get some of that Vitamin D. Then there's the problem of calorie counting. My calories go from 2pm-2pm. But then I worry that I'm overeating, because I have a whole new set of calories at 2pm when I might have had breakfast and maybe even lunch before then. I've been trying to workout when I get and up and before I got to bed so that I have more calories to play with.0
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thanks for the info. I am trying to change when I eat, doing better this week.0
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this week I tried this: got up at 9pm ate shortly after, a dinner. At work around 2, I had a lunch, around and around 11 am when I was at home, I ate a breakfast. had a small snack in between meals. Bed around 1pm. this way I get to eat breakfast and dinner with my Husband. I divided my calorie goal into four. one for each meal and split the last for 3 snacks in between. I lost 2 lbs so I will try again this week and see how I do, wish me luck.......0
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I have this same issue. I have been on nights for 4 years. I was just recently diagnosed with diabetes. This is how i find it best through the week to track my meals.
Lunch: 2330 my work start time
Snack: 0300
Snack 5 or sick maybe
Breakfast around 8am then bed
up between 1 and 3
pick up kids, cook
Supper 430 or 5
bed 1730
up at 2200
work at 2330
I stay lost.....0 -
i like this schedule. this should work for me. I will try it out.0
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this week I tried this: got up at 9pm ate shortly after, a dinner. At work around 2, I had a lunch, around and around 11 am when I was at home, I ate a breakfast. had a small snack in between meals. Bed around 1pm. this way I get to eat breakfast and dinner with my Husband. I divided my calorie goal into four. one for each meal and split the last for 3 snacks in between. I lost 2 lbs so I will try again this week and see how I do, wish me luck.......
I do not eat according to what time of day it is meaning I do not eat "breakfast" just because it is 8am. I eat my "breakfast" when I wake up just like people who sleep at night do and then I eat the other meals accordingly.0 -
I like to think I live on the edge so my problem is pretty tough and I def haven't figured it out. I am a prn worker so I usually pick up 3p-7a shift 3-4 times a week. The other eight hours is left for travel and sleep. I usually only sleep 4-5 hrs due to traveling 45 min to work one way. Therefore I need major help on when to eat.
My eating schedule consists of breakfast when I get up and every 1 to every 1 1/2 I'll eat a small snack and by 8 or 9 a clock I'm eating my final meal which are all small meals and do it all over again the next day. I'll usually work 2 or 3 days in a row. In this case right now I'm working on my 3rd 16 hr shift.
I have set rules that I will not eat 4 hours before I go to bed and to not go more than 2-3 hours w/o eating something so it's pretty difficult to abide by the rules and continue to try and reach my goal w/o cheating.
Bottom line is I need help on when to eat and I also need to figure out how to prevent craving for food from 10p-5a that I haven't seemed to figure out how to get rid of...0 -
Usually if I have to work I eat my big meal around 3pm (I start work at 7p) then I will have a snack around 2300. I drink a meal replacement shake around 0100-0200 and then try not to eat anything else. I drink a lot of water at work so that helps. On my days off i still don't eat my first meal until around 1300 and that is usually a meal replacement shake also so I can eat my big meal of the day with my husband at around 1800-1900. The meal replacement shakes are what is helping me so I don't over eat but still get the calories and nutrition I need0
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Night shift meals are tough and so is exercise. I work 7pm-7am at two jobs with different situations in having meals. At one I'm always on the go, which usually means convenience store food. At the other I have to stay in one place with access to a kitchen. I try to work the timing about the same.
I get home around 8am and have a cup of joe, a light breakfast and do chores 'til around 1030.
I sleep from about 1030am til 3pm - give or take, depending on the day's workout.
I"m a runner, so I usually workout for 60-90 minutes after I get up. Water and at most a banana or granola bar before working out.
Back to work at 7pm. I usually try to eat dinner just before, but usually after I get in to work. Ideally I pack my food for work, but that's 50/50 at best. Dinner at this time also keeps me in line with my day shift family dinner when I'm off.
Snack and coffe around 10pm.
Night lunch at around 1am.
Sweet tooth around 3am. I'm a baked goods addict. This is a tough one. Pack fruit.
Packing food for work is the best plan. Buying food on nights usually results in significantly higher calories. I'm on the East coast and our convenience store chain is called WAWA. They have really recognized that folks want to eat healthy and have by far the most healthy options.
The toughest days are my days off when I get home from work at 8am and my dayshift family is home. I usually stay awake for the day, which means I eat almost 2 days of meals in one day. Two steps forward, one step back.0 -
I have been working nights for ten years. When I wake up and eat its breakfast. And few hours later lunch. My dinner is at work around 2 am. I try not to eat when I get home or later than that because it would be the same as eating in the evening before you goto bed.:yawn:0
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I'm still trying to figure it out..lol:bigsmile:
haha me too..... have been for 6 years... :laugh: There is no right way, it's weird any way you do it.0 -
Night shift meals are tough and so is exercise. I work 7pm-7am at two jobs with different situations in having meals. At one I'm always on the go, which usually means convenience store food. At the other I have to stay in one place with access to a kitchen. I try to work the timing about the same.
I get home around 8am and have a cup of joe, a light breakfast and do chores 'til around 1030.
I sleep from about 1030am til 3pm - give or take, depending on the day's workout.
I"m a runner, so I usually workout for 60-90 minutes after I get up. Water and at most a banana or granola bar before working out.
Back to work at 7pm. I usually try to eat dinner just before, but usually after I get in to work. Ideally I pack my food for work, but that's 50/50 at best. Dinner at this time also keeps me in line with my day shift family dinner when I'm off.
Snack and coffe around 10pm.
Night lunch at around 1am.
Sweet tooth around 3am. I'm a baked goods addict. This is a tough one. Pack fruit.
Packing food for work is the best plan. Buying food on nights usually results in significantly higher calories. I'm on the East coast and our convenience store chain is called WAWA. They have really recognized that folks want to eat healthy and have by far the most healthy options.
The toughest days are my days off when I get home from work at 8am and my dayshift family is home. I usually stay awake for the day, which means I eat almost 2 days of meals in one day. Two steps forward, one step back.
10:30 - 3 ???? :noway: poor thing....that is not much sleep :yawn:0 -
just joined mfp i work mostly 12-13 hours over night shift 8p-8a my schedule rotates every 4 weeks and also includes 4 weeks of 8a-8p and 4 weeks of 2p-2a and have for 9 years i work ER/Critical care vet nurseing very stressfull.
i changed my dairy to have 4 meals at 6hour incruments. with my job and sleep patterns i will not have to consider my dinner at 9am my breakfast.
i have watched my weight increase thru the years, also have have 2 lumbar back surgries so my excercise is limited i need a diet to control the cortisol levels0 -
I too work in the ER night shift. Thanks for your post. This helps me.0
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I changed my food diary to say "meals, snacks, and drinks" instead of breakfast lunch and dinner since I don't do my days that way on night shift... I have found it works a LOT better for me then trying to figure out what goes in the breakfast slot etc...0
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I work 7p-7a. I take my first meal to work and eat at about 645 or so....then 'lunch' is at around midnight....and dinner is anywhere from 4am-8am...depending on my time. I do 'snacky' type meals except for my first one, when I work. I consider 'wake to wake' as my 'day.' My logging day starts when I wake up at 3pm-5pm...and ends when I go to bed after leaving work in the morning. So I'm generally logging my dinner for tuesday...on wednesday morning. Exercize....sigh...that's hard to fit in, and it varies wildly. I used to swim after work in the mornings, but I've convinced myself I dont have any energy left.....however, I'm done with the excuses and am gonna do it anyway.0
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I work from 11:30pm to 7:30am. I eat breakfast when I wake up in afternoon, usually around 4pm. I then eat a lunch around 9:30, or so. Finally, I eat dinner at work on my break. So far it's working well for me.0
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This is the whole reason i don't have my food log viewable to others. Seeing whole wheat spaghetti or vegetable stir fry listed under my breakfast can make me look a little weird to them day shift folks. : )0
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That's a good idea, having one of the meals called 'OVERNIGHT'. I have mine split into time slots as I don't like to call it a new day until I've had a sleep, so my later time slot is 1900-0300 hrs but I think the idea of having one called OVERNIGHT that I use oon night shifts would be better. Also helps remind myself and anyone else viewing the log, why there's lots of strange foods in there!!0
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Love your screen picture with all the fruit !0
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I break it up into 4 hour blocks, it has helped a lot because sometimes I am up earlier than I am other days.0
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