~~Midnight Shift Workers~~

I rotate I work one 12 over night a week 6-6. I just try to eat close to 1200 today I am under. But I know I will eat again in a couple hours. I just try not to be way under.

I work the 12-8am shift.

I normally wake up around 4pm and have about a 250 calories snack. Eat dinner with my family a couple hours later. I will pack food for work. I normally eat oatmeal, an apple, orange or banana, greek yogurt, 8 ozs of skim milk with a serving of carnation instant bfast no sugar added powder. Then when I get home I will eat breakfast with the family and in bed by 10am.

I usually eat 1200-1500 calories a day depending on if I can get my walk in or ride.

Edited to add I have worked this shift for almost 11 years. I drink water and coffee inbetween my small meals and space everything out, so I am eating or drinking something every hour.

Uggggh...12 hour night shifts. I used to work that and it about killed me. I work full time nights but only 8 hour shifts. I'm able to manage my personal life and work life better that way. I don't feel so sleep deprived.
I'm on a 1200 calorie diet. The way I work it is to split my calories up into "shifts". I have "breakfast" at work. Usually try to keep it at around 300 calories or less. Cereal, yogurt, fruit etc. I have a very slow shift unless my patients wake up so I always want to eat to keep from getting bored. If I drink a lot of water and spread my snacks out over the night, I find I'm most successful that way.
I sleep from 8:30am-3:30pm. When I get up in the afternoon I have a light snack when my son gets home from school. Fruit or yogurt or something to tide me over to dinner (around 200 calories or less). Then I eat dinner with my family. I'm trying to make more healthy dinners for all our sakes so the calorie count is usually under 500 for a meal. Then I have a few calories left (200-250) for an after dinner snack before I go to work. I find I have trouble resisting temptation more in the evening so I always try to plan an indulgent snack then.
I usually do pretty well on the nights I work. It's when I try to convert to a day person that I go off the rails. My schedule is not so structured then so I have trouble staying on the "plan". Hope this helps.

I'm also a nurse working 11p - 730a. Very different eating pattern than most people. Biggest downfall: all the high fat, high carb, high sugar stuff sitting in the break room. I'm a carb junky and havent found a satisfying replacement yet. Lunch overnight is usually yogurt, salad, fruit, or sometimes coworkers bring in "stuff". Dinner is late afternoon and then a snack before bed. I sleep 4 hours in the morning , then 3 or 4 before work. I think my metabolism has slowed down bigtime because I have only lost one pound in 2 weeks. Any suggestions?

I LOG MY CALORIES FROM MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT>>>>> I work 7pm to 730 am. On the days that I am off, I eat normally. My first night back, I eat a normal breakfast at home, a light lunch with a snack or two, then I come in at 7. I eat my dinner around 10pm or 11pm (as long as it is before midnight). I log my calories from midnight to midnight.. MFP starts a new day over at midnight anyways. This has been the easiest for me to do......

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i work nights 7p-7a 3 nights in a row a week -- so the switching back and forth messes me up. but i tend to eat more on the days i work, because i tend to eat breakfast with my dtr when i get home and dinner with the family before work. then i end up snacking all night because i am tired -- so if anyone has ways of preventing the grazing of night shift then that would be helpful. -- i try to skip lunch and spread it out over the night (doesn't always work) and i have to try real hard to resist all the snacks and sweets that all the other nurses bring in
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Try NOT skipping lunch... just eat a reasonable lunch and have fruit or somehting over the night... That may be why you are hungry because you were never satisfied in the first place.

I also am a nurse who works 7p - 7a six nights in a row, then have eight off. I always log from midnight to midnight. Often my "lunch" at work (after midnight) is leftovers from dinner at home. Breakfast is either right before or right after I get home in the morning. When I wake up in the afternoon I eat dinner with the family and workout in whichever order works best for everyone. When I go to work at 7p sometimes I snack alittle before midnight, some nights I don't get the time. My problem is that I usually can't stay under my calories. I must be eating the wrong foods, still working on that. My days off are a regular schedule with the family, but I still log midnight to midnight.

I'm looking for those who work the crazy night shift that can share their ideas/success/struggles with weight loss . I have trouble getting in all my calories on the nights I work. My shift consists of 12 hrs (6pm-6am). I have tried eating "breakfast" when i wake up in the afternoon then "lunch" when normal shift workers have dinner, then dinner around midnight , but because my job can be demanding, doesnt always work out to that type of eating schedule and I dont eat all the calories for the day. I'd like to hear from others who work midnight shifts and how they work with eating meals and getting everything in..... Thanks in advance guys :happy:

I work from 10pm-8am 4 days out of the week. The change of shift has had no effects on my weight gain and weight loss efforts. The body doesn't recognize breakfast, lunch or dinner.