It's Hard to Stay on track when you work nights!

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  • jen1516
    jen1516 Posts: 77 Member
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    I know what you mean. I work all 3 shifts. My Mondays flip between 2nd & 3rd shift. Wednesdays is 3rd shift (11pm-7am). Fridays is 2nd shift (3pm-11pm). And every other weekend is 1st shift (7am-7pm). As you can see, between my Friday and Saturday I only have 8 hours off inbetween so I usually only get 3-4 hours of sleep that night. I love my job but hate my schedule.
  • stacimusmax
    stacimusmax Posts: 172 Member
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    I also work 7p-7a 3-4 shifts/week in a hospital. Our cafeteria is open at night. However, I find that I do better when I bring my own food (portion control and calorie control). I usually get up around 3pm and hit the gym before work, eat a good meal before work, then 2 small meals throughout my shift. After work, a glass of milk or some yogurt and I fall right asleep (litterly by 8:30 at the latest). Then I repeat the cycle all over again. This is working for me. I wish you the best.
  • thektturner
    thektturner Posts: 229 Member
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    I've been doing nights for almost 7 years and I don't really have problems with it. I am ready for a day job, but mostly because I miss sunshine.

    I work 10pm to 6am. I sleep from about 8am-4pm. So, I get my full 8 hours of sleep. then I wake up, do a 30-60 minute workout and shower before my hubby gets home from his day job at 5:30. Then I have a regular evening like anyone would, go to work at 10pm.

    I log everything I'm going to eat after I eat "breakfast". I do typically eat a dinner-type meal for breakfast as they say you should eat the biggest meal early in the day anyway. Then I have a snack shortly after I get to work (usually veggies or cheese & crackers). then I have a sandwich or something for lunch (around 2:30am) and have an apple and an ounce of almonds around 5am. Then a bowl of cereal or just a glass of skim milk about 7am and go to bed by 8am.

    I think the previous comment "day shifters don't go to bed when they get home and you shouldn't either" is just ignorant. Do whatever works for you. I don't want to sleep all evening and never get to do anything with people who work different shifts (I only have 1 friend who works night shift). That would kill me. I don't go to sleep the second I get home, but I usually come home, eat a bowl of cereal, talk to my hubby before he leaves for work at 7:45am and then get ready for bed. It works very well for me. I don't feel deprived in any way and I am steadily, although slowly, losing weight and building muscle.
  • starryeyedsnoozer
    starryeyedsnoozer Posts: 89 Member
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    I hate night shifts. I work 2 nights a week and like today, I woke at 6am and won't get to go to bed until 9.30am tomorrow morning. I dont know if I'm coming or going with my food and there's no way I'm going to get any excersise in now until Saturday (I have 3 children around all day long and no child care to go and do anything) the thought of working out tomorrow when I get in from work (and have been awake for 27 hours) makes me want to vomit! And to think all this, and I'll die before my retirement?!!! Charming!
  • candi0830
    candi0830 Posts: 3
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    I work 3 nights/week as well. The nights aren't usually all in a row. I have been struggling with a routine for my exercise and eating as well. Last week, I worked out on my days off and the morning of one of the days I had to work. Usually, when I get home in the mornings, I eat some cereal (special K- protein plus), take a shower and go to bed. I get up around 5, get ready for work, and end up eating "dinner" between 7 and 10 and not eating anything else for the rest of my shift (drink water). I know I'm not eating enough. I liked some of the ideas here like eating a meal before going to work and then 2 small meals during shift. I'm not gaining weight but it's really slow coming off. I see now when working @ night, it's all about planning and scheduling meals/exercise. If you guys have any other ideas, please share! Thanks!
  • vdanzl
    vdanzl Posts: 2
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    I also work nights. I log food based upon what works for me. I call the meal I eat in the morning before I get home breakfast, the meal I eat when I get up lunch and the meal I eat in the middle of my shift dinner. Be consistent, log everything you eat and drink. Remeber that a day is 24 hrs no matter how many hours you are awake you don't get to add extra calories, because you were awake most of the day.

    I would explain to my co-workers that I am trying to lose weight and my will power crumbles when there are snacks so close at hand. Ask them to store their snacks somewhere harder to access or store healthier snacks. Being that you're at a nursing station they may be more than willing to agree to healthier snacks.

    Make your own routine that works for you. I go to sleep when I get home so I am awake when my family gets home. If this doesn't work for you find what does. Try your best to get as much sleep as you can, but remember that many dayshifters only sleep 6 hrs. a night.
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
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    How would your metabolism change being on a different shift? Are we solar powered?
  • Elf_Princess1210
    Elf_Princess1210 Posts: 895 Member
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    How would your metabolism change being on a different shift? Are we solar powered?

    I've found for me it really does slow my metabolism down,but I didn't realize it until I worked for 2 weeks on day shift in order to train for my current job. I ate and exercised the same way I do now and I lost about 7 lbs without changing anything else. I'm also a morning person by nature.

    Edit to add: this is just me. It may not apply to everyone.
  • jcgrant43
    jcgrant43 Posts: 64
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    How would your metabolism change being on a different shift? Are we solar powered?

    Nope, not solar powered, but that's pretty funny! However, our bodies have a natural rhythm and night shifts, or shift work in general play havoc with that. Sleep, and quality sleep, are important for overall health, not just weight loss. Try screwing around with your sleep patterns and just see how you feel physically, and some of the things that happen to your body and mental state. I worked shift work for ten years. 2 days, 2 nights, 2 off, 12 hour shifts. Crazy, crazy! There were times at the end of a cycle of shifts I'd be messed up for my two days off, and not really sleep at all...then start over again.....then I got a day job Monday to Friday 8 to 4, weekends off. I'm so much better off for it. :smile:

    Hats off to those of you who still pull it off. Nurses, cops, firefighters, steam engineers, cleaners, maintenance people......all of you, without whom, most of society would shut down. Thanks folks!
  • misschubbybutterfly
    misschubbybutterfly Posts: 75
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    I've worked nights for over a year and I find that if I don't eat all my food before I go to work, i pack on the lbs. I take one small snack (100 cals) with me and drink a ton of water or unsweetened green tea. When I get home, I go right to sleep.

    I feel like it's the need to eat "normally" at home and then eat again at work when im running arround. I would eat double and then go to sleep. No bueno.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    I've been working 12 hour overnight shifts for over 10 years. I don't feel that my metabolism is any different. The only difference is that I work long shifts and have a long commute so I get a lot less sleep between my shifts than the average person. I really don't think that by working overnights that it will cause you to gain weight. It's what you eat that causes you to gain weight. I've lost my weight while working overnights as well.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    Also: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/508-night-crawlers
  • Fieldsy
    Fieldsy Posts: 1,105 Member
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    Switched to 3rd shift 8 days ago and ready to blow my brains out. Im exhausted all the time, cannot sleep for more than 5-6 hrs, not hungry but eating much more, only worked out once the past 8 days.

    Im getting off this shift asap!
  • 7bel0
    7bel0 Posts: 192 Member
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    I totally understand all of these comments about working nights. There's unhealthy snacks left around at the desks all the time. There's no food readily available (like a cafe or something). You rarely have time to actually sit down and eat your healthy food because you're understaffed so.. you grab crackers and cheese or crackers and peanut butter on the go. All in all, it's hard. I've been working nights for 3.5 years and it was hard to adjust to the changes. But honestly, I pack a ton of healthy quick snacks.

    The other thing I find hard is co-workers who know you're dieting/changing your lifestyle but still come up to you and say "hey we're ordering out, do you want some pizza/pasta/thai/chinese food?" ahhh!!!
  • HLeAnn
    HLeAnn Posts: 261 Member
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    For the last few weeks I have been working 11pm/12am to 10 or 11 am. The hardest part for me is the working out. The absolute last thing I want to do when I get off work in the morning is go to the gym. And also because I don't sleep very much, I find myself craving sugar all the time. I have been doing this god-awful "shift sleeping" thing where I fall asleep when I get home (because I can't keep my eyes open anymore), sleep for like 3 hours, then get up, go to the gym, do a few chores, then go to bed and sleep for 2-3 hours. I am not used to this schedule, and I screw myself over on the weekends anyway. So, i totally understand the challenges. It's something I'm still working on as well. I do know it's possible to juggle the eating/working out with this schedule, just a little harder. Good luck!!:flowerforyou:
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Bump
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
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    sleep shifting does not work well
    LeAnn...you need to try to sleep at least 6 hrs straight
    I feel miserable when i do that,...i also know that sometimes you have to sleep that way with appts/kids etc

    I think a body was made to sleep at night
    I just don't think i sleep that well during the day
    rest plays a part in your weight loss journey

    diet, exercise, rest = success
    :bigsmile:
  • HLeAnn
    HLeAnn Posts: 261 Member
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    sleep shifting does not work well
    LeAnn...you need to try to sleep at least 6 hrs straight
    I feel miserable when i do that,...i also know that sometimes you have to sleep that way with appts/kids etc

    I think a body was made to sleep at night
    I just don't think i sleep that well during the day
    rest plays a part in your weight loss journey

    diet, exercise, rest = success
    :bigsmile:

    I whole-heartedly agree with you. I just have to make myself stay up when I get home from work...which is the hardest part LOL. I'll keep working on it.
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
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    sleep shifting does not work well
    LeAnn...you need to try to sleep at least 6 hrs straight
    I feel miserable when i do that,...i also know that sometimes you have to sleep that way with appts/kids etc

    I think a body was made to sleep at night
    I just don't think i sleep that well during the day
    rest plays a part in your weight loss journey

    diet, exercise, rest = success
    :bigsmile:

    I whole-heartedly agree with you. I just have to make myself stay up when I get home from work...which is the hardest part LOL. I'll keep working on it.

    i tried that too...
    I go to be when as soon as I get home :bigsmile:
  • Sam_Hain
    Sam_Hain Posts: 68 Member
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    Working nights sucks. Then top that with being limited to chow hall (or cafeteria food for non-military). Not conducive to a healthy diet. Food schedule is jacked. Sleep schedule is jacked. Stress levels are up. If you are fortunate you are able to work on duty.

    I feel your pain. Honestly though, all I can do is sympathize. I can't really offer words of advice other than try to keep your daily calories low/high depending on what you are struggling with. And sleep. Make your room as dark as you can and pick up 1mg sublingual melatonin tabs.

    Your only other option... find a new job.

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