Nightshift workers

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Hastie1981
Hastie1981 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
Any tips on how to balance your meals out? I've worked nights for years but never been able to adjust to eating just 3 times a day like I do in the daytime. Quite often I end up eating 4 or 5 times. Breakfast when I wake up about 1pm, a dinner about 5pm before I go to work, sandwiches or something similar around midnight a bit of fruit in the early hours, then a bowl of cereal when I get he in the morning.

If I cut out the breakfast when I get up in the afternoon I find by 5pm I'm starving, yet not really in the mood for a dinner as its the first thing I'll have eaten. plus i like to do some exercise in the afternoons which i cant do if running on empty.. If I cut out the cereal in the morning when I get home I'm normally struggling to get to sleep as I'm normally hungry at that time.

What do you other shift workers do?

Replies

  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
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    i work nights and i just do the best i can

    i can't tell you what works for me because nothing is really working for me

    u can connect with other nightshifters on the official nightshift thread
  • sneakypackrat
    sneakypackrat Posts: 33 Member
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    Hi :)
    I've been using myfitness pal for about 2 and a half months now. I work graveyards too. What seems to work for me is, Working out after I get off work. As far as eating, it's a bit trickier. When I start my day, I consider that breakfast, and at work, i have lunch and snacks, then when I get home I'll have something for dinner. I log everything according to the clock on mfp. It seems to be working for me. I guess if i notice it's not working I'll tweak it in the long run.

    Hope this helps :)
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
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    i dont eat from midnight until noon.
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/674291-official-nightshift-thread?page=18#posts-9917915

    you can connect with other nightshifters at this link

    Railr0aderTony has lost a lot of weight

    I log midnight to midnight

    i work sun thru thurs nights 10pm to 6am
  • Froody2
    Froody2 Posts: 338 Member
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    Interested to see others replies as well! Night shift is something I struggle with, too. I either end up not eating enough because I'm not hungry when I should eat, or over eating because I haven't eaten properly and someone's brought in a cake that's to die for, damn them.

    I know it's best to eat as close to normal meal times as possible but it's so hard to do. I'll be watching with interest to see if anyone's found a solution. Off to work, g'night!
  • Hastie1981
    Hastie1981 Posts: 10
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    Thanks for all the replies I hadn't realised there was an official nightshift thread so will take a look in there.

    It's definitely not easy, especially as I do days and nights so it's hard to adjust.

    This week for example m doing Wednesday and Thursday night then Saturday and Sunday day.

    Bigbear there's no,way I could not eat from midnight to midday.

    Sneakypackrat I might have a go at going for a run or something when I get home in the morning, not sure I'd have the energy,
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies I hadn't realised there was an official nightshift thread so will take a look in there.

    It's definitely not easy, especially as I do days and nights so it's hard to adjust.

    This week for example m doing Wednesday and Thursday night then Saturday and Sunday day.

    Bigbear there's no,way I could not eat from midnight to midday.

    Sneakypackrat I might have a go at going for a run or something when I get home in the morning, not sure I'd have the energy,

    i don't know how people that switch back an forth do it at all, I stay messed up as it is:laugh:

    i used to try to work out when i get home but i don't have the energy plus i started a water aerobics class in the evenings
    sometimes i eat when a bite when i get home sometimes I go start to bed
    it is so hard to adjust because no 2 days are the same
    just log it and exercise the best u can
  • whiskeycharged
    whiskeycharged Posts: 400 Member
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    I work from 7 PM - 5:30 AM. I'm in bed at 6:30 AM and wake up around 1:30 PM.

    I just started intermittent fasting yesterday - leangains 16 hours fast x 8 hour feed window.

    My new schedule:

    2:45-3:15 PM or 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA
    3:15-4:45 PM: Training
    5:15 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal of the day). I eat this at home before I leave for work.
    8:15 PM: Second meal. I eat this at work.
    1:15 AM: Last meal before the fast. I also eat this at work.

    Calories and carbs are tapered down throughout the day in the example above.
    The frequency of the meals you eat in the fasted period doesn’t matter.
  • Hastie1981
    Hastie1981 Posts: 10
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    Thanks for all the replies I hadn't realised there was an official nightshift thread so will take a look in there.

    It's definitely not easy, especially as I do days and nights so it's hard to adjust.

    This week for example m doing Wednesday and Thursday night then Saturday and Sunday day.

    Bigbear there's no,way I could not eat from midnight to midday.

    Sneakypackrat I might have a go at going for a run or something when I get home in the morning, not sure I'd have the energy,

    i don't know how people that switch back an forth do it at all, I stay messed up as it is:laugh:

    i used to try to work out when i get home but i don't have the energy plus i started a water aerobics class in the evenings
    sometimes i eat when a bite when i get home sometimes I go start to bed
    it is so hard to adjust because no 2 days are the same
    just log it and exercise the best u can

    Switching back and forward is a nightmare. Normally it's the other way round a couple of days and then a couple of nights but this week it's nights first then days, which I'd dreadfull.
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
    Options
    Thanks for all the replies I hadn't realised there was an official nightshift thread so will take a look in there.

    It's definitely not easy, especially as I do days and nights so it's hard to adjust.

    This week for example m doing Wednesday and Thursday night then Saturday and Sunday day.

    Bigbear there's no,way I could not eat from midnight to midday.

    Sneakypackrat I might have a go at going for a run or something when I get home in the morning, not sure I'd have the energy,

    i don't know how people that switch back an forth do it at all, I stay messed up as it is:laugh:

    i used to try to work out when i get home but i don't have the energy plus i started a water aerobics class in the evenings
    sometimes i eat when a bite when i get home sometimes I go start to bed
    it is so hard to adjust because no 2 days are the same
    just log it and exercise the best u can

    Switching back and forward is a nightmare. Normally it's the other way round a couple of days and then a couple of nights but this week it's nights first then days, which I'd dreadfull.

    it is such a constant struggle to do anything working graveyard
    all i ever want to do is sleep and if i don't sleep and i get overly tired i definitely overeat ...ugh
  • ssilvey726
    ssilvey726 Posts: 107 Member
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    Hey there, as already mentioned, you should hop in at the overnight thread!

    Having said that, here is what I do.

    I log from 7 pm to 7 am as one day.

    I work 9 pm to 7 am with no lunch break, 4 days a week. It's very hard to keep things in order, but I basically just consider Friday's food to be Friday from 7 pm to Saturday at 7 am.

    I work out in the early evening before I go into work. We have a treadmill at home which makes things much easier. But when we didn't have a treadmill I'd try to go for a walk before it got dark. I had no energy to run/walk after work in the morning. Whenever I tried to do that, I'd sleep terribly during the day, as I feel that walking/running gives you energy. My sleep was always so restless after a morning jog after work.

    Good luck, though. You can do it. I've lost 23 pounds in 2 1/2 months and am already halfway to my goal weight. It's a unique situation, but only unique people work overnights, so I'm sure you'll be alright.
  • ssilvey726
    ssilvey726 Posts: 107 Member
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    Oops, I forgot to mention, I sleep as late as I can (usually between 4-5 pm). I workout, then eat breakfast around 7-8 pm. I go to work, have a snack around 10, lunch at 11:30 pm. I have another snack between 2:30-3:30, then eat my dinner between 4:30-5 am. I get off work at 7 am, go home, watch Netflix or something until I go to bed between 8:30-10 am.
  • Barbie0909
    Barbie0909 Posts: 13
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    When on nights I work 12 hour night shifts- plus a 40 minute commute to and from work. I start my day when I wake up from sleeping when I arrive home. I get home around 830am and will sleep until around 4pm- my first meal is breakfast (on MFP) and any meals at work (I usually only pack one with some light snacks) go under Dinner for me. I don't find that I am that hungry on nights and try not to eat very much past midnight.

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