Any advice on what to eat on a night shift

irishejit

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help here. Basically I've put on a stone and a half in the last couple of months after starting a new job. Now 15st 7lbs @ 5'9"

I work 2 day shifts from 7am-7pm. I normally have a bowl of cereal about 6am. About 10:30am I'll have a cup of tea and maybe a biscuit, and then a round of sandwiches (not shop bought) around 1pm. then when i'm home about 7:30pm I'll have a small pasta dish or something similar.

Then I work 2 night shifts from 7pm-7am. I'll normally have cereal about 5:30 pm, then I eat at 11pm and 3am, normally a tortilla wrap, pasta salad or a sandwich at 11 and then something like a cup-a-soup and slice of bread at 3am. I'll not have anything when i get home in the morning and head straight to bed.

I'm then off for 4 days where I try and eat at "normal" times before my 2 days, 2 nights start again.

I've a feeling myself that its due to these hours that my body clock doesn't know whats going on and stores everything i eat.

I'll be honest too, my job is office based so i'm in a chair for the majority of the 12 hours. I try and walk a bit when i'm off but have made the pledge to walk a whole lot more now that i've scared myself with the weight I've become.

Would anyone have any suggestions on what type of food would help this situation? Eating at the same time isn't an option as when I'm working I'm normally asleep at the times I'd be eating other days.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

EileenG

I was reading this morning that the more time you spend under artificial light, the easier it is to put on weight. So working nights won't help.

I'd eat something like scrambled eggs or an omlette before you start your night shift, or even a steak or piece of fish if you can manage it. Then stick to things like cottage cheese or a whole apple as snacks during it. Not cupasoup or bread or cereal.

irishejit

Thanks for the tips, I must try some of those ideas now

ApeXaviour

EileenG wrote: »

I was reading this morning that the more time you spend under artificial light, the easier it is to put on weight.

Lights Out by any chance?

Would you recommend it?


Edit: Sorry, should also post a bit on topic. It's a good idea to stay away from the high density carbs like Eileen said. Have something with a bit of protein to keep you satisfied and keep the insulin down. Biscuits and sugary things are well worth keeping away from if you're trying to lose weight. Portion control too. And don't be afraid to skip a meal if you're not feeling hungry! It's not that big a deal (as people have shown with intermittent fasting it can have some positive side effects) esp since you've no real regularity anyway

irishejit

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Lights Out by any chance?

Unfortunately that's not an option where I work, I work a lot at a computer monitor and the strain on the eyes in a dark room wouldn't be the best......plus I used to do that and the boss took a right hissy fit!!

c montgomery

I work the 2 day 2 night shift too and i find that keeping as regular an eating plan as i can to my days off is the best. That is i try to eat 3 meals during my night shift. I work in reverse order starting with dinner at 10pm, lunch at 02:30am and breakfast at 06:30.
Meals may not be as big as they would be on my days off but i would not let myself go hungry.
For dinner i would have a chicken salad/soup with sandwich/shephards pie.
Lunch would usually be a ham/chicken bagel with strawberries and low fat youghurt or an apple and bananna.
Breakfast would be some cottage cheese with crackers, wheetabix with bananna or bran flakes.
This works for me on nights and i dont put on any weight but i find it essential to do some sort of excerise before working nights. This helps me get rid of the excess energy built up from sitting in front of my computer all nite and generally makes me feel better.

irishejit

c montgomery wrote: »

I work the 2 day 2 night shift too and i find that keeping as regular an eating plan as i can to my days off is the best. That is i try to eat 3 meals during my night shift. I work in reverse order starting with dinner at 10pm, lunch at 02:30am and breakfast at 06:30.
Meals may not be as big as they would be on my days off but i would not let myself go hungry.
For dinner i would have a chicken salad/soup with sandwich/shephards pie.
Lunch would usually be a ham/chicken bagel with strawberries and low fat youghurt or an apple and bananna.
Breakfast would be some cottage cheese with crackers, wheetabix with bananna or bran flakes.
This works for me on nights and i dont put on any weight but i find it essential to do some sort of excerise before working nights. This helps me get rid of the excess energy built up from sitting in front of my computer all nite and generally makes me feel better.

So basically you try and eat and 10pm and 6.30am on your days off as well, is that right? and then you'd only miss your lunch....that's a good idea. thanks for the tips

c montgomery

irishejit wrote: »

So basically you try and eat and 10pm and 6.30am on your days off as well, is that right? and then you'd only miss your lunch....that's a good idea. thanks for the tips

Are you trying to be sarcastic??

irishejit

c montgomery wrote: »

Are you trying to be sarcastic??

No not at all, I'm grateful for any help at all

ApeXaviour

irishejit wrote: »

Unfortunately that's not an option where I work, I work a lot at a computer monitor and the strain on the eyes in a dark room wouldn't be the best......plus I used to do that and the boss took a right hissy fit!!

Sorry... I went off topic a bit and wasn't really clear, I was asking Eileen whether she was referring to the book called "lights out"

c montgomery

irishejit wrote: »

No not at all, I'm grateful for any help at all

Ok. Your response sounded like you were tho

Well what i meant is eat 3 square meals a day or night.
On your days eat your regular breakfast/lunch/dinner or breakfast/dinner/supper.
On your nights you will more than likely be going straight to bed after work so you wont need to eat much towards the end of your shift. I personally as i stated above still eat my 3 meals during a night shift but i start with dinner as it fills me up for the night. I would have lunch at about 2:30 or when i feel hungry and a small breakfast before finishing work and driving home.

The day of my night shift i would usually eat 4 meals, 1 when i get up and 3 inside in work.

Eating biscuits on night shift and sitting on your hole for the night wont help. Strawberries and youghurt is a good sweet replacement for them. Nuts are also a good healthy treat.
Stay away from sugary foods/drinks and biscuits and pasta salads if they have alot of mayo.

Exercise is the best way i find to lose any weight i may add as a result of nights.

irishejit

@ C Montgomery - Sorry if i came across like that.

All your posts have been a great help, I'm definitely gonna try all of your ideas. It's the first time I've ever had to do nights in my working life and hadn't a clue what to do.

All of your suggestions are meals that I like which is a real bonus

I guess half the battle is trying to find some sort of structure and along with the type of food then I hope to see some real progress. As I said in my OP as well I'm going to seriously step up how much i exercise I do as well which should be a big help

Red Cortina

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Lights Out by any chance?

Would you recommend it?

I read that book a few months ago. I think that I would defo recommend other books before it. The main take home message from it was that a study was conducted where people were given totally darkened rooms to sleep in with the exception of one small light which was put behind their knee. They showed that the sleep these people got by being exposed to this one small light was not as good a quality sleep as that obtained by the folks sleeping in a completely dark room. The main problem I have with the book is that the author refers back to a time before the paleolithic era. It was a bit more than I personally could wrap my head around I suppose and I got a bit impatient with it!

I can type up the text in the book about that sleep study if you want when I get home from work, it would save you a few quid and save you from reading it!!

jd83

Sorry thought i was starting a new thread. posted by mistake here

HHtraining

Key tips for shift work.

Eat protein with every meal
Eat lots of good fats.
Keep the carbs low.

On night shifts, have dinner by 22:30 at the latest. If possible don't eat after dinner on night shift just plenty of water and some tea/coffee (intermittent fasting). This has helped me a lot in the last couple of years as I've been working shifts for 16 years. Make sure you still have your allocated calories for each day.

Also, as important as your nutrition, sleep as much as you can, though not at work