Since starting to work shifts, I’ve put on 30 pounds :eek:. In 5 months. It’s crept up on me and I’ve gone from under 15 stone to 17 stone dead. My metabolism has clearly suffered and got confused. And I’ve obviously been eating to much at the wrong times.
Now, reducing my weight is one thing, but I’d really appreciate advice about how best to manage food intake during my night shifts.
First, figure out when and what are you eating. Are you eating more meals than usual, or are you snacking all the time? Snacking may be linked more to boredom (so, can you bring a novel?); meals need to be either shifted completely or, if having more than usual is pretty much unavoidable (you wake up at day-lunchtime hungry), they need to be made smaller (you just woke up: eat breakfast, not a three-courser!).
When I worked night shift, the whole team was usually able to eat meals together: that helped keep meals normal-sized, albeit funky-timed (spaghetti with meatballs at 3am). We could not eat at our posts (so no snacking) but could read (so we weren’t bored out of our minds and more than one coworker was taking some long-distance courses).
First, really glad to hear you got work!
Second, try a food diary. Note everything then use something like MyFitnessPal to work out the calorific in/out of your day.
For my last 12-hour night shifts, I normally started with scrambled eggs, then snacked on sandwiches and fruit throughout the night, and finished with a large hot chocolate in the morning. Previously, I snacked on chocolate - that’s gone. I’m only on the night shift for 4 days, which I think makes it worse.
The day shift is fine, though I’m now visiting the burger van less!
Are you getting enough sleep? I’ve heard that weight gain/obesity has been linked to sleep deprivation. (A couple of cites: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/09/health/webmd/main654548.shtml and Sleep Deprivation Doubles Risks Of Obesity In Both Children And Adults -- ScienceDaily)
Is that equivalent to what you eat when you’re day-shift?
Ah… I’m most definitely not getting enough sleep. The children wake me during the day.
No. Then I tend to have a proper breakfast and a proper supper.
I agree with jjim - one thing that might help is buying a small notebook or using a smartphone app and logging EVERY bit of food you eat. Not only will it make you more aware of how much (and what) you’re eating, but You’ll find you’re less likely to eat something out of boredom or stress if you have to write it in your logbook right away. It makes eating as bit more work, so you tend to do less of it. (At least I do!)
A regular exercise routine can help you re-calibrate your metabolism and circadian rhythms, which are probably screwed up.
That’s part of the problem, then. You should be eating similar global amounts through 24h, albeit portioned differently. Do you grab something when the kids wake you up (a glass of juice has a ton more calories than one of water, and I don’t know about you but I do tend to wake up thirsty even if not hungry)?
This could be difficult - I’m living with my brother and his family.
Only water, then I try to get back to sleep.
It sounds like you are eating more. A sandwich and a piece of fruit is a meal, not a snack. A treat now and then is fine, but if it is a daily treat, keep it small. Have a cup of tea and then a small cup of hot chocolate- and figure that is pretty much your indulgence for the day.
The harsh truth is that we don’t get many calories to play with.
Given that I’ve put on weight, this is a given, but keeping energy levels up on the night shift is very hard. I’ve been snacking regularly: having a sandwich or fruit or something about every 2 hours really to help me stay awake. The shift only lasts 4 days before it’s on to the next one. As I said earlier, I used to snack on chocolate, and I’ve cut that out.
What about snacking on crunchy veggies - cucumber, carrots, dill pickles, etc. I find even ice water helps when I’m trying to stay awake.
Oh God, food as a solution to boredom… that’s bad.
Look at what else you can do to help you stay awake. Book? Radio? Walk around? Clean? In every factory where I worked shifts, the night shift spent a lot of time cleaning and making sure every form and folder was Just So, simply because it was something that got our butts off the chair while not taking it too far away. When I was in charge of calibrations, I did most of mine at night for that same reason: it got me moving around the lab and doing tasks which were slightly different from the analysis themselves.
Agreed with the others - I used to work the graveyard shift and know that staying awake can be tough. Try cold non-calorie drinks (fizzy and plain), vegetables to crunch on, fruits that are lower in calories. If possible, don’t cut up the fruit much ahead of time - munching off a whole piece of fruit engages your brain a little more than just popping a cube of something into your mouth. Check out rice cakes for something crunchy - they have flavored ones like cheddar and caramel corn that are decent and low in calories.
Make sure you get enough sleep, both for your sanity at work and to keep your body and metabolism running right.
If you’re allowed music, try podcasts and the like that will engage your brain, make you laugh, etc. My husband and I take one or two long road trips every year, and use funny podcasts to pass the time.
I can tell you what I did during night shifts, if that helps.
Wake up 530pm, shower, coffee, make dinner, eat dinner at 6pm, go to work (usually an 8pm start).
Coffee and biscuit on arrival to work.
Meal at midnight (sandwich or chinese food or pizza or whatever everyone else was having- sometimes skipped and substituted with Coca-Cola or sweet coffee if very busy)
Cup of tea and banana at 4am
Cup of tea, toast and scarmbled eggs at 7am
Finished work at 9am, in bed before 11.
So I had 3 meals and 2 snacks (or 2 meals and 3 snacks) at 6, 8, 12, 4, 7.
Would that work for you?
In an earlier thread I was warned off tea for the later part of the shift, but yes, that looks good.
I keep hearing ads on the radio around here about treatment for Shift Work Sleep Disorder. As someone upthread said, weight gain may be tied to sleep deprivation.