What to eat on night shift?

[Tullyjune]

I started a new job last October working 3 x 10hr night shifts a week, and since then the lbs have been piling on

My hours are 21:30-07:30 and I can’t go through without eating something, if I try I get shaky and nauseated. I try to avoid carbs and sugars (but that can be hard, especially if the staff room is stocked with biscuits!) The best thing I’ve found so far to stop the sicky hungry feeling is cheese cubes.

But I’m eating the same as before in the daytime so I’m adding extra calories, and I put on weight very easily anyway.

I am 40yrs old (female) 5’8” currently weigh 11st up from 10 1/2 when I started. Waist up from 28” to nearly 30”

On the days after my shift I only sleep for 4 hours as I have to get up and get the kids from school, so I’m eating for energy. Unfortunately I’m eating all the wrong things, I know I am but I can’t seem to get through the day without those energy boosts!

I walk roughly 10-12k steps a day but that’s my only exercise, my work is very physical for about 4 hours of the shift also.

What can I eat that will give me the energy I need without the weight gain?

4 hours sleep is not enough after a night shift, that won't be helping with the weight gain!

I used to work a night shift every 3rd week for nearly 10 years on/off (and when I wasn't working trebles I was working 4 on 12hr days and 4 on 12hr nights), 4 x 9 hours 10pm-7am and I'd usually just have a sandwich at 'lunch' usually at 2am with a pack of crisps (not healthy I know but it was my usual for all shifts).

I would try eat as normally as possible, ie I'd come home have my breakfast and go to bed, I'd leave eating dinner until about an hour before my shift started .

I did put on a lot of weight, but I was young when I started the job . I noticed a big difference in weight the years I stood at a machine to the years I was spending the whole shift in a manual handling role.

I started out 8 1/2 stone and just before I got pregnant and I was 12 1/2 stone.

toto Thank you for your reply. You’re right, It’s definitely not enough sleep! It’s annoying because I could sleep from 8am- 13:45 and have an extra 1h45mins sleep but my brain wakes me up at 12 and I’m so worried about sleeping through school pick up that I can’t go back to sleep!
But luckily because my shifts are Monday, Tuesday and Saturday I always have a night in between to recover. I’m probably still in deficit though.
I need to stop eating fast energy, I know what I need to do but putting it into practice is hard!

Why not do a kind of 4:3 situation where on the three days you work you eat what you like, within reason, but on the four days you're not working you are careful? That way you are taking the pressure off yourself.

Thanks @HollowTalk that’s a good idea, I don’t really know the rules for 4:3, what are the calorie restrictions?

When I did night shifts I found the best thing was dinner before starting, then as others have said "lunch" at 1 or 2 am. I would have a snack of yoghurt or fruit around 5 or 6 to push through till home time at 8. When I got home I'd have something "carby" to help me sleep. Often scrambled eggs on toast.

So breakfast at 9-10
Sleep 10:30- 4 or 5
Dinner @ 6/7
"Lunch" @ 1am
Snack @ 5am

@traumatisednoodle thank you! That’s really helpful.

I have this problem, permanent night shift workers are more at risk from obesity and other weight related issues because the body's default, well mine anyway, is if I can't sleep I'll eat!

I've lost 1/2 a stone over a couple of months by swapping things like biscuits and sugar rush stuff for grapes, banana's and strawberries and nibble when I get that sicky feeling. Instead of a sandwich I have ryvita or similar and as others have said I have my main meal as close to leaving as possible, so I don't start feeling hungry until 3/4am when ryvita and wafer ham or similar sees me through until I get home and I'll have toast (I don't like cereal) or porridge is good to fill you up enough to sleep.
Are you drinking a lot of coffee or energy drinks? Sometimes it's unavoidable because you just need the caffeine to get you over what I call the 4am wall, but I make sure now I'm drinking plenty of water too, especially in this heat. But I cut down on coffee, and had sweetener instead of sugar and skimmed milk. I had a coffee when I really felt I needed it.

I also have sugar free sweets or Polo's for that sicky feeling, or ice cubes are good too, for the morning time.

It's do-able but expect for it to take longer than if you were working 'normal' hours and trying to lose weight.

Good Luck!

Glad it helps "lunch" was usually soup (nice in the middle of the night) or leftovers from the days before's dinner or sometimes just a sandwich.

Sometimes I'd have trail mix agree having a planned healthy snack makea it less likely you'll get stuck in to the biscuits.

@Iquitit thank you!
I drink far too much caffeine, energy drinks and tea mainly. I will try and switch to flavoured water for couple of drinks. Don’t think I could cut it out all together though!

I have been trying a cuppa soup at about 3am but by 5am I need something else and usually go for a sugary cereal bar and cup of tea. Then I have crumpets and jam when I get home, sleep until lunch and then have a sandwich and crisps.

I’ll start putting off my dinner until later, or maybe eat half with the family and then half just before I go? I don’t want to give up family meals completely.

I want to lose this half a stone but it feels impossible at the moment!

Some thing like this is quick to make and eazy to eat at night without too many calories. I am aware it's not health food

Could you pay for your dc to attend after school club on the Monday and Tuesday just to give you a bit longer to sleep?
You wouldn't necessarily need to leave them in until the end but would give you a bit of leeway in your sleep patterns without the pressure of the earlier school pick up.

I would have a bigger breakfast when you get home and skip lunch. Would then a piece of fruit sort you out until dinner ?
Your snacks do seem quite high sugar, which will make you hungrey again 2 hours later perhaps made worse by not enough sleep ?

Can someone drop the kids back to you after your night shift then you don't need ro worry about oversleeping and can literally get up 5 minutes before.

@Trayble unfortunately the after school club hasn’t started back up since the first school closure last year and the only childminders that collect from our school are fully booked. I should probably go back to bed after the school run or at least doze on the sofa, my DC are 9 and 12 so old enough to amuse themselves for an hour or so, but the 9yr old isn’t quite old enough to get home by himself.

noodle my snacks are awful. I know I’m doing all the wrong things but when I’m hungry and sleep deprived I just reach for the easy option, which usual has chocolate or salty carbs and tastes delicious!

I need to rewire myself to pick healthy options and inspiration for yummy healthy snacks. Tomorrow morning I am going to buy a load of fruit.

@traumatisednoodle

Can someone drop the kids back to you after your night shift then you don't need ro worry about oversleeping and can literally get up 5 minutes before.

Unfortunately not, my friends who would do that for me have kids on a different home time slot, it’s staggered at our school. Once (if!?) life returns to normal I will definitely have more options for sleeping later!

That is tough, I do wonder though by eating lunch before school run if you are waking yourself up a bit too much. Perhaps you could have a nap after your evening meal before you need to go 6-8:30 or something ?

So today is the start of better eating. I have a days annual leave today, which is helpful!

Im donating blood at lunch time so I’ll have a large bowl of porridge before leaving the house and then maybe some fruit and lots of water when I get home.
Dinner tonight is left over roast chicken in a homepride sauce with pasta. I know that’s not brilliant but it’s a kids favourite, so I will have a small portion with a large helping of salad on the side.
Then I’m going to try not to snack in the evening, but if I do it will be chopped veggies and maybe a ryvita.

It's really hard not to reach for something that you know will satisfy your hunger, give you an energy boost and make sure you're on the ball during a night shift, and 'nightshift hunger' is different to 'normal' hunger IME too! Like you say that sicky, shaky, horrible feeling.
People don't get that you don't need to just be awake, but as awake and alert as you would be during the day and fighting your body and natural instinct to sleep doesn't make that easy at all!

As pp said, if you have your main meal with the family, earlier on, then could you have a nap before you go and a snack/some fruit before you leave?
It's about finding the right way that works for you and around your situation.
I tend to average 4/5 hours sleep between nights and then after my last night I sleep for 2/3 hours in the morning, then awake all day but usually in bed by 8pm and sleep for about 12 hours, so my sleep debt is paid back, or I stay awake until 4/5pm and sleep for about 15 hours straight through -- depends on how tired I feel and what's going on.
I'm very lucky that my DD is old enough to sort herself out, and I can follow my body and do that, I remember the days when I couldn't and I think a big part of the problem here is you're not getting enough sleep, which compounds the effects of permanent nights.
I would try something a bit more substantial at 3am and fruit to snack on at 5am and again in the morning so you can sleep right through until you need to do the school run and then dinner/snack.

Good luck 🍀

@Iquitit thank you for your input

It’s interesting actually, I work Saturday night and on Sunday I can relax properly and sleep as long as I like as my DH is home and dealing with the kids. I usually sleep until 2pm and I don’t feel hungry when I wake up and can wait until an early dinner at about 4:30/5pm.

I’m definitely replacing sleep with food during the week and it needs to stop! Otherwise the weight will just continue to pile on and now I’m in my 40s it could be a permanent fixture.

@Tullyjune

I'm glad to help a fellow night shifter if I can, there needs to be more employer support for night workers - we need them and nights does have a detrimental effect and for many there's no reflection or even respect of that at all, we need to stick together 😉