Hi guys, I REALLY want to lose weight but I have a little dilemma. I work from 6pm to 2am as a phone operator (basically 8 hours sitting at my desk waiting for my phone to ring lol) and since I started working this shift I have gained 30 lbs!! I went from a size 6 to a size 10 and this has me depressed and dressing frumpy (so obviously my social life has taken a nosedive). I have a highly sedentary life because for now my life is work to home where I lie in bed and watch TV. I wanted to know if there was anyone out there in my same predicament, and if so, what have you guys done to keep the weight off? Most sites I've been to recommend not eating after 8PM but I get hungry at 11pm! Also, I normally wake up between 10am and 1pm, depending on my energy and how long it took me to fall asleep. Did I also mention I'm also a student studying for my board exams, so I also need to find time to study, lose weight, and have enough energy to answer phone calls at work.... (Obviously stress is not helping me lose weight either.)
Anyway, If anyone has any tips on how I can organize myself to have a good workout schedule and eating habits, I would greatly appreciate it.
I work from 7pm-7:30am. The way I have been loosing weight is by eating small meals frequently and exercise 4 days a week. ( I only work 3 days a week off for 4) On the days I do go to work I make sure that I eat a lighter meal since I wont be working out however, I am on my feet a lot more. I usually take my break around 12-1am (depending on how behind I am on my work). Then I'll eat a light meal. On my days off I usually wake up around 2-3pm. I'll have "breakfast" then will do my daily run of the mill stuff. I'll make a light dinner by about 6-7pm. I'll wait an hour or so after I eat and end up going to the gym at around 8-9pm. Its worked out for me so far.
Sounds like you need to take at least 1 hr out of your day to exercise. Eat small frequent meals so that you are not so hungry all the time. Schedule a set time of the day to do all this: Study, Exercise, eat. I think having a set time that you wake up should help you start your schedule. Make this a routine and you'll see that you will succeed
Study on the elliptical or stair machine! That way you're not bouncing all over the place like on a treadmill. Kill two birds with one stone...
Obviously, you need to eat after 8 pm. Most people aren't up through the night to burn the calories they eat in the evening, but clearly you need to be eating to maintain your sanity and well being. Can you adjust your meals so you eat breakfast in the early afternoon, lunch at work, and dinner when you get home? Or take a lunch and dinner to work? What about five small snacky meals instead of big ones? Get a protein, fruit or veggie, and grain in every small meal, equal sizes of each.
Good luck! My husband is military and works crazy shifts often and I know how it screws with your system.
I live on graveyard (7pm-7:30am), I know how you feel. When I hear those things like "don't eat after 8pm" (which is really good advice), I just adjust it to make it fit my schedule. So, my 5am is equivelant to everyone else's 8pm.
I'm also on the night shift. I work 7pm-7am. It changed from 12am-8am. I'm still trying to get my eating schedule adjusted. When I'm at work, I try to eat a few small meals consisting of one main meal and mini meals or snacks of fruits or vegetables about every 4-5 hours. My days off are the days I have a hard time getting it together. Your 6-2 is like everybody else's 4-12. I'm guessing that you go to bed soon after you get from work (unless your town has an all night gym). If that's the case, I'd suggest eating your last meal at work no later than 3-4 hours before your usual bed time. If you don't want to eat heavy at work, eat a big meal before work and eat lightly at work. I've heard a thousand times from fitness instructors and nutritionist how you're supposed to eat every 3-4 hours. When you work an odd schedule it's not always easy. Good luck with your efforts.
Don't order food. Always make your meals. Night shift workers (I work until 7am) are notorious for poor eating choices & and using the nights as an excuse to not exercise. A lot of guys I work with will eat all their meals from restaurants/fast food. Don't put that junk in your body. You wouldn't fuel your gas tank with windex! So why put all that fat & poison into your body? Make healthy food and take the time to exercise.
Little tricks such as timing your meals such as not eating after 'x' o'clock will do NOTHING if you do not follow the principles of healthy eating. Exercise is even more important for those with desk jobs because your body needs to move. No excuses! Plan ahead, prepare your meals, and get moving. That's the only solution
I work 60 hours a week with crazy shifts (either up at 4am or go to sleep at 7am), go to university through distance ed, and have maintained my weight for almost 2 years now.
I work nights as well. Some of my shifts are 7pm to 7am and some I work 3pm to 7am. On the nights I work 7pm to 7am, I eat my supper with my hubby at 5pm, I pack a light lunch with fruit and veggie and lots of water. I walk probably 6 to 9 miles a night on my shifts (I wear a pedometer) I will then have a light breakfast around 6am just before my shift is over. I usually have cereal w skim milk. I sleep better if not hungry but not full either.
When I work my 3pm to 7am, I eat my supper at work around 7pm and again have a healthy light lunch during the night with lots of water and my cereal at 6am.
I have gone the full gamma of junk food, eating on the run because to busy to sit and eat and junk food is easier. I am a nursing supervisor and trust me when I tell you that nurses are notorious junk food eaters. We have to be cause often we don't have time to do anything but scarf our food.
So now I always pack and bring my own food, avoid the nurse's lounges with a passion and make sure that I have lots of water, fruit and veggies to help if I don't have time to sit and eat a meal.
It is tricky and I find harder to lose when you work nights as you body goes into survival mode and hangs on to the weight.
Water, exercise and packing healthy snacks is what helps me.
Good luck
Are there others around when you're working? Could you get up and jog in place in front of your desk? If you can't, are there stairs you could run up and down on your lunch and breaks? Can you change your chair for a body ball? You can certainly work on your abs and butt in the chair by contracting them and doing breathing exercises. You can spend just 15 minutes each of your mornings (when you wake up) and every time before you go to bed to get in 30 minutes of exercise a day and those two 15 minute periods should not impact your study.
Like others said, the no eating after a certain hour is so you don't go to bed with food lying on your stomach and not digesting as well. Since you go to bed at a different hour, that rule has to be adjusted to fit your schedule.
I feel your pain, Latincandy78. I retired from an airline job. Among other things, I handled lots of heavy baggage(exercise). I now work as a telephone operator and have gained thirty pounds!
At my operator job, I do exercise in my chair. Like putting my arms on the chair arms and lifting my weight. I lift my legs off the floor which I can feel in my gut. The only problem is, that I don't do it as rigorously as I should. It definitely helps to tone things up. I also use the office dictionary as a weight for arm lifts.
I was on at least one diet while I worked 4pm to midnight for the airline. It seemed to me that what was most important was to eat good stuff and leave the snack bar alone. I ate what I brought which was portion and quality controlled.
OMG thank you guys for the tremendous support. I've been lurking through these boards for a while but was afraid to post, but I really feel better because I know now that I'm not alone. I have been trying to incorporate exercise into my schedule, but eating is hardest for me. My coworkers snack a lot, and they constantly offer me ice cream, chicken wings, hershey's kisses, starbucks, the list goes on and on... and to top it all off, I work by Soho in NYC which is next to Chinatown and Little Italy where, you guessed it, all there is to eat is chinese and italian. I am also next to Wendy's McDonald's and Subway so when I'm low on cash the dollar menu is my friend lol. I know I have a lot of work to do..... **sighs**
I can't link directly to it since I haven't made enough posts here yet (and all the posts I had made were lost in the 6/6/08 server crash) but stop on over there and let see if we can help each other be healthier and lose weight!
Overnight Worker Blues
