18 and 20 hour days

H

hararayne

New member
I've posted about this before, but no one has given me a really good idea of what I should do. But now I've done a little research, figured some things out about myself and I'm ready to ask again....

There are times when I must be awake, alert, active, at work for 18-20 hours a day. I find when this happens that I gain weight. When I'm working more typical hours my weight stabilizes for a few days until I throw myself into one of these overly long days. Sometimes I end up doing days like that 2-3 in a row.

Here's my question, as specific as it can be...

A 211 lb female should lose about 1-1.5 lbs per week on a 1500 cal diet, if she is moderately active.
But is there some allowance when I'm awake this long.... Especially since I'm trying to do the "eat 6x per day" thing...

I often feel like if I don't eat I'm going to pass out and die, but if I do eat, I over do it or something....because even if I try my hardest to not overeat to keep awake, I've gained 1.5-2 lbs and it takes me a few days of really watching myself to get back down to where I was.... It's like take a step forward and then two steps back...then two steps forward one step back, over and over again!
HELP!
 
Last edited:
hararayne said:
I've posted about this before, but no one has given me a really good idea of what I should do. But now I've done a little research, figured some things out about myself and I'm ready to ask again....

There are times when I must be awake, alert, active, at work for 18-20 hours a day. I find when this happens that I gain weight. When I'm working more typical hours my weight stabilizes for a few days until I throw myself into one of these overly long days. Sometimes I end up doing days like that 2-3 in a row.

Here's my question, as specific as it can be...

A 211 lb female should lose about 1-1.5 lbs per week on a 1500 cal diet, if she is moderately active.
But is there some allowance when I'm awake this long.... Especially since I'm trying to do the "eat 6x per day" thing...

I often feel like if I don't eat I'm going to pass out and die, but if I do eat, I over do it or something....because even if I try my hardest to not overeat to keep awake, I've gained 1.5-2 lbs and it takes me a few days of really watching myself to get back down to where I was.... It's like take a step forward and then two steps back...then two steps forward one step back, over and over again!
HELP!
Click to expand...

It could be what you eat. You can meet your calorie count eating things that doesn't really fill you up. How much fiberous veggies are you eating? Fiber fills you up with less.
 
hararayne said:
I've posted about this before, but no one has given me a really good idea of what I should do. But now I've done a little research, figured some things out about myself and I'm ready to ask again....

There are times when I must be awake, alert, active, at work for 18-20 hours a day. I find when this happens that I gain weight. When I'm working more typical hours my weight stabilizes for a few days until I throw myself into one of these overly long days. Sometimes I end up doing days like that 2-3 in a row.
Click to expand...

I have two questions of my own...

1) What do you do for a living? What requires you to be up and active for 18-20 hours a day?

2) What exactly do you mean when you say "I find when this happens that (you) gain weight?" How much weight? And, over how much time? A day? A week? A month?
 
This is my schedule this week...

I work two jobs and I go to school. One job is full time, the other is not. School is full time.

Sunday. I worked 7am until 5pm. I saw my boyfriend for 1 hr then I went to sleep at about 6:15pm I woke up at 9:30 got ready for work at my other job
left at 10pm, arrived at my other job at 10:45pm and worked until 6:45am.

Monday. Upon arriving home at about 7:30am I attempted to wind down by eating something and reading. I fell asleep around 8:30am. I woke up at 1:30 and rushed to get going and arrived at work at 2pm. I worked until 10:30. I hit the gym from 10:45 until 11:30. It is currently 12 am, so we're on to...

Tuesday. Hopefully I fell asleep around 1am. I get up at 8:30am get ready and make my food for the day and drive to school. I have school from 9:40am until 4:30pm. I will hopefully hit the gym when I get back into town at 5pm. At 6pm I'll be at home getting my room in order, researching something, or possibly I'll be with my boyfriend, but its not likely. I'll go to bed very late from being caught up in school work or something...

Wednesday. I'm into work early 1pm until 10:30pm. I work out with a coworker after until about 11:30. Home and to bed

Thursday is much like Tuesday.

Friday. I sleep as late as I can, go work out before work, time permitting, and arrive at work at 2pm. I work until 10:30 pm again. After I finish work at job 1, I run to job 2. Job 2 starts at 12am and goes until 7am...

Saturday...sleep until someone wakes me up...which tends to be around 1 or 2pm. Then I have a rager of a party at my apt.

What am I doing for jobs? My full time job is support staff for developmentally disabled adults. I'm the lead in my program and often have co-workers calling at all hours for advice, sometimes I get called in and work overtime.

My other job is a call in basis. I have to work a minimum of 32 hours per month if they offer me that many hours to remain as a float. I work as a registrar in a hospital. I usually work overnights but pull other shifts as well.

I'm a business major. I'm in my JR year at college. I'm going full time for insurance purposes. My classes are getting harder and are more time consuming. I'm minoring in psychology.

Beyond that I'm a Phishhead....listening to one song...really listening, can take 30 minutes....good thing I'm working out now, aye?

What do I eat?

First off my typical day begins at 2pm. I eat a protein bar worth 280 calories and usually have some juice...I measure or buy bottles that tell me exactly the amount of calories I'm drinking. Typically juice is 180 calories. 2 hours later I have a wrap. The wrap is made of a tortilla that is 88 calories, thin sliced turkey at 40 calories, lettuce that I count as 10 calories, tomato at 25 and some type of dressing at 80 calories. then 2 hours later I might have a snack. 40 calories worth of baby carrots 140 calories of dip and 120 calories of some other fruit like grapes. 2-4 hours later I eat again. 140 calories worth of chicken, and a box of frozen veggies. The box is 3 servings at around 120 calories. When I get home at night I have another wrap. or cottage cheese at 140 calories. I may also have an apple or some other fresh fruit…
By the time 2 or 3 am hits I’m either asleep or I’m working and having quite the glucose crash….I may end up hitting the vending machine at the hospital and eating 240 calorie bag of chips or a bag of twizzlers . I do this twice throughout a shift.

I weigh myself every day...I may need to start doing the averaging thing, but I find after an overnight, I'm up to 213.2 or so...it takes two days to get back down to 211....today I was at 212.2

How's that for detail?
 
I'd recommend making sure the foods you eat those days are very low in sugar and not simple carbs (the "bad carbs").

I'd maybe eat closer to 2k calories those days. Lots of caffeine to help curb hunger and keep you awake (just straight black coffee if you can drink it, very low in calories -- like 15 or so).

You are going to have to work extra hard on those days, and since your body is already going to be strained from the workload/lack of sleep, it is going to be hard. Just keep at it. Eventually, it will become habit to not overeat those days.
 
I am in the same boat in the sense that I work very long hours and go to school on top of it. Every other W-TH is a 30+ hour day for me. The way I deal with my diet is to eat foods that are going to fill me up. Usually high protein. I also bring snacks with me to help with staying awake and give me energy. Most of my snacks are fruits and vegetables. I really love bananas, oranges and pretty much any vege that goes well with hummus.

I feel your pain though. Life is rough sometimes.
 
I think with your work style, I do think you would be better off weighing once a week. Your weight will flux alot each day but over a week, you will see a more defined result one way or the other.
 
hararayne said:
How's that for detail?
Click to expand...

Ok, I notice two things that could be interfering with your weight loss. First...

hararayne said:
Saturday...sleep until someone wakes me up...which tends to be around 1 or 2pm. Then I have a rager of a party at my apt.
Click to expand...

Drinking alcohol dominates your metabolism and slows it down a lot, which will interfer with your weight loss. On top of that, when most people drink (as I do) they end up eating an unnecessary amount of crappy foods, which could also be interfering with your weight loss.

Second...

Speaking from personal experience, your sleep schedule sucks. Do you really need to be working these 2 jobs? I mean, is it absolutely necessary? I'm asking, because your sleep pattern is completely horrible. So, if you don't need this second job, I would recommend thinking about dropping it. Not only will it free up some time for where you can relax and enjoy yourself, but it will free up some time for you to sleep. Sleep helps to heal the body and not getting enough of it can definitely interfer with your weight loss.

As a chef, I had a 3 year stint where my work schedule only allowed me a maximum of 4 hours of sleep per night. And, that was the maximum amount of sleep that I could get, assuming that I could fall asleep at the drop of a dime when I got home. During that 3 year stint, I gained a HUGE amount of weight. The only thing about my lifestyle that changed during those 3 years was my sleep schedule.

I worked 6 days a week for the most part, but about every other week, I would end up working all 7 days. I would wake up at 6AM to get ready and leave for work. When I showed up at work, I would be completely busy (with no time for breaks) until anywhere between midnight and 1AM, depending on what day it was (we stopped dinner service at different times throughout the week, which effected how late I would work). I would leave work and arrive back at home about 30-45 minutes later. So, for a minimum of 6 days a week, for a 3 year stretch, I would wake up at 6AM and get back home around 2AM, leaving me with a maximum of 4 hours of sleep per night. Before that schedule started for me, I weighed around 210 lbs. 3 years later, I weighed nearly 280 lbs.

So, get some sleep. Trust me.
 
Thanks ChefChiTown

But no, there is little I can do about my sleep schedule at this point.

As for your comment about alcohol...I was simply trying to interject some humor. I work every other weekend...So drinking rarely ever happens. I tend to be the sober driver...but even when staying home I'm more of a watcher then partaker....I was also trying to show that sleep yet again isn't likely to happen on that night....

On a more positive note, I have been able to fix my schedule so I can sleep a little later on T/Th... I'm now doing an online course....much much more doable.
 
I sympathize. My job can entail 20hr days sometimes. On occasion 6 or 7 20hr days in a row. It's hell on the body, especially when you might not get the chance to eat but once a day.
 
hararayne said:
Thanks ChefChiTown

But no, there is little I can do about my sleep schedule at this point.

As for your comment about alcohol...I was simply trying to interject some humor. I work every other weekend...So drinking rarely ever happens. I tend to be the sober driver...but even when staying home I'm more of a watcher then partaker....I was also trying to show that sleep yet again isn't likely to happen on that night....

On a more positive note, I have been able to fix my schedule so I can sleep a little later on T/Th... I'm now doing an online course....much much more doable.
Click to expand...

Once again, do you absolutely need this second job or can you live without it? Your health is more important than a paycheck, no matter how you want to look at it. But, you already know this, which is exactly why you joined a weight loss forum in the first place.

Iain1974 said:
I sympathize. My job can entail 20hr days sometimes. On occasion 6 or 7 20hr days in a row. It's hell on the body, especially when you might not get the chance to eat but once a day.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you brought that up. Yet another reason to reevaluate your work schedule and if it's really best for you to be working so much, hara. I'm not trying to encourage you to quit your job, but it's definitely something that seems to be getting in the way of your health.
 
So the consensus is, I need to make time for sleep. It's going to be hard, but I think I'm going to try to do it. The more research I do, the more this seems to be correct.

I'm really quite terrible at not working though....wish me luck everyone? I appreciate the feedback. I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first, but it makes sense....I'm putting way too much stress on myself.
 
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