Job interfering with weightloss?

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dslim

New member
Hey guys, I've got a dilemma and am hoping that others in similar situations may be able to offer some insight. Because of my current working situation, I start my day at 2 in the afternoon and usually get to bed at 5 or 7 AM. I would like to start a diet but one of my chief concerns is that my unorthodox sleeping arrangement may affect my weightloss. I fear that I could end up eating too many calories because my days sort of bleed together. One way I've considered is eating from 2 up until midnight and not eating again until my "next day". Has anyone else been in a similar situation that could offer advive?
 
I've worked nights and agree that it's not conducive to weight loss (not health/moods in general).

I work 7on/7off and used to switch to nights10pm-7am when I was on so had the weekly 'flip' which can be tough. It's a schedule designed to make unhealthy snacking super-attractive. It you're hungry and on the road at 4am I challenge anyone to get a healthy snack away from a major(or even minor) city.

Do you live with family who are on the 'normal' schedule? That would make it even harder.

You might find it helpful to pre-prepare foods and have something available when you get in. If you drive for a living thenperhaps take a bag of apples/zip-loc with chicken etc.

I work in the oilfield and have had call-outs that last 3 days so end up relying on charity to eat sometimes. Charty food is gratefully recieved but usually carb/fat based.
 
I used to work third shift in a factory, and I basically made myself have a 'real' day. I would wake up two hours before I had to be at work, and be in bed two or three hours after work. I ate breakfast at 11pm, lunch at 5am, and dinner at 9am even on days off. I didn't eat in the hours I was supposed to be sleeping unless I had to be awake for something.

Working the night shift is tough on your body, so be sure you eat as healthy as you can. :)
HTH :)
 
I used to work both day and night-shifts, and it didn't make any difference when it came to losing weight.

The main part of losing weight is burning more calories than you consume. It doesn't matter if those calories are consumed at 3 pm or 3 am. Do what you would usually do - watch your calories and the quality of your food, try not to eat short before you go to bed (whenever that might be). And if you can manage to fit some exercise into your schedule, then that would help as well.

I don't see why working at night would hinder your weight loss though.
 
I think that pre-planning is going to be your best friend. I actually had a friend that kept a fairly good sized cooler in her trunk at all times and had pre-prepared and pre-portioned meals and snacks that she brought with her everywhere... even on out-of-town softball tournaments! It must have worked because she lost about 25 lbs in 3 months or so!
 
I agree, pre-planning is the way to go. I used to bartend at a resort in the summers, and my day was exactly the same... 2pm - 6am (wake time to sleep time)... I used to eat breakfast at 3pm, lunch at 8pm, and dinner at 2am... I always stayed skinny. I was burning a lot of calories bartending, but there were other bartenders at the resort that were 250+ pounds because they were eating burgers and fries for both meals they ate at work. I brought my food with me, it's the way to go. I had a "real" day even though the time perameters were different from "normal" people :p
 
dslim said:
Hey guys, I've got a dilemma and am hoping that others in similar situations may be able to offer some insight. Because of my current working situation, I start my day at 2 in the afternoon and usually get to bed at 5 or 7 AM. I would like to start a diet but one of my chief concerns is that my unorthodox sleeping arrangement may affect my weightloss. I fear that I could end up eating too many calories because my days sort of bleed together. One way I've considered is eating from 2 up until midnight and not eating again until my "next day". Has anyone else been in a similar situation that could offer advive?
Click to expand...

I've seen a lot of people ask the same exact question and have the same exact concern, so this is nothing new. There are a lot of people out there who wonder the same thing that you are. Personally, I think that everybody with your concern is just overthinking things though. I mean, think about it...

Assumably, from what you said, your "day" is between the hours of 2PM and 5AM (sometimes 7AM). In total, your "day" is 15 hours (sometimes 17 hours).

Now, my day (for example) is between the hours of 7AM and 10PM (sometimes midnight), which is 15 hours (sometimes 17 hours).

The length of your day isn't any different than a person who works during the day and not during the nightshift like you. The only difference is that the hours of your day don't fall into the same schedule. That's it. No biggie.

Just think of it this way...

Your schedule isn't any different than anybody else's - it's just delayed. Your normal daily activities don't differ from anybody else's - they're just delayed. I wake up at 7AM, you wake up at 2PM. I eat my first meal of the day at 7:30AM, you eat your first meal of the day at 2:30PM. I start working at 8AM, you start working at 3PM (or whatever). And so on.

So, in my opinion, don't overthink it. Just remember you have a regular old schedule - it just so happens to begin later and end later than everyone else's.
 
Wow, thank you all for the generous responses =) It's really reassuring knowing have been in a similar situation and have succeeded. The general consensus seems to be to treat my 3PM to 5AM day as I would a normal day, I'm gonna give this a try and report back in. Thanks again guys
 
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