Weight Loss

I am a 20 year old who works three 12 hour NIGHT-shifts a week as a respiratory assistant. On top of that, I go to school full time to become a Respiratory Therapist on days and some weekends.(I am soooo tired of people telling me I have youth on my side- my body is way out of wack!) 

Needless to say, I'm strapped for time and usually eat on the run.  Time to set aside for workouts is limited.  Since i've started CC, I have lost a total of 7 lbs..(yay!) but I feel hungry a lot of  the time. I have been averaging about 1500 calories a day....I don't want to increase in fear of gaining back what i've already lost...

 I'm also unsure of how to log when I work... do I start the next day after midnight? for you other fellow night workers, what eating schedule do you use  when you work?

 Any other comments pointers are also greatly appreciated...Thanks in advance for your help!!:) 

If you have a regular sleep time -use the time you wake up as the start of the day. Just keep sticking to those hour breakdowns on your days off  since it is easier to be flexible when you are not rushing about work.  After all its how much you eat over time (not really each day) that ultimately shows up as weight gain or loss. What do you really care about daily changes made worse by your "erratic" schedule when the monthly result is what would satisfy you. Just make sure you log a reasonable 24 hour period for each "day " even if it might actually start at 7 pm of the previous day.

I agree.  I used to work 3rd shift, so I know what you mean.  As long as you pick a time that seems convenient to be your starting time, track every 24 hours from that (including on your days off).  If you want to start at 5 pm, that's fine - but keep using 5pm as the beginning of your day. 

It doesn't really matter what time you eat, you just want to get an idea of what you're eating in approximately 24 hours.  Or, from the time you get up until the time you go to sleep.

I get up at 2:00 or 3:00 pm, and I start my "eating day" then.  Everything I eat from 2:00 today, the 30th, until I go to bed at about 6:00 am on the 31st gets logged on the day I started eating, the 30th.  As long as it's all logged, the day it's eaten is less important. 

One thing to keep in mind is that fatigue will sometimes express itself as hunger--your body wants fuel to compensate for the lack of rest.  The more rest you get, the less hunger you may feel.  Also make sure you're hydrated--thirst can also masquerade as hunger. 

Hi there - I too work a weird shift schedule, two weeks 12.5 hrs days then two weeks 12.5 hrs nights.  As a result, I have no consistent schedule for anything!  Eating, sleeping, playing etc on a need-to basis now.  I've been on this schedule for almost 4 years and have put on almost 50 lbs.  Less drastically, my co-workers all report gains of up to 30lbs.

My job involves a lot of walking, which is good because at the end of a shift, the last thing I feel like doing is working out.  Days/ nights off are the only time I can fit in some exercise.

If anyone has any good suggestions about how I can better manage this, please let me know!  This is a good job and pays well, and I will be working here for a few more years yet - but don't want to keep adding the weight!