getting/staying in shape working nights

Nurses Stress 101

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A little background. I'm a 28 year old male who has been an RN working nights for a little under 2 years. I've always been pretty health conscious and in decent shape. Over the past couples years I have packed on about 10 pounds (not the good kind). The night schedule took a toll on my lifting schedule, and my diet suffered.

Recently, I've recommitted myself to fitness and healthy eating. The real wakeup call was when I realized my old jeans didn't fit. I just figured this would be a good area for people to share their tips/routines, as I know this is something a lot of night shifters struggle with.

1. Plan meals & pack food: I have tried to go back to bringing most of my meals. I'm trying to focus on meat, veggies and eggs and avoiding a lot of carbs. I feel like it better controls my appetite.

2. Try to do something physical everyday. Whether it be 45 minutes of weight lifting, 30 minutes on the treadmill, or 100 pushups, I think this mentality has helped me focus on staying dedicated.

3. Try to avoid snacking. This is my achilles heel. Im a snacker. I've found that by packing healthier, more satiating meals, i'm less inclined to munch.

Hope to hear from others.

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Understand the challenge. We work so understaffed at night all the time until when I get home I am so tired until I have to miss my workout due to me having to try to get enough sleep just in case we are short again. Something has to give. Any suggestions on how to stay on board during these rough sessions?

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Thanks for posting this. I've been working nights just under a year and recently started gaining weight at an alarming pace… partly due to night shift, partly due to a bad reaction to a medication I was on and have stopped since I realized it was contributing to the weight gain. It is a struggle for sure. I have recommitted myself to going to the gym every day, and stopped using fatigue and needing to get enough sleep as an excuse to not go. I've been focusing on strength training since seeing muscle and feeling more toned makes me feel better about myself in the meantime until the weight is gone, and also because muscle burns calories even at rest so I see it as kind of an investment. I've started being more careful about what I eat both on shift and off shift, even though I'm far from perfect. I've stopped drinking alcohol almost entirely… I've had a drink with dinner once while out with a friend since I got fed up with the weight gain and decided to get serious about taking the weight off which was about a month ago. I was never a heavy drinker but a glass or two here and a glass or two there adds up since it's basically empty calories and stimulates appetite. Over the past month, I've lost 6-8 pounds from my highest weight, and have 2-4 more to go to get back to baseline, though I'd like to lose more than that. Can't wait to see what others post!

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Understand the challenge. We work so understaffed at night all the time until when I get home I am so tired until I have to miss my workout due to me having to try to get enough sleep just in case we are short again. Something has to give. Any suggestions on how to stay on board during these rough sessions?

Stateofart, I have the same struggle. I guess I just keep reminding myself that I can fit in an hour workout plus 7 hours of sleep even with a 12 hour shift and a long commute. (This is obviously specific to my case, but adjust to your circumstances…) Oftentimes I feel like my fatigue was as much mental as physical. I am not nearly as enthusiastic about my workouts when I start out most days as I was when I was on a day or evening schedule, but by the end I'm glad I did it. I find I'm more able to keep a positive outlook and stay energetic through a long shift when I'm getting enough physical exercise outside of work, but I do realize that how good exercise feels and how much you feel the positive effects afterwards as far as mood and energy varies greatly by individual. If you really find that getting the extra sleep helps you more than the exercise- after you try it for a few days or weeks- I would think focusing all the harder on eating well or getting even a small amount of physical activity would help.

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The long commute is killer. My old hospital was 20 miles north and if i hit traffic at the wrong time could take 50 mins to an hour. That makes things difficult. Definitely making sure you're getting enough sleep. I find that when i'm sleep deprived I crave more carb heavy bad for me foods. Obviously drink a lot of water. I've cut out artificial sweetners/sweetened creams in my coffee. That's great that you've almost eliminated booze from your life. That's something I've cut down but I do enjoy a drink or a few. I hate cardio but I've been doing a half an hour on the treadmill 4 or so days a week and my jeans are fitting better and i feel the old love handles firming up.

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