Calling All 12 hour shift people

BlueEyedKitty · June 13, 2008

I'm a sleep tech and I work 7pm to 7am. I always take my dinner to work with me, steamed vegetables, yogurt, string cheese, slim fast, and eat it over the course of the night. Usually have some Cereal when I get home from work in the morning before I go to bed. When I get up in the afternoons I have a smoothie (milk, banana, scoop of choc slim fast, ice, sometimes a little peanut butter).

Another thing I do sometimes is cook a whole bunch of food and put it in freezer containers or foil or whatever and throw it all in the freezer so all I have to do is reach in and grab an entree when I'm looking for things to throw in my lunch sack. Chili freezes really well, as do burritos and lasagna.

Too little time to get to the gym on my work days, so lately I have been just going for a walk, even if its only 30 minutes, just in my neighborhood when I get up in the afternoon. I work T-W-Th, so my days off are when I go to the gym and work out hard. I also keep a set of exercise bands in my work bag, and after my patients are in bed for the night and everything is quiet, I can do toning exercises at work. This keeps me from getting lazy for 3 days and then having a hard time keeping good habits on my days off.

I like this thread! Its helpful for those of us with work schedules that are other than "normal" !!

Ann D · June 13, 2008

Hi everyone!!!! Thanks for some really great suggestions! I really appreciate it!!!!
I think it's just the environment of not for sure getting relieved for breaks, they get cut short, interrupted and sometimes its just too wild to eat while everyone else is busy and need help. It's the nature of the beast and I don't think it will ever change, so I just go with the flow for the most part.

Tess

I know what you mean about not getting a break or it being interrupted. I have gone an entire day without eating due to the hectic days. I have been keeping a small soft sided cooler in the car, with my Snacks so in between calls or on my way to the next one I can try and eat something. Or when I get a second to sit down and fillout some paperwork.

It will all work out. I am at a desk for a while working on a project so I am bored to tears even though I am working my a%@ off.

Good Luck!

Bigb · June 14, 2008

Nutra grain fruit and nut bars. I grill up some chicken and venison burgers and take one of each to work. I try to eat about every four hours but since my last fill I dont eat all that I take.

Tess415 · June 15, 2008

Does anyone that works the 12 hour shifts, have the energy to exercise on work days? Before or after work?

Tess

autumnlee · June 15, 2008

I am a Respiratory therapist and I work 12 hour shifts also. They are a pain in the behind but it is so nice to have the 4 days off to be able to follow the diet much easier. If you get a chance use the stairs instead of the elevator. I do know that you are on your feet a lot and this helps with the exercise. What I have done is not ecercise on the days I work but really work hard on the days that I am off. When I am at work I try to take the stairs. For Snacks I hear you about not having a schedule. It was very hard for me also. I have learned to carry around a little bag of nuts in my pocket. They are good Protein and that way I don not have to worry about chesse or so forth getting warm. Then when I am heading home I wil eat some cheese or more nuts. That way I am not starving when I get home. I try to eat something every 2 hours or I just starve. Hope this helps and have a great weekend.

faithmd · June 15, 2008

Does anyone that works the 12 hour shifts, have the energy to exercise on work days? Before or after work?
Tess

Hello Tess!

I had mentioned in my response that I go after work. But my work day workouts are usually only about 45 mins to an hour. I tend to do the bike or the "gazelle" type thingy. I have been on my feet for almost the entire previous twelve hours so I don't spend much time on the treadmill. Besides, I HATE HATE HATE HATE the treadmill. I feel like a mouse on a wheel trying to get a dangling piece of cheese.

If I am really tired by about 0400, and I don't feel like going after work, then I'll go walk for about twenty minutes, or take the elevator to the basement and walk up the stairs to my floor (fourth, but every floor is a FULL double set of stairs). a couple of times. When I was in better shape (read: younger) I would go try to run UP the DOWN escalator in the middle of the night. That was a GREAT workout.