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Thread: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

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    Default Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    A fellow dancer friend has been losing weight and toning up but she told me that she refuses to eat during a shift (7pm-5am).
    Madness! Now that I'm not drinking during shift and not having the sugar high, my body demands the energy from food.
    I thought it likely that we night-owls can have full meals including carbs (complex) during shift but so many dancers refuse to eat for fear of gaining weight.

    Here are a few tips to help you out:

    • Plan your meals in such a way that you eat 3 balanced meals a day plus snacks between meals if you are hungry. Snacks come in particularly handy on the graveyard shift.

    • For night work, you should try eating your biggest meal in the late afternoon or early evening, and not in the middle of night.

    • During your night shift, eating protein will help you stay awake (meat, peanut butter, fish, cheese, legumes, eggs, etc.)

    • Pack a light lunch for halfway through your shift, like a meat sandwich, raw veggies and a yogurt with probiotics. Don’t overeat, as too much food will make you sleepy.


    • Avoid consuming caffeine (coffee, soft drinks, etc.) 4 hours before going to bed.

    • For breakfast following your night shift (before going to bed), avoid consuming too much protein. Protein increases alertness. Opt instead for foods rich in carbs (bread, cereal, fruit, pasta, etc.), which promote sleep.
    Keep in mind that we all adjust to such lifestyle changes differently, so make sure to listen to your body and make the righthttp://blog.danone.ca/healthy-eating...e-night-shift/ adjustments for you. ()
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    Here are some healthy nutrition tips for night shift workers from the Nutrition Counseling Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:
    Eat small, regular meals with a balance of whole grain carbohydrates, protein, and heart-healthy fats before 1 a.m. Choose carbohydrates that are low in fat and high in fiber like whole grain bread, fruit, and low-fat dairy.

    Eat a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with a green salad or fruit on the side. Try mustard or hummus on the bread instead of mayonnaise, and substitute spinach for lettuce.

    Don't forget about last night's dinner: prepare more than you can eat and take some leftovers for lunch.

    A frozen, low-fat, low-sodium dinner such as Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice can be supplemented with a piece of fruit, veggies or low-fat yogurt.

    For snacks, bring fruit, vegetables, low-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, whole wheat crackers, pretzels or popcorn.

    Avoid caffeine at least five hours before bedtime.

    And finally, when your shift is over, have a very light meal or snack before you go to bed. By avoiding going to bed too full or too hungry. you'll improve the quality of your sleep.

    (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=77354)

    Read from Page 3: http://gov.ns.ca/psc/pdf/employeeCen..._ShiftWork.pdf
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    The Best Diet for Working Night Shifts

    By Dustin Eves, eHow Contributor

    Working through the dead of night can wreak havoc on a person's diet. Many who work the night shift, also known as the "graveyard" shift, are thrown off of regular eating schedules because they no longer eat with family or friends where meals and mealtimes are fairly well-established. Snacks and fatty foods tend to become staples in the lives of night-shift workers, and these can lead to quick weight gain and the degradation of overall health.



    Establish Eating Times

    One important key for maintaining proper nutritional health while working graveyard shifts is to establish regular mealtimes. For example, eating "breakfast" within one hour of waking up (even if this means breakfast is eaten at 6 p.m. or even later) is a good way to jump-start energy levels for the long night ahead (see References 1). Also schedule regular times for lunch and dinner, and eat the foods traditionally associated with each meal, even if it means eating pancakes during everyone else's dinner time and a pork chop during their normal breakfast time. This will help you and your body recognize each separate meal for what it should be and provide an easier dietary transition to nighttime eating.


    Avoid Energy-Loading

    Don't load up on caffeine, carbohydrates, or other foods traditionally known to provide quick bursts of energy before a night shift. Many believe this will help keep them awake during a late shift, but it instead provides just a small and short-lived supply of energy that leads to a major crash afterward (see References 2). This can, in turn, lead to unhealthy snacking to re-boost energy levels, adding empty calories and unnecessary fat consumption.


    Snack Healthy

    Small and healthy snacks between meals can help maintain proper energy levels through the night as long as these snacks are nutritious and of modest size. This will also help reduce the need for huge meals during established mealtimes. Large meals tend to make a person feel sleepy.

    Eat fresh fruit, small portions of nuts, light yogurt or a few slices of whole grain bread instead of chips, candy and chocolate. Making sure these snacks are eaten a few hours after one meal and a few hours before the next will help assure that energy is kept at a maximum without overeating or consuming too much salt or fat.
    .........

    Move Around

    If you start to feel sluggish and it's not a meal or snack time, simply get up and walk around to get circulation moving and wake up your body. Doing a few jumping jacks or another quick exercise is a great way to stay awake during a graveyard shift.

    Read more: The Best Diet for Working Night Shifts | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5530669_diet...#ixzz264pOZnQb





    The Best diet if you work Night Shifts.....
    ........
    Weight Problems

    Research shows that night-shift workers gain more weight than day shift workers. Scientists suspect that one factor is chronodisruption, the disturbance of the body's normal 24-hour rhythms caused by night workers' unusual eating and sleeping times. Scientists are doing research to learn more about how chronodisruption may predispose your body to gain weight.


    Exercise and Food

    Night-shift workers get less exercise than day-shift workers, because they often cannot take a trip to the gym or go jogging safely when they wake up late in the evening, and they are often too exhausted to exercise before or after their night shifts. Another factor in night-shift weight gain is the lack of nutritious food on many night shifts. Many night-shift workers have access only to office vending machines, crammed full of sodas and candy, and fast food restaurants.


    Eating Patterns

    The patterns of eating on a night shift are just as important for a healthy night-shift diet as the actual foods that you eat. A guide prepared by Boston College, "Staying Healthy When You Work the Night Shift," urges night-shift workers to prepare brown bag meals instead of depending on vending machines and fast food joints. The guide also advises night-shift workers to eat small food portions while at work, and consume those portions in frequent, smaller meals instead of having one big "lunch" as is customary among day-shift workers. An Ottawa Public Health paper, "Shift Work and Healthy Eating" advises night-shift workers to eat slowly, as repeatedly eating rushed meals can cause digestive problems.


    Night-Shift Meals

    The Boston College and Ottawa Public Health guides both offer tips for night-shift meals: Avoid eating fried foods during your night shift, as they are hard to digest and linger in your stomach. Eat foods that are easy to digest, such as mild soups, rice and yogurt. Consume only small amounts of high-fat foods and caffeine. When you are preparing your brown bag meal, choose foods rich in protein to increase your alertness and energy. One free resource you can use to design your night-shift meals is a U.S. Department of Agriculture website, "Choose My Plate," which has a section listing high-protein foods. A few protein-rich foods that you can add to your brown bag lunch include hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter, tuna, peas, beans and roast turkey.


    Night-Shift Breakfasts

    After coming home in the morning, eating carbohydrate-rich foods for breakfast will tend to make you sleepy, according to the Boston College guide. Some of the most common high-carbohydrate breakfast foods include bread, cereals, muffins and fruit.
    (http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/diet...ghts-3502.html)
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    If you want to lose weight I definitely would not recommend eating very much fruit...fruit = sugar. And def not cereal or bread before bed! Eeeeeek! If you want carbs to help you sleep go for vegetables that are high in carbs like carrots, sweet potato, squash. Or a natural yougurt with some oats and maybe a few blueberries (very low sugar fruit). Bread, muffins, cereals...these are all processed foods which you really shouldn't eat at all ever.

    I feel like those articles are written for people who really struggle to be disciplined or are already quite over weight and cannot imagine life eating clean. Which is obviously better than eating McDonald's or starving yourself like your friend, but I think most of us on here can do better than that.

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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    This is my routine: Wake up at 5pm (ish) If I have time I eat an apple or an orange. If I go to work I'll take some sliced carrots or celery with me to snack on. If I'm closing (2am) then I go straight to the gym and have my one allotted Wawa iced coffee for the day on the way to the gym. Workout for 2 hours. I get home around 4-5 am and have some egg whites with some turkey sausage or maybe a light salad with a teaspoon of olive oil for dressing. I just make sure that I let a 3 hour time period pass before I go to bed. That has been my key to being a night owl and losing weight.
    "Fake tits are like Kevlar. They don't guarantee your chances of survival but they sure as hell improve it."
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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    Your daily intake for energy is 1piece fruit, 1 sml serve of one type of vege, an iced coffee, egg whites with sml serve turkey sausage or a lilight salad- No wonder you're losing weight!

    I applaud you for the types of food you are eating but the quantities? I can't imagine my body functioning and turning over healthy cells on such a restricted energy intake.
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    ^ Flickdreams. It is all about what you eat. You can definitely eat more than Tempest and still lose weight but definitely stay away from starchy carbs and grains only as a treat. As far as veggies go you can really eat as many green veggies as you want. Keep plenty of green veggies in the house to snack on if you get cravings. Drink tons of water.

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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    Quote Originally Posted by Flickdreams View Post
    Your daily intake for energy is 1piece fruit, 1 sml serve of one type of vege, an iced coffee, egg whites with sml serve turkey sausage or a lilight salad- No wonder you're losing weight!

    I applaud you for the types of food you are eating but the quantities? I can't imagine my body functioning and turning over healthy cells on such a restricted energy intake.

    I eat lol....this is just on days when we both work and I have to drive him and I don't have time to cook. If we're both off I usually cook grilled fish.boneless skinless chicken breasts w/some steamed veggies

    work was shitty so I had zucchini spaghetti with ground turkey in marinara sauce I made myself about 2 hours before I hit the gym.
    "Fake tits are like Kevlar. They don't guarantee your chances of survival but they sure as hell improve it."
    Tempest

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    Default Re: Best Diet for Night Shift Workers aka Can I eat Carbs after 6pm

    Unless I make a batch of sugarfree cookies or hubby makes a sugarfree cheesecake (maybe once every 2-3 months) a typical homemade from scratch snack is;

    Cocoa, full cream milk, dextrose hot drink.

    Lentil salad, roast beetroot, leaves, fresh herbs, fetta, lemon juice, olive oil (roast garlic type).

    Chicken soup w vegies

    Matchbox serve cheese w roast chicken salt and pepper

    Multigrain toast w avacado or poached eggs

    Chickpea salad, greens, mustard and olive oil dressing

    Butter bean salad, beans, toms, whole egg mayo

    fresh fruit (I only have to serves per day total to eliminate fructose intake)

    Sml serve of dinner leftovers- This week was Chilli con Carne, Shepards Pie, Coq au vin, Vichyssoise, french onion soup, Corned beef w 3 greens and smashed potatoes (we always make from scratch including stocks and bases)

    I will typically take a thermos of soup and a sml serve of dinner leftovers into work with me and try and avoid eating the white bread sandwiches on offer- it used to be pizza! In a strip club! You let your girls eat 8-10 pizzas and drink to oblivion on shift and you will have a club of chubbies to hungover to work out the next day.
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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