There are a lot of opinions on how to best navigate the 12 hour Night shift – whether you’re a nurse (like me!) or in a warehouse. Its hard to know when to eat, what to eat and how to feel your best despite working through the night. When you eat crappy food, you feel crappy! Trust me, I’ve done it. I’ve also navigated through multiple weight loss challenges working night shifts and still maintaining my momentum. Below are my top tips for surviving the 12 hour Night Shift. As an added bonus, I’ve also supplied the Ultimate 12 Hour Night Shift Diet Plan that I’ve proven time and time again.
My Top Tips for Having Success with a 12 Hour Night Shift Diet Plan
1. Prep your food
Making sure that you have food prepared to take with you to night shift is the ultimate game changer. You do not want to be raiding the work vending machine and coming up with snacks with no nutritional value whatsoever. They won’t keep you full and they’ll just make you feel worse. Prepare some hearty, nutritious meals before your shifts so that you’re ready for whatever comes your way. My favourite meals to bulk cook for my shifts include healthy bolognese, chicken and veggies, stirfry, or curries!
2. Take plenty of healthy snacks
It’s common when we’re tired on night shift to look to food or caffeine to perk us up. There’s nothing worse then seeing the snacks you brought and not feeling like any of them. I found that some nights I was happy to eat my carrot sticks and hummous and other nights that was the last thing I felt like! If you’re a sweet tooth – fruit or protein balls will be your go-to snack. Just make sure you bring a variety of healthy snacks to keep you satisfied and motived to keep up with your 12 hour night shift diet plan.
3. Plan your breaks
Now this can be hard! Especially in the nursing world – there may be reduced staff or one of your patients may be quite unwell and need close-monitoring. But if you have the opportunity to plan and take your break – take it! Some people feel worse having a quick nap on their break so if that’s you, choose an alternative. Use that time to eat a healthy meal and do some stretches if you have the room to do so. I usually take my breaks around the 3-4am mark so I can have a healthy snack and feel rested for the morning rush and drive home.
4. Stay Hydrated – but time it well!
I think its fair to say that you will be consuming caffeine on your night shift. If you are, make sure that you drink 2 extra cups of water per caffeinated drink that you have. Try to drink your 2L of water by 4am to save needing to wake up from your day-time nap to go to the toilet. Its important to get the same water intake in as if you were working a day shift. Being dehydrated can have a negative effect on your immunity – increasing your risk of getting sick. Learn more about nutrition and immunity here.
5. No caffeine after 3am
It is not worth the risk! There is nothing more frustrating than coming home from a 12 hour night shift absolutely wrecked but being unable to switch off and go to sleep. If you can’t sleep you are more likely to make poor food choices (erm, hello uber eats!) because you’re hungry and tired but can’t sleep. Unless you are staying awake after your night shift (which I don’t recommend) there is no reason why you should be having a coffee only 5 hours before your bedtime.
6. Be strict with your sleep routine
When the rest of the world is waking up, you’re trying to go to sleep. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and here you are ready to say goodnight. It can take a few night shifts to get your routine down pat but when you do – be strict with it! As a nurse, some night shifts can be busy and adrenalin-filled so it is important for me to have a good wind-down routine. After I have a shower and a healthy breakfast (my go to is fruit & porridge), I read or put on a light-hearted netflix show. Don’t be tempted to put on anything too engaging – you want something that you can drift off to. It is a necessity to have block-out curtains if you are working night shift. These are the ones I grabbed – only $30 at Spotlight.
The Ultimate 12 Hour Night Shift Diet Plan
Now that you’ve got a few tips under your sleeve, here’s the real deal plan! I haven’t included specific meals for a reason – they need to be meals that YOU enjoy and find easy to prepare. See above photo for my favourite easy meal and snack options for inspiration. When preparing for my night shift, I would typically fast and only eat a big lunch at midday – followed by a nap. But fasting isn’t for everyone – so do whatever works for you.
However you feel about night shifts – I hope this article helps you to succeed in your goals. Sticking to a diet plan is hard enough when functioning 9-5, so we need a little extra help when navigating shift work. At the end of the day, this is the path you have chosen and its time to make it work for you! No excuses – we’ve got this!
