![]() Make Time for Exercise: Doing some resistance training right before bed will increase your resting metabolic rate for about the next 16 hours. If possible, use your break time at work to go outside and soak up some rays. Focus on eating foods such as salmon, tuna, mushrooms, egg yolks, and fortified milk and yogurt. You can increase your intake of vitamin D with supplements and diet. Your body needs 600 IU daily of this nutrient to help absorb calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and other minerals that can decrease overall body fat. Get Your Vitamin D: When you are sleeping during the day, you aren’t getting any time in the sun, which is a significant source of vitamin D. Although almost every type of fruit and vegetable is available year-round, matching your diet to what is in season where you live can help your body reclaim the benefits of natural cycles. Choose local, fresh, organic foods as much as possible. Prepare Healthy Meals: Instead of one large meal, eat smaller, low-fat snacks throughout your shift. Make sure it is a high protein meal with complex carbohydrates, healthy fat, fruits, and vegetables. Start with Protein: Get in the habit of eating before you start your shift, so your body has time to transfer those calories into energy. This is a strategy that works for many things, and the most critical step is to begin. Pick one area to work on and first, then add others gradually. If you are not where you want to be in any category, don’t criticize yourself. Then you can decide if you need to work on just your diet or focus on exercise. Writing down exactly what you are eating and drinking, how much sleep you’re getting, and the amount of exercise gives you a starting point. Check out our best tips to help with weight loss while you’re burning the midnight oil as a shift worker.Ĭreate a Log: Reaching your weight loss goals doesn’t mean giving up everything you love to eat and drink, but you do have to make choices to create a calorie deficit. The goal is to find a better balance of when to eat and what to eat while you’re working the night shift. How Can I Lose Weight as a Night Shift Worker? However, there are some actions you can take to maintain a healthy weight and avoid adverse stress reactions proactively. ![]() The disruption of your circadian rhythm has biological consequences, and if your work night shifts, you are bound to run into some of them. Beyond affecting your weight, disruption of your circadian rhythms can also result in other adverse side effects, including: It also releases the stress hormone cortisol, which directly correlates with weight gain in the abdominal area. This can make you feel more stressed, moody, less energetic, and it signals your body to hang on tightly to fat. This includes the critical hormones that regulate satiety and hunger, increasing your appetite for carbohydrates and high-calorie foods.Disrupting your circadian clock increases your risk for weight gain because it decreases your resting metabolic rate. Shift work throws this cycle off balance along with your body’s metabolic and hormonal equilibrium. ![]() This cycle is your daily biological clock, and the human body likes routine. Working night shifts disrupt your body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm. Does Working the Night Shift Affect Your Weight? With a positive mindset and an awareness of the traps, you’ll find the specific strategies to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Our nutrition team has created a scientifically-proven guide to losing weight on the night shift, and you’ll be glad to see that it is entirely do-able. What changes are the strategies you use to meet the requirements for optimal health and well being. So, if you want to lose weight while working the night shift, it will require a commitment to doing whatever you have to do to take care of yourself.The good news is that the rules for weight loss don’t change because you work nights. When we go against biology, there is always a cost. Darkness means it’s time to rest, and light signals energy and alertness. When you don’t get enough quality shut-eye, your health begins to suffer, and losing weight can seem impossible.Sunlight exposure is vital for regulating your daily rhythms, and humans are diurnal like all mammals. If you are one of the millions of Americans who work night shifts, you are probably sleep-deprived.
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