What Is Your Sleeping Schedule
This question is probably more important than the other 2.
Why?
When you sleep, you naturally fast since you are not eating, so the easiest way to decide your fasting window is to work around your sleeping hours, not around your working hours.
What do we mean?
Lets look first at a typical intermittent fasting schedule. This is for someone working between the 8:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M. window.
In this scenario, the person is probably sleeping somewhere between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. This means that this person just added 3 to 4 hours before and after the sleeping window to make the 16-hour fast.
What happens if your sleeping window is right after the night shift?
In this case, we are assuming you are sleeping somewhere between 6 A.M and 2 P.M.
As you may have noticed, we applied the same formula. Just add a few hours before and after the sleeping schedule to achieve the 16-hour fast.
What happens if you decide to stay up all morning and go to sleep at noon?
In this scenario, we are assuming a sleeping schedule between 12 PM and 8 PM
If you notice, in both cases, you can work from 10 PM to 4 AM and achieve your fasting hours. The difference was your sleeping schedule.
When Should You Avoid Fasting During The Night Shift
While fasting has many health benefits, there are instances, especially if you work night shifts, when breaking the fast might be best. So if you know youre prone to hypoglycemia, if you have a history of getting dizzy, or if you feel particularly tired or sluggish, it may be best to simply eat without thinking too much of your perfect eating window.
This is especially important if you have a physically challenging job or one that requires extreme attention to detail. You want to make sure you never end up hypoglycemic during your shift.
The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
The content in this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, diet, or supplements prior to making any changes. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read in this publication .
Lately it seems like many fitness magazines, weight loss blogs, and personal trainers have been preaching the benefits of intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is an eating schedule that provides specific times for people to eat and fast.
Unlike many diets which focus on the types of food that people consume, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that is primarily concerned with when people consume them. During eating periods, people can eat anything they would like, but during the fasting periods, people either dont eat anything at all or eat very few calories.
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How Does It Work
There are quite a few different perspectives or ways of doing it, but essentially itâs abstaining from any form of caloric intake for 12-18 hours. The length of time for optimal results lands around 16 hours. Which means that itâs also a fairly short window of time that you are actually consuming food â ideally about 6-8 hours per day. If youâre committed to sleep and manage to get somewhere between 7-8 hours of sleep a night, that leaves a few hours that youâre awake and foregoing food.
“But a growing body of research suggests that the timing of the fast is key.”
When your body and brain know not to expect food, it adjusts. You donât become nearly as hangry as youâd expect. I definitely do go through some mild hunger spells but Iâm often running around like a crazy person and donât have much time nor mental bandwidth to give it much thought.â
- 05:30 â 6:30am: gym workout/shower
- 07:00am: work + green tea
- 08:00 â 10:00am: 16 oz water, black coffee
- 11:30-12:00pm: snack and/or lunch
- 17:30-18:00pm: dinner and/or snack â
Healthy Habits For Night Shift Workers Leads To Weight Loss
When you eat, what you eat, your sleep quality, and how you exercise are critical factors for losing weight. Diligent attention to these essentials will allow you to lose weight while working the biologically counterintuitive night shift.If you are one of the protective services and healthcare workers often exposed to dangerous or traumatic events, taking care of yourself is essential for all of us. At Dr. Seltzer Weight Loss, we are dedicated to supporting your health and wellness so you can continue to help and serve.
Recommended Reading: How To Ease Into Intermittent Fasting
If Youre Worried About Feeling Hungry Try Eating Fruits And Vegetables That Are High In Protein:
These fruits and veggies will make you feel fuller longer, even when you only eat a small portion.
The Warrior Diet intermittent fasting eating schedule will help you lose weight and prevent you from indulging in unhealthy vending machine snacks during your shift or fast food meals when your shift is done. It will also allow you to step up your fruit and vegetable intake, which will provide you with the vitamins and antioxidants your body needs to stay healthy.
Just because you work the night shift does not mean that intermittent fasting is not right for you. You can still gain all of the health benefits that are so crucial for night shift workers by tailoring these eating schedules to suit your lifestyle or trying less common intermittent fasting methods.
Night Shift Nutrition is a community focused on living your best life, while working nights. We do this by sharing our experiences and science based educations. The point is to not only survive working nights but to thrive! If this sounds like something youd like to be a part of you can or .
Spreading Out The Workout Throughout Your Long Shift
Dont be afraid of simply exercising here and there, when you can.
Check out the Angry Birds Workout and split up your workout throughout your shift:
- Do squats in the supply closet. Weirdo? YUP. Who cares?
- Push-ups and planks in your cubicle.
- Pull-ups on the bus stop overhang waiting to go to work? Ive been there.
- Dumbbell rows with your desk and briefcase/backpack.
- Walking up the stairs on your break. Why not?
It all adds up, and every little bit is better than nothing. The strength training benefits are key, but theres one other key benefit to exercising throughout the day.
Coach Matt provides more tips on how to sneak in your training throughout the day right here:
And trust me, as a father of five who works from home, Matt knows how to sneak in his training.
Read Also: What Can You Drink While Fasting
How Does The 16/8 Diet Work
One topic we should cover is how the 16/8 diet helps to mitigate disease risk while aiding in weight loss.
While scientists still have a lot to learn, there is one aspect of the 16/8 diet that we know plays a huge role in how this diet improves your health status and that is your circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm is a natural bodily process that follows an approximate 24-hour cycle that coincides with the sun. One example of this rhythm is sleeping at night and being awake during the day.
Other aspects of your body follow this rhythm as well. For example, certain processes related to digestion and metabolism are upregulated during the day and downregulated during the evening.
Humans, and most mammals, evolved to have this cycle as a way of preserving energy to maximize survival. In other words, your body evolved to downregulate certain processes during times of the day when you were less likely to use them as a way to conserve precious energy .
Studies have shown that disruptions to our circadian rhythm can increase our risk for certain metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and more .
One way to disrupt this system is by eating constantly throughout the dayâ¦or eating when processes related to digestion and metabolism are downregulated. This means that late-night snacking can disrupt your circadian rhythm and increase your risk for disease.
Ive Never Fasted Before How Should I Start
If youve never water fasted before, we recommend that you start with overnight fasting. This form of fasting has added benefits of reinforcing healthy circadian rhythms if you start fasting a few hours before bedtime even your gut microbes and brain will love it! You can practice this fasting schedule most nights of the week, if youd like.
Even 12 hours of overnight fasting can require a few weeks of adjustment for many people. But it should get easier within a month! If you normally eat a snack or enjoy a drink late in the evening, try to move that up to at least 1-2 hours before you go to bed. Then try waking up and just drinking some hot tea or coffee with no cream or sugar.
If you can begin to fast for 10, 12 or even 14 hours overnight, youll be well on your way to an intermittent fasting lifestyle! You can work up from there. Let us know how it goes share your story with us on or !
Also Check: Can You Have Coffee During Intermittent Fasting
Dont Use Intermittent Fasting As A Way To Eat Rubbish
If you really want to reap the rewards
Just because youre purposefully skipping a few meals doesnt mean you can go crazy down the candy aisle.
The whole point of intermittent fasting is for your body to start using a different fuel source, in fats rather than glucose or sugar.
If you keep feeding your body sugar, junk food and fatty night shift snacks, your body can never burn off the glucose or sugar to really start burning that unwanted fat. Which is the dream, right?
Once all the sugar stores have been used up, your body needs an alternative for energy supply such as fat cells, which it then breaks down to help fuel your body even on night shift.
Stick to a diet full of color and healthy whole foods which are located mainly in the outside aisles of the grocery store. You dont need to count or restrict your calories anymore.
Here are some posts you may find beneficial for ideas on what to eat during the eating window:
For Coaches: Find The Best Intermittent Fasting Schedule For Your Clients
The topic of IF poses quite a few challenges for nutrition coaches. First, some clients really shouldnt be fasting at all. Others might do okay with some fasting approaches, but miserably on others.
And still other clients might come to you convinced that the most extreme fasting method is right for them, even though theyve never fasted before.
How do you navigate these turbulent waters? In this section, youll find advice from Robin Beier, PN2, a German nutrition coach we mentioned earlier in this chapter.
To match clients with an intermittent fasting schedule, consider these questions.
Factor #1: Have they practiced the fundamentals?
A number of fundamental nutrition strategies form the underpinning of all successful IF schedules. Your client will want to have these down before trying any fasting style. Is your client usually
- eating only when physically hungry?
- eating slowly until satisfied?
- consuming minimally-processed whole foods?
- eating balanced meals that include lean protein, healthy fats, smart carbs and colorful veggies?
If possible, try to spend some time on these practices before diving into any of the fasting schedules mentioned in this chapter.
Factor #2: Have they fasted before? If so, how did it go?
Consider asking: What experiences have you had with fasting schedules or meal skipping?
Factor #3: What kind of exercise are they doing? And how often are they doing it?
Factor #4: Whats their lifestyle like?
Two words that can reign in overzealous clients
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Check In With Your Body
Start consciously noticing how you feel on your days off or on the weekends. Pick a day where you arent working or you arent bombarded with a million tasks as soon as you wake up. Really tune into what your body is saying, and how its responding to your meals, hydration, exercise etc.
Youve likely been ignoring or overriding your bodys signals for years. But tuning into your body gets easier with time and practice.
Its important to notice how you are feeling as soon as you wake up. Are you hungry? It is out of habit that you eat breakfast first thing? Is last nights dinner still sitting in your stomach?
Is Intermittent Fasting Unsafe
No, its no unsafe but may be inappropriate for some groups or individuals. Seek medical advice before you fast, if you have any of the following health concerns or situations:
- If you suffer from low blood sugar or have issues with blood regulation
- If you have a history of eating disorders
- Youre pregnant or breastfeeding
- Youre underweight
- If you have issues with your gall bladder and or thyroid
- Youre currently unwell. Your body may need those vital nutrients to heal, grow new healthy cells and tissues to get better.
Read Also: How Much Can You Lose On Intermittent Fasting
How To Combine Intermittent Fasting And Shift Work
Anyone who works in shifts is probably familiar with this: The changing working hours are not only a physical and mental challenge. They also require careful planning in everyday life.
Are you also wondering how you can combine your shift schedule with intermittent fasting?
In this blog article, well show you how to integrate intermittent fasting into your daily work routine easily.
Some General Safety Tips
- Drink water when you are thirsty.
- Adjust your caloric intake during your feeding windows so that you consume enough calories to meet your energy needs according to your weight goals.
- If you feel faint, dizzy or nauseous, we recommend breaking your fast early and speaking with your primary care physician. You may have symptoms of low blood sugar or another issue.
- Talk to your physician before upping your fasting window beyond 18 hours per day.
- Break your fast with low glycemic index foods, such as lean protein and healthy fats like avocados
- Never do fasts longer than 2 days by yourself. Always tell someone, a family member or friend and keep them updated on how you are feeling as you progress.
- During fasts longer than 2 days, watch for signs of electrolyte imbalance: muscle spasms, weakness, blood pressure changes, irregular heartbeat, numbness and confusion.
Read Also: How Many Calories Should I Eat When Fasting
Youre Not Drinking Enough Water
As you saw earlier, drinking enough water during a fast is crucial in removing toxins. But theres another benefit: water helps regulate your appetite, can prevent cravings, and can stop you from snacking mindlessly. Did you know oftentimes people confuse thirst for hunger? This can be even more true for intermittent fasting during night shifts. Boredom and tiredness will make you want to reach for the snacks all the time. To prevent this from happening, make sure you stay hydrated.
How To Fast On A Night Shift
If you want to fast on a night shift, first choose the right eating window.
Have your meal properly and after you start working, try to stay hydrated.
Drink plenty of water while working. This will not just keep you full but also cleanse your digestive system and keep you active throughout the night shift.
Having said that, intermittent fasting and drinking only water may not be the best idea for people who are involved in physically strenuous tasks. So, ensure you eat plenty of nutrient-rich foods during your eating window. This applies to both sets of people, including the ones with a desk jobs. As a rule of thumb, try to consume food only during daylight hours. This will allow your body to sustain a properly natural process.
If the concept itself is extremely new to you, do this twice or thrice a week until you are comfortable with a more proper schedule.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Way To Do Intermittent Fasting
Overeating And Potential Weight Gain
Restricting your intake to just 8 hours per day may cause some people to eat more than usual during eating periods in an attempt to make up for hours spent fasting. This may lead to weight gain, digestive problems, and unhealthy eating habits.
Interestingly, current research doesnt suggest that intermittent fasting leads to any more weight loss than typical diets that recommend overall calorie restriction. Both eating patterns may lead to modest weight loss .
If weight loss is your primary goal, you may therefore prefer to lower your calorie intake instead of fasting intermittently to prevent the overeating that may occur when restricting intake to a certain time window.
Should Those Who Work Rotating Shifts Bother With If
YES! I absolutely believe that implementing an intermittent fasting protocol is possible for healthcare professionals. It is something simple you can do that will have a direct positive impact on your life and health.
Its easy to maintain once you get started and there are so many benefits.
We spend our days taking care of others and putting everyone elses health first. This is one small way we can ensure we are taking care of ourselves and making our own health a priority.
The first couple of weeks may be a little challenging and may even raise some eyebrows from your coworkers, but you will find a rhythm fairly quickly and your body will respond to IF.
Stick with it and trust the process. And if youre looking for a hand-holding, complete program to guide you:
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