How to diet when you do early morning work patterns?

[bexlou2]

any suggestion to this question?

[Annmc01]

Get as much sleep as possible as being tired makes you more likely to eat rubbish. Also drink plenty of water.

[Hidden]

Hi bexlou,

Generally, irrespective of the hours you work, or are awake, I'd suggest that a big part of the 'trick' (if there is such a thing) is to get into a sensible eating regime that fits in (as much as is feasible) with your lifestyle.

So by way of example a Meal - Snack - Meal - Snack - Meal - Snack regime worked quite well for me. Basically, three sensibly-portioned, appropriately nutritious meals a day, with a 'snack' (perhaps something of about 50 to 100 calories or so) to kind of tide you over to your next meal time. In general, I'd advise against not eating anything at all for more than about four hours.

For sure, we all understand about circadian rhythm, but how you try to work best with that will depend upon just what hours you have to be awake and when in the day you are sleeping.

Other big factors, in my view, are portion-control (weigh your rice, pasta, cereal to make sure you're eating portion-sizes and not family-sizes) and ensuring that you are taking in the full range of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, phyto chemicals, anti-oxidants, etc., etc.).

So try to invest some time and effort into planning some good nutritious meals. Calories aren't the only consideration when it comes to food!

Taking in the "right" number of calories, but then not nourishing yourself by not having enough diversity in your diet isn't really a particularly "healthy" way forward.