[JakeVendetta]

Alright heres my problem i hope i can make it make sense to everyone. I work nights, and i'm about to go to a schedule where the days i have off are inconsistant. I normally just eat... when i'm awake every 2-4 hours and dont think too much about it, but i'm about to start a diet where i'll be watching my meals closely. On my off days i ussually force myself to get up early so i can sleep at night because my fiance and friends are all on the opposite schedule as me... this isnt exactly a problem because i wake to go piss a few times a night, and i could just drink my shake that i would normally have for the day then, and move my meals around to accomodate that... but my problem is my first meal isnt until 3pm and i wake up at around 11 after sleeping at night. so theres 4 hours with no meals that i'm awake... and i cant seem to come to a reasonable conclusion on what to do, any ideas... any other fellow nightshift people out there run into this. Maning up and staying nocternal 24/7 is out of the question.... although one idea i've had is to force myself to stay up to 4 so i sleep in slightly more...
So my questions are should i disrupt sleep occasionally to get my meal times down, should i go without eating that long after waking, should i shut the fuck up and go completely nocternal.... any guidance suggestions are welcome so please post away.

[mr_bhana]

how many hours do you sleep contiuously?

[bigweppy]

I've worked the night shift for 4 years. Trust me when I tell you...stay nocturnal or get another job. Your body will thank you. I know you want to retain a social life but, swapping your schedule around on the weekends will eventually take its toll. If you still choose to flip flop your sleep habits just eat when you're awake...that simple.

As long as you're getting enough calories and the right ratio of macros every 3-4 hours it shouldn't matter if you eat them at night or during the day.

[chrispghmuscle]

Jake your allowed to have some extra time between meals apon wake up.. It most likely will not affect your overall training or eating routine.

[JakeVendetta]

alright thanks fellas for the feed back.. i honestly am always looking for another job so... hopefully i just find one before i start CKD. Damn, i am not a night person at all. I think i will try the staying up till 4-5 then if i still dont sleep long enough i'll just become a vampire. i get anywhere between 5-7 hours of sleep... yeah sucks ass..

[smsrudedog]

I also work nights 1230-0830 4 days on 2 days off....I have a drink at 1200 midnite and one at 3am, then its breakfast at 6am, preowrkout drink at 9am workout at 930am post workout drink at 1030-11am, sleep noon to 3-4pm eat upon awking 4, 6, 8 and sleep again 830-1130......its not easy but its what I have to do to make my schedle work.On my days off I eat normal through out the day and sleep the same all night.

[JakeVendetta]

I've been on nights for about a year, but i've always worked 4 on 3 off so i only had to make the transition twice a week... but my schedules changing so it will just take time for me to adjust to whatever i have to do to make it work. Before i would just eat like i said, and the days where i'd sleep in the morning and at night i would eat calorie dense foods and only get in like 5 meals... but it worked allright.. anyways i'm just going to man up i guess. i've tried splitting up my sleeping habits like that before it worked good except i got out of doing it once and cant get back into it... so for now its just going to be sleeping during the day i guess.

[Cain Marko]

If you were to get another job, what sort are you looking for?

[JakeVendetta]

I'm a radiological technologist (i take xrays basically and CT's), so i would prefer a hospital job because of the pay but i'd willingly work in a doctors office because of the hours. Unfortunetly because of where i live there are very limited options. I've also applied to a mobile company that goes to nursing homes and smaller hospitals/clinics etc... but if i could find a descent paying job in my area in a diffrent field i would probably consider it.

[Freak]

Get your sleep. As long as you keep a steady steam of nutrients as I know you do 4hrs won't make you catabolic.