Gr8twriter247 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 So I'm planning on getting started on Whole 30 this Monday. I've been trying to limited (but not completely excluding) my food to the approved items and have a plan in place to empty out my kitchen of unapproved items this week. I have been reading all the materials and the post in a lot of sections in this forum. I am completely confident that I can follow all the guidelines. However I did have a question concerning eating 3 full meals. A lot of the posts I had seen about 3 meals involve people with a standard day: Wake up at 6am, Breakfast at 7am, Lunch at 2pm, Dinner at 7pm and in bed around 10pm. However not all the time but more times than some, my day to day schedule involves 12-18 hours of work with 2-4 hours of time awake before/after. As I have not attempted to follow the program yet, I am having trouble figuring out how to eat 3 full meals without snacking in a 22 hour period. For example: ( Work in this example is from 6am-midnight) Wake up at 4am, Breakfast at 5am, then lunch at 3pm and dinner at 10pm and bed around 1am or 2am. Is that good for my body while also staying in line with the program rules? I would really like some input especially if someone out there has a similar crazy schedule they try to follow. Also note that I am aware staying awake for that long is not good for my body but the nature of the job I am in requires it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted July 12, 2017 Moderators Share Posted July 12, 2017 Wowza, that's some serious hours! Please tell me that you don't only get 2 hours of sleep between each 22 hour day! You're right that the recommendations for 3 meals and no snacks are for people with standard days. We absolutely do NOT expect you to go 22 waking hours with only three meals. That said, it's not an open invitation to snack Eat your first meal within an hour of waking, which it seems you do (good job!). Eat another meal around 10am, eat lunch (as you've called it) at 3. Eat a mini meal around 6 or 7pm (hardboiled egg and some mayo, chicken salad on cucumber slices etc..) and then eat dinner (as you've called it) at 10. Stop eating at 10... even tho you're still awake, one of the things you can do to combat this crazy schedule is to not eat in the middle of the night (assuming this is always your schedule and you're not also a shift worker). It's only 4 or so hours between 10pm meal and bed, so you shouldn't be starving and it actually should work out that you're ready for breakfast when you wake up again. IF you are working hard labor or something that is burning energy between 10pm and bedtime, throw another mini meal thing in there a few hours before bed... maybe a midnight 'snack' on the way home... you might put a bit of starchy carb in that mini meal to help you sleep. You're definitely going to be eating a lot more food than most people but you're also awake a lot longer than most people so as long as you stick to the template, minimize hand to mouth snacking, get your water in and keep the meal timing as close as I listed it, you should be good. On your days off, try and stick as close to the same meal timing (but probably with less meals) as your work days so that your body feels the consistency. Does that help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted July 12, 2017 Administrators Share Posted July 12, 2017 It may also be worth pointing out, @Gr8twriter247 - the "tiger blood" energy and balanced hormones, regulated appetite, regulated blood sugars that most people will experience is less likely to happen based on your schedule and lack of sleep. If I may, what is is that you do that they expect you to only sleep for 2-4 hours a night? And how long is this meant to go on for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 How long has this been goin' on? Where words fail, music speaks. You cannot let this go on. Your body will burn out. Do you work at a hospital? Understood and appreciated. Hospitals have come cray cray shizz schedules but it still takes a toll over the long haul. Night shifters suffer. I wish you well and hope you find some rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8twriter247 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 This does help. Going into the whole 30 program, I was thinking there's no way to eat only 3 meals in 22 hours without some sort of snack in between. So adjusting my meals plan to eat smaller meals in-between will help me adjust to the change. Also, the example I posted was what is my "worst" day that usually happens once a week. I generally will get 4-7 hours of sleep between work days even after that long day. But that is because I am a shift worker. However I have figured out how to still follow the meal plan when I am waking up at 2pm and going to bed at 7am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowflower Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 When I was working overnight shift (only 12 1/2 hours) I was only getting 4-5 hours of sleep on the 3 day stretches when I worked. (commute + kids made 8 hours impossible). But I did successfully complete a Whole30 during this time. On the days I worked, I would always eat 4 and sometimes 5 "meals". I would encourage you to make them smaller versions of the meal template and avoid "snacks" that don't contain a protein or a fat. I would work 3 days on and then be off for 4 days....so I would cook like crazy on those 4 days so I wouldn't have to do ANY cooking on the days I worked. Is this an option for you? How many days off do you have? I would make egg casseroles or fritattas for breakfast and then have salad greens washed and packaged and lots of proteins cooked. Are you a resident? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8twriter247 Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Just to update - I was able to successfully navigating my first long day. Awake @ 0415. Meal #1 @ 0630 - Poached egg w/ bacon & sweet potato. Meal #2 @ 1100 - Hard boiled egg with cucumbers and grapes. Meal #3 @ 1700 - Herb crusted Salmon with baked broccoli stems. Meal #4 @ 2300 - Baked chicken w/ potatoes. Sleep @ 0230 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted July 21, 2017 Moderators Share Posted July 21, 2017 10 hours ago, Gr8twriter247 said: Just to update - I was able to successfully navigating my first long day. Awake @ 0415. Meal #1 @ 0630 - Poached egg w/ bacon & sweet potato. Meal #2 @ 1100 - Hard boiled egg with cucumbers and grapes. Meal #3 @ 1700 - Herb crusted Salmon with baked broccoli stems. Meal #4 @ 2300 - Baked chicken w/ potatoes. Sleep @ 0230 Good job! I just want to mention that you're going to want to start eating more than that... it might feel fine now but nutrition is cummulative and your body is going to get pretty upset if you don't increase your portions... The template asks for a plate full of veggies... that's about 2-3 cups of cooked volume... the sweet potato is recommended to be a fist sized serving, so you've got another one or two cups of veggies missing. Eggs when they are your sole source of protein (bacon is fat) are as many as you can hold in one hand without dropping.... M2, same goes for the eggs and you're also missing fat. M3 and 4 are missing fat and without knowing quantities but based on your other meals, I'd say they're probably pretty light as well... Try and get those meals matching the template... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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