Working three shifts with IF

This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by kessalove 3 years, 7 months ago.

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somethingsomething

4:40 am
24 May 18
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Hello,I’m new to this forum and to the whole IF style of eating. I’ve found IF quite on random, scrolling through youtube and I thought I would give it a try since I’m dealing with overweight for quite some time now (height 181cm, weight 105kg). I started two days ago with 20:4 ratio, since I’m kinda used to not to eat alot because of my work scheudle…which is also subject of this thread because I work 3 shifts.

First is from 6:00am – 2:00pm (launch break at 10:00pm)
Second is from 2:00pm – 10:00pm (launch break at 5:00pm)
Third is from 10:00pm – 6:00pm (launch break at 2:00am)

When I work first shift, I get up at 5:00am and go to sleep somewhere between 9:00pm and 10:00pm. When I work second shift, I get up at somewhere between 10:00am and 12:00am and go to sleep around 12:00pm. And when I work third shift,I get up around 2:00pm and go to sleep around 7:00am.

And shift starts on Monday and ends on Friday (occasionaly we work Saturdays).

So I’m wondering if someone has any experience or suggestions how to plan IF with this kinda style of work and if it is even possible to do IF under these terms. Thanks in advance for all the answers.

LJoyce

7:45 am
24 May 18
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Hi, as the search function isn’t working on this site it can be hard to track down earlier discussions on as issue, here are some that might be helpful:
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/how-to-incorporate-52-when-working-nights-or-evening-shifts/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/shift-work-fasting/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/help-planning-for-night-shifts/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/shift-work/

The key thing to remember is that a “fast day” should be 36 hours and you eat 500/600 calories within that time period. When you eat those calories is up to you. It is also expected that there will be two periods of sleep within that 36 hour period – when swapping between shifts this sometimes doesn’t happen.
With 5:2 you only need to do two fast days per week. I would suggest you try fasting of various shifts and see if any are easier. For example if it’s easier to fast when doing afternoon shift then try to always schedule your fasts to coincide with those shifts. I would probably also avoid any shift changes where you only get an 8 hour break between your work periods for fasting. Luckily you get a lot more non-fasting days so you can move your fast days around to suit your schedule.

Something else I found helpful was to not try and stretch 500 calories over 3 meals. I normally have one meal and a small snack (piece of fruit) on a fast day. I found that persisting with the idea that I always had to have three meals a day was not helpful.

kessalove

11:23 am
5 Apr 21
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I know the feeling…my shifts vary too!

On the mountain
1st shift is 0430-1330 and lunch is at 0800
2nd shift is 0630-1530 and lunch is at 1030
3rd shift is 1515-2359 and lunch is at 1830

In the Compound
1st and 2nd shift is 0700-1600/0800-1700 and lunch varies from 1100-1230

Remote Site
1st shift is 0530-1400 and lunch is 1000
2nd shift is 0900-1800 and lunch is 1200
and right now the only shift running off-site is from 0700-1600 and lunch is at 1100

It’s hard to keep up but least the I have the same schedule for the whole week except for the 3rd shift on the mountain and that’s for the whole month Monday through Friday.