IF on night shift

[-MVP-]

Hey guys,

Do any of you that uses keto/intermittent fasting work night shift? If so, can you fill me in on how you go about spacing out meals and working out? The gym is way too crowded before I go into work and I honestly would feel like I'm in too much of a rush to really mentally check in working out prior going to work, so I will be working out after work.

My shift usually ends around 4:00 am, so I figure stopping eating after 10:00 pm would give me a fasted workout, but should I have a protein shake or cottage cheese or something before bed or go straight to sleep and start my calories when I wake up around 1:00 pm?

Thanks for any input.

 

[-MVP-]

Did not mean to make a double post if a mod wants to delete this thread.

 

[Hyde]

I really like IF as a means to control weight/keep weight down. It’s very convenient too if you can use it to avoid eating most of your work day to simplify things.

But the thing about training is, you need to be eating on at least one side of your training for optimal recovery. If you train a while after the eating window, you will be fueled up and have resources available to rebuild, and if you train fasted as long as you start getting the food in pretty soon you’ll recover well there. But I wouldn’t have all the nutrition a full 6 hours away from training. Maybe a couple hours away at most.

 

[-MVP-]

I really like IF as a means to control weight/keep weight down. It’s very convenient too if you can use it to avoid eating most of your work day to simplify things.

But the thing about training is, you need to be eating on at least one side of your training for optimal recovery. If you train a while after the eating window, you will be fueled up and have resources available to rebuild, and if you train fasted as long as you start getting the food in pretty soon you’ll recover well there. But I wouldn’t have all the nutrition a full 6 hours away from training. Maybe a couple hours away at most.

I was thinking maybe start fasting at midnight, train at 4-5 am, then have maybe a protein shake or cottage cheese or maybe some boiled eggs after the workout.

 

[Hyde]

I was thinking maybe start fasting at midnight, train at 4-5 am, then have maybe a protein shake or cottage cheese or maybe some boiled eggs after the workout.

You can do that, but it’s all time you’re not fasting and extending the eating window. So the question is how big of an eating window do you want?

 

[-MVP-]

You can do that, but it’s all time you’re not fasting and extending the eating window. So the question is how big of an eating window do you want?

I was thinking eating maybe around 5-6 am just to get some protein in; maybe even just a shake. I’d start my IF again around 4pm and close it out around midnight. At this point I guess the 16/8 would be wasted but I’d at least be working out faster. Complicated situation here.

 

[Hyde]

I was thinking eating maybe around 5-6 am just to get some protein in; maybe even just a shake. I’d start my IF again around 4pm and close it out around midnight. At this point I guess the 16/8 would be wasted but I’d at least be working out faster. Complicated situation here.

It’s not complicated. If you want to do IF, you need to put your feeding window around or at least near on side of your training. If you only don’t eat for 10 hours of the day, you’re just doing want most people do anyway. It’s not that hard or complicated.