Healthy Meal Hacks for Shift Workers

1. Give meal prepping a try

Prepping balanced meals

Meal prepping involves planning and cooking your meals ahead of time for the next few days or weeks.

It can be effective for promoting healthy eating if you find yourself dashing out the door before your shift, skipping meals on the job, or opting to buy those convenient-but-nutrient-poor vending machine snacks.

You can use your off day or the time before your shift to prep and pre-portion your meals for the work week ahead.

Try recipes that make large batches so you can minimize the time spent getting your food ready to take. Also, try prepping meals high in protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. These nutrients will help keep you full.

In fact, carbs are your body’s preferred source of energy, so eating a balanced meal packed with whole grains, fruits, or vegetables can help fight off any post-meal sluggishness you may feel.

If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or another digestive condition that may affect your work, you may want to follow a low FODMAP diet when creating balanced meals.

FODMAP stands for carbs that are fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.

If you can tolerate foods containing FODMAPs, which include certain nutritious fruits and vegetables, you can keep them in your diet.

Storing prepped meals

You can freeze any prepped and pre-portioned meals if you don’t want to eat the same thing on consecutive days.

But it’s important to take the proper steps to ensure your meals are safely frozen:

• Set your freezer to 0ºF (–17.8ºC) or lower.
• Cool your meal to refrigerator temperature — 40ºF (4.4ºC) or lower — before placing it in the freezer.
• Flatten your meal and pack it in a freezer bag.
• Label your meal with the following information:
  • name of the meal
  • date
  • servings

When it’s time to reheat a frozen meal, do not do so at room temperature, as this can cause foodborne illness. Instead, thaw the meal in the refrigerator overnight.

You can also opt to reheat your frozen meal in a microwave, but make sure to use a microwave-safe container and thoroughly reheat it to kill any bacteria that may make you sick.

2. Bring healthy snacks to work

Packing a filling, nutritious meal isn’t the only way to eat healthy during your shift. You can also pack snacks that will provide an energy boost.

Research from 2021 found that those who consumed a mixed tree nut snack high in protein and healthy fats had increased satiety (feelings of fullness) at 24 weeks compared with those who ate pretzels.

Much like protein, fiber can boost your satiety. A 2019 review found that fiber was associated with satiety-inducing effects, which can help curb your appetite and provide the energy you need to power through the rest of your shift.

Though it may be tempting to buy convenience snacks, such as chips and other highly processed snacks, the added sugars found in these foods will only provide empty calories and may even contribute to:

• obesity
• diabetes
• heart disease
• worsened mood, concentration, and memory

Instead, you can opt for more filling snacks that are still easy to bring with you, like:

• apples and nut butter
• fiber bars
• a mix of nuts and dried fruit
• uncured, low sodium jerky
• baked veggie chips

Satisfying cravings during the night shift

If you work the night shift, you may get late-night cravings. As your diet improves and you find yourself eating more protein, complex carbs, and fiber, you should also find that this diminishes your cravings.

If you’re still having trouble managing late-night on-the-job cravings, research suggests:

• eating at the same time every day
• making sure your portions are fulfilling your dietary needs
• getting enough sleep when you’re off the clock

And don’t forget to hydrate with water instead of sugary sodas, sports drinks, or caffeinated beverages. Research suggests that dehydration is associated with fatigue and increased error proneness.

3. Align meals with your shift

Regardless of when your shift is, you should try to eat a balanced meal before, during, and after it.

Try to leave a few hours before your shift to eat a fulfilling meal. This is also when you should be eating your largest meal.

Eating after your shift is important, too, even if you might be tired. Getting a small snack in your system may even help boost your energy, especially if it’s in the form of complex carbs.

But try to avoid hard-to-digest foods and foods that will make it difficult for you to fall asleep.

It’s also important to try to consume your meals at the same time each day, which can optimize your body’s performance.

However, this may be difficult if you work varying shifts. If this is the case, have a nutritious snack when you’re feeling hungry between breaks to satisfy you until you can take your lunch break.

Research shows that a snack during the night shift may help alleviate hunger and sleepiness, while not eating may cause increased thoughts of hunger, which could distract you from the task at hand.

Try experimenting with meal times during your shift to find a time that works best for you and your preferences.

4. Make the most of the vending machine

Some days, you might forget to pack a snack or find that you forgot to replenish your snack stash before your next shift.

When life gets in the way in times like these, your only choice might be to visit the vending machine.

Picking the most nutritious vending machine snacks, in this case, is important. Here are some nutritious vending machine options to choose from:

• anything whole grain, such as pretzels, crackers, or pita chips
• dry-roasted nuts
• granola bars
• 100% fruit bars
• mozzarella cheese sticks
• air-popped, low fat popcorn
• baked potato chips

You can also try speaking with a supervisor about getting healthier vending machine options.

The takeaway

If you’re a shift worker, you may find it difficult to eat balanced meals and snacks while on the job.

Meal prepping can help you pack fortifying meals high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, and protein while providing leftovers to freeze or enjoy during your next shift.

Additionally, you can choose nutrient-dense snacks for when hunger does strike, such as nuts, low sodium jerky, or apples and nut butter.

It’s important to try to eat at the same time every day, as this can optimize your body’s performance, but you can experiment with meal timings that work for you if you work variable shifts.

Making mindful meal and snack choices can improve your job performance and have other health benefits, including decreasing your risk of diabetes or obesity.