Aishwarya Vaidya
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Written By: Aishwarya Vaidya | Published : October 12, 2018 11:02 AM IST
Eat a well-balanced diet if you are working in the night shift. © Shutterstock
Night shift workers often struggle with what to eat. Those working in the night shift often end up eating wrong food items which can cause serious health problems like acidity, obesity and so on. Yes, you have heard it right! if you make the wrong food choices and eat fatty, spicy and oily foods during your night shift then you can become obese. So, to help you to stay in top shape, Pavithra. N. Raj, Chief Dietician, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital Yeshwanthpur, suggests you a meal plan which you can opt for to avoid weight gain. Here is what you should do.
All you need to know about the meal-plan
Have your dinner around 8:00 - 8:30 pm: Opt for a South Indian/ North Indian Meal/ Continental Meal which include (Cereals wheat, ragi, jowar, millets) + (Pulse split or whole)+ Salad + buttermilk + vegetables.
Non-vegetarians can have 2 pieces of fish/ chicken in the form of steam / boiled or grilled weekly once and only during lunchtime), but no mutton.
Midnight: 11:00-11:30 pm: Cut fruit- 100gm [Apple, pear, pineapple, orange, papaya, guava, sweet-lime,1 slice muskmelon, apricot] + 2 walnuts or protein-rich snacks (boiled sprouts, boiled egg).
Sunrise: 6:00 am: Warm water 1 glass + 4 almond (presoaked and de-skinned).
7:00 am Light Tea /coffee/ Milk (skimmed milk).
Breakfast: 8:00 - 8:30 am: South Indian/ North Indian/ Continental (optional).
Sleep time: You can sleep till 4:00 pm.
4:00 pm: Tea/ coffee/ milk (skimmed milk) with some light smacks.
Instructions
1 CUP = 200 ml, 1 tbsp = 15gm, 1tsp = 5gm
Water intake = 2 to 2.5 lts/day
Salt allowance = less than a teaspoon/day
Oil allowance = 2-3 tsp/ day
For cooking use groundnut oil/ mustard oil/ sunflower oil/olive oil
Eat small and frequent meals. Control portion size, don t give a gap between meals and have an early dinner daily.
Physical activity: 30 - 40 minutes of brisk walk daily.
Restrict oily gravies, snacks (deep fried), creamy sauces, bakery foods, salad dressings high in fat.
Limit the intake of coconut (use only for seasoning/garnishing, not as a part of gravy).
