Can I Switch My Nutrisystem Meals when I Get Overnight Work

I sometimes hear from people who have a specific reason that eating their Nutrisystem meals as intended (and at the intended time) may not be feasible. Many work the overnight or graveyard shift and they eat their dinner when other folks are eating breakfast. Other people perhaps crave more substantial meals for breakfast and lighter meals for dinner. And they are wondering if eating their meals out of the intended order are going to affect their results.

I heard from someone who said "I work at a hospital from 11pm to 7am. So I will generally have a snack at about 3am and I generally eat "breakfast" at around 5am. However that breakfast is generally leftovers from my family's dinner. I have gotten in the habit of eating dinner foods very early in the morning and at breakfast time. When I get off of work, I will go home and sleep until around 3:00pm. Then I wake up and have breakfast foods at that time. When I sit down and eat what my family considers dinner, it is more like my lunch time. Would it be OK if I switched my Nutrisystem meals around in this way and ate them out of order? Does it matter?"

Before I tell you my take on this, I should stress that you can ask any questions of this type to the Nutrisystem counselors. You can even do an online to chat to get immediate answers. With that said, I know plenty of people who use this type of flexibility with the timing of their meals. And they haven't noticed any difference in their results. Their thinking is that as long as you are eating a breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert (as well as the fresh add ins,) you're still taking in the same amount of calories, carbohydrates, and proteins as you other wise would regardless of what time you eat each meal.

For example, in the above example, let's say that this person woke up at 3:00 pm and decided to have one of the Nutrisystem oatmeal meals (with milk for a power fuel and also a dairy side item.) Then, let's say she sat down with her family at dinner time and ate what was theoretically her lunch and choose the diet hot dog with a side of carrot sticks. For her 3 am snack, she might have decided to go with one of the Nutrisystem protein shakes. At around 5:00 am she could have her usual substantial breakfast of the flatbread pizza with an apple. She might go with a dessert of a chocolate cookie. That would take her to the end of her shift where she would go home and sleep until around 3 and then start the cycle all over again. So, in that 24 hour period, she had managed to fit in all of her diet meals, even if they weren't at traditional times.

And yes, she may well have technically had her dinner for breakfast and vice verse. But, she still took in three main meals, a snack, a dessert and all of her side items. Actually, this may have been the same menu she would have chosen if she had a traditional schedule, only she would have had the meals at different times.

Source : Ava Alderman