Working the night shift (or other odd hours)

I've been lurking for a little while and have appreciated the good common-sense tips and shared stories. Here's a question that I haven't seen, though: how does one eat healthfully while needing to work the night shift?
In my case, it's 12 hours, from 7 pm to 7:30 am. Changing shifts isn't an option. I'm an RN and know a fair bit amount nutrition. I'm following a fairly faithful low-glycemic eating plan. I'm not diabetic but it does run in my family. So the food that I eat is healthy, I've been losing weight, but as far as when to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, I'm confused.
<g>

It's not so hard on the nights I work but on my nights off, well, that's where it gets tricky. Obviously I don't want to continue to sleep all day and stay up all night. So there's a good amount of irregular hours and sleep in bursts rather than all the way through to 6 or 7 hours. Do I just eat something every 4 hours or so while I'm awake?

I plan to remain a member of this forum for the duration. I really like the motivation and friendliness I've seen.

Kewl, another night worker! Are you on 8's or 12's? Here's what I've noticed so far:

I wake up around 5pm. (aka 1700) I shower, etc, then head for the kitchen to get something to eat. If I've been off the night before, it's already prepared; if not, it's pot luck and I try to keep some healthy frozen dinners in the freezer. I avoid trans-fats with a passion whenever possible, and am coming to feel the same way about high fructose corn syrup. It is NO accident that American obesity rates have soared since the mid-60s (introduction of HFCS). Ever looked at the ingredients for most meal-replacement bars? Sometimes those two are right at or near the top. I consider that nutritional sabotage and I want to keep far away from it.

Ok, I get to work and want to eat a healthy snack around 2030 (8:30 p.m.), workload permitting. It's usually just one of those above mentioned snack or meal bars, but the organic type. Or else a small pita bread with hummus, or some cottage cheese and fruit, etc. I eat my "lunch" at around 0030 or a little before. Then another snack around 0400, and maybe a few little tidbits in between if I'm hungry, but that is not happening as much as I'm getting used to this eating plan. I don't have another meal until I get home. That's generally something very easy to fix, like old-fashioned oatmeal microwaved with slivered almonds and fruit added. (skim milk used for the microwave cooking)

My energy level has absolutely soared this week. In the past I'd have had at least two, if not three, cups of coffee just to stay awake and functioning on this hard shift, but for the past 6 days or so, I've made it on 1/2 cup of coffee with my first snack and *none* after that. And - can you believe this? <s> - I'm not yawning, fighting sleep, restless or "slap-happy" - it's this level of maintained alertness more than anything that's caught the attention of my coworkers and we've had some great discussion about nutrition and healthy eating. I've also been asked to order books on the glycemic index, good carbs, etc., particularly The G.I. Diet (by Rick
Gallop). As I said, my own plan is modified and I happily include so-called yellow-light or even occasional red-light items that I know to be nutritious. I'm not as concerned about calories as I am about balance and the food being healthy.

At this point I don't really feel like I have quite the right caloric balance or variety of foods in a given day, but it's getting easier, and it does seem to work for me. I gained this weight due to a very serious illness and prolonged activity-intolerance over the course of two years, was able to return to work, and now feel well enough to lose it.

It's 1018, I've worked for the past three nights, am off now for two, I'm still awake, and feel rarin' to go. Wow. I know I've got to sleep and will do so, and generally well. I like feeling good! <s>

I work weird on/off combinations too. Would love to hear about your experiences. Hope my own can provide some ideas.