Kelsey Butler, a Registered Dietitian, shares easy and nutritious snack ideas for night shift workers to stay energized between meals. Learn how to build balanced snacks by pairing proteins with fruits, veggies, or whole grains, and discover on-the-go options that are easy to pack and prep.
She also offers practical tips for keeping snacks convenient, making smart choices, and maintaining steady energy levels during long shifts.
#HealthySnacks #ShiftWorkNutrition #NightShiftHealth #EnergyBoost
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registered dietitian and today we are
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talking about snacks on the job
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especially for night shift workers this
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is really important to make sure that
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you're staying well nourished in between
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your meals while you're at work so we're
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going to talk about some different
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components to your snacks how to build
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them and how to keep them on you when
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you're on the go maybe to prep them
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beforehand or you know have them in your
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pocket depending on what your situation
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is so we're going to dive in first to a
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little snack basic overview if you
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watched our plate Builder video that's
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also going to go over snacks but here's
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just a reminder for you so for snack
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Basics we're looking for a protein plus
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something else so your protein helps to
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keep you Fuller for longer support your
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muscle mass so I know we always hear you
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know muscle building but really it also
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helps to um just maintain your muscle
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and keep you healthy especially as
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you're aging we want to make sure we're
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keeping our muscle mass maintained too
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and like I said it keeps you full for
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longer as well it helps to um just slow
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down the digestion of your snack so that
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it you know digests for longer um over
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time your something else will often
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include your carbohydrates uh which will
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help you gain energy so that quick
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energy um and you also can get fiber
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from those which you know breaks down
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over time is good for your gut health um
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and your something else can be fruit
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veggies or starches and we'll get into
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some examples of that in a little bit
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here some key snack tips for you try to
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to eat two to three snacks per your
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eight hour shift so if you're thinking
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about how your schedule looks um no
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matter what time you're waking up or
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going to sleep you'll want to have a
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meal a snack a meal a snack maybe
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another snack maybe a meal and another
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snack if you need it um so that way
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you're kind of eating every two to four
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hours or so uh filling in those gaps I
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like to call snacks your stepping stones
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in between your meals um and tips here
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make your snacks easy make them easy to
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pack easy to prep easy to eat so that
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you don't have to think too much about
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it they're right on you and you don't
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have to like sit down and have a whole
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thing so protein ideas if you have
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access to a fridge um at your workplace
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things like yogurt cups individual
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yogurt cups are great cheese sticks deli
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turkey um hardboiled eggs you can either
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boil your own if you have time to prep
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or you can also just get bags of
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hardboiled eggs which are great um
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hummus is also a really good one if you
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don't have fridge access try to go for
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jerky especially if you can find a
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poultry jerky I know there's a lot of
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like turkey and um chicken jerky that
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you can try it's slower in fat it's
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going to be a little bit better as far
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as saturated fat goes um nuts are great
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seeds then you can make a trail mix with
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those protein bars protein drinks not
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bad options um like a protein drink like
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a protein shake um peanut butter is a
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really great one I know that Justin do
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that there's little individual packets
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too of peanut butter almond butter
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things like that um really great to keep
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on hand put in your pocket put in your
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backpack um and roasted chickpeas too
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you can usually find uh individual packs
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of roasted chickpeas or any other type
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of legum roasted at a Mame is awesome
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too so you can find those packs um and
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take them with
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you your something else ideas then so
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you want to pair those proteins with
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maybe a produce so a piece of fruit and
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especially something that's already in
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its own natural packaging so I say like
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banana oranges apples some that has a
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skin that you know you don't have to um
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like pack in something else uh baby
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carrots or veggie sticks are awesome
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celery sticks bell pepper sticks um
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really great options dried fruit is not
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a bad option either just keep in mind
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that a little goes a long way so if
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you're thinking about like a dried
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apricot for example you wouldn't just
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sit down and eat six apricots right you
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would have you know maybe one or two so
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just keep in mind a little goes a long
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way with those um dried fruits so that
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you don't want to overdo it um over time
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applesauce is also a really great option
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you can find those little uh individual
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packs too that are kind of like the
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squirt packs those are great great for a
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little pocket snack again you can put in
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your backpack put in your bag um they're
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individual and they usually don't have
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any other ingredients other than just
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applesauce which is great um and then
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carbs not a bad choice either to pair
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with your protein whole wheat crackers
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popcorn which is great popcorn's A whole
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grain which we love um granola is a good
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one rice cakes are awesome too um you
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can pair those with a lot of different
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things so here are some examples of you
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know all the things I just talked about
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um so yogurt cup with granola peanut
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butter and rice cake hummus and carrots
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like a whole trail mix with nut seeds
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and dried fruit maybe put raisins or
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crains or something in there beef jerky
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and crackers almond and popcorn cheese
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stick and apple one of my favorites um
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and a protein Barn grapes so you can see
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where you can pair that protein with
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your something else to get a nice well
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balanced well-rounded
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snack that's all we have today for
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snacks please reach out with any
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questions um and go check out our other
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videos for some more information thanks
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bye