Nurse on nights, finally saying hi

2026-09-23 22:47

Hi everyone, 34F, live outside Columbus and work nights in a hospital, so my body has no idea what day it is half the time. Been reading this forum on my lunch breaks for maybe a year and finally made an account instead of just lurking.

The wake-up call last spring was bloodwork that came back ugly and knees that started complaining about the stairs at work. Down about 30 lbs since then, mostly from not eating like a raccoon at 2am anymore, which was honestly most of my problem.

I go to the gym twice a week and mostly walk on the treadmill and people-watch, so I'm here to figure out what else is worth doing. Nice to meet you all.

2026-09-23 23:38

Nice work on the ApoB drop. That number tends to lag till the late eating stops anyway, and HRV seems to finally budge around week 20.

2026-09-24 12:29

Wait, no alcohol at all? That was the only thing that budged my HRV. Dropped it and saw +6 ms in a month.

2026-09-25 12:55

How are you measuring HRV? Wrist vs chest strap changed my numbers more than any training block.

2026-09-25 16:05

Chest strap here. Wrist reads low after lifting.

2026-09-25 20:37

Your sleep sounds decent. One wake-up could still blunt HRV if it’s at 3am. Ever try a consistent wake time?

2026-09-26 02:34

Consistent wake time helped me more than tracking sleep. My HRV is noisy anyway.

2026-09-26 12:20

The ApoB move is impressive. For me, HRV didn’t shift until I backed off intensity. I was doing 5 hard sessions a week and sleeping 7 hrs; once I cut to 3 hard sessions and added an easy zone 2 day, my baseline went from 42 to 51 over 8 weeks. Weight loss was slower but recovery markers looked better.

The flat HRV could also be your measurement window—I use a 7-day average and ignore daily swings. Are you doing all strength, or any cardio? That might explain the flat HRV.

2026-09-26 21:07

I added zone 2 and my HRV dropped for two weeks before climbing. Could be cumulative fatigue.

2026-09-27 00:20

Did your hs-CRP change line up with the weight loss or the diet change? Mine tracked sleep more than food.

2026-09-27 13:17

Sleep more than food for me too. Bad night = CRP up next day, every time.

2026-09-27 14:25

What’s your resting HR trend? Sometimes it moves before HRV and tells a cleaner story.