calorie limit on a longer day?

arcanegirl

on a non work day i am awake 14/15 hours. I can deal with my calorie limit of 1400 on these days.
On my work days I am awake for 18+ hours and I am finding these days much harder to cope with my calorie limit. Should I up the limit a bit for these days or anything else that might help?

caracrawford1

Everyday is 24 hours. I can't justify upping caloroes unless I have worked out extra to do so, or have reduced cals earlier in the week. It sounds to me like you are bored and/or frustrated on work days so you feel the need to eat more (though there is no reason to). What might help is spreading your meals out more so that you are eating the same amount of calories, but over a longer period of time. For example, diving lunch into two meals, or having snacks, that stay within your limits.
You could also looking at your weekly cals and making sure you stay within that for the week. That way, you could eat more during the week, just know that, in order to not exceed your weekly goal, you may need to cut back on the weekend or certain days.

skinnybkimmy

Everyday is 24 hours yes, but you are burning more calories awake than asleep. Depending on the activity level of your job, you should be safe to add an extra 100-200 calorie snack. To adjust in MFP you could add an exercise similar to your work. Ex. A slow walk for 1 hr, or light cleaning, etc.

obscuremusicreference

caracrawford1 wrote: »

Everyday is 24 hours. I can't justify upping caloroes unless I have worked out extra to do so, or have reduced cals earlier in the week. It sounds to me like you are bored and/or frustrated on work days so you feel the need to eat more (though there is no reason to). What might help is spreading your meals out more so that you are eating the same amount of calories, but over a longer period of time. For example, diving lunch into two meals, or having snacks, that stay within your limits.
You could also looking at your weekly cals and making sure you stay within that for the week. That way, you could eat more during the week, just know that, in order to not exceed your weekly goal, you may need to cut back on the weekend or certain days.

All good advice. But if these still don't work, then yes, up your calories and eat under 1400 on your days off.

MaggieLoo79

My husband works 12 hour shifts and I send him with one "meal" and a bunch of healthy snacks. He divides the meal in half and supplements with the snacks through the day.

LAWoman72

Sometimes I sleep in (way in) on weekends. And once in a while I take a nap. Usually on those days, I just eat my MFP calculation, without eating back my exercise calories, if that makes sense.

ActuarialChef

M-F I am awake 5am-10pm - that's 17 hours. I used to eat breakfast at 5:30am, lunch at 11:30, and dinner at 6pm - I found I was always hungry between meals. Now, I wait to eat breakfast until 8 or 9am, eat lunch between 12 and 1, and eat dinner at 6pm. I find I can (for the most part) go without snacks between meals.

Maybe try holding off on eating until as late as possible in the morning to see if you can trick your body into thinking you woke up later. OR maybe your job is more active than you think, and maybe you should up your MFP activity level to give you more calories. Say MFP gives you an extra 100 per day -- I would NOT use them on the non-work days (since you're already OK eating at 1400) and split the 700 per week into however many work days you have.

arcanegirl

I need to eat before I go out at 4.30am or I feel my blood sugar drop and "breakfast" is set to 9am. I may also try eating my dinner earlier than the kids and see if that helps keep the hunger away.
My job is fairly active with walking.
Some good advice here, thankyou. I will see what worms best for me.

TimothyFish

There is a difference in calories burned between awake and asleep, but it is so small that I wouldn't worry about it .

ActuarialChef

arcanegirl wrote: »

I need to eat before I go out at 4.30am or I feel my blood sugar drop and "breakfast" is set to 9am. I may also try eating my dinner earlier than the kids and see if that helps keep the hunger away.
My job is fairly active with walking.
Some good advice here, thankyou. I will see what worms best for me.

You say your job is fairly active - may I ask for some details about what you put into MFP to get your 1400 calorie goal? I ask because I'm 5'3" tall, currently weigh 125lbs, and I'm losing at 1480 calories. If you are taller than me or heavier than me, you can most certainly eat more!

Your height?
Your current weight?
Your goal weight?
Your MFP activity level setting?

segacs

Less sleep could also be making you lose weight more slowly. If you're not sleeping enough, your body isn't going to be equipped for optimal weight loss.

ActuarialChef

ActuarialChef wrote: »

arcanegirl wrote: »

I need to eat before I go out at 4.30am or I feel my blood sugar drop and "breakfast" is set to 9am. I may also try eating my dinner earlier than the kids and see if that helps keep the hunger away.
My job is fairly active with walking.
Some good advice here, thankyou. I will see what worms best for me.

You say your job is fairly active - may I ask for some details about what you put into MFP to get your 1400 calorie goal? I ask because I'm 5'3" tall, currently weigh 125lbs, and I'm losing at 1480 calories. If you are taller than me or heavier than me, you can most certainly eat more!

Your height?
Your current weight?
Your goal weight?
Your MFP activity level setting?

Also - maybe try eating a banana or other small fruit in the morning at 4:30am to keep your blood sugar up and get you going for the day, followed by a smaller breakfast at 9am? I also find that if I include some fat in my breakfast (bacon, NOT non-fat yogurt, etc.) it keeps me fuller, longer.

LifeInTheBikeLane

I am awake from 7am to about 12am. That is 17 hours. I eat 1300 calories a day and divide them up through out the day. I used to eat breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, and dinner around 6-7. I was also really hungry between meals so I changed it up and began breakfast around 10-11am, lunch around 1-2pm and dinner at 6-7pm. Of course, I have small snacks between. I stay at my calorie needs and don't crave like I was before.

JayRuby84

Gosh it seems like you could use a fitbit to calculate the extra calories burned, especially if you feel extra hungry. There are days I work in the warehouse at work and know I'm burning more calories than the days I'm in the office on the computer all day. Maybe I need a fitbit, too....?

ActuarialChef

LifeInTheBikeLane wrote: »

I am awake from 7am to about 12am. That is 17 hours. I eat 1300 calories a day and divide them up through out the day. I used to eat breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, and dinner around 6-7. I was also really hungry between meals so I changed it up and began breakfast around 10-11am, lunch around 1-2pm and dinner at 6-7pm. Of course, I have small snacks between. I stay at my calorie needs and don't crave like I was before.

*like* !! Way to go finding what works for you! I swear, holding off on eating breakfast until later in the morning helps so much!! I find that when I eat breakfast earlier, I just want to snack snack snack all day!

arcanegirl

segacs wrote: »

Less sleep could also be making you lose weight more slowly. If you're not sleeping enough, your body isn't going to be equipped for optimal weight loss.

With a 3.50am wakeup and two kids, sleep can be outwith my control lol. I do try to get as much as I can.
Im 5"3 at 155lbs. Can't remember what I put guy activity level at but I only do this long day job two days a week (the rest are different shift times).
I will give a banana a go for my shift tomorrow and see how it goes but I definitely can't not eat something before starting the shift, my body just doesn't allow me.

arcanegirl

JayRuby84 wrote: »

Gosh it seems like you could use a fitbit to calculate the extra calories burned, especially if you feel extra hungry. There are days I work in the warehouse at work and know I'm burning more calories than the days I'm in the office on the computer all day. Maybe I need a fitbit, too....?

I just got one last week, this will be the first shift trying it so it'll be interesting what it says.

CharleneMarie723

I also eat breakfast later if I am off. If I am at work, I eat an egg to make my tummy happy then eat more once I am settled in. I eat about 350 at 10-11, a very light, late lunch, maybe 200 around 3, and hearty dinner of 600 around 6-7 and 1c cereal and 1/2c milk right before bed when my schedule is ideal.

arcanegirl

Well I have just about managed today, lots of small regular eating! My first meal could have gone better but i know better for tomorrow to leave more calories for later on.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

As long as you are maintaining a long term deficit, it won't matter. I know some people prefer to divide up their weekly calories rather than daily, and eat whatever they want, and just stay within their weekly totals. That might be something that works for you.