How to log when you work shifts?

Joanna_77

A friend (truly, a friend, not me, lol) works rotating shifts. I was encouraging her to use MFP and I wasn't sure what to tell her about when to log her meals. Sometimes, "dinner" is at 6am, and sometimes it's at 8pm.

Does anyone who work shifts have suggestions on how they use MFP?

seska422

I've seen where some people only have one meal set so the whole 24 hours goes into the same meal.

I have 6 "meals" that are named for each 4 hour block of the day (such as 12 AM to 4 AM) and that way I can see what time of day I ate.

CardiLuxe

I work from 7am to 7pm and I just log the times that I'm awake. :P

shadow2soul

You can change the diary labels here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

She could break apart her diary into time fragments instead of specific meals. With this method she would just log when she ate. So if dinner was at 8 am, she would just log her food into the 8 am slot for whatever day it was. Example: If I was to have breakfast right now, I would log it in the 4:01-7 pm slot for 9/21 and if my dinner was at say 6 am, it would be logged in the 12 am - 7 am slot for 9/22.

She could change the meals to Meal 1, Meal 2, ect.

She could have it to where there is only 1 "meal" area and just log all the food she eats in that spot.

cebreisch

As long as it gets logged, then that's the important thing. Just do the best they can whether they work from 9-5, 12-8, or 5-12....adjust times accordingly.

JESS96921

I work shifts. I tend to log my breakfast as dinner and dinner as breakfast. Doesn't really matter to be honest so long as it is being recorded somewhere.

MondayJune22nd2015

12:00 A.M. ~ 03:59 A.M.

04:00 A.M. ~ 07:59 A.M.

08:00 A.M. ~ 11:59 A.M.

12:00 P.M. ~ 03:59 P.M.

04:00 P.M. ~ 07:59 P.M.

08:00 P.M. ~ 11:59 P.M.

This is how, I have mine.

Joanna_77

These are all great ideas. Thanks!