WORK 3rd SHIFT... Food log question

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PrincessLynn2010
PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone, I'm ready to get serious in losing the weight. I loved this site years ago, and I am glad to be back! But I really, truly need your advice!!!

I work third shift, and in recording (or logging) my food intake, where do I start? I mean, what constitutes "breakfast" for me? Or lunch and supper?

I go in to work for 10pm, so around 3am I have a meal/snack depending on my hunger. Then, I get home at 6am, get to bed around 8am, and sleep til 10-12pm. I don't eat again until about 5pm.

So, do I count the meals from the time I wake up???

What would my 3am meal/snack count as?

How about if I have a snack before going to sleep at 8am?

What would my 4-5pm snack/meal be called?

Help? :-/

Just totally unsure where my "day" would "start" or "end".

Thanks for any feedback.

Carrie

Replies

  • T0M0
    T0M0 Posts: 250 Member
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    If you go into your setting you can change the titles of of your food diary. They don't have to be called breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.

    My working day starts at 03:00 so I've broken my diary into times, i.e.. 02:00 - 05:00, 05:00 - 10:00. This works for me.

    Hope that helps
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    But... when does my "day" begin? Counting calories, that is... That's where I'm stumped.

    Carrie
  • chuckyp
    chuckyp Posts: 693 Member
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    I work nights too. I consider a "day" the time from when I wake up to the time I go to sleep.
    If I get up early and have an actual breakfast, I log it as breakfast. On normal days when I get up later, my first meal is lunch food so I log it as lunch. I eat dinner at about 9pm and log it as dinner. I usually eat something again at about 4am before I go to sleep and log it as a snack. I also created another meal in my diary called "late night meal" that I can use if I have a larger meal later than dinner.
    If it makes you feel better about it, you can rename the meals in your diary to something else that doesn't correspond with traditional mealtimes. For example, instead of "breakfast, lunch, dinner" you can rename them "meal 1, meal 2, meal 3" or whatever you like. And you can add another meal or two to cover an extended day.
    Hope that helps!
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    In the beginning, I didn't have a schedule so I only had two categories in my food diary: FOOD and SUPPLEMENTS/VITAMINS.

    Now, I have it broken down into 3 meals and 2 snacks plus the supps/vits slot. Use it however you want. I recommend calling the end of the day when you sleep. I sometimes have a bizarre sched so my "day" ends when my head hits the pillow. Helps with consistency. :)
  • hjy319
    hjy319 Posts: 269 Member
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    Fellow 3rd shifter here, I agree I log from the time I wake up til i go back to sleep. I work a midnight to 8am, so my breakfast is usually 1045pm, snack 2am,, lunch 4am, snack between 6and 7am and dinner around 10am, then I sleep from 1 or 2 pm to 10 p.
    I know somepeople who log from midnight to midnight which helps them.
    With my method I always make sure I use the notes section and log my food times, that way if I strat to gain, or hit a plateau I can look back and see what I was doing.
    Good luck and if you are looking for friends, feel free to add me!
  • chuckyp
    chuckyp Posts: 693 Member
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    And I don't think it matters when you start your "day". Pick whatever works for you. Just stay consistent.
    I use wakeup to bedtime like I said. You can use midnight to midnight. Or anything that makes a day cover what you eat in a given 24 hour period.
  • cuddlegrl
    cuddlegrl Posts: 101 Member
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    3rd shifter here too!

    I have my diary broken down into 4 hour blocks. I run on military time so thats what worked for me but it could say whatever works for you.

    0000-0400 (midnight to 4am)
    0400-0800 (4 am to 8am etc)
    0800-1200
    1200-1600
    1600-2000
    2000-0000

    As for when my day starts and stops I run it from midnight to midnight. My sleep can be irregular just like my meals so I found that just logging during time blocks worked best. There doesnt have to be a set "breakfast" or "dinner" this way. Its the same 24 hour period and it doesnt matter when I sleep or eat in that time frame (so long as I do both!) Hope that helped!
  • gailygail99
    gailygail99 Posts: 582 Member
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    Hey there. I know EXACTLY how you feel. I have been working third shift for 8 yrs. I work SAT, SUN, MON and TUES from 8pm-6am. I am working right now actually! Ha ha!

    On my work days I eat when I get home, which is around 7am and I put it in as BREAKFAST, no matter what I eat. (technically it is my last meal of the day, but i still put it in as breakfast)

    Then I wake up around 545pm and get ready for work. At 630pm I get my food ready that I am going to take with me, and then I eat what I call LUNCH and I put it in as LUNCH. (technically this is my first meal of the day, but it still goes in as lunch for me) I eat nothing between my 7am meal and my 630pm meal.

    At around midnight I have a small snack. A yogurt or a cottage cheese snack cup and I put that in as a snack.

    Then around 230-300am I have what I call DINNER. (technically that would be lunch) I dont want to eat a lot at this time but I am hungry by this hour. I have a Lean Cuisine, a big bag of raw veggies, a granola or fiber bar and a piece of fruit.

    I drink water throughout the night as well. Used to drink diet coke, but now only drink water.

    We have a vending machine, but I dont dare go near it!!

    Now on my days off, the first night off is always kind of crazy. Like today, WED, I will eat my bfast when I get home, treadmill, weight training and then watch TV and go to bed, which is what I always do. When I wake up tonight, whatever time that will be, I will eat a big dinner and put that in as dinner, so it will show no lunch for today. Then I work out again that night and then go to bed. So I am always short on calories on WED, but that is fine by me, because I choose to way in on THURS mornings. I try to eat like normal person with normal hours on THURS and FRI, then SAT, it is back to the work schedule.

    I hope that this helps some and please add me as a friend, since we have a similar situation, if you want.
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    Thanks, how does one add friends?
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies everyone.

    And yep, I'm at work at the moment too. :-)
  • T0M0
    T0M0 Posts: 250 Member
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    Click on a profile name - (on the left of these posts above pic) then click add as friend
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    Just so you know! If you change the number of categories in your food diary, it will mess up all your previous data. I wasn't expecting that, so just keep it in mind. :)
  • gailygail99
    gailygail99 Posts: 582 Member
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    Hey my fellow overnighters...add me if you wish!! :tongue:
  • mkeller234
    mkeller234 Posts: 121 Member
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    Another 3rd shifter here. I do things a bit different I guess, I start my "day" at 12:00 midnight and end at midnight... the page automatically changes days and I don't want to navigate through them.

    Anyway, my diary is open if you want to see it. I consider my 3:30 AM work break to be breakfast then I go home and sleep. I consider Lunch to be after I wake up around 3:00 PM and Dinner is around 8 PM before I go into work. I eat snacks in between all of my meals normally.

    My only concern is that I don't eat anything before I go to bed. Other than that, 24 hours is 24 hours no matter how you slice it up.
  • maeadair
    maeadair Posts: 496 Member
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    I work 12 hr over night shifts and have found logging under times works best for me. I eat "normal" times on days off and 'flip' on nights worked. I also do 12 midn to 12 midn and split it as below:
    12midn - 8AM
    8AM - 12 noon
    12 noon - 4pm
    4PM - 8PM
    8PM - 12 midnight
    Vitamins/supplements
    You may add me as a friend if you like, just put a message with request stating night worker. My diary is open to friends.
  • emaybe
    emaybe Posts: 187 Member
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    I feel ya. I work in the music industry so I wake up around 2pm and go to bed around 6am daily... I tend to count breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc as the meals in the order in which they occur. It's kind of a pain constantly hitting the back button to get it on the right day with the app or the website, but I've gotten used to it... As another commenter mentioned, you can change the "meal names" to times in your settings if that helps you figure it out. I find it fairly easy to keep track of, though... just gotta remember not to log your 3am dinner on the wrong day (I've done it a few times). Good luck!! Feel free to add me as a friend for late-night support. ;)
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    Okay, I did as many of you suggested, and changed my "thought pattern" in listing meals.
    I decided I'd count my "days" as 12am to 12am the following night. And I renamed my "meals" as various time breakdowns. It's working okay so far.

    Hey, btw, I passed my scale this afternoon after I took my shower. Thought, "What the heck" expecting NO change. It's been 5 days. I lost 6 1/2lbs! WOOHOO! :bigsmile:
  • hjy319
    hjy319 Posts: 269 Member
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    Great job!
  • x3mommy
    x3mommy Posts: 73 Member
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    midnight to midnight! good luck!
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    3rd shifter here too!

    I have my diary broken down into 4 hour blocks. I run on military time so thats what worked for me but it could say whatever works for you.

    0000-0400 (midnight to 4am)
    0400-0800 (4 am to 8am etc)
    0800-1200
    1200-1600
    1600-2000
    2000-0000

    As for when my day starts and stops I run it from midnight to midnight. My sleep can be irregular just like my meals so I found that just logging during time blocks worked best. There doesnt have to be a set "breakfast" or "dinner" this way. Its the same 24 hour period and it doesnt matter when I sleep or eat in that time frame (so long as I do both!) Hope that helped!

    I do this too!!! My shifts are all over the place being in healthcare. I try to avoid overnights now and just take days 0700-1500 or evenings 1500-2300 shifts, as the overnights are way too hard on my body, but I am not always successful lol

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