Opinions needed on calories

cmpettey

I am a nurse who works night shifts on occasion. When I do, I don't sleep afterward except for maybe a 2 hour nap because I need to watch my kids. I end up staying up and active for about 38 hours straight. On those days I stay close to my calorie allowance but I'm wondering if I should be eating more. I should be burning more calories working instead of sleeping. If I need to eat more how much more?

sue26

i dont think you need to eat more unless you would eat less the day before or after. That would screw up your calculated calorie deficit and you would lose less weight that week. However I dont think it would do much harm if it is just an occasional night shift.

ldybugg

Personally i think if you're up that long you would want to figure that block into a 2day period- thats basically what it is. normally our allowance is on a 24hr period- 8 hrs sleep and 16hours of activity. but your doing 2x the amount of activity since youre up for so long. If that seems like too much maybe 1.5x your daily calories? working nights used to really throw me off

BrittanyGQ

Honestly, I just say listen to your body! You don't want to force any unnecessary calories down because you *think* you might need them...but by all means, if you think you need a snack, go for it! True, you're burning more calories being awake than sleeping, but I really don't think you'd need to up the calories by more than, like, 200-300.