Work nights trying to figure out calorie days

MamaJess

I work nights so when it hits mid nighth is that another calorie day or how should I figure this?

Ttopeka

I would consider my calorie day to be from whenever I wake up to whenever I go to bed, even if that doesn't fit typical day hours.

I don't work nights, but I have an unusual sleeping schedule, so when my calories reset at midnight it's often before I'm done logging. To counter this, I set my time zone as several hours later than it really is, so my calorie day doesn't reset until actually 3-4AM my time.

chrissilini

I work 3rd shift. I still eat 3 meals a day and just log them differently. I count what I eat during my shift as my lunch, just like you would if you worked days. Sometimes I eat breakfast at work and sometimes at home still put it as breakfast and dinner is normal. I put it all on the same day. So, what I've eaten at work goes on Fridays diary. Does this make any sense?

Cait_Sidhe

I also work nights. I have my diary on a 24 hour schedule.
8am-12pm
12pm-4pm
4pm-8pm
8pm-12am
12am-4am
4am-8am

I log my food in the appropriate hours. If I don't eat anything during a set of hours, I don't log anything. My diary is public if you wanna look.

PHLLLY

for the sake of MFP, just go with 12am-12am. At the end of the week your calories should equal the same amount regardless, just input them when you can.

chawkins79

I work nights too, and I track my calories from midnight to midnight, which seems to work well. My "breakfast" is really at 0200 and "lunch" is usually around 0830. I usually sleep until 1600 and have a snack, then have "Dinner" around 1800 and another snack around 2300. On my days off, my meals are recorded at the usual times.
I think working nights is a big challenge with weight loss, but it can be done!! Good Luck!!

sandueza

Hi, I work nights and i do my days from midnight to midnight. I've just joined this sight but I've been dieting for 15 weeks now and lost 26lbs. the midnight to midnight works for me.

jk262

I also work nights... 12 to 12 is the easiest for me, I just log breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Doesn't matter when I eat it, just as long as it fits in the day/week. my diary is also public if you want to check it out

amusco_rn

I work nights 7p-7a but only 2 nights per week. Because my sleep schedule is off between working overnight and having 2 kids at home to be awake for, I keep my "schedule" from midnight to midnight. So right now, I just logged my 3am snack as "breakfast".

kindra3434

I work nights ....I just do my days from when I wake up around 4pm (morning) to when I go to sleep 8am (nights)

mccarol1956

I changed my meals and assigned times instead. my eating day starts at 5 am. Sounds strange but that is the way it works for me. Take a look at my diary. It is just what works for me on my night shifts. I work 3 12.5 hour shifts have one night off and then do 3 more 12.5 hour shifts and then take 7 days off. My schedule rarely changes.

I do not find it hard to lose on my night schedule. I still manage to eat well and get plenty of exercise. Good luck!

MamaJess

Thank you for the great posts and ideason how to log my food. I think I will have it figured out pretty well now. Thanks again to everyone who posted.

sunshinealldaylong

So glad you guys are here. I am going to nights in about 2 weeks. I have worked nights before but never really tracked food and exercise. It looks like the general thing to do that I recieved from everyone here is 12 to 12. Thanks to everyone for posting here and responding. Due to flipping my sleeping I was really puzzled of how I was going to do this. Thanks to everyone!

Arianwyn_T

I work nights so when it hits mid nighth is that another calorie day or how should I figure this?

I would change your time zone to correspond to your actual schedule -- if a 12 hour flip is possible that's ideal, because then you just flip AM and PM in your brain.