Long work days and nutritional tracking

SanDiegoMuscle

Hey every one,

I am confused as what to do when tracking my Macronutrients. Because of my unusual work schedule I wake up one day and don't get to sleep until the following am.

Example; Wake up 1/04/2013 at 1000am but I have to work all day and all night and won't get off work until 01/05/2013 at 0600am.

So as you can see my days are extrodinarly long. Now I add all my diet logs from when I woke up on 1/04, when midnight hits should I start adding my dietary log to the next day (01/05) or keep it to the same day (01/04)? Like right now I just ate a bunch of rice and meat its 3am I wont get to bed until 7am but I've been up since 1000am yesterday. CONFUSED!

Any Suggestions?

Matt_Wilken

Your body doesn't run on a 24 hour clock so you can even work with a weekly deficit, as long as you stay consistent with it you will be fine. I know on the mobile app there is a graph with a baseline that shows whether you are under or above your calorie goal, I believe that will make tracking easier.

SanDiegoMuscle

I'm going to have to check that out rigth now. I hate seeing my Macro's and Calorie count for the day go in the RED; even though I know I'm good base on my time being awake and activity level.

Valtishia

I changed the logging options from Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks to 4 hours intervals.

midnight to 4am
4am to 8am
8am to noon
noon to 4pm
4pm to 8pm
8pm to midnight

I used to work in healthcare, so my shifts were all over the place and I found that easiest. I am not in that field anymore but I still use the same tracking method.

pkw58

I changed the logging options from Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks to 4 hours intervals.

midnight to 4am
4am to 8am
8am to noon
noon to 4pm
4pm to 8pm
8pm to midnight

I used to work in healthcare, so my shifts were all over the place and I found that easiest. I am not in that field anymore but I still use the same tracking method.

Best response I have seen on the topic!

elebel82

It's a little bit tougher for us shift workers cos we have to tweak the system a little, cos we don't fit into the standard mould. I personally just eat very low calorie meals on my long day, and have any high calorie meals on my "short" day when I'm readjusting to days. Other people will just log midnight to midnight. Or else, presuming you also have a "short" day, you could just borrow from that - as much as it sucks to see it in red, if -you're- keeping on top of it, it doesn't matter so much. (for instance, without looking at your calorie goals, if you had a goal of 2000, you could eat 2500 on your long day and 1500 on your short day - all evens out in the end.)

SanDiegoMuscle

I just took the hit and let it go into the red. Thanks for all the different suggestions!