Sometimes I am up for over 24 hours! Help!

poppycooo

Hi all!

Just a quickie.

I am on a 1200 calories per day plan..... And this is working fine most days.

However once a week I am awake for around 35 hours straight as I have to care for my twin girls all day then work a 12 hour shift as a midwife over night and then care for my girls again until 2 when my husband gets in (I know)

Do you think I should eat extra calories over night or try to stick to my plan of 1200 in a 24 hour period? I do try to run before my shift to earn some extra calories, but even these don't seem to cover my needs. If I stick to 1200 I feel sick and really cold and weak when I get home, but even when I eat more I am still just as hungry!

Any advice would be welcome and this is a regular Monday night/Tuesday morning issue, every week, so really need to work out what to do!

poppycooo

BUT come September they'll be at school and I can sleep when I get in which will solve all my problems!

MysticRealm

Yes, definitely eat more! And you should eat more on regular days too as obviously caring for young children means you are not going to be sedentary. I would eat at least 1400 regular days and closer to 2000 (or more) on your long days.

sweetzoejane

I am thinking you should be eating more than 1200 calories in a 24-hour period. Without knowing any of your stats, I can't help with any actual numbers.

poppycooo

I've not put myself down as sedentary I have put it as lightly active. And the. I add on my calories earnt through jogging. I run outdoors typically 3-4 times per week. I never have a problem eating my calories even with the profile on lightly active it still comes out as 1200 calories. My current weight is 74kg and I have asked to lose 2lb per week.

sweetzoejane

I've not put myself down as sedentary I have put it as lightly active. And the. I add on my calories earnt through jogging. I run outdoors typically 3-4 times per week. I never have a problem eating my calories even with the profile on lightly active it still comes out as 1200 calories. My current weight is 74kg and I have asked to lose 2lb per week.

I would change to 1 lb per week + eat back exercise calories. This will likely help with your energy overall. If you are hungrier on those days you are up for a long time, then eat something. Even if you go a little over on those days, it is likely you are still maintaining a decent weekly deficit. Give it at least a month or two before reassessing.

MysticRealm

You are not that heavy and don't need to lose a lot. I would change your settings to lose 1 pound a week.
MFP is not always great at estimating losses. I manually changed my calories to be at 1800 cals a day (standing job, with no exercise currently) and if I eat up to 1800 cals it thinks I will lose maybe a pound in 5 weeks, when I actually usually lose a good pound a week, sometimes more.

poppycooo

Thanks guys, Great help, I think I will stick to 1200 calories Wednesday-Sunday but on Mondays and Tuesday increase to say 1800-2000 calories and see how it goes

74kg may not sound heavy but I am only 1.6m tall and before I had my girls and before I started working nights to cover childcare I was 14kg lighter!

MysticRealm

Doesn't really matter that you think it's big, it's not. People that have 100 pounds to lose can go for bigger deficits/bigger losses per week, us smaller people with only 40-50 pounds have to take smaller losses. Especially since MFP thinks that people need so few cals to lose 2 pounds a week, when really most people tend to lose more weight/steadier weight when eating more cals.
I was 168 pounds (at 5'4) when I started and I still ate/eat 1500-2200 cals a day and am losing weight easily. I am currently 140 and have lost 28 pounds.
I just don't understand why people don't want to EAT!! I love food, I couldn't stand barely being able to crunch on a few baby carrots before I reached my calorie goal for the day!

poppycooo

I really love food, and that's why I always find it a struggle, I'm a carb beast, always over on my carbs EVERY day but under on my fat (give and take!) haha!

Have decided Saturdays will be treat day where I have a sweet treat and not add it onto my daily total, not caring if I go 300-400 calories over for the day. Gotta stay same!

poppycooo

Stay sane rather