After A Night Shift

JayStu
JayStu Posts: 332 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know that there are people on MFP that work nights and I was wondering how you go about logging your food and exercise the day you get off nights? For example, my thursday log has the food I am going to be eatting from 7pm when i start work until 9am the next morning when I go to bed. So if I go to bed at 9am and get up at noon, my friday log will consist of noon until roughly 10pm when I go back to bed. What I want to know is, should I be trying to eat my whole days worth of calories in that 10 hour span or should i take away roughly the average of 2 meals from my total for the day and eat that?

Sorry this carried on.

Replies

  • chelle_fri
    chelle_fri Posts: 333 Member
    I use the days as normal, only adjusted to your wake ups and going to bed. So for me, if I wake up at 7pm Tuesday, that'll be the day I fill out. Regardless of it being Wednesday when I get home and what not. It's easier than trying to log a 24hr period on two different days.
  • nyxrun
    nyxrun Posts: 60
    i log *my* days - from when I wake up till when I go to sleep. I'd get confused otherwise :)
  • melaure
    melaure Posts: 33
    I changed my food log so that it logs from 6 AM to 6 AM. I work 12 hr shifts, and it is either 6 AM to 6 PM or 6 PM to 6 AM, so a 24 hr log really helps when I am switching back and forth from nights to days.
  • axialmeow
    axialmeow Posts: 382 Member
    I work nights. My breakfast is what I eat when I get up(usually about 4pm). Then I eat again at about 7pm(lunch) and a snack at 11pm and dinner at 3am.
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
    I log using millitary time

    0000 to 0600

    0600 to 1200

    1200 to 1800

    1800 to 2400

    24 hour period
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    I use the days as normal, only adjusted to your wake ups and going to bed. So for me, if I wake up at 7pm Tuesday, that'll be the day I fill out. Regardless of it being Wednesday when I get home and what not. It's easier than trying to log a 24hr period on two different days.

    This. Kept my days normal bc if it was a day off I still went to bed with my husband at a "normal" time. I usually had my breakfast before I left work bc I worked out then went home to sleep a couple hrs. Yea your meals might be thrown off a couple hrs but it helped my body stay on track. I did 12 hr shifts so it didn't make any sense to spread it over 2 days when I lived a regular shift life the majority of the week.

    For example: 12am hits and I'm done logging for yesterday. I usually eat dinner before I leave for work and have a small snack between 9-10 pm. Around 1 am I have my "mid morning snack" that I would've had on a normal day (between breakfast and lunch) and eat my breakfast between 4-5 am. Get off around 7:30 am, hit the gym, home, bed, wake up around 1:00pm then have my lunch. Didn't miss any meals and don't have to cram in calories.
  • MsTonyaRenee
    MsTonyaRenee Posts: 116 Member
    I do swing shift as well. When on nights I log from the time I get up (2 or 3 pm) to the time I go to bed (6am).

    I do the same on my days off. On a day where I worked the night before but don't work the next night (so I am awake from noon to 11pm) I usually end up eating 2 larger meals and come close to meeting my calorie goals.
  • missmacsays
    missmacsays Posts: 681 Member
    I work from 11pm-7am and I track my foods midnight-midnight. I was confused the easiest way to do it at first, but this seems to work good for me. I usually have a 1am snack, a 5am snack, then I go to sleep. When I get up, I have my first meal around 5ish (usually small) and then around 8:30 or 9, I have my big dinner (second meal.) And then I go to work shortly after, so for me this works great when I'm working. It's a little bit harder to do when I'm off work, but that's only two days and I find ways to make do. Usually have bigger meals at normal times.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    Midnight to midnight. Whether it's a day off or and work day....err night.
  • Crazy4Healthy
    Crazy4Healthy Posts: 626 Member
    This question couldn't have come at a better time. I'm normally 1st shift, but for the next five days I'm doing 12 hr 11 pm-11 am shifts. I'm transitioning right now (staying awake so I can sleep some later today before going to work). I know how I will do my shift days, but this transition day is going to be a mess. Figure I will just log my foods in the order I eat them, whether it's truly breakfast, lunch, or whatever and end my day before I go to bed later today.

    Figured I would start tomorrow's day at 11 pm tonight and go like that for the next five. Does that make sense?
  • sineadramsay
    sineadramsay Posts: 48
    Midnight to midnight. Whether it's a day off or and work day....err night.


    this is what i do. midnight to midnight regardless if i'm on days or nights
  • starspeckled
    starspeckled Posts: 313 Member
    I do 10p-10p... but Fridays and Sundays are a killer. Fridays are a long day, I am generally awake long enough for 4 meals, but Sunday is short and I only get 2 meals before I have to nap before work. So I have started to track Friday's extra meal onto Sunday and call it a wash, since it all balances out. I've had no issues with that yet!

    It's a messy system... If I stayed on a "night shift sleep schedule" all weekend, it would be easier but I'd never get to see my hudband.

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