WORK 3rd SHIFT... Food log question

In the beginning, I didn't have a schedule so I only had two categories in my food diary: FOOD and SUPPLEMENTS/VITAMINS.

Now, I have it broken down into 3 meals and 2 snacks plus the supps/vits slot. Use it however you want. I recommend calling the end of the day when you sleep. I sometimes have a bizarre sched so my "day" ends when my head hits the pillow. Helps with consistency.

And I don't think it matters when you start your "day". Pick whatever works for you. Just stay consistent.
I use wakeup to bedtime like I said. You can use midnight to midnight. Or anything that makes a day cover what you eat in a given 24 hour period.

Hey there. I know EXACTLY how you feel. I have been working third shift for 8 yrs. I work SAT, SUN, MON and TUES from 8pm-6am. I am working right now actually! Ha ha!

On my work days I eat when I get home, which is around 7am and I put it in as BREAKFAST, no matter what I eat. (technically it is my last meal of the day, but i still put it in as breakfast)

Then I wake up around 545pm and get ready for work. At 630pm I get my food ready that I am going to take with me, and then I eat what I call LUNCH and I put it in as LUNCH. (technically this is my first meal of the day, but it still goes in as lunch for me) I eat nothing between my 7am meal and my 630pm meal.

At around midnight I have a small snack. A yogurt or a cottage cheese snack cup and I put that in as a snack.

Then around 230-300am I have what I call DINNER. (technically that would be lunch) I dont want to eat a lot at this time but I am hungry by this hour. I have a Lean Cuisine, a big bag of raw veggies, a granola or fiber bar and a piece of fruit.

I drink water throughout the night as well. Used to drink diet coke, but now only drink water.

We have a vending machine, but I dont dare go near it!!

Now on my days off, the first night off is always kind of crazy. Like today, WED, I will eat my bfast when I get home, treadmill, weight training and then watch TV and go to bed, which is what I always do. When I wake up tonight, whatever time that will be, I will eat a big dinner and put that in as dinner, so it will show no lunch for today. Then I work out again that night and then go to bed. So I am always short on calories on WED, but that is fine by me, because I choose to way in on THURS mornings. I try to eat like normal person with normal hours on THURS and FRI, then SAT, it is back to the work schedule.

I hope that this helps some and please add me as a friend, since we have a similar situation, if you want.

Just so you know! If you change the number of categories in your food diary, it will mess up all your previous data. I wasn't expecting that, so just keep it in mind.

Another 3rd shifter here. I do things a bit different I guess, I start my "day" at 12:00 midnight and end at midnight... the page automatically changes days and I don't want to navigate through them.

Anyway, my diary is open if you want to see it. I consider my 3:30 AM work break to be breakfast then I go home and sleep. I consider Lunch to be after I wake up around 3:00 PM and Dinner is around 8 PM before I go into work. I eat snacks in between all of my meals normally.

My only concern is that I don't eat anything before I go to bed. Other than that, 24 hours is 24 hours no matter how you slice it up.

I feel ya. I work in the music industry so I wake up around 2pm and go to bed around 6am daily... I tend to count breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc as the meals in the order in which they occur. It's kind of a pain constantly hitting the back button to get it on the right day with the app or the website, but I've gotten used to it... As another commenter mentioned, you can change the "meal names" to times in your settings if that helps you figure it out. I find it fairly easy to keep track of, though... just gotta remember not to log your 3am dinner on the wrong day (I've done it a few times). Good luck!! Feel free to add me as a friend for late-night support.

Great job!

3rd shifter here too!

I have my diary broken down into 4 hour blocks. I run on military time so thats what worked for me but it could say whatever works for you.

0000-0400 (midnight to 4am)
0400-0800 (4 am to 8am etc)
0800-1200
1200-1600
1600-2000
2000-0000

As for when my day starts and stops I run it from midnight to midnight. My sleep can be irregular just like my meals so I found that just logging during time blocks worked best. There doesnt have to be a set "breakfast" or "dinner" this way. Its the same 24 hour period and it doesnt matter when I sleep or eat in that time frame (so long as I do both!) Hope that helped!

I do this too!!! My shifts are all over the place being in healthcare. I try to avoid overnights now and just take days 0700-1500 or evenings 1500-2300 shifts, as the overnights are way too hard on my body, but I am not always successful lol