Do you get to have more calories if you are awake longer?
natashapatterson
Posts: 2 Member
I'm going to work a 13 hour shift tomorrow. I will run out available calories before my day is done that's including time at home. I'm going to be hungry after I use up my calories. Can I extend my calories for my super long day?
0
Replies
-
Ehhh...
So, yes you do burn more calories awake than asleep. For me, according to my fitness tracker (which is super accurate), I burn about 36 calories per hour more when I'm awake on the couch vs when I'm asleep.
I wouldn't eat extra calories just because you're going to be awake longer.
But, what kind of work do you do? Will you be on your feet for 13 hours? Or sitting?0 -
I work 14 hour construction shifts and I stick to the same amount of calories everyday. Try packing snacks that you can munch on throughout your shift, and prelog dinner so you won't go over. Fresh veggies are great for low calories snacks when you're stuck at work.0
-
You could check your maintenance calories for your current weight, and plan to eat about that, or basically decide that anything under would be acceptable. Meaning you'd make little or no progress that day ... but you also wouldn't backtrack and you won't feel super hungry or sick or worn out. (And you may or may not retain some water after, if this results is a big change in calories, carb/sodium levels. But it's just water and will drop back off.)
But I also second PeachyPlum -- if your work is fairly active (on your feet at least, walking, waiting tables, moving things, etc) then probably you would burn more than usual with a longer shift than usual.
If 13 hour shifts are normal or common for you... you might just have to adjust your goals a bit to make it work, or adjust your eating. Maybe your deficit is too aggressive -- could you live with a slower weight loss if it meant more calories, less hunger? If so, dial it back in the goal section and try it out. Or you may need to make changes to what you eat, focusing more heavily on nutrition and satiety.0 -
I tend to think of calories as a weekly allotment more than a daily one. If you're going to be awake longer tomorrow will you then be in bed more of the next day? If yes, move some of Saturday's (or today's) calories to tomorrow. You can do a quick add for negative calories from one day and a quick add of positive calories to tomorrow.0
-
natashapatterson wrote: »I'm going to work a 13 hour shift tomorrow. I will run out available calories before my day is done that's including time at home. I'm going to be hungry after I use up my calories. Can I extend my calories for my super long day?
Do you normally immediately fall asleep when work finishes on shorter days? My guess is you'll be awake a similar amount on long work days and short ones and over the week it'll even out. I think maybe you're over thinking it. If you are getting hungry maybe reassess your overall goals and maybe put a smaller deficit overall0 -
It's a sit down job. I will be getting up way earlier than normal so I'm going to be hungry earlier. I'd have to stretch out my meals.0
-
Lol...stick to regular diet plan. Pack bell tomatoes or something...0
-
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ideal is probably to try to eat at the same times every day and stick to that as closely as possible. I would not suggest eating more, although that's a choice for you to make.0
-
natashapatterson wrote: »I'm going to work a 13 hour shift tomorrow. I will run out available calories before my day is done that's including time at home. I'm going to be hungry after I use up my calories. Can I extend my calories for my super long day?
Will you really be awake that much longer than normal?
You could eat a couple hundred calories over for 1 day and be perfectly fine if you stick to your plan the rest of the week. Just plan a snack.
0 -
On school days I am up at 6:00 and don't get home until after 11:00. I always have an extra snack. It doesn't have to be huge but if dinner is at 5 (before class) I am gonna be hungry when I get home at 11:00. An extra 100-200 calories won't kill you. Or try resucing a little the rest of the week if you're worried about it.0
-
-
Some days I have a nap and I don't eat fewer calories, and some days I am very awake (and much more active) but I don't eat more. I figure it's all going to balance out in the end and if it doesn't, then I can play around with my macros, but it's going to be difficult to determine that I, say, burned 50 fewer calories (just throwing an example out there) because I got an hour more sleep, or whatever.0
-
Umm...Are you awake longer than normal or what? My days out of the house are between 9-16 hours. Maybe I don't understand this question.0
-
U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?-2 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.-2 -
arditarose wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.
Being awake and moving for more hours would obviously burn more calories than if you were sleeping instead.
Not much though.0 -
stevencloser wrote: »arditarose wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.
Being awake and moving for more hours would obviously burn more calories than if you were sleeping instead.
Not much though.
But...that's 13 hours. I assume most people are awake for at least 13 hours a day. Did I miss the post that says the OP will be awake for more than 17 hours maybe?0 -
Anyways, getting too little sleep is pretty consistently linked to metabolic problems and weight issues, so probably a bad plan to eat more when you are sleeping less.0
-
arditarose wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.
Love the negativity from this one.
If she normally works 9-5pm and now has to work 4am-5pm, I could understand her point. She's probably planning on using the same bedtime too, instead of going to sleep earlier to make up for the early hours.
Try being positive for a change.0 -
Yes, but not that much.0
-
arditarose wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.
Love the negativity from this one.
If she normally works 9-5pm and now has to work 4am-5pm, I could understand her point. She's probably planning on using the same bedtime too, instead of going to sleep earlier to make up for the early hours.
Try being positive for a change.
For a change? I'm not being negative. I just don't understand the question. Even if you are working different hours. Whatever works for her I guess! Up your calories if you need to.0 -
I tend to eat more on field work days, partly because I'm up earlier and have four meals throughout the day instead of three, though I also burn a hell of a lot more those days because I'm more active. But that extra comes out of exercise cals I haven't eaten other days, so my weekly deficit remains the same.0
-
Nony_Mouse wrote: »I tend to eat more on field work days, partly because I'm up earlier and have four meals throughout the day instead of three, though I also burn a hell of a lot more those days because I'm more active. But that extra comes out of exercise cals I haven't eaten other days, so my weekly deficit remains the same.
That seems like a good way to do it.0 -
If this is even a true question there are 2 things that come to mind....1 you already have your calories set too low or 2 you haven't quite figure out how to balance your meals/eating times. Either way no you don't just get excess calories because you're awake longer. I have 2 kids and if I'm up all night with a sick kid I don't get double calories for not sleeping.....0
-
if you are not going to be burning additional calories then eat the same amount. But spread them out more. If you are going to be burning more then eat more. The length of the day is not changing and you want to remain at a negative so you want to have the same deficit at the end of the day.0
-
stevencloser wrote: »arditarose wrote: »SergeantSausage wrote: »U mm ... no?
Why is this even a question?
I have no idea. I'm so confused. It's not like there's suddenly more hours in a day.
Being awake and moving for more hours would obviously burn more calories than if you were sleeping instead.
Not much though.
Well, I'm assuming it's based on the whole "you burn fewer calories when you're sleeping" thing. I think people envision MASSIVELY fewer calories. As if the body literally shuts off during sleep or something. Obviously this isn't accurate - your body is still performing quite a few functions while you sleep.
0 -
Walk to work or part of the way or exercise or just reallocate calories so you don run out.0
-
While you burn more calories awake than asleep, lack of sleep can cause you to do you normal activities more slowly. The end result is that staying awake longer may cause you to burn fewer calories during the day.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.8K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.2K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.2K Motivation and Support
- 8.2K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4.1K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.3K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions