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Non-traditional work shifts (think nights) help, please!

mog8913
mog8913 Posts: 1
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I rotate shifts from a day shift, evening shift, then full-on night shift every six weeks. What is the best way to count my calories on a day schedule? For instance, right now my breakfast is at dinner time (so I load it as dinner for the day I'm on--like 2 April) then my dinner is normally my breakfast for the next day (so it's on 3 April--because I ate it on 3 April). Is that a good way to do it, or am I cheating the system? Basically, my calories are spread between two days. I kind of feel like I'm cheating the system. I'm not sleeping between my evening meal and my morning meal which spans two days, but I sleep between my morning meal and my evening meal. I guess I could make my breakfast my dinner and stop over-thinking this, huh? Thoughts???

Replies

  • Boganella
    Boganella Posts: 42 Member
    I'm on a night schedule and I use the day I wake up from sleeping as my "calorie day" even if its technically the next day on the schedule I still log my food on the previous day so it's all together on one day instead of spread out over the schedule.
  • jules6669mfp
    jules6669mfp Posts: 446 Member
    I also have a different work schedule. I work 3pm - 7am(16hrshifts) on Mondays and Wednesdays. I leave at 2 pm and get home about 8:30am. So on tues/thurs I usually come home try to eat something light and go to sleep. It stinks cuz I wake up between 6pm to 8pm. I've been going nuts trying to figure out logging meals. Some I know, say start at noon til noon next day as a "day", it gets crazy. At 8pm is usually my breakfast and so on. Suggestions anyone? By Friday I'm on regular schedule for the weekend. Confusing for me. What do others do?
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    Honestly… with rotating shifts like that, I would stick with midnight to midnight…. log it on the day it is. It keeps it consistent and then you don't end up getting mixed up. It doesn't really matter what meal it gets logged as. Just keep it midnight to midnight. Saves you so much trouble since that's the way MFP works automatically.

    Personally...I work full on grave (11 pm-7 am) and that's how I've kept it… I wake up in the evening and log that meal as dinner and complete my diary once I get to work. My meal at work gets logged as lunch. The meal I eat when I get home from work gets logged as breakfast. Then I go to sleep.
  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 286 Member
    Monitor your weekly TEE closer.
This discussion has been closed.

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