Night Shifts? How do you log food on them?

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CBAOW
CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I haven't had night shifts since using MFP and I'm not sure how to approach feeding myself and logging. Does anyone have any useful tips? My shifts go 10pm to 8am and I usually eat a small meal at the start and end and then eat lots of snacks overnight (I can't handle more than a snack as it makes me nauseated). How do you manage logging the transitions like today where I'm eating meals today but will eat overnight too? And how do you keep a lid on the desire to snack all night on high calorie foods? (I know it's not just me that has this)
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  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    I would log midnight to midnight.
  • CBAOW
    CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
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    So calories after midnight tonight go on tomorrow's diary? That makes sense. It will be harder to portion them out than usual I think.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    If you are working four days a week, consider looking at a weekly average.
    On work days you eat more; on non work days, you eat less.
  • emmaline101
    emmaline101 Posts: 13 Member
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    CBAOW wrote: »
    So calories after midnight tonight go on tomorrow's diary? That makes sense. It will be harder to portion them out than usual I think.

    You don't have to stick to calendar days if that makes life harder for you. If you wake up at 4pm and go to bed after work at 9am, you could treat that period as your day. All that matters is that you're consistent - eg log all your calories for one "awake period" in the diary for the starting day, and the next "awake period" do the same and so on.
  • CBAOW
    CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
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    My usual roster is 4 day shifts then 7 night shifts over a 12 day period, with 1 day "off" in between to transition (I say "off" because I do actually work on that day, just not til 10pm). Looking at the weekly average will be useful at the times when my roster is a bit more forgiving though, thanks.
  • ParadiseLost91
    ParadiseLost91 Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm currently nocturnal as well (writing a big assignment for uni with no classes, and I am naturally a night owl).
    I don't pay attention to midnight. I will propably get up at 3 PM, let's say that's a Monday. I will go about my day, and keep all foods logged in Monday, even when the clock passes midnight and it is Tuesday.
    No food goes into the Tuesday log before I wake up in the afternoon on that Tuesday.

    I tried being strict about midnight and that being the divider for the next day, but it didn't work for me at all, made it very hard to portion out my meals.

    This method means you have to go back one day when logging in food after midnight, but you get used to it :)
  • CBAOW
    CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
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    emmaline101 wrote: »
    You don't have to stick to calendar days if that makes life harder for you. If you wake up at 4pm and go to bed after work at 9am, you could treat that period as your day. All that matters is that you're consistent - eg log all your calories for one "awake period" in the diary for the starting day, and the next "awake period" do the same and so on.

    That's sort of what I originally planned and makes sense in the middle of a stretch of nights but is a bit messier at the start and end- e.g. today I wake up, have breakfast, go for a swim, have lunch, have a nap, have dinner/second breakfast and go to work for the night (and keep eating or I'll fall over!). The "awake period" sort of lasts for 24 hours with a nap in the middle, and stretches over 2 calendar days. I'm not sure there is a perfect answer, I may have to wing it to at least some extent.
  • Savanna2015mfp
    Savanna2015mfp Posts: 40 Member
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    I do the same as Paradise Lost..my "day" starts when I wake up that evening and ends before I go to bed the next mornings so calories are recorded and completed the day before instead of that day..
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,152 Member
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    I work 7P-7A three times a week. I changed my diary settings from meal names, to midnight-6AM, 6AM-noon, etc and log the meals in the correct time periods. I keep the midnight to midnight calories that MFP uses, I just find this the simplest way, rather than have food logged in all sorts of different length days. Works for me.
  • CBAOW
    CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
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    kar328 wrote: »
    I work 7P-7A three times a week. I changed my diary settings from meal names, to midnight-6AM, 6AM-noon, etc and log the meals in the correct time periods. I keep the midnight to midnight calories that MFP uses, I just find this the simplest way, rather than have food logged in all sorts of different length days. Works for me.

    Smart! I didn't know you could do that.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    I don't do night shift but if I was I think I would be logging either on the day I eat it so after midnight and I log it the next day.

    Or if I have multiple night shifts in a row log everything before I sleep on one day and start the next day when I wake up.
  • BrideSept2017
    BrideSept2017 Posts: 28 Member
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    I log on the next day, for example: today is Thursday, but all off my food is listed under Friday, because lunch, dinner, and snacks are usually all after midnight for me. On days off/transition days I log wherever I still have room. This usually means my day starts over after lunch, or around 3pm. I go by a weekly total, so things tend to even out.
  • KitchyWitchy
    KitchyWitchy Posts: 57 Member
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    My day runs from 4 pm until 8 am the next day. It all gets charted under the day it was when I started at 4 pm. If I end up being up some during the day I log my food where ever it will fit and not make the day go over. I figure this makes my weekly calories add up right.
    As for snacking, I usually try to preplan and prelog most of my food choices for the night. It is so hard at work because people constantly bring in food to share.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    I usually log my day as my awake hours, even though it's not uncommon for me to be awake and eating after midnight. But if you want you can also rename your meals and add up to 6 of them with different names.

    If you wanted you could just break them up into 4 hour windows starting at midnight and name them based on the time period. That way you account for all the food in the 24 hour period, but also break it down to the hours you tend to eat more.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
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    Goth time. If I haven't passed out yet, it's not tomorrow yet. No matter what the clock says. I log all foods eaten before I sleep my 6-8 hours on the day I woke up, then the next time I wake up is the new day. It makes it simpler for me. I already dislike math, no reason to go adding additional complications (pun absolutely intended.)
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    I've worked for 5+ years on the night shift and found midnight to midnight tracking is the easiest for me.
  • rlpomeroy
    rlpomeroy Posts: 661 Member
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    I go from midnight to midnight every day. It's just so much easier because some days I sleep right when I get home from work and other days I don't go to bed until later. 12-12 never changes.
  • ladyraiah
    ladyraiah Posts: 110 Member
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    I do midnight to midnight. I changed the meal names to Midnight-8am, 8am-5pm, and 5pm-midnight just to have an idea of where in the day I spend my calories, but you don't have to split it up as much.
  • mrsmmmurray
    mrsmmmurray Posts: 1 Member
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    Midnight to midnight for me too. I also gave up on snacking through the night. I take a small meal with me usually dinner leftovers and aim to eat that half way through my shift. I drink a ton of water and nothing sugary as it just increases my craving for snacks. Your shift pattern seems hard going. Best of luck.
  • CBAOW
    CBAOW Posts: 10 Member
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    Thanks guys. All your suggestions helped me to plan going in to it. I've gone 12-12 but then with some flexibility around the start and end days because otherwise I end up with one day way over calories and one day way under. I think the weekly calories are more important.

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