Working night shift

saldanajesus6396
saldanajesus6396 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 14 in Getting Started
Hello everybody,

I just have a question on how to calculate calorie counts while working night shift. Soooo... how my breaks at work go is 9:00pm, 12:00am, and 3:00 am. For the 12 and 3 o' clock breaks do I calculate the food I eat on the previous day or start the new day with the calories. I would also like to know what other night shift workers do when the put in there calories.

Replies

  • Presleykay22
    Presleykay22 Posts: 2,449 Member
    I am still trying to figure out this myself.
  • kingchimera31
    kingchimera31 Posts: 9 Member
    I'm a little confused by this too. I kinda wish they would allow us to fix the settings to show what when we have our breakfast lunch and dinner. I can have a break at anytime where I work. Also I've been trying to get a schedule down so I have breakfast at home rather than at work. But I generally take one at three and I call that my lunch. Come home and sleep until it's time to pick my son up from school and then have dinner. So it's like
    Breakfast 7:30 pm
    Lunch 3:00 am
    Dinner 4:00 pm
    I'm not even sure if that curtails how many calories I've had through out.
  • dark_sparkles37019
    dark_sparkles37019 Posts: 114 Member
    I work second shift. I add my supper into the previous day since I get off work at 12 usually. Someone on here told me the calories would average out.
  • rightoncommander
    rightoncommander Posts: 114 Member
    Create special meals in the diary for your night-shift meals. And kingchimera31, you could even include the time in your meal labels, they are fully adjustable under Food-->Settings-->Meal Names.

    I didn't calorie count when I worked night shift many moons ago, but in my mind my day started when I got up around 6pm. Midnight is just a number, your "day" starts when you get up and ends when you go to bed. It makes no sense to split a single "day" of eating across two different calorie allowances just because you work shifts. I suggest you even count the meal you eat after your shift before going to bed against the previous day, just to make tracking easier.
  • kingchimera31
    kingchimera31 Posts: 9 Member
    I had thought about this but then I remembered that on my days off my sleep schedule is skewed just so I can do errands and such during the day. Are those labels for times on the calendar settings permanent throughout or is it a day to day basis?
  • rightoncommander
    rightoncommander Posts: 114 Member
    kingchimera31 - Yes, they're permanent. You could just make the labels refer to a time, but then that wouldn't tell you which meal it related to. Or you could have a night-shift breakfast and a regular breakfast and so on. There are 6 slots in total.
    dark_sparkles37019 wrote: »
    I work second shift. I add my supper into the previous day since I get off work at 12 usually. Someone on here told me the calories would average out.
    Yes, the calories will average out. Whether or not you work shifts, it's best to look at your calories over the week rather than individual days. Having said that, what you're doing is the best way in my opinion. By logging your supper on the previous day, your individual days will work just fine by themselves.
  • schleeep
    schleeep Posts: 2 Member
    I label my "meals" as four hour blocks of time (ie. 0000-0600, 0600-1200, 1200-1800, 1800-0000). That way the only meal I have to worry about being on the wrong day is "lunch," but I usually eat at around 0200 during my 12hr nigh shift. For me it seems to simplify things a bit and makes tracking on days off less of a trial ( "I've been up for 20 hrs and I'm having my fourth meal of the day... What meal is this?").
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