Working nights 11 to 7

lovebugscupcake1186
lovebugscupcake1186 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
How do you log you're meals when working 11 to 7 night shift and also when is a good eating schedule

Replies

  • talkinghead86
    talkinghead86 Posts: 66 Member
    edited April 2019
    There isn't any one schedule that works for everyone.... eat when you're actually hungry (physiological). don't when you're not. but I do think giving into non-hungry cravings (psychological) aren't necessarily a bad thing from time to time. We only live once :smile:

    anyhoo, you'll still make progress even if you eat pizza at 2 am -- as long it falls within your daily calorie limit/don't overdo it
  • froggerman2
    froggerman2 Posts: 12 Member
    I work nights to, in fact that is where I am right now. You should eat three times a day, but when you eat is up to you and your body. I have been logging every thing I eat and staying under the calories that were set for me. I have been losing weight pretty fast and I have a lot to lose. I started at 400 pounds 3 months ago and have lost 37 pounds so far. My name is Mike Pearson. Hope that helps and good luck.
  • bionicshouldemfp
    bionicshouldemfp Posts: 15 Member
    edited April 2019
    Good question - I start a month of working 6PM to 6AM six days a week tonight. Ugh

    Planning on just logging for whatever meal I may be eating - if it’s a 4PM breakfast, it’s breakfast. If it’s a 3 AM dinner...and so forth
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    You can, if it helps, rename your meals and add/subtract meal categories from the MFP food page. I've seen people rename them 1, 2, 3; or am and pm. I've also seen people delineate snacks to am and pm and add categories for medicine/supplements.
  • nisie3
    nisie3 Posts: 99 Member
    I consider a day being from when I wake up until I go to bed. So I don’t close out my report at midnight.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    edited April 2019
    When you eat doesn't matter for weight loss directly. The best eating schedule is the one that keeps you satisfied the most and lets you maintain a calorie deficit. Some eat once a day, some eat 7 small meals, some eat a traditional 3 squares. Do whatever comes naturally to you.

    How you log your food also really doesn't matter either. Your body doesn't know if you put food into a category labelled "Breakfast" or "Meal 1" or "Food". What matters is that you log your food as accurately as needed in order to track your intake and make sure you're maintaining a calorie deficit.

    If you're struggling to decide how to categories your meals then just create 1 category and put all the food for a 24 hour period, say midnight to midnight. Or maybe create an AM and PM and use a Midnight to Midday and Midday to Midnight. Or create arbitrary categories such as "Meals" and "Snacks" or anything really. Just do whatever makes it easy.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    Be consistent. I worked nights for quite a while, and I tried to log based on what meal it was for me and the day it actually was. My first logged meal would be lunch as around 12:30 am, followed by dinner around 7am. I'd go to sleep, wake up, then eat breakfast at 5pm. That would all be logged as one day, even though for me subjectively, it was over two waking cycles. As long as you're consistent, exactly how you log won't matter.

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