Eating for 24 hours ;)

rolliepollie087
rolliepollie087 Posts: 251 Member
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
I work a crazy, rotating 12 hour shift and I basically only sleep 5 days a week. As soon as I get off of work for my "weekend" I go straight from being awake from 5pm till whenever I go to sleep the next night. Then on the night before I go back to work, I will be up for about 24 again because I'll have been up all day with the kids, and I have to stay up all night to sleep all day for night shift...

So my question is::

Should I be eating for that 24 hours...? Since I'm physically active and doing my normal daily activity, just for extended periods of time?

Also I am breastfeeding as well ;) and that adds a few extra to the caloric intake but I am going to add that just in case you may have input on it.

Replies

  • girlypop
    girlypop Posts: 80
    It's hard to say. It's sound like a pretty hectic schedules; it must tire you out. What I would suggest is just trying to stick to your calorie guide lines for both days. So say for day 1 till midnight you can eat 1800cals(you are breast feeding) and than after midnight your cals start to count towards the next day. As long as overall there is a deficit, you should lose weight. Now that said, it's generally not a good idea to eat within a few hours of going to sleep. So if you're working an overnight shift it's fine to eat at 1am because you are still up for a few hours before you can sleep but if you just happen to be up late one night it's not quite the same cuz when you eat late at night and than fall asleep your body didn't have an opportunity to burn any of your calories.
  • TrishaRN_74
    TrishaRN_74 Posts: 102 Member
    I have a similar problem. I work two nights and one day 12 hour shift a week. After two more weeks, I'll be doing 3-6 12 hour shifts a week. I don't know when to track which meals! If you feel the need to eat every few hours, I would suggest eating smaller meals. Use about 200 calories each, or find some really low calorie things to snack on. Good luck!
  • rolliepollie087
    rolliepollie087 Posts: 251 Member
    It is exhausting, to say the least! Thanks for your input, it makes sense :D
    It's hard to say. It's sound like a pretty hectic schedules; it must tire you out. What I would suggest is just trying to stick to your calorie guide lines for both days. So say for day 1 till midnight you can eat 1800cals(you are breast feeding) and than after midnight your cals start to count towards the next day. As long as overall there is a deficit, you should lose weight. Now that said, it's generally not a good idea to eat within a few hours of going to sleep. So if you're working an overnight shift it's fine to eat at 1am because you are still up for a few hours before you can sleep but if you just happen to be up late one night it's not quite the same cuz when you eat late at night and than fall asleep your body didn't have an opportunity to burn any of your calories.
  • drcain
    drcain Posts: 59 Member
    I'm not in the same boat as you all but I edited my dairy to break it down into time ranges versus meals. Sometimes my lunch happens at noon and sometimes not until 2pm. It helps me to be able to look back to see if the timing of my meals have effected my weight loss. Just a thought.
  • rolliepollie087
    rolliepollie087 Posts: 251 Member
    You have a cruel schedule!! And I always get mildly confused about which day I track my foods as well. Our noon is everyone else's midnight ;)
    Thank you for your input as well!
    I have a similar problem. I work two nights and one day 12 hour shift a week. After two more weeks, I'll be doing 3-6 12 hour shifts a week. I don't know when to track which meals! If you feel the need to eat every few hours, I would suggest eating smaller meals. Use about 200 calories each, or find some really low calorie things to snack on. Good luck!
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