Do you burn more if you're awake longer?

Logically, I would say yes. Unless you sleep an inordinate amount the next day, and then I guess it cancels it out. If you're just sitting on the couch all day, though, you're probably not burning much more. Being awake for two extra hours than you're normally awake can't burn THAT many calories.

also been wondering this.
i work 18 hour days (between 2 jobs) for the majority of the year, and typically eat every 3 hours or so... but on a 1200cal/day intake, that's only like 200cal/ small meal. hard to stick to, especially since my breakfasts tend to be in the 350cal range, as are lunches.

I currently work 4am to 1pm and get only about 4-5 hrs of sleep a night. I've been on this shift since October 2011. I HATE it... and I've realized that sleep is important for many reasons. The lack of sleep makes me cranky for one. I'm actually surprised that I've lost weight during this time, but I've had to work at it. I am up and moving many more hours of the day than I used to be. On a normal 8-5 shift I would come home and make dinner and then sit on my *kitten* watching TV for hours until I went to bed. Now I leave work at 1pm and run errands or have appointments and am usually moving for another 6-7 hrs through the day. I don't watch much TV anymore unless we record programs and watch on the weekends (which have been way too busy lately) so I don't rest until I actually get into bed. I might sit for a bit before I make dinner but I'm up a lot to let our puppy out (seems like every 15 minutes or so).
So long story short - too late... I have lost and burn more calories just by being awake for more hours than other people on a normal work shift. I'm ready for this shift to change though cause I really miss my sleep!!! :yawn:

Thank you for posting these two interesting articles. I feel that the healthy attitude of the members that I have read, coupled with the site's reluctance to encourage weight loss of more than one pound per week, make this my best chance to succeed.

I was thinking about this too.

I work full time and get up earlier now and I'm always STARVING. My diet hasn't changed a even a bit. I think being awake, moving and doing things obviously burns more calories so you are getting hungrier. Literally, I used to sleep until at least 8:30 and I never had this problem...now I get up at 6 and it sucks. Plus, I'm the kind of person who needs her 8 hours or isnt worth a damn.

I too have been pondering on this one.

I found a calculation on eHow..com which reckons it has the formula: http://www.ehow.com/how_6217580_figure-out-caloric-requirements-adults.html

The result for me doesn't look realistic (far too high) but this is the kind of calculation I had in mind. I'm 212lb and normally awake for 17 hours per day. This equates to a weight-maintaining calorie intake of 3750 Kcal.

At the moment I'm on 1430 kcal per day, which is what has been suggested by the myfitnesspal app. I'm managing it, and I'm not loosing massively excessive amounts of weight (averaging between 2lb and 3lb per week) so I'm happy with it.

Anyone know of a similar calc which might give more realistic results?