Hey all,
I work 12 hour night shifts and I'm trying to find the best way to calorie count. I am finding it virtually impossible to stay at my "limit" on my days off after work, because I am essentially requiring fuel for 2 days straight.

For example, tomorrow I will try and sleep in to get on the night schedule, be eating until work, eat AT work overnight, come home, take a 4hr nap, and then eat until my regular pm bedtime for my 3 days off. Ugh!

I'm counting calories from midnight to midnight, to keep things simple.

I also did the following for exercise, spread out over the week:
- 35 mins on the elliptical with some weight training
- a one hour Spin class
- ran 4 miles
- a one hour Zumba class.

Here's what my week looked like, from Sunday to today:

Monday: 1125
Tuesday: 2820 (went out for burgers, ouch)
Wednesday: 1120
Thursday: 1558
Friday: 1976
Saturday: 1809
*Sunday: 850 (if I can stick to my plan for tomorrow)

Am I unintentionally "calorie cycling" or am I just a mess?

Help!

-FPSJ

P.S.
Also open to suggestions for low-cal "bulky" foods I could try to keep me full on my weird in-between days where I need fuel but am short on calories.

Calorie cycling normally isn't THAT large of a range, but, that is the idea. A 2000 calorie difference between a high and a low is a bit broad imo.

For a few lower calorie "bulky" foods i'd try Vegetables (nearly all of them, I love broccoli for this) with a low calorie protein (cheese stick, hummus ect).

That's a tough schedule to work with! I agree with the last poster in that your range is broad (though the burger night was probably just a "glitch" and not a normal calorie day for you.) But, given your schedule, I think that's just the way it's going to be. I would probably try to focus on the number of calories I'm eating per week and not stress out about individual "high calorie" 24-hour periods. When you're up for most of those 24 hours, you're obviously going to require more fuel than someone who's slept for 8 hours...same thing (in reverse) for your lower calorie days when you're catching up on your sleep.

Give it a couple weeks and see how it's going. If you're feeling good and losing weight, then, as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

When I'm hungry but short on calories, I turn to veggies and whole grains. 100 calorie microwave popcorn is my friend! And yes, popcorn counts a a whole grain!

Yes, the Burger Day was an outlier, and I am trying my very hardest not to have too many of those.

The scale went down today, even though I went out for ice cream last night! (I got non-fat frozen yogurt and it was still totally delish).

I have been making a big crock-pot of low cal soup or chili at the start of each work week, so I might also start roasting up a few pans of veggies to have on hand.

Thanks, 8675309 and NorthernExposure, for your help and reassurance