So I have been counting and cycling now for two weeks as of tomorrow. I have done pretty awesome I think. And 4 pounds considering just counting before didn't work but both is working.

Anyways I have been on maternity leave for the last 8 1/2 months and I go back tomorrow night. I end up awake a lot when I'm on nights. I work 12 hour shifts, days or nights I start at 7. My question is how would you count your calories over night. Like should I start the next day at midnight. Or should I include the nights as part of the starting day and when I get up after sleeping start again?

I'm concerned because I know a lot of other nurses who have gained a lot from over eating on nights and although I am going to eat healthy I want to make sure my counts don't get messed up.

Omg my phone messed up. I meant to post this in calorie counting. If anyone else has ideas too would be greatly appreciated...

I'm a goof lol

When do you start your day/night? My day starts after I have been sleeping, when I get up my day starts. Wouldn't yours be the same ? When you get up after sleeping be it day or night start your counting at that time. Count during a 24 hour period whenever that is.Remembering that part of that 24 hours is spent sleeping.

That is true. See cuz my first day of night shifts i dont nap before work. so im up for that much longer with the same amount of calories so i think thats my biggest worry.

I do not work nights but I eat every few hours I usually have all my meals between 6AM and 9PM and go to bed a couple of hours after that. My Ex did work nights, though and he ate every few hours , he wasn't concerned with calling it breakfast or dinner as long as he had a meal.
It does take a little period of adjustment but soon everything will fall into place.

I usually like to make midnight my cut-off for a new day. Seems to work best. You can really start your "new day" of eating at anytime you like, just keep it consistent. I hear ya about starting the first night. I am also up sooo many more hours. Sometimes I take an over-the-counter sleeping pill to help me sleep during the day which also helps with how many hours I will need to eat later. If I sleep longer, then it will be less eating- plus more energy.

I work night and yes usually my day starts after I've woken up I work 10:30pm-7am and I'll fall asleep around 8:30 and I wake up anywhere between 2-5pm. So when I wake up I weigh in an have my "breakfast" obviously in days I'm off my schedule is a little thrown off cause both days I sleep regular night hours but it all comes down to watching what you eat at work. A lot of my night cw eat to stay awake but I find myself that usually having 2-3 snacks or a meal and a snack during the shift keeps me feeling satisfied. I drink either tea or coffee all through the shift, for me just the action of drinking something keeps me awake so while everyone is sharing chips and cookies I try to steer clear of that.
Sleep is an important part of weightloss but it all comes down to balancing when you eat and planning ahead when your "day" will start counting naps in there if you take them

thank you hun. very true. I always would get pulled into ordering out for food at like 11 at night and i know thats part of my issue.
I think its gonna be a bit hard trying to figure out how to do like a routine again for nights.
thanks guys this has helped. very interested in what works for everyone else. i do a lot of switches for night shifts so i do them a lot more than i do a day shift. so figuring out a routine is so very improtant for me

I used to count when I woke to when I slept. So my breakfast would be everyone else's dinner, or something like that.

I just count each day from midnight to midnight , so even though I have my evening meal at around 7pm before a night shift, if I eat something around 12am - 1am I will count these calories from the next days budget not the previous day.

I work evenings 4-midnight. And I go by when I wake up (anywhere from 1-3pm) is breakfast and I eat dinner around 1-3am. Its been working for me so far.

thanks guys these are all awesome!!

I think I have a handle on what Im going to do now.
Since I calorie cycle, and my shifts are 12 hours so i dont work as often as some people, i am going to have my bigger calorie days on my first night shift. that way since i dont nap, I have a bit more room since i am up from 8-9am until 8am the next day. So Im definitely going to go by my sleeping patterns.

Sounds like a good plan. Also, get a plan to stay away from nightly take-out! I know it's hard!

When I worked nights, sugar free jello was my friend!

I also started my day, when I got up, what ever time that was. 6pm during the week, mornings on weekends.