I just stumbled across your little site a couple weeks ago while looking for some success stories to spur me on with weight loss journey. I just had 2nd baby 4.5 months ago and am working on getting rid of the pesky 40 lbs that have been hounding me since the end of 1st pregnancy. (I'm 5'3" 157lbs now and would like to get back to 117 lbs like I was before babies, only more toned).
I have a treadmill at home, resistance bands, a jumprope, various weights (hand, wrist and ankle), an ab roller, a trampoline and have a recumbant bike and bun and thigh roller on their way (just so you know what I'm working with). I have just gotten started with HIIT (slowly, so as not to injure myself, only doing 20 mins total and then bw and band resistance exercises, as well as dvds/on demand workouts), and I worked out before and during last pregnancy, so I'm not starting completely cold. I also eat pretty well (limiting carbs and fat and virtually eliminating sugar), although I'm not taking in enough calories according to this site as I have a bad habit of skipping meals that I am trying to break

Anyway, main question is this: I work three 12 hour night shifts each week (W, F, Sat from 7pm-7:30 am) and have ready recently that ppl who work on the nigth shift tend to have a harder time with weigth loss. Have you heard anything about this? If it IS true then is it because of the lack of sleep ppl who work the night shift tend to get? I've heard if you don't get your 7-8 hours every night that it can get in the way of weight loss. Let me give you and example of week so you have some idea of just how little sleep I get:
Mon and Tues are weekend
Wed I wake up with kids (3 yr old and 4.5 month old) anytime between 7-10 am and am awake all day with them until I go to work @ 7pm and then I work straight through until 7:30 am (getting home around 8:30 am) and spend Thurs during the day taking care of kids and try to get to bed early Thurs night or sneak in a nap with kids if I can.
Fri is basically the same as Wed, except when I get off work on Sat morning I can go to sleep as their dad doesn't work weekends and watches them.
Sat night I go back to work and finish off "week" on Sun morning @ 7:30 am and generally try to stay up until the night so we can have a bit of a family weekend and just try to get to bed early.
And I do this every week

I know that I don't get enough sleep (routinely staying awake and active, to an extent, for more than 24 hours at a time at least once each week) and tend to have problems with eating (mostly going too long between meals and then not really eating enough overall and eating too much in one sitting).
I'm worried that schedule (while it doesn't get in the way of me working out) is going to hamper weight loss because of the erratic nature of sleep cycle ( circadian rhythm is pretty f*ct). Is there anything I can do to offset this? Also, the eating 5-7 meals thing and not going more than 3 hours without eating...would that work for a 24 hour period? Like would I just add more little meals? And, if so, what? I know protein and fruit in the am and protein and veggies in the pm, but what about the middle of the night and very early morning?
I have tried to find websites with info reguarding situation, but I think I may just be in such an extreme minority that no one has really covered it yet. I'd very much appreciate any advice you could give me.
Sorry this was so long

~zephyr