I'm 5'8" and currently 208 lbs, 29% BF

Here's my current meal plan (in practice)

Chicken, carbs (1 bagel, 1 c wild rice, or some such), and veggies (generally 1 c salad)
Chicken, salad (2 c salad), 1 tbsp dressing, if that
2 x 16 oz protein shakes with 2 scoops/40g protein and skim milk
1 piece fruit (apple, banana, plum, etc)

Now I haven't tried to run the numbers, but I'm guessing this is maybe a bit too few calories for me. I don't weigh my chicken portions but I'd guess about 5-8 oz.

First, does this look feasible for someone my size? I'm shooting to get below 200lbs ASAP (for the first time in almost 10 years) but I don't want to be burning muscle I don't have to do it. I'm a complete newbie working on 5 compound lifts 3 days per week and am adding 10 lbs per week for the moment (I started pretty low). My workouts are only about 25 minutes.

Second, here's the kicker. I work 12 hour night shifts, so my days are commonly 16 or even 20 hours long (I'm up around 3-6 hours before work and about 1 hour after. I feel great with 6 hours sleep, but feel almost hungover with 8 or more. How should I be modifying my diet to accommodate working days longer than the average guy? Do I need to add more meals?

So I started eating a bit more this week and the results are good. I feel better and I still have a daily decrease in scale weight.

I've also been sleeping more which helps with the 20 hour day issue.

Any suggestions?

Give Marcus' guide to nutrition a good read. http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=1222

The Harris Benedict Formula is in there. It is an excellent formula to calculate your caloric needs based on your individual stats (height, weight, gender). Throw your numbers in there and find out what your caloric intake would be. If you have any questions on where to get started, I would recommend reading through all of the posts in the sticky labeled "Beginners/New members - start here" Good luck!

So my numbers in the HBF comes out to 2055/day BMR and about 2800 for life with exercise.

For all complexity of the Harris Blevins formula (lbs x 10) = BMR and BMR x 1.2 to 1.5 works just as well.

My question revolves around the extra hours in my day. Those formulas are based on about a 15 hour waking day. Here's my question. If I'm up, say, 20 hours, will that change my metabolic rate? I suspect yes because I always loose weight working nights, even with a trashy diet. So, following a general down and dirty guideline of eating "meals" every three hours wile awake, do I continue for the extra 5 hours in my day when I'm up for an extended period or not. This probably adds an extra meal into my day and thus extra calories.

I've read and reread all the beginner stickies multiple times. This question is never addressed that I have noticed.

So my numbers in the HBF comes out to 2055/day BMR and about 2800 for life with exercise.

For all complexity of the Harris Blevins formula (lbs x 10) = BMR and BMR x 1.2 to 1.5 works just as well.

My question revolves around the extra hours in my day. Those formulas are based on about a 15 hour waking day. Here's my question. If I'm up, say, 20 hours, will that change my metabolic rate? I suspect yes because I always loose weight working nights, even with a trashy diet. So, following a general down and dirty guideline of eating "meals" every three hours wile awake, do I continue for the extra 5 hours in my day when I'm up for an extended period or not. This probably adds an extra meal into my day and thus extra calories.

I've read and reread all the beginner stickies multiple times. This question is never addressed that I have noticed.

Just spread out the timing of your meals a little to make up the difference... you won't necessarily burn more calories by staying awake more... as a matter of fact, there have been a bunch of studies that suggest sleeping more will help with fat loss.

I would encourage you just to pick some # and get started... stick to it for a couple weeks and see how your body is doing. If not enough change, drop a 100 or 200 calories... if too much change, do the opposite. It can really be that simple.