Shift Work and Health for Nurses

Speaker 1 0:00

diet's not a good word to have in your vocabulary at all . And yeah , good food , bad food , it's just all . Food is food , you know . It's just got different nutritional levels . Obviously there's some food that are more nutritious than others , but still you can have soul food , you can have nutritious food , and that's okay .

Speaker 2 0:21

Shift work can be brutal , but it doesn't have to be . Welcome to a healthy shift . My name is Roger Sutherland , certified nutritionist , veteran law enforcement officer and 24 seven shift worker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shift workers , using evidence based methods , to not only survive the rigours of shift work , but thrive . My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well being so they have more energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show . Welcome to today's episode of a healthy shift podcast .

Speaker 2 1:01

As you know , you're sitting here or standing there or walking and you're listening to the latest episode of this podcast , and it's all information and knowledge that is coming into your ears free of charge . We also sit here for hours and hours on end compiling and researching social media posts and putting them out there for you for more information . And not only that , but we build websites as well , as we are writing blogs and putting blogs up to give you more information . But what you do forget is we're actually coaching people one to one , and I've had a long-term client with me , reggie Spadavecchia , and I asked Reggie if she would come on the podcast and talk about our journey together as a coach and client and I was thrilled when Reggie actually agreed . Now Reggie is a nurse in a busy metropolitan hospital in Sydney in Australia and she had recently got married and wanted to get herself into a really good position where she would fall pregnant and have her first child . And oh , she came to me and I was thrilled to be able to help her along on that journey .

Speaker 2 2:16

Now I'm not going to talk about too much about this podcast before it goes on , because there's just so much that we covered about that particular journey and I want you to hear it firsthand . If anything that we say in the podcast resonates with you or you actually get enjoyment from the podcast , I ask if you could rate it and review it . On Spotify , just go to the three dots on the main page and just hit the five stars . Or on Apple , scroll to the bottom , you can hit five stars and you can write a review . This makes an enormous difference to the podcast and it really helps me to get evidence-based information out there for everybody . So , without much further ado , I'm absolutely busting for you to hear from my client , reggie . How are you , reggie ?

Speaker 1 3:06

I'm not too bad , thank you . Thanks for having me .

Speaker 2 3:09

I'm very , very humbled that you've agreed to come on and do this as a long-term client . We've had quite a journey together , haven't we , reggie ? We really have , yeah , yeah , and it's been an amazing turnaround , and I was excited to get you on to talk about our story , together with everything that we've gone through and how we've gone through it , because you are an amazing testimony and I think it's going to be something that's going to be really worth people hearing . So let's start at the beginning . You've been a nurse for a long time , so can you give us a summary of your background in nursing , reggie ?

Speaker 1 3:42

So I started nursing when I was about 26 . I know it's a bit late , but I just didn't know what I wanted to do , so I started nursing in 2016 . I started infectious disease nursing and have been there ever since , pretty much . And then COVID hit . That's where the fun begins .

Speaker 2 4:00

It's no secret , is there , reggie , that COVID's been absolutely brutal on our nursing staff all around . It's been brutal on a lot of people , but , in particular , it's been very , very brutal on our nurses

Nurse's COVID Experience and Shift Work

Speaker 2 4:13

. Now we can go back to the beginning of 2020 , when COVID actually hit . Can you just paint a picture for our listeners what it was like being a nurse and remembering that you worked in infectious diseases , so you were all over the top of infection control and things like that ? So it probably wasn't a massive step for you , but , geez , for some people it would have been huge . What did it look like ?

Speaker 1 4:34

Yeah , so in the beginning we had some of the earliest COVID cases . So we're wearing PPE anyway because we're infectious diseases . But then once the second wave hit the Delta wave and Omicron started hitting , that's when the hospital really amped up and we were getting hundreds of COVID cases and then we were pretty much just a COVID ward for months on end wearing PPE 24 , seven . Pretty much just a constant COVID , covid , covid , covid in this dress . From all that it's pretty traumatising . I know it's caused a lot of people to rethink their nursing careers and how they're treated by management and , you know , upper management and the executives .

Speaker 2 5:11

I think this is very general right through a lot of frontline emergency services as well as frontline health . But yeah , bridgie , can you just tell me , when you say we had to wear PPE as a nurse , what did wearing PPE look like ? Obviously , you're over the top of this with the OcHealth and Safety . As far as the equipment that you had to wear , you were probably more conditioned , but it would have been a bit of a shock to just your general ward nurse . So what did it look like ? Tell us what PPE you were wearing .

Speaker 1 5:39

Basically a plastic gown . You were in a hair net , goggles , a shield and an N95 mask . We were kind of fortunate because we could take it off . But there was some other ward in other areas that had to completely wear the 5 point PPE or shift . So we were lucky we could take our gowns on and off . You had to wear the N95 pretty much eight , ten , twelve hours .

Speaker 2 6:00

That's horrendous . I'm all correct in understanding that when you go to the bathroom you actually have to Take everything off and trash it and then you have to replace it all , don't you ?

Speaker 1 6:10

Yeah , pretty much yeah .

Speaker 2 6:12

Incredible .

Speaker 1 6:12

It is considered contaminated when you come out of a patient's room in those gowns and stuff , so you have to take them off , go to the toilet , come back out and then put it all back on .

Speaker 2 6:21

Yeah , crazy Nurses would probably not drink water , would they ? So that they didn't have to go to the bathroom . You would become pretty severely dehydrated . To avoid that issue , wouldn't you ?

Speaker 1 6:31

Yeah , definitely . I mean , you're not allowed to have a water bottle at the nurse's station because you can't take your mask off . So the only time you could get a drink of water is when you went to the bathroom or when you went on your break , which was if you took your break .

Speaker 2 6:43

If you got one , because it was horrendous too . It was very , very busy time . I think one of the worst things about COVID nursing staff were at the receiving end and having to treat people with COVID when there was just so much unknown wasn't there . We just didn't know really what we were dealing with and we were hearing about deaths and everyone was terrified , weren't they ? They put an added stress .

Speaker 1 7:04

You had so many people like oh you , okay , you're dealing with COVID , aren't you scared of getting sick yourself ? I was like well , no , that's why we have PPE . I mean annoying , is PPE just there to protect us ?

Speaker 2 7:15

Well done In 2016, . You started your shift working life as a nurse prior to COVID , so when you first started , were you prepared for the impact that shift work had on your body physically ?

Speaker 1 7:27

Not really . I mean , in the beginning I didn't tend to notice it because I was like , oh okay , this is pretty cool , you know I'm running money days off during the week when everyone else is working , I can do what I like , you know ADOs and stuff and I can work out having three or four days off , you know go . But yeah , then you don't realise how mentally and physically exhausting it is sometimes .

Speaker 2 7:48

Very , very much . So what about the impact on you ? Physically , reggie ? It's gradual , it starts to take its toll and you don't realise , do you , just how much of a toll it's starting to take on your body . What sort of impacts was it actually having on you physically that you were probably unaware of until one day you went holy moly .

Speaker 1 8:07

Yeah , it was just the weight gain and also the fact because I've got PCOS anyway , my periods weren't regular either , but I just didn't notice it until I needed my period to be regular .

Speaker 2 8:20

Yeah , absolutely

Impact of PCOS and Shift Work

Speaker 2 8:22

. Pcos for those that are listening , is Polycystic Overy Syndrome , which is literally on the ovaries , isn't it ? And it can cause a lot of pain for people as well . It impacts on insulin resistance with people , so therefore the glucose in the bloodstream can't actually get into the muscle to be used . It does come with its own weight gain in itself . With PCOS , then you've complicated that even further by doing shift work . Now tell me , reggie , when were you diagnosed with PCOS ?

Speaker 1 8:51

I was 15 when I was diagnosed with PCOS .

Speaker 2 8:55

OK , so this is even 11 years before , so you were probably quite lucky because it was picked up fairly early in you . Yeah , what was the telltale signs of PCOS for you ?

Speaker 1 9:05

Because I had my first period and then it didn't come for six months . So my mum was like that's weird . So then she took me to the doctor and then that's where they diagnosed me with PCOS because my fasting insulin was a bit high . Yep , so my glucose tolerance test was normal , but , yeah , the insulin in my blood was a bit high .

Speaker 2 9:23

This is 11 years before you actually started shift work , so you'd been dealing with PCOS for 11 years . Your cycle had been less than regular for that entire time .

Speaker 1 9:33

Oh , definitely yeah .

Speaker 2 9:34

Now , what did that look like for you over a period of a year ? Would you ? How often would you have a cycle over you ? It must be traumatising in itself just not knowing when it's coming or going through the whole thing . So what would it look like for you ?

Speaker 1 9:48

Oh , it would just randomly spring on and then I'd be like , oh crap about my period , but I would have it maybe four or five times a year , like it wouldn't be regular at all . Ok , the thing is , the doctor didn't really explain the severity of it when you're 15 and you just like , oh OK .

Speaker 2 10:02

Now I've done podcasts on this and I've also got another guest coming up that's going to talk about hypothalamic aminorrhea , which is the absence of a period , and how detrimental to your health it is . It's enormously detrimental to not have a regular cycle in relation to that . So stay tuned for that podcast because it's excellent . It's done by a colleague of mine , rachel Lee , who talks about this , and it's very , very important that women have regular cycles . So now shift work starting to impact on you .

Speaker 2 10:30

So you started when you're 26 , 11 years after you diagnosed with PCOS . I'm not saying that that's a contributing factor , but then you go into shift work , which starts to impact on you , and shift work creates its own insulin resistance overnight as well , through a natural biological function that our circadian rhythm literally shuts our body down overnight and creates insulin resistance in itself . Like of education from our employers and also just like of education in general , we tend to just sort of flip our meals and eat overnight . Don't we and I'm going to call you out here too , reggie , because nurses at a nurses station , when Jenny's bringing the cakes in and the slice , we bring soul food , don't we into work ?

Speaker 1 11:13

because that's what nurses do . But it's also , it's not just soul food , it's comforting to you know , comfort food . You've had a crap shift and the best thing to do is , you know , have some comfort food because it calms you down and you're like , oh , this is the best . You know how to shift , shift , but yeah .

Speaker 2 11:29

Exactly right , and so therefore , it actually is emotional eating . Isn't it Pretty ?

Speaker 2 11:34

much yeah , yeah , because we're dealing with a stress , we're dealing with a trauma and , as we have in our whole life , we turn to food . Like , if you think about it , we cry and we get jammed on the breast from a baby , and then we celebrate birthdays with food , we celebrate Christmas with food , we celebrate Easter with food . Every big event that we have , we celebrate with food . So it's only natural that when we are nursing and we're working overnight and there's a bonding between the girls and the guys that are nursing as well , isn't there ? So Karen brings a cake in and Jenny brings a slice in and Reggie brings in her you know something exotic from the Italian family and everything's awesome , but all we're doing is we're eating highly processed carbohydrates and fats overnight and contributing to a massive problem , aren't we ?

Speaker 1 12:22

Yeah , definitely yeah .

Speaker 2 12:24

I mean , that's a whole podcast in itself comfort eating overnight . But when you're dealing with PCOS as well and you've also got shift work , it impacts severely . Did you find that your PCOS got worse when you started shift work ?

Speaker 1 12:38

Yeah , I did . I mean , I was on the pool in the beginning of shift work as well , so I didn't really understand the impact it had on my body till I went off the pill . And then , yeah , my periods weren't regular anymore and then , yeah , I started gaining weight . You know craving like high carb , high sugar foods , but also like when you're so fatigued you don't tend to care about healthy foods and preparing meals and stuff . It's just like oh , now I'll go for the easiest thing to get grabbed , which is high carb , high-baked foods and highly processed and palatable foods .

Speaker 2 13:11

Oh , absolutely , really good . What did you try in relation to dieting before ? Like , weight gain comes on and we can't ignore that , we all know it because our clothes don't fit , our scrubs don't fit , all sorts of things start to happen and we think , oh damn , I'm putting on weight here , or you know , let's be honest . We get out of the shower , we catch sight of ourselves in the mirror and we realize right , what did you do ? Or did you even try and lose the weight ? Or did you just say well , this is life , this is what happens .

Speaker 1 13:37

Yeah , I remember like when I actually started nursing I learned to buy to get a personal trainer and the hospital actually had a local gym . So I signed up for that and you know , I lost a bit of weight . But then you start feeling tired from the shift work and you're like no , I can't do it today . Then I started putting that off , like I lost a bit of weight , but then , after it all came back on , I think I did keto in there at one point .

Speaker 2 13:59

Everyone's done keto .

Speaker 1 14:01

Oh yeah . Yeah , you know it sounds good in theory , but practically it's just a nightmare .

Speaker 2 14:06

It is , isn't it ?

Speaker 1 14:07

Again , I did lose weight but then put it back on . I also done a few because I go to F45 , I did a few of their challenges . They do six week challenges and you know you're on the bandwagon and then the challenge stops and you're about to screw one of them .

Speaker 2 14:24

Exactly right , and that's the way the cycle

Shift Work and PCOS Coaching

Speaker 2 14:26

works . What actually caused you to approach me for coaching in the first place ? Because you obviously got to the stage where you felt like I resonated with you somehow . So what was it that actually caused you to approach me , reggie ?

Speaker 1 14:37

I got married in 2021 and my husband and I were trying to have a baby and stuff . But at that time , you know , my periods weren't regular . I'm doing shift work and my PCOS is like a lot of control and I just felt so lost and also , like you hear of a lot of people you know wanting to help women and for pregnant and help them lose weight and stuff . But a lot of people don't understand that shift work he's a whole other kettle of fish that you can't just put a nice meal on a table . A whole lot of people are planning for an overdue calorie , the staff and then you lose weight and all of a sudden you're back to normal . I follow Sherry Hockley .

Speaker 2 15:13

Sherry Hockley yeah .

Speaker 1 15:14

Yeah , fine , can't do in something . And then I started following you and then you were pretty much , I guess , my favorite .

Speaker 2 15:23

I love to hear that We've had quite a journey since you made that decision . How did you feel when you actually completed the inquiry form and you submitted it ? Were you nervous ?

Speaker 1 15:34

I was very nervous . Yeah , I was very nervous .

Speaker 2 15:37

I remember you were yeah .

Speaker 1 15:39

I was so dreading the zoom that we were gonna have yeah , you were .

Speaker 2 15:42

Do you remember what impacted you most out of our very first Discovery ? Because I can almost remember my very first words to you to remember I called you an angel , a living angel .

Speaker 1 15:53

Yeah , you do that every time . I have a zoom with you , though .

Speaker 2 15:56

I call you a living angel on earth and so those that are listening to my nurses that are listening . I literally call our nurses living angels on earth . And Reggie will tell you quite categorically I Absolutely back up what I do and will do everything I can possibly do to help our nurses , purely because they are somebody in the health sector who is literally not only risking but are damaging their own health To help you in your health . So I categorically call our nurses living angels on earth and I always ask and I always say to Reggie when do you take your wings off ? Do you hang them on the back of the door ?

Speaker 1 16:34

the bathroom door . What do you ?

Speaker 2 16:35

do with your wings when you go to bed . He does , he does . What was the introduction like ? So , when we actually spoke in the first place , you , you've seen this Guy . You followed this guy and you're thinking , oh , it's a bloke and what's he gonna know and how's he gonna go about it . What was it that resonated with you ? That thought , no , this guy gets it . Like you said , the shift work side of things you really thought I had a really good handle on shift work .

Speaker 1 16:58

Yeah , but also you are like PCOS , experienced as well . So that's what really secured me to you was because you've got experience with PCOS and shift work , which a lot of other nutritionists don't have that kind of experience . So that's why I went with you and yeah that PCOS absolutely fascinates me .

Speaker 2 17:16

It was one of the lectures that I look forward to so much in my course when it was coming up , because it's such a complex situation . There's a lot to learn about it . I actually , in the exams , chose that topic and wrote my case study on PCOS , because it just felt like I had a good handle on it . We've had our introduction and we've had our zoom conversation , which you were really nervous for . I broke the ice . I called you a living angel , which is always the way to a woman's heart , isn't it ? How did you feel during the zoom .

Speaker 1 17:48

In the beginning , obviously , I felt nervous , but then afterwards I felt hopeful that there was someone that actually Understood what I was going through in the shift work and the PCOS and understood what that entailed so you came out of that when you disconnect it from that zoom .

Speaker 2 18:04

Tell me your thoughts .

Speaker 1 18:05

Yeah , I was hopeful , but also like what am I done ? What am I going to myself into ?

Speaker 2 18:10

We've been through quite a process , all right , so let's go back to the start . First of all , was we completely changed your language around food , didn't we ? And we ? We stopped calling food good food , bad food . I've been naughty , I've been this . We got rid of all of that language and you , to this day , don't use it . I try to pick you up , but you never , ever , use this language at all . So it's really ingrained in you now , isn't it , that you just food is either nutritious or less than nutritious , or it is awesome food or soul food or comfort food , as you said , and we all need that balance , and you learnt that very early on , didn't you ?

Speaker 1 18:45

I did , yeah , like completely changing my mindset with the diet mentality . Diets not a good word to have in your vocabulary at all , and yeah , good food , bad food , it's just all food is food , you know . It's just got different nutritional levels . You know , obviously there's some food that are more nutritious than others , but still you can have soul food , you can have nutritious food , and that's okay food is literally just that , isn't it ?

Speaker 2 19:09

It fuels you a different way , but you've learned to fuel your body . I took you through a very rough Intuitive eating to teach you how to just go through all of that , following like the principles and what my knowledge was around , the Principles of intuitive eating as we're working through . Those light bulb moments for you along the way , wasn't there ?

Speaker 1 19:31

It was definitely , I think , the hunger scale and listening to if I was actually hungry or if I was actually bored . Our hunger is there to help us and let us know that we're hungry , like eat something when they've been enjoying that for so long . Because we're talking having those hunger friends , it's good , you know it means you in control of your body , so don't feed it hunger means what we're hungry , doesn't it ?

Speaker 2 19:53

Yeah , exactly , our body's looking for food . I hope you're enjoying the show . If you are , please don't forget to rate and review once you've finished . This helps the shows reach enormously . And have you got my free e-book the best way to eat on night shift ? Well , this is a comprehensive guide to the overnight fast , why we should fast and how to best go about it . I've even included a few recipes to help you . I've put a link to the e-book in the show notes .

Speaker 2 20:26

And Are you really struggling with shift work and feel like you're just crawling from one shift to the next ? Well , I've got you . If you would like to work with me , I can coach you to thrive , not just survive , while undertaking the rigors of 24 seven shift work . I I also conduct in-house live health and well-being seminars where I will come to your workplace and deliver Evidence-based information to help your well-being team to reduce unplanned leave and increase productivity in your workplace . I've put the links in the show notes to everything mentioned . You can find me at a healthy shift comm or on Instagram at a underscore healthy , underscore shift . Now let's get back to the show Now . It's very difficult for people to understand intuitive eating without actually going through a process of it . Because when we talk about intuitive eating , a lot of people get the impression that Intuitive eating is just eating intuitively , so therefore you just eat until you're either full or you're not full . It's nothing like that at all , is it , reggie ?

Speaker 1 21:33

No , it's not . It's not . It's about listening to your body , you know . Yeah , it's getting back in touch .

Speaker 2 21:38

Yeah , it's just this primal instinct not having food tracked into my fitness pal , which I'm sure you've been there as well .

Speaker 1 21:44

Of course .

Speaker 2 21:45

Yeah , where you get to the stage where you go oh it's lunchtime . Oh no , I've got to have chicken , rice and broccoli today , or I've got to have this meal , whether you're hungry or whether you're not , whether it's what you feel like or whether it's not . That's what you're reading because that's what's in my fitness pal , isn't it ?

Speaker 1 22:00

exactly yeah .

Speaker 2 22:01

You don't do any of that anymore and I'll guarantee you'll never , ever , do that ever again , will you ?

Speaker 1 22:59

that just seems so foreign to me now , you know , and it just seems so past Reggie .

Speaker 2 23:04

I . We've talked a lot about past Reggie and future Reggie , haven't we ? And it's fantastic . Can you explain to people what a weekly coaching session actually Looks a lot ?

Speaker 1 23:14

So normally we'll do a check-in . You've got your basic where you've got to have so many steps in . You've got to get your water in , you know you've got to do you sky before screen and hide right before cabinet , and then you do your Habits and then the checking is basically like how your week's been , how you felt any roadblocks or any you know Miss ups you've had that week and how to overcome them . And then then there's the goal for next week and how you're gonna accomplish that goal , and then you normally have an activity to do that week and then every week , every single week , and we have a half an hour zoom when we actually address those issues .

Speaker 2 23:54

Reggie , one of those coaching sessions that we had . After some time I came on the screen and you bounced into the screen and I looked at you and I went hang on , what's going on here ? You look like the cat that had the cream .

Speaker 1 24:07

It's because they discovered that I was pregnant and I nearly cried , didn't I ?

Speaker 2 24:11

I was so goddamn excited .

Speaker 1 24:13

You are , you are . You are happier than I was .

Speaker 2 24:17

Yeah , it means a lot to me , reggie , you know , yeah , and I remember I actually literally got goosebumps , I think I yelled and jumped up . I couldn't believe it . I was so excited for you because you Originally came to me in the early days saying to me I've got PCOS , I've got a totally a regular cycle , I've put on a lot of weight , I just feel awful . A shift works killing me , and we slowly and surely just started to ingrain habits . So when you came to me and said I'm pregnant , that was the ultimate for me as a coach . Now We've kept that as a secret right up until now . So , reggie , as we record this podcast , how many weeks pregnant are you ?

Speaker 1 25:02

I am 38 weeks pregnant , or 39 weeks tomorrow . 39 weeks .

Speaker 2 25:07

Let's talk about it because you have stayed with me right the way through now . I think you told me eight weeks . I think you told me before the 12 weeks , because yeah , yeah , I think six , seven or eight weeks .

Speaker 1 25:18

It was one of those weeks , I think .

Speaker 2 25:19

I've got a feeling . It might have to go back through my notes , but I've got a feeling . It was around six weeks , because you told me . But then every week we came on and you said to me oh , it's killing me , because I want to tell my friends and I want to tell work and I want to tell everybody because this is what you wanted to achieve . You'd only just got married and we've achieved the pregnancy , but it was important to maintain that , wasn't it ? Like you know , there's always nervous on now .

Speaker 2 25:43

You stayed with me . I to this day , which you are still a client of mine , to this day , at 38 weeks . Why did you do that ?

Speaker 1 25:52

I just still need that kind of guidance . You know like just because I am pregnant it doesn't mean that my PCI wasn't gone away or anything like that . It doesn't mean that I didn't do shift work anymore , still doing shift work . I still needed that guidance and that person there to kind of keep me on the right track .

Speaker 2 26:12

Early in your pregnancy as well . You came into one of the feedback sessions with me and you were visibly upset , like

Gestational Diabetes and Pregnancy Weight Management

Speaker 2 26:18

it was a dead opposite , and I remember thinking oh my God , oh my God , I can't ask . I can't ask . But you were visibly upset and you were quite shaken . Why was that ?

Speaker 1 26:29

Because , literally five minutes before , I just got a call that I had gestational diabetes .

Speaker 2 26:34

Yeah , and you thought it was the end of the world , didn't you ?

Speaker 1 26:35

Yeah , pretty much Knowing myself , I always think was case scenario . I just was like , oh no , now I got diabetes , I need to inject insulin . What have I done to my body ? What am I gonna do to my baby ?

Speaker 2 26:47

When you came on and you were visibly upset , we had a half hour chat about that , didn't we ? In fact , I think we went a couple of times because you were quite disturbed . So not only did you have that 40 minutes , I got a feeling we had another 40 as well , and we went right through it . How did you feel after that conversation ?

Speaker 1 27:02

I felt confident and that it wasn't as big of a death sentence as I thought it was . A lot of women are diagnosed gestational diabetes , but they have healthy babies and the babies turn out fine ?

Speaker 2 27:15

Yeah , absolutely they do , and I was able to reassure you that this was not the end of the world , and I also turned it into a positive as well . It meant that it had been picked up and identified early , which is super important , because normally gestational diabetes for some people is not picked up until , or not even tested for it until , the second or third trimester .

Speaker 2 27:36

Yeah , and yours was picked up very , very early , which was fantastic , and we've been able to work with that , haven't we ? Where you were freaking out , I was able to calm you every week , and during the week at times as well , through text messages and talking and whatever . And that's my role as a coach and I embrace that wholeheartedly because my clients , they mean the world to me . So can you just explain to people what is gestational diabetes and what does that actually mean to a pregnant mother ?

Speaker 1 28:06

Yeah , so basically gestational diabetes , it doesn't necessarily mean that you've got type 2 diabetes . It just means that a lot of the time that your body isn't producing enough insulin for you and your baby and for you to use the glucose that's in your blood . So you've got a high glucose level in your blood and sometimes you might need a little bit of assistance with insulin . Sometimes you might not .

Speaker 2 28:32

Yeah , exactly right Now . It comes from a hormone in the placenta , which is just a hormonal imbalance from the placenta that causes gestational diabetes , and all we've got to do is just manage it , don't we ? It's not a death sentence to people , and it also I was very reassuring to you to tell you that this is nothing that you've done . It's not your fault that this happens . This can happen to absolutely anybody , and in fact , I turned it into a positive because it gave you the opportunity , in a very big way , to understand what foods are impacting highly on your glucose levels in your blood . If you had have known about this since you were 15 , it would have made a huge difference , wouldn't it ?

Speaker 1 29:14

Oh , definitely , definitely . You know you need to have a lot more complex carbohydrates , but also not go overboard with your carbohydrate consumption .

Speaker 2 29:22

You know we have to monitor our blood sugar , but why is that actually important to do ?

Speaker 1 29:27

So we just want to make sure that your body's working how it should Like . Your pancreas is still producing enough insulin to get your sugars back to normal . Obviously , you know , if you have constantly high sugars , then a bit of assistance from insulin or some medication .

Speaker 2 29:42

It's damaging to the baby , isn't it ? So we've got to be very very careful how we actually do it . But I reassured you . We put little things in place as well , didn't we , reggie ? Like we introduced a walk after we'd eaten . Just nothing major , like you didn't have to go for a power walk and get 10,000 steps , but just to go for a little walk to keep the muscles moving , to keep the insulin sensitivity going , and what actually occurred to your blood sugar after you'd eaten .

Speaker 1 30:07

It goes back to the level it's supposed to go back to .

Speaker 2 30:09

That's the key there , what it's supposed to do .

Speaker 1 30:12

Occasionally I will have a higher one because I decide to treat myself , but that's okay , it eventually goes back to normal .

Speaker 2 30:19

That's exactly right . But we taught you to relax , didn't we , reggie , as long as your blood sugar doesn't remain elevated or causing you major problems . You know , it's not like you had massive treats every day and said I'm just treating myself Like you're not a circus monkey and you don't need treats to reward yourself .

Speaker 2 30:36

But , what we do do is we like our soul food , don't we ? We love our soul food . So I mean , you've already been goddamn deprived of bloody processed meats and cheese and stuff . Like , seriously , a girl's got to have something , don't they ?

Speaker 1 30:46

Yeah , exactly , and I don't deprive myself . You know , I make sure that I eat within my carbohydrate limits , like I still eat treats and stuff like that , but I just make sure to monitor how much I have .

Speaker 2 30:58

Spot on . That's really good and baby's healthy . Now , tomorrow 39 weeks , so you've literally only got a week to go and I was cutting it fine by doing this podcast with you today , as well , wasn't I ? But I don't envy your position coming up , but anyway , we won't talk about that . We've discussed that in the doc sector , didn't we ? What's actually happened to your body weight during the pregnancy ?

Speaker 1 31:18

I'm still currently the same weight I was when I felt pregnant .

Speaker 2 31:21

When people are pregnant , you generally can put on . Well , let's face it , the time baby's born could possibly be somewhere around three kilos or they're about . So I'm talking about three kilos or I think it's about seven pound or nearly seven pounds . So there's three kilos of weight plus all the extra blood , plus the placenta , the amniotic fluid , everything that builds on in your body , and the water retention as well . Reggie , you could put on seven to 10 kilos , no problems at all when you're pregnant , but you've lost weight . Is the midwife comfortable with this ?

Speaker 1 31:53

Yeah , they're happy with it . They're like they're weight coming off you and not the baby . The baby will take everything from you before anything affects the baby , so it's all quite it .

Speaker 2 32:03

So do you wanna be pregnant for another 40 weeks then ? So lose a little bit more .

Speaker 1 32:06

Oh , god , no , no .

Speaker 2 32:09

No . I didn't think so Now , just to explain to people as well baby's growing very well . It's been well and truly monitored . What do you contribute the weight loss to ?

Speaker 1 32:19

As annoying as it's been . It's definitely the gestational diabetes that has been a blessing in disguise . In what way ? So it just keeps me on track . It makes me conscious of what I feel my body with making sure that I actually eat nutritious food . But also I'm not depriving myself , but just working out when I can and can't eat , because I've got to have a two hour lockout from eating just so I can check my sugar . And then , like with intuitive eating , normally , when I check my sugar and it's fine , and two hours post a meal I don't actually feel like eating because my body's just like nah you're full , so you're back in touch with your own attunement , aren't you so ?

Speaker 2 32:59

and this is where we mindlessly do things . But do you agree that if you literally just ask yourself the question , am I hungry ? It can literally short circuit you over eating , can't it ?

Speaker 1 33:09

It really can . Yeah , because you're putting you in touch with yourself . You know it's making you listen to yourself and your body and actually go oh yeah , you know what ? I'm not that hungry . I just feel like it because I've got it there to eat , but I'm actually not hungry , so I can have it later , because it's still gonna be there Exactly Now .

Speaker 2 33:26

Let's talk about that with you as well , because we went through Easter , didn't we ? And I remember talking to you a month later and you said to me um Rog , I don't know what's going on , but I've still got Easter eggs in the cupboard , and that's not normally what would happen .

Speaker 1 33:41

No , no , it's not . I normally , you know , gorge myself on Easter eggs .

Speaker 2 33:45

As you should , as you should , everyone should . Chocolate's delicious , isn't it ?

Speaker 1 33:48

Yeah , it is yeah , but I did . I had my Easter eggs , but then I was like , oh no , I don't feel like them anymore .

Speaker 2 33:56

It's not like you didn't say , oh , I don't feel like them forever anymore . No , but what we do is around chocolate . Let's talk about this just for a second . But around chocolate , when you actually sit and engage with the food that you're eating like , and you've got chocolate there , you put it on your tongue . And what do I say ? Put it on your tongue , let it melt , let it roll around your mouth , let it feel , taste it , really get the sensation of it , make love to the chocolate in your mouth , swallow it Fantastic . When you've engaged with it , you go , oh , that's awesome . And then next time you go well , do I want another piece ? Actually , I might have the other piece tomorrow , don't you ? Yeah , you realize that it's still there tomorrow . Or there's some foods that we eat that , when you literally sit down , get back in touch with the taste of the food and engage with it , it's actually not that good , is it ?

Speaker 1 34:39

No , it's not . You know , the first bite's amazing , but then you have a second bite and you're like , oh , not as amazing as the first bite . Yeah .

Speaker 2 34:46

I know .

Speaker 1 34:46

You know , I don't want any more .

Speaker 2 34:47

And so those foods that we all thought that were orgasmic . And we've smashed a block of chocolate but tear a line off and eat a line of chocolate and put it back in the fridge or the cupboard and then no , and tell yourself it's going to be there tomorrow and I can have the next piece tomorrow if I want to . And it literally works , doesn't it , reggie ?

Speaker 1 35:05

It does , and a lot of the time tomorrow rolls around and I don't feel like it , so it rolls into the next day .

Speaker 2 35:10

There you go . Now , that is giving yourself permission to eat , it , isn't it ?

Speaker 2 35:14

It is yeah when you give yourself permission to eat , your whole mentality actually changes . And the other thing that you can do as well is with things like chocolate , is you can say , oh God , I feel like some chocolate , and you can actually go . Well , we look at the hunger and satiety scale as well , don't we ? And we think am I really has something just happened that's actually triggered me to want to comfort eat , or emotionally eat , like have I had a Barney with the husband , or it's a manager driven me crazy , or what's actually gone on ? And yet we turn around and we go . Well , no , I'm actually not hungry , I don't have those signals of hunger . But what I might do is I'll have a drink of water and I'll wait half an hour , and then you distract yourself and if I still feel like it in half an hour , then I'll have it . But you go an hour and then you go an hour and a half and then you think you know what . I don't really want in any way , do I ?

Speaker 1 36:01

That's kind of like with gestational diabetes to all have my dinner and then I'll be like , oh , I'll have my dessert after two hours , after I've checked my sugar , and then that rolls around . I'm like . You know , I actually don't feel like it .

Speaker 2 36:12

I don't know whether you're having a boy or a girl . You know , and so does your husband , obviously , but when it's a boy , you're going to call it Roger , aren't you ?

Speaker 1 36:20

Oh , for sure .

Speaker 2 36:22

For sure , of course . How could you not have such a huge impact in your life ?

Speaker 1 36:27

Oh , yeah , definitely .

Speaker 2 36:29

And Reggie's been that sarcastic ever since day one , two by the way , so it's been fantastic . Now , reggie , you've been with me a long time . Talk about your experience over this time . You know what's really helped you , what have you liked , and have your family as a person and talk about the experience over time .

Speaker 1 36:43

Yeah , look , it's been really good just to have someone there , you know , by my side , just not holding my hand , but also you hold us to account . You know you're not like sugaring things up and cotton wooling , rubbing us in cotton wool and stuff , but you actually you need to be called out . You call people out , but also having that guidance then knowing that you know if something happens during the week , I've got you to talk through . Yeah , and even if I do fall off the bandwagon a little bit , or I fall off the wagon a little bit , you're just like OK , come on , we can jump up , it's fine . You know , you have one little mister who cares .

Speaker 2 37:17

And I think this is one of the biggest problems that we have with PTs or some coaches that don't understand shift work in particular , because shift workers do have that potential to literally fall off because we get very , very fatigued . But what I do is I show perspective , that it's a few days , or even if it's a week , even if it's two weeks , I still will give you an understanding and we'll still find the positives in what we've actually achieved over the week , because that's important , because that's life , and this is what happens in life every single year . As the years go round , we will have levels where things are not great , but then we'll absolutely blitz others . To pump up my own ties , this is the beauty of having a coach that's actually done shift work , because if you go and see a PT that doesn't get it , you can explain it to them , but they're still going to say why don't you do your four workouts and how come you didn't track this day ? And how come you're reading treats and you can't do that ?

Speaker 2 38:14

And this is not the way to coach . I'm sorry but it's not , because if you coach this way you actually lose your client . But we have achieved massive results . We've given it the gift of life and created a family for you , and I think that's come through like that may have happened , naturally , who knows one way or another ? We will never , ever know . But I'm not saying that I'm God and I've waved the hand and made that happen . But by just relaxing things and putting simple things in place , your body has told you OK , I'm ready to have a baby because I'm in good shape . So , reggie , as a shift working nurse right , because I'm addressing nurses in a big way here again but even just a shift

Benefits of Shift Work Coaching

Speaker 2 38:53

worker or someone who's in a highly stressed and full on job , what would you say to them ? If they came to you totally lost in shift work , with weight gain , body image problems , disordered eating , things like that , what would you say to them to help them ?

Speaker 1 39:09

I would definitely try and push them into your Instagram but to get them to you know , read a few of your posts and stuff and just kind of get your mentality and understand what you're about Because , like , even if they're not a client of yours , the stuff you post is still pretty relevant to shift work , is pretty much so . And that's what I did , like when I was first looking at you . I just sort of followed your night shift plan in the beginning . So even just following that , looking at your post and watching what you say and taking your advice like their life can change even without consulting you . But consulting you really forces you to think about things and intuitive eating and how much shift work actually impacts your life .

Speaker 2 39:55

If you engage and do the work and you've been one of the people , a client that has absolutely embraced the whole process you've put in like you could say I thank you , but I would say I thank you because you're the one that's actually put in the work , done the work and changed was at that stage , you know , 30 odd years of habits that are created , because there's a lot of habits that are created over our life from a child and we've been able to turn that round Now in the actual coaching field . There's a lot that goes on , isn't there , that isn't on the Instagram post or that isn't you know , you can't read on the website or things like that , because it's those conversations around things that actually occur and we guide you through those roadblocks . And I think what you were looking for before when you said you hold us accountable . I think it's education process all the way along and what I look at it and I liken it to is for people who , on the driving instructor sitting in the passenger seat and you're learning how to drive , and when you first learned to drive a car , you had absolutely no idea . You didn't even know where to put the key . When the instructor said start the car . You had to look at them and say I don't even know where to start it , and that is the guidance that I give . Put the key into here and turn it . This is what you do . Turn it and release it and you know , blah , blah , blah . Check your mirrors , check your signals , drive , accelerate , a brake , steering , have you got your seatbelt on ? And there's a lot to learn .

Speaker 2 41:19

But then what happens is like where you're at Reggie you get to the stage where you do things autonomously and you start to do things without even realizing that you've done them , just like driving the car , and that's how far you have actually come .

Speaker 2 41:33

I think watching your progress over the time that I've been with you has been unbelievable , and I knew that you were going to be an absolute ripper when you first came to me , because you were looking for the help , because you had the ultimate goal . But what I love is that goal that you got is still now , you know , in 39 weeks gestation , and you're still here because we're still learning , we're still putting things , you still get the reassurance , you still get the coaching and you still do that all the way through , and I think that's an absolute credit to you , because this shows how good a mother you're going to be , because the reason why you're still with me is because you want to be the optimum health at the time while you are pregnant with your baby and make sure that your baby is going to be Given the best possible start in life , and well done to you for that .

Speaker 1 42:19

Well , thank you . Well , I've had a good helping hand . So , yeah , thank you , bodger .

Speaker 2 42:24

Thank you Right Now , reggie , as a closer , because you've been such an awesome client and I recently won the Tats Lotto and I've got billions of dollars to spend on you as a client . And what I'm going to do is because you're going to have a new family and your husband . I'm going to build you or buy you a holiday house anywhere in the world that you want to live . All right , but the condition is this the three of you are going to have to live in it for six months of the year . Where do you want me to buy it or build it for you ?

Speaker 1 42:55

I think definitely on the coast in New . Zealand . Oh really , yes .

Speaker 2 43:00

Whereabouts North Island , south Island , whereabouts ?

Speaker 1 43:03

Oh , I'm going to go South .

Speaker 2 43:05

Island , somewhere where you can actually see the ocean , I think Queenstown . I've never been to Queenstown , reggie , but it is certainly on a goal . We want to get a win of Bego and drive it , and that's something that we'll do at some stage down the track and I think that's going to be a bucket list item for us to do , because everyone tells me that it's absolutely the most picturesque place .

Speaker 1 43:24

Well , if you go into that house , you can come and stay for three years .

Speaker 2 43:27

Oh , there you go , there you go . We'll park at Winnebago in the driveway and keep on going . That's fantastic . Thanks , reggie . Again , what an outstanding client you are , have been , and you've put in all the work and you've achieved the ultimate , and I know , on behalf of every single person listening to this podcast right now and in future , we are going to send you all the support and all the love and everything . We will whoosh this baby out of you and you will live happily ever after with your new baby and family , and it's going to be absolutely unbelievable . Thank you so much for coming on this podcast and telling your story as you have , because it's been quite a story .

Speaker 1 44:09

Well , thank you for having me . Thank you for being such a good coach . I hope that other people get to benefit as well as they have .

Speaker 2 44:16

Thank you , reggie . And there you go . That's Reggie . Isn't she just an absolute sweetheart ?

Speaker 2 44:21

I thoroughly enjoyed coaching Reggie and , as you can see , she put me to the test at every level . She came

Reggie's Journey to Motherhood

Speaker 2 44:27

to me in a situation where she was overweight , with PCOS and PCOS is a situation that really does cause a lot of problems to people and their ability to lose weight and she complicated that even further by being a 24-7 shift worker . And she came to me for the reasons that you've heard . To get onto that Zoom and have her look at me and smile and tell me that she was pregnant was one of the most humbling moments for me that I've had in my coaching career . It was absolutely fantastic .

Speaker 2 45:01

And then we rode the emotional roller coaster of her being diagnosed with gestational diabetes . But because I had an understanding of gestational diabetes , I was able to calm her mind and remind her and tell her continuously it's not the end of the world , we just need to manage it . So we went right the way through that . Now I know that you're sitting there and you're dying to know . Well , I can tell you that Reggie has given birth to a very , very healthy baby girl by the name of Lilith , and Lilith is doing all of the right things by keeping Reggie up overnight . This is the child that she always wanted , and now she's got it . So there we go . What a great story it is . She was absolutely fantastic as a client . Reggie's no longer with me , but we are friends for life and I wouldn't dare go to Sydney without visiting my friend Reggie .