Planning and Structuring a Shiftworking Life

Speaker 1 0:00

planning and structure . Without a doubt that has got to be key to absolutely everything . Without a plan and something we can measure , what doesn't get measured gets lost in translation and then , if we have no structure to our day or our week at least , everything becomes a little bit ad hoc and we start making poor decisions .

Speaker 2 0:27

Shiftwork 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 24-7 Shiftworker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shiftworkers , using evidence-based methods , to not only survive the rig as a shiftwork but thrive . My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show and welcome to another episode of a Healthy Shift Podcast .

Speaker 2 1:08

Today I have just the most amazing chat with I'm going to call him a colleague in Cook in the UK . This chat is really something else and I hope that you get great value out of it . You'll hear the chemistry . I think Ian and I really clicked and we really got along particularly well because we both understood and both related to what he was talking about . But today's episode is talking all about how to plan and structure around a 24-7 shiftworking life . Now Ian is a 16-year veteran and is still a sworn member of the police in the UK and you will hear that he's been to Hellenback himself with his own health and now he has 40s way out , and how he has 40s way out and why he 40s way out of it . This is a really genuinely excellent chat and I thank you for joining us , and I encourage you to listen to this right the way through to the end , because you'll hear just how genuine Ian is in the way he speaks about this topic , because it is really , really important , and he goes through the strategies simple strategies and ways that we can all really learn from . So I'm not even going to bang on here , I'm actually just going to go straight into this episode .

Speaker 2 2:34

I would like to welcome to the show today Ian Cook from the UK . How are you , ian ? I'm good mate . How are you ? I'm fantastic . Thank you very much . I want to say thank you so much for coming on the show and talking about your experiences and how you go about doing things , so I'm really looking forward to our chat . In relation to today , we're going to talk about how to plan and structure around a 24-7 shiftworking life . Now , you're actually a sworn member in the police in the UK . That's right , isn't it ?

Speaker 1 3:05

That's right , mate . Yeah , in the West Mid .

Speaker 2 3:06

So for us poor Australians , way down here underneath , whereabouts is the West Mid ? Everyone knows where London is down the bottom end of the UK , but whereabouts are you located ?

Speaker 1 3:16

So if we look at where London is , I am further north and I'm right in the centre of the UK . So we cover an area called Birmingham , which some people argue , but commonly known as the second city in the UK , probably about two hours away from Manchester and Liverpool .

Speaker 2 3:38

Wonderful . Okay , we don't talk soccer because I'm way out of my depth when I talk there and as a Sutherland , I actually have to berate for Arsenal , so I don't want to cause any major grief here . All right , so if I have to choose a team , I have to go with the Gunners . But you know , like what can I say ? Am I at a line ?

Speaker 1 3:55

No , not really , because they're top of the league at the minute , so they're doing well .

Speaker 2 3:58

Are they ? Oh well , there you go . See , that's how good my knowledge is . All right . So now , ian , we've had a chat in the background beforehand , but I'd love to know what do you do , what you actually do now ?

Speaker 1 4:10

Well , I suppose my journey started at quite a young age 15 , 16 at school , not really having very good body confidence , struggling with my food , went to university , got a degree in sports and exercise , science and coaching , started the police and as I've gone through my journey in the police I've been in 16 years the one thing that I've noticed is that a lot of police officers and a lot of emergency service workers struggle massively . They struggle with the shift pattern , they struggle with their eating habits and they struggle with having any sort of structure . And what I was seeing was I was talking to colleagues that I'd spoken to 10 years ago who'd still got the same problems they had 10 years ago . It kind of made me think you know what , I think I can help and I think I can support these people

Shift Work Challenges and Solutions

Speaker 1 5:05

.

Speaker 2 5:05

Unfortunately , we're just not taught in 24-7 shift working life how to go about it . They might give us a handout , they might give us a flyer , they might have a 15-20 minute lecture . We hear how bad shift work is , but no one actually has ongoing structured training around how to deal with shift work . So people like us are eternally grateful for people like yourself that have traveled that journey , have seen the self-sabotaging mistakes that shift workers do make . And the good thing about you is you're in the police , so you get it from a police perspective . Worldwide there are literally billions and millions of police , so you've got a great market there to be able to help and turn it around , because I think one of the things that's really selfless about policing is you are sacrificing your own health to literally help others , aren't you ?

Speaker 1 6:06

Yeah , and to be honest , that's the motto of my business helping those who help others . The one big thing that I find is that we're expected to be like superheroes at times whereby we go to work , we give everything for everybody else and then we kind of have no idea how to look after ourselves , and it gets to a point whereby there's a breaking point eventually and people will either go and find help and find structure , or they won't and they'll fall into a bit of a black hole .

Speaker 2 6:40

Yeah , and I think one of the biggest problems that emergency services or frontline health workers make is they think oh , this is how it is , so this is how it's got to be . This is shift work , but it's just not , is it ?

Speaker 1 6:53

No , it's not , and I think you've hit the nail on the head . I think a lot of people accept it for what it is because it's been the norm for so long that people see it as just being how things are , when in reality , if they get a little bit of structure , they get a bit of guidance and support and have a community of like-minded people that have made change . It can inspire everybody to make change .

Speaker 2 7:17

Oh , it's infectious in a workplace . It's amazing how that works . We'll talk about that a bit later too . Talk us through your background and what led you to where you are now . You've talked about that , you've ? I didn't realise you've got a degree in sports science . Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 7:31

So I mean , my kind of planning life probably wasn't to be a police officer , and that's probably the same for the majority of people that kind of joined . I kind of fell into it a little bit in the fact that I did a degree in sports and exercise science coaching in the UK and at the end of my degree I saw an advert for being a police officer . I'd got a family member in the police and it was a time when the police were really looking to recruit and I thought , you know what I'd like to give that a go . I played , got in and I kind of forgot about my degree . If I'm honest , you get consumed by the role , get consumed by the job and you know , before I knew it , six , seven years have gone by and I hadn't really utilised anything that I'd just spent three years of my life doing .

Speaker 2 8:22

Yeah , I get that , but when you think about it , everything's laid out for a reason , isn't it ? The fact that you went off and did what you did at the time ? And even though you've gone off , see , I always wished that before I went into law enforcement , I always wished that I had done something before , whether it was a bricklayer , or whether it was an electrician , or no matter what it was . I always wish I'd done something else that I could do in the background as a part-timer . But you've had this bubbling away , like you've got it , and , in all honesty , it's been sitting there in the background . And then once you identify because that probably is what gave you the knowledge to identify that we've got a problem here and I need to be able to help with this , and that's what's all you're doing Now . You are a current sworn member , so how long have you been in the police now , ann ?

Speaker 1 9:14

So I've been in the police 16 years in March this year and I would probably agree with you totally in the fact that , because you get so consumed in the role , it's only when you look at yourself and you look at the habits that you've adopted that you look back at and you think I know that this isn't right and I know that I could do it so much better . So my experience for the first six or seven years was that my eating habits were poorer than what I know they should be . I knew that I probably wasn't exercised as much as what I should be and I hadn't got the habits and behaviours that I'd had previously . And because I got that background , it was as if I thought well , I'm letting myself down here , but I also can see that I've fell into the trap of falling into the norm of what the police is .

Speaker 2 10:08

That is so , so true . We all know that it's not right , but we go with it because we put it under the umbrella of oh , this is what shift work is . You know , you've been in 16 years . So did you find that you put the midriff weight on the uniform started getting tight , that you were starting to eat poor ? You're starting to feel poor . Your mental health was poor . Did you go down that line ?

Speaker 1 10:33

Yeah . So I think when I joined I was in a position and it's quite an interesting position actually that when I joined I was probably about 11 stone and I was 21 , and I remember walking into a job and seeing a guy in front of me and I thought how on earth can I possibly do anything ? If you make an attempt to make off or do anything , I'm gonna struggle . So I kind of went the other way and decided well , it doesn't really matter , worry , because I need to get bigger . So I kind of fell into well , I'll have a takeaway , it doesn't matter , this week On that light shift , it's okay for me to do it . Then it happened on nights , then I started doing it on earlys and before you know it , you have fell into a bit of trap of you spending lots of money on food that you don't really need . You are putting weight on in an unhealthy way , your mood and energy are starting to drop because you're not having the nutrients that your body's craving and , in reality , you're turning to somebody that you don't wanna be .

Speaker 2 12:35

Oh , that is so , so true . I love that . Now you've got a family , and could you talk us through what you have as a family , what the family life looks like ?

Speaker 1 12:46

Yeah , so I've got two boys who are eight and five , and I've got a wife , danielle , who I've been married to for 10 years . Life's good . She's been a primary school teacher for 14 years and she's only really ever known me as a police officer , which I think is a massive benefit , because I think , undoubtedly when we join , I think we tend to think that it's not gonna change just what I think it does in some way . So my wife only knows me as I am now and it works . We have to plan and we have to make sacrifices . She has to make sacrifices for me and I have to rely on her a little bit at times , but she's so supportive . She makes sure that if I need a little bit of sleep before night , she's there . She makes sure that that can be facilitated . My two boys are my world and they're proud of daddy being a police officer . They love that . So , yeah , life's good and I've got a very supportive family .

Speaker 2 13:48

That is unbelievable . It all comes down to communication , doesn't it ? A lot of people , their communication is in the heat of battle . I think

The Importance of Communication and Planning

Speaker 2 13:56

in emergency services and frontline health it gets to the stage where it becomes a boiling cauldron and then it just goes off and then nothing really is gained by that conversation at all .

Speaker 2 14:09

And I think one of the most important things is and I think you touched on this , well , you didn't touch on it , you said it , and I think it's really important people that come together when you are already working what you're working .

Speaker 2 14:21

They have dated you , gone out with you , fallen in love with you and want to be with you as that particular person , whereas if you weren't a member or you weren't in those , whatever you're doing in 24 , seven shift work and then you go into that that's a massive adjustment , but it still comes down to communication . And I think having those conversations over a cup of coffee in the morning one day , or during the day when you go for brunch and everything's all loved up and you go hey , listen , just so that you know this is what I need , this is what because I think one thing that's not good is , you know , like you've worked night shift and then you come home from night shift and then your wife says to you you're home so you can take the kids to school . Could there be anything more dangerous than you putting your boys in the car and running them to school when you get back from night shift ? That's horrendous . Like , yes , you are there and you've got to pull your weight . I understand that , but how dojrus is that ?

Speaker 1 15:18

Yeah , and you know what ? I think you've eaten that out on the edge of it . You need to have support and communication because I know my wife would never expect that of me . You know , when I come home , the first thing that she does is she says look , get yourself to bed , get some sleep . You know , before a night shift , you know she's very supportive in the fact that she'll say go and get some sleep . If I come back after an early , we do 12 hours on my department , so as soon as I come back , the first thing that she's there to do is you know , do you need anything ? You know , and it makes a massive difference because having that understanding with somebody who you live in the same household as is absolutely key to making sure that you're on track . Because if I came back , you know I needed to do this , this and this and I was starting to struggle and I couldn't get that sleep before night One . It's gonna make me probably a bit niggly , it's gonna affect family life and it's gonna affect work .

Speaker 2 16:17

That's right . And see , mrs Cook is a clever woman because what Mrs Cook's done is she knows that if you get home and you get to bed and you get that sleep , she gets the best of Mr Cook when he gets up . This is the key . There's no point in flogging someone who's absolutely exhausted and it comes down to that communication because she knows that when you come home from work , she says okay , mr Cook , off to bed . And you go oh , you need to off to bed , because she knows that if you go to bed and you get yourself a good solid five , maybe six hours or whatever , when you get up you are happy , mr Cook , and then you are there for the boys to take the pressure off of you . You can take them out on the bike , you can take them for a walk , you can do whatever , and that's how she gets the best of you .

Speaker 2 17:03

Otherwise , it just compounds in a really , really bad way . So I love that you guys communicate and you've got that and you lovingly do it for each other because you've had that conversation and communication around it . I think that's just . It's a really big takeaway point for people who are listening to this podcast that if you've got a mixed relationship . When I say mixed as in one to shift worker and one's not , it literally comes down to having that conversation . I think it's important , okay , so let's get on and get into this question here , which , if you had to single-handedly label the biggest mistake that you see shift workers making on the job not work-wise , but the biggest mistake that they make around their health and wellbeing what would you label it ?

Speaker 1 17:50

Planning and structure . Without a doubt that has got to be key to absolutely everything . Without a plan and something we can measure , what doesn't get measured gets lost in translation and then if we have no structure to our day or our week at least , everything becomes a little bit ad hoc and we start making poorer decisions .

Speaker 2 18:13

Yeah , I totally could not agree more . It's the planning that lets us down Planning for food planning , when to exercise , planning around family planning , when you can sleep , planning when you can do everything , and I think you know this is the topic that we're going to do . So what would you say or what do you advise clients ? What you've identified that planning and structure is a problem . What's the simple strategy that they can put in place to help with that ?

Speaker 1 18:39

Well , when I have a client come on board , the first thing that we do is we do a lifestyle audit .

Speaker 1 18:44

So once we've agreed , yes , we'd like to work together , what I like to do is get on a call and find out everything about them what their shifts look like , what their home life looks like , what support networks they've got in place . And then , when we do that , what I like to do is peak a day in the week whereby we can have a 15 minute planning session . Now , that can be any day they like . It can be on any sort of piece of paper , it can be an app such as Trello or anything like that , and I like them to sit for 15 minutes and just look for a seven day period when they can do that . They know what the shifts are going to be , they can plan what days they need to maybe do a little bit of meal prep , what days they need to do their exercise , what days they've got to tick off and do certain things , and by doing it , it's 15 minutes out of a week that can make a massive difference to get the results that you want .

Speaker 2 19:49

And failing , I love this . So you use Trello , do you ?

Speaker 1 19:53

Yeah , so I personally do

The Power of 15-Minute Planning

Speaker 1 19:55

.

Speaker 1 19:56

But what I've kind of realized is that for some people , using electronic devices just isn't for them .

Speaker 1 20:03

So within my program , what I do is I create planners on paper that I send it to my clients and they get the choice they can do it via Trello , they can do it via Evernote or they can use the planners that I give them . But I like them to send me back on their given day and just say look , this is my week , this is my 15 minute plan . I can look at it and say you know what , bang on , that looks really , really good , and I normally do that for probably the first month or so , just so I can see that I've got that structure and that planning place and they've utilized those 15 minutes in the right way , rather than just looking at it and putting everything down on a piece of paper with no real structure or plan in place . It's okay spending 15 minutes with the idea of getting the week sorted , but I'd prefer them to have 10 minutes of real , good , structured work and written down rather than spending 15 minutes and not get any real value down .

Speaker 2 21:01

Or how many minutes are there in a week where you end up doing nothing because you've got absolutely no plan Exactly ?

Speaker 1 21:08

And you know what ?

Speaker 1 21:09

The biggest thing that I have is that people will probably do it for the first week and they'll message me and say , yeah , that's really been a massive difference the second week , when they've kind of got a little bit more structure in place , a little bit more of an idea of , well , that did work .

Speaker 1 21:25

So now that 15 minutes that they've set themselves all of a sudden becomes a lot more productive . They start planning in things that they didn't even consider the first week and before you know it you spend three or four weeks in . And I don't even ask them to show me anymore , because I know they'll take it upon themselves to send it me because they're proud of what they're achieving and they're proud of the achievements that they've made throughout the week . So that kind of real small little habit and it is a habit because for some people they'll go into a week and they'll have no plan in place and everything becomes very ad hoc and every day is a bit of a guess . But as soon as you put that 15 minutes in and it really does just take 15 minutes just put it in place , spend 15 minutes once a week and just get your day sorted it can make a massive , massive difference , and as soon as people cut on on to where easy it is , it changes their life forever .

Speaker 2 22:24

Without doubt , I see that we have big problems with shift workers in every single shift working industry about lack of planning , and I think , for those people that are listening , what you're hearing here right now is absolute goal . You are allocating 15 minutes . Now don't anybody ever tell me that you don't have 15 minutes , and I always go by . Action precedes motivation , and it does , because literally what you've just done there is saying that taking an action precedes the motivation to do more . By week one , they're just putting a couple of things in , and that's good because it's a success , isn't it that they tick those things off , with it being realistic , and I'm sure you get them .

Speaker 2 23:08

Come back in the first week that you've got people and you look at it and you go , oh God , you got to be kidding , there's no way you're going to get all that done . And you say , listen , what about if we take this , this , this , this , this and this out ? And you just achieve that ? Because it's like someone who says I'm going to do five workouts this week and you say , no , no , we're going to aim for three . Tick those three off , because if you aim for five and you only get three , you feel like a failure , don't you ?

Speaker 1 23:34

Absolutely Hit the nail on the head , exactly what I do . I will only ever give people one or two small habits at the start to try and implement and try and tick off , because I think if you try and overload , the one thing that we will do is overwhelm . And when we become overwhelmed , we inevitably start to get fears of failing and we get to a little bit of anxiety and that's going to make a massive impact on ability to lose body fat .

Speaker 2 24:04

Oh yeah , because it becomes stressful , doesn't it ? We don't want it to become stressful . We want it to be really , really easy for people . Because we are going down that road . We know that this works because we do it . We know how it works . We know that planning and structure a whiteboard , a chalkboard or a piece of paper , a template , make a template up , print it off six times . You've got six weeks worth . Stick it on the fridge so that you can see it every day . Today , monday Okay , this is what I've got to do . I know this also comes down from a psychological barrier as well , because we end up with decision fatigue because we have to make so many goddamn decisions every single day . If you can spend 15 minutes making the decisions for the week , this is what I'm going to do . This is when I'm going to do it . This is how I'm going to go about it . Bang , done . I did a post on this that we talk about .

Speaker 2 24:59

The first thing you do for your seven days ahead is write your roster down , because that's a non-negotiable . You have to turn up for that . You put that down when you put down your absolute must-dos . Got to get little Johnny to dance school . You got to get little Sarah to whatever , then what you do is you then add in where you can literally fit the things around it . That takes you 15 minutes to sit down and plan it out . That's it , it's done . You've written it , put it on the fridge . You never have to think about it .

Speaker 2 25:31

What people don't realize is literally how well this works for a 24-7 shift worker . It works phenomenally well . Those are the listening . Have a think about what it would be like for you to have already spent the 15 minutes planning it . It's now on your fridge , or you've got a whiteboard somewhere , or you've written something out and you've got it as a ready reckoner , so to speak . You can look at it and go okay , I don't have to worry about this , because I don't have to worry about this , because I'm doing that tomorrow , or I'm going for a walk here , or I'm going to go to the gym this day , or I'm going to do whatever .

Speaker 2 26:06

It's a visual reminder for you as well . People say I've got it in my calendar or my phone . It doesn't work that way . It needs to be a visual reminder . I think that's absolute goal for people . I've said this . I have found that the absolute best thing that a shift worker can do is to plan their week out in a realistic term . Don't put ridiculous expectations on yourself . You are huge on the planning side and I love this , and this is one of the main reasons why I get you onto this podcast to literally talk about this planning side of it . I think people will have had massive light bulb moments there where they will have gone oh my God , why didn't I think of that ? That's what we're here to do to save them , aren't we ? We're doing the thinking forum .

Speaker 1 26:47

Well , I think when you speak to people , especially people who become clients of mine sometimes , I think they'll say this seems too simple , it seems like it can't work because it's such a simple thing to implement . I always say the simpler the better , because if we try and crack an algorithm by trying to recreate a wheel , I said we're never , ever going to do that . I said what we need to make is things very , very simple that are easy , quick and simple to implement . Because if we try and make it too difficult in the lives that we've got with families , work , everything else that we're trying to fit in , all that's going to do , we're going to overwhelm ourselves and it's not going to work .

Speaker 2 27:35

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 show's 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 28:01

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 24-7 shift work . I also conduct in-house live health and wellbeing seminars where I will come to your workplace and deliver evidence-based information to help your wellbeing 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 ahealthyshiftcom or on Instagram at a underscore healthy , underscore shift .

Speaker 2 28:46

Now let's get back to the show . You come from a position of experience and knowing , and that's why you can talk about that and that is why people like myself , like you , like Grace , like Reese . This is why these people who I absolutely love hearing what they're talking about , and no disrespect to these doctors and professors that are studying and researching , but they've not done it , they don't get it Right they can talk to them . They can talk to all the people in the world that they want to talk to . They can conduct research , they can do everything , and I'm not discrediting them , but what I am saying is the people that have actually done it get it . They know what brain fog is like . You know what I love about this planner More than anything else it's free .

Speaker 1 29:33

Well , the biggest thing people always

Meal Planning for Shift Workers

Speaker 1 29:35

say to me is that they kind of look at it and say , well , you know what ? I pay a lot of money for somebody to be able to give me something so simple that's going to change my life . And I say , well , you know what ? It is completely free . You have the ability to make this as successful or as unsuccessful as you want it to be , and it's time to you to implement those 15 minutes every single week . It doesn't have to be any longer at all .

Speaker 1 30:02

As soon as you become efficient at looking at your week and looking at your shift pattern , looking at what you've got to implement over the week , it'll probably get down to 10 minutes . Because you become that good at it . I mean it literally takes me probably on average , about 10 minutes now Just to look at my week , look at now what clubs I've got for my boys , look at what things me and Daniel have got on and to look at what shifts I'm working , and then from there I can plan what I need to get done , depending on what I'm working . The way that my shift pattern works is that for a month I will probably work every weekend . What I like to kind of do is when I'm not working a weekend . I find that my planning session on a Sunday is very much based around okay , let's plan some family timing . That's the non-negotiable for me .

Speaker 1 30:54

And a lot of people will always . I think , when people start a new lifestyle , they think they have to suffer in some way . And I had a client , actually a couple of days ago , messaged me and say this doesn't feel real , because I'm not suffering , I'm not cutting all the things that I enjoy it . And I said no . I said what I want you to do is I want you to go the other way and I want you to plan all the things that you enjoy . I said because this has got to be a sustainable , long-term solution rather than a suffering of three or four weeks . You get to the point where you can't do it anymore and then you go back to square one .

Speaker 2 31:29

Now , the other thing , too , with this thing is not only is it important to put in the non-negotiables , but we have to make ourself a non-negotiable at certain times as well , don't we ? What you said there ? People find it enjoyable because they're looking at their schedule , which we all know . You've got exactly the same 24 hours as I've got , no doubt about it . The difference between you and Karen , who is really struggling , is I'm structured and done . I know what my wheat looks like , whereas she's just bogged down and overwhelmed . When it's laid out , you find that more time opens up for yourself , doesn't it ?

Speaker 1 32:05

Yes , 100% . Yes , it is the absolute game changer . You know what ? The nutrition side is obviously very important , but without a plan and without a structure , you won't get the exercise done and you won't get the food right .

Speaker 2 32:18

Absolutely , totally . Even if it's to schedule in half an hour a day to curl up in a chair with a book and read a book , that's self-care , just for yourself . You don't have to schedule that because you suddenly find you've got half an hour to actually do that . I love this . A lot of people will be going . Oh my God , I'm like why haven't I been doing this as well ?

Speaker 2 32:37

Now I just want to talk about the meal planning side of things as well , because I had Angela Ron , the healthy diary , who talked about her no meal prep and how to go about doing that . Talk to us about the benefit of having a home prepared food at the ready while you're on shift so that you're not caught out your colleagues going through the golden archers or is going to grab something on the run or not eat at all , which is very common as well , isn't it ? People don't eat and then they get home and then they overeat and then they go to bed and it impacts on sleep and there's massive problems . So it's a game changer in itself just having it there and ready and knowing what to have , isn't it ?

Speaker 1 33:13

Yeah . So what I always kind of advocate at the start is to start at a very minimum . So we kind of look at , when we start a shift , what do we normally have with us ? And the majority is what we don't have anything . And when I ask why , it's because , well , I haven't got anything to carry in for a start . So the first thing I say is , well , should we get ourselves a call bag ? Should we get us something that we can actually put some food in for a start ? Then what I ask them to do is , on their planning session , let's look at maybe a couple of days whereby we can bulk cook some food . Now , for me that's very important because we're all busy , we've all got different things that are going to take our mind and our priorities . So if we can have some food that we've already cooked that I don't know whether you have over there , ninjas- yeah , we do yes .

Speaker 1 34:13

So you know , if you can slow cook something in a ninja , get something that is easily accessible , that you can just take it , put into a container , put in . We already know what we've put in there , we know the ingredients . It's quick and easy .

Speaker 1 34:29

I'm a massive fan of smoothies . The one big thing that I kind of get a lot of is that I don't get my refs . We've got too many jobs , we haven't got enough staff . I don't get any time to sit down and actually eat . So what I am a massive advocate of is actually getting a smoothie that you can take with you , keeping your core bag , and you can drink while you're on the go .

Speaker 1 34:50

It saves that moment of weakness and it is because we're hungry , we're not hydrated . We see a takeaway like a Mackie's or a KFC or a Subway and it's the easy option because we are hungry and our bodies are craving food and our mind is telling us that we need it , whereas if we have something that , as we've already got , it's quick , easy , we can drink in the car while we're on the go . It's a game changer for a lot of people . So yeah , I'm a big advocate of book cooking . I like smoothies because , like I say I just think it's something that can be done very , very quick and easy the night before and it's something you can keep with you all the time .

Speaker 2 35:32

And a smoothie is something that people forget that you can keep in a thermos as well . You know people go oh no , I've got nothing to put it in . Yes , you have , you've got a thermos . When we think thermos , we think hot coffee . That's the first thing we think of , but we forget in the depth of winter that we can put a soup in it and we can carry a soup with us , a highly blitz vegetable soup , to have in your thermos overnight Nothing beats it and then to have in the summer or even any other time . You could put a smoothie straight into your thermos and it's going to maintain its temperature in there as well the same way . So , people , I think the most important piece of kit that a shift worker can have , particularly someone who's on the road paramedic , police , fire , etc . You've got to have a thermos , and I always advocate the wide-mouth thermos because you can put a stew in it , you can put a curry in it , you can put a chili in it , you can put anything in it , and you've always got hot food with you on the go at all times . So I think that's been prepared and I love what you said there .

Speaker 2 36:31

The first question you ask someone is so when you head out today , what food are you going to have ? Well , nothing . Well , where does it get you ? It gets you nowhere . You are behind the eight balls to start off with , because you know that you're going to have to make a decision at some stage . Oh , get something healthy while I'm out Well , what's healthy ? And then the next thing is you get run off your feet with jobs , etc . And then you've got no time to eat and all of a sudden , the golden archers catches you at the corner of the eye and you think , oh , I've just got to get something , and that's snowballs , doesn't it ? It's snowballs into becoming a habit . That's what you do .

Speaker 1 37:03

Yeah , and I think very quickly , what you can find is and I think there's certain shifts that probably you're more susceptible to do it For example , you don't bring anything on night shift , I mean over the 24 seven . You drive past at two o'clock in the morning and it's very easy to drive in when you do two night shifts . You can do that twice in a week . Yep , well , there's probably 15 pound you've just spent . Yep , yeah , you know , and then you do the next set and before you know it , you've probably spent 100 pound at work on food that hasn't really served you very well , isn't nutritious and he's probably having a real negative impact on your health .

Speaker 2 37:42

And when you say not nutritious , it's not very satiating you , there is it . It just goes through you like a dose of salt . So don't get me wrong here . I don't demonize food . That's all it is . It's just simple . It's just food . But the thing is we have to make decisions around what's going to be satiating and what's going to keep us nutritionally sound and what's not . Now , if you're there and you're looking at two different foods , you've got to ask yourself what is going to keep me fuller for longer , what's going to actually fuel me when you change that mindset . It's really important .

Speaker 2 38:13

I actually recommend to my people as well that one of the good takeaways that you can actually get . People say I can't get anything healthy . Well , you can still eat well , and you know those kebab vans that they have on the corners . I'm sure you guys have them in the garage just because you've got to get a duty kebab on the way home from a night out on the gas . So you can go to one of those and you can actually ask them for a naked one . Like you can actually just get the meat and the salad without the Greek yogurt or whatever . You're going to get little garlic yogurt and you can just have that on the run , like you can just have the meat You're getting the protein , you get it . Of course it's not ideal , but it's a hell of a lot better than driving through . You know you can't convince yourself that you're getting carbs and you're getting protein when you're sitting there reading your Big Mac . It's just it doesn't work that way .

Speaker 1 38:56

I think one of the big things that I try and implement early on , and the one thing that I will never do is try and overload people with carbs , fats and , looking at that , what I like to do is let's have a real good look at the amount of calories that we're eating and let's focus on getting a good level of protein in us .

Speaker 1 39:13

And I always say is the reason why is because the one thing that I think shift workers struggle with massively is hunger . We'll go four , five , six hours without food and I say , look , if we can have snacks that are available that are relatively high in protein and fiber , it's going to keep us feeling full for longer . But the other thing that I find massive when we talk about food prep and it's probably some of us not really looked up by a lot of people is hydration . You know we all think that prep is all about food , the food that we consume . But you being able to be hydrated and make sure that you don't fall into feeling dehydrated is massive because you're going to start having lack of mental clarity , lack of energy , and it's going to affect your work and it's going to affect your decision making , but it can also affect your hunger .

Speaker 2 40:05

It's very interesting that because I do push very hard the hydration and the reason why I push hydration very hard for a lot of people is as well because it comes from the same sector in the brain we can actually confuse dehydration for hunger and if you have that drink and weight , you can actually find that I actually wasn't hungry , I was actually thirsty , because , you know , the signals get very confused . So I like that . The reason why shift workers are very hungry as well , I think it's important to note is hunger and satiety . Hormones are very , very skewed as a shift worker because of our fatigue levels , and fatigue can come from a lot of areas as well . It can actually come from areas where we're vitamin D deficient , where we are lack of sleep , for the obvious reason . But also dehydration brings fatigue as well , doesn't it ? And we find that topping up our vitamin D is supplementing and actually getting that hydration in as well and focusing and prioritizing our sleep . It actually brings that leptin and ghrelin back in line , because when ghrelin is elevated through fatigue , that's when we just want those highly palatable carbs and fats , because our body is searching for instant fuel to get us going . But it's a little trick of that ghrelin . So we have to be very careful .

Speaker 2 41:21

But I want to ask you this though let's just say you and I work in the car , though we're working the car together and you're on a mission , right ? Everybody knows that Ian Cook is the health freak , right ? And they'll just say to you look , I know it's wrong , I know it's wrong , but I'm just going to go through MACAs when they do . No , I'm going to stop and grab MACAs , because that's what I'm going to do , because I don't really care . Right , I do care , but I don't know any different . What do you do ? How do you cope with that yourself mentally ? Because you know you've got your prep food or whatever .

Speaker 1 41:48

What do you do ? For me , it's all about having an understanding your why . Because the one thing that I think can be very easy to do is to go . You know what ? Yeah , I'm just going to go and I'm going to have that McDonald's , but we all know what's going to happen as soon as you've had that McDonald's , we're going to start feeling that little bit of guilt . Why have we done that ? Why have I had that ? When I've got this food with me , we've given into a little bit of social pressure . Now , look

Balancing Accountability in Shift Work

Speaker 1 42:16

, I'm not suggesting for a second that you shouldn't enjoy a McDonald's every now and again .

Speaker 2 42:20

Oh I would . It's bloody disgusting , but anyway .

Speaker 1 42:23

You know what I think ? I think there's a thing in life whereby we've got to try and find a balance . And you know , for some people , for them , it's I'm going to have that McDonald's and it doesn't really matter . But for me , I know what my way is . I want to be able to be good at work , have good energy . I know that when I have that McDonald's , the one thing that's going to happen is I'm going to immediately probably two or three hours later , be hungry again . Exactly , I'm going to immediately start to feel a little bit sluggish and it's probably going to go right through me , because it's not something that I normally consume .

Speaker 2 43:00

Yeah , that's exactly right . But we don't demonize it . And I've probably been harsh . I couldn't tell you . The last time I had McDonald's I reckon it would have been probably eight to 10 years ago I would have had Maccas , I think , without any doubt whatsoever . But that's not because I've demonized it , it's just something that I just don't want . I think if you said to your client , you're not to have McDonald's , I don't care what happens , you're not to have McDonald's . That plays a trick that all they go is oh my God , I want Maccas , but I just won't tell him because my colleague's going through . But if you say to someone what I want you to do is I want you to have Maccas once a week , I want you to choose a shift , that you're going to choose to have Maccas with your colleague on that day , it takes the demonizing out of it , doesn't it ?

Speaker 1 43:43

What happens there , though , is that you get to a point whereby , all of a sudden , their habits and behaviors previously were that ingrained that they were used to having that McDonald's , and now , when they've got the ability to actually have one , they don't want it .

Speaker 2 43:58

Exactly right . It's so true . Or I'm not going to have it tonight , I might have it tomorrow night . Then tomorrow comes and they haven't even given it a second thought . It's an absolute blind game , isn't it ? People just don't understand this . It's like the person that says oh , I can't have chocolate in the house because I'll just eat it all . If you tell someone you must have five blocks of chocolate in your house at all times , you're welcome to eat it any time People go . You're kidding yourself , rod . There's no way can I do that . I'll eat it all every time . You actually don't . You're giving yourself permission to have it . When you give yourself permission to have it , it literally throws a switch in your head . It makes a great big difference . It doesn't go . I love that . Ian , what are your non-negotiables that people can easily implement to stick to Like , if someone comes to you to start off with , what are your non-negotiables that people can do the ?

Speaker 1 44:47

first one is the planning . For me , the 15 minutes is your non-negotiable Hydrating upon wake . That is something that I don't see why you can't do . I like to give a non-negotiable in terms of hydration for the day as well . Normally that's around asking them what they've been used to consuming , because what I don't want to do is say I want you to have two and a half litres of fluid a day when they've been drinking one . It's kind of very much based on what they've been doing , but let's try and implement a habit where we increase it Probably .

Speaker 1 45:18

The third one is steps . I like to have a minimum standard of movement for a day . I like to do a variance between it . So what I like to do is because I know there's a lot of people out there that will go you've got to do 10,000 steps a day . I kind of sit there and I'll shake my head and I just think what are we putting the pressure on for that ?

Speaker 1 45:38

So what I tend to do is I'll ask them what they normally do on a normal day . Then from that we'll probably look and I'll say , okay , for example , they say 6,000 , but I'll say , okay , you're normally six , so why don't we look at maybe doing six to eight . Then we know that our minimum for the week is 42,000 and we know that our maximum is 56 . We can get in between that . We know that we've done well . To me that's a non-negotiable . To hit those , don't worry if you're a little bit off on one day , because let's take it over a week rather than putting that pressure on each day , because if you're on a night shift , are we really going to get our steps in ? I'd like to think so , but we might not . So let's kind of see as a week rather than just an individual day .

Speaker 2 46:31

I love it . I think people need to look at it over the period of the week without any doubt whatsoever . I totally subscribe to what you're saying With the hydration as well . I mean , I push it all the time . It's so important . It's not a cups or two liters or a gallon or whatever it is . It is literally as a general rule , your urine needs to be clear and that's the scientific measurement for being hydrated .

Speaker 2 46:53

But our ladies as well a lot of them because they're in the position where it's so much harder for them to go to the bathroom , for the obvious reason you know . So they can't hydrate during shift or they have this fear of hydrating during shift because they get caught out . I know , I get that , I totally understand it , but there's still time outside of the shift where you can literally top yourself up as well , other than the time you sleep or before you go to sleep , because you don't want it to impact on your sleep as well . So I love those because they are simple strategies to put in place , really , really simple , and every single one of those is free . And this is where I just think and I just want to say this what's the importance of having a coach as a shift worker . Like people are going to listen to this podcast and they're going to say , oh yeah , no , I can do all of that . Why should they hire you or hire me as a shift work coach ?

Speaker 1 47:44

One word accountability .

Speaker 2 47:47

Yeah , done . I was hoping you would say that word . It's accountability , it's having someone that's got your back , isn't it ? Someone's going to support you all the way through .

Speaker 1 47:54

Yeah , and I know you've mentioned Grace and Reese . I don't know them , but I know of their social media and you know what . The one thing that they've done is they've lived it , that they've lived it and they understand and spot on . It's very difficult to be accountable to someone that has never done it . They will look at it and say , well , I expect you to have done this , this and this when in reality it was never really on for you to do that . So to be accountable to somebody that understands , has a real understanding of what life looks like and what shifts look like , for me is the biggest thing .

Speaker 1 48:36

You can probably name several of the reasons why it's important to have a coach , but for me the biggest thing is the accountability side of it , because life can get very difficult as an emergency service worker and shift worker . So it's nice to have that shoulder to lean on and that voice to have in the back of your ear to say okay , don't worry , it's not the end of the world . I know you're feeling and this is how we're going to navigate it together .

Speaker 2 49:04

I love that , I get it . It's the best thing . Hey , I get it . I always say to clients did anyone die ? I've fallen off the track one day . Did anyone die ? No , okay , let's move on . We pick ourselves up , we dust ourselves off and we keep going , because it's very easy for someone who's not done shift work to actually look at a roster and go well , you can get a workout in here . You can get a workout in here and here , because you've got 12 hours off , so you're going to sleep for eight . That gives you four , so you can do that . It doesn't work that way , does it ?

Speaker 1 49:34

It doesn't . And the amount of people that have come to me and said I've had a previous coach that wasn't a shift work or wasn't an emergency services and they've asked unrealistic expectations of me and then , when I haven't done it , they've said that I'm not dedicated enough , not committed enough , I don't want enough . Yeah , and they've said , like you know , for a couple of weeks I felt like that I didn't want it enough , when in reality it wasn't that I didn't want it , I just couldn't fit my lifestyle into what they're asking .

Speaker 2 50:05

Oh , I love it . I absolutely love it . Ian . Is it possible to thrive instead of just surviving while you're working 24 seven shift work ?

Speaker 1 50:14

100% , I think . If you believe that it's not possible , that's why you need a coach .

Speaker 2 50:19

I love that too . I've got some gold from you today . I think that's fantastic . If anybody is listening to this and you are saying to yourself , these guys don't get it , I'm going to call you out on that and you can challenge me any time that you want . I'm happy to sit here . In fact , I'll podcast it and I will debate it with you . I'm more than happy . Feel free to reach out to myself or to Ian , because I can tell you now you'll have myself , you'll have Ian , you'll have Grace , you'll have Reese . We were more than happy to debate it .

Speaker 2 50:52

If you don't think you can thrive instead of just surviving shift work , you're wrong , because we will support you . We will literally put our arm around you and guide you as to how you can thrive and not just survive . I think this has been an incredible podcast . I've really , really enjoyed talking to you . If you've said things or someone goes oh my God , I need this bloke as a coach , because I'll be honest with you too when you share this and it goes to the UK . I think it's important that people that are in the police in the UK have someone that resonates with them , speaks the language , so to speak , as well . So if you've said something that resonates with people and they think , oh my God , I want to thrive . I don't want to just survive this . I need to go through this with some accountability from someone , where can people find you ? Okay ?

Speaker 1 51:42

well , there's two spaces that I've got my Instagram , which is at BlueLite Lifestyle , and then I've got a private Facebook group which has 700 members , which are all emergency service workers from police , fire , nurses , paramedics whereby I post daily content inside free resources just to try and give that support and offer a community of like-minded people that are looking to try and thrive in their role .

Speaker 2 52:16

What was the Facebook group ? Is it BlueLite Lifestyle as well ?

Speaker 1 52:19

Yeah , it's BlueLite Lifestyle . So if you put that in the search engine you'll see my group pop up . There's a couple of questions , just some membership questions at the start . The only reason why that's useful for me is just to know who's kind of coming in and what emergency service worker is looking for the support . So I could kind of tailor the content that I'm putting out .

Speaker 2 52:40

I must go and have a look at that myself . I think I hope you're going to share the podcast into that group to let people hear , because this has been absolute gold . I've thoroughly enjoyed this . Now I have a closing question that I asked people and I'm going to run this one by you as well . Now , if I've just recently won a billion dollars and I get to build you or buy you a holiday house anywhere in the world , but you've got to live in it for six months , now the wife and the boys , you can all go because you've earned it by the time you finish coaching shift workers and work shift work yourself . I don't even know how you juggle it all . I know it's incredibly difficult . For six months of the year , you're going to live in this house that I buy or build and I will give you carte blanche . You can put it anywhere you want in the world . Whereabouts am I building it or buying it ?

Speaker 1 53:31

On the south coast of Spain . As a youngster , I was very fortunate that my grandmother had an apartment right on the coast and I had many , many happy summers there , and it just brings back great memories . My boys have been a couple of times and for me that would be where I'd be going .

Speaker 2 53:49

Beautiful .

Speaker 1 53:50

It's called Costa del Sol , the coast of the Spain .

Speaker 2 53:54

Love that you could do a lot worse than living on the south coast of Spain . There's no doubt about it . I'm very , very indebted to you for coming onto the show and sharing your time . I know it's late in the evening there and I do sincerely

Gratitude for Interview With Passionate Helper

Speaker 2 54:06

appreciate it , but I can tell you now it's been well and truly worth it . You've shared some absolute goal , and I'm actually going to go and join your Facebook group as well , because I want to see what you're doing . I'm going to go snooping . You have to let me in , all right .

Speaker 1 54:18

You are more than welcome . I just want to say a massive thank you to you , because there isn't many people that I think cater for emergency service workers , but the work that you do and the content that you put out is absolute gold . I think you do a great job . The people who are your followers and the people that you work with are really lucky , because I think you do an absolutely amazing job at it .

Speaker 2 54:42

I sincerely appreciate those kind words . Thanks very much , Ian .

Speaker 1 54:46

No worries . Thank you very much for the time and thank you for giving me the opportunity Appreciate it .

Speaker 2 54:49

Well , pardon me . Well , I just want to often scratch my ego , that is , if I can get out of the door . All I want to say is thank you so much to Ian . Honestly , it's like sitting across a table having a chat with a colleague . When you sit there and chat with Ian , it really was such a great chat and I could have gone on and on and on . Such a genuine man with such passion to help people in this space and I just absolutely love that . If you enjoyed it , please share it into your groups and your work groups . It's really important that people , particularly our shift workers , learn that structure and routine is game changing for a shift worker and it really , really does make such a difference to your life . And don't forget , give it a rating , Give it a review . If you've got a few minutes to just write a little review , I do really , really appreciate it .