Speaker 1: 1:11

We're not optimizing our light environment, we are not being exposed to natural light enough, if at all, during the day, and then we are too exposed to blue light, which is our devices, which is artificial light, it's our screens, especially after dark.

Speaker 2: 1:33

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 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers, using evidence-based methods, to not only survive the rigors 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 and welcome to another episode of a Healthy Shift Podcast. And this one is another guest episode of a Healthy Shift podcast. And this one is another guest episode. Really important Today, as you've probably picked up a few times, I'm now starting to go down the line of this more holistic approach to helping people in their shift working lives, and today I have a special guest Sophie Ballantyne.

Speaker 2: 2:33

Now Sophie used to be a nurse recognized that her health was becoming quite diabolical and she was having dramas around working the shift work and doing all those sort of things. So she's gone off into well working her own health journey, actually understanding the simple practices of what she can do along the way. Now you're going to hear in this podcast a number of things, but the one thing that I want you to take out of this is how simple it all is. It might sound quite complicated, but this is where having someone like Sophie or myself in your corner to help you with these practices and getting these simply right will really, really help you. We are all off running around on social media today looking for the right diet, or we're looking for what supplement's going to help me to sleep or what's going to help me to do it. Unfortunately, we've totally missed the mark in relation to that. Sophie today is someone who is going to flag with you how you can make simple changes that will make a massive difference to your life.

Speaker 2: 3:38

This is a great episode, and I really thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Sophie, and I want you to do the same. So, without much further ado, let's get into the show, and welcome to the show, sophie Ballantyne. How are you, soph? I am so good. How are you? I'm fantastic. Thank you very much, and I want to say thank you very much for coming on to the podcast as well. You've got a great story that we really want to let our shift working community know how they can go about making simple changes to their lives. So, soph, can you go ahead and just tell our shift working audience a little bit about yourself and your background, because they're not going to know who Sophie Ballantyne is, but I do want them to know.

Speaker 1: 4:17

Yes, amazing. Well, thank you so much for having me here. I am so honored. So, yes, my name is Sophie.

Speaker 1: 4:22

I live on the Gold Coast, but I grew up in Melbourne, australia, and my whole life I feel like I've been on a health journey, as most people do, and when it kind of got to the point of choosing a career, I guess I didn't know what I wanted to do. I always knew that it would be something to do with health. I thought about becoming a personal trainer or a massage therapist or a physio. I ended up studying PE teaching back in Melbourne and I got halfway through that degree and decided that teaching high school kids and encouraging them to move their bodies was not what I wanted to do. It was like pulling teeth. And so I left that.

Speaker 1: 5:01

I moved to the Gold Coast and was kind of like I'm just going to let whatever lands come in, and I was a bit of a beach bum for six months. I was kind of like I'm going to enjoy this and then I thought, okay, I kind of felt this I guess quote unquote pressure from society to get a real job, and I again went back to the drawing board. Okay, what do I want to do? What are my values? At that time, even though, looking back, I was not healthy. I thought I was Nursing, ticked the boxes because I didn't want a nine to five job. I live in such a beautiful part of the world that I didn't want to be inside all day for five days a week. I am so fascinated by the human body so I thought I'm going to become a theater nurse, I'm going to watch operations and I'm going to be like the scalpel nurse girl. And it was all going to be great. It was going to be, you know, flexibility with my hours. So I studied nursing.

Speaker 1: 5:50

But along that time I really started to go through the next evolution of my health journey. My whole life struggled with digestive issues, anxiety. I had been on the pill for quite a few years for my skin, and so I really started to look at a more holistic approach and started to have my eyes opened up to this world of holistic health and I was like, okay, this is interesting. I started to see my own positive benefits from focusing on things like whole food, nutrition and mindset and reducing stress and improving sleep and all of the beautiful things. And so nursing did not align with me. I remember so clearly learning about medications and it was like here's the medication to counteract this medication. And I was like that doesn't make sense to me. Like well, okay, I want to help people prevent being on these medications, I want to help people prevent getting into the hospitals in the first place. But my ego was like you've already dropped out of one degree, you're not going to do another, you're going to finish your nursing degree. So I finished it and I just trusted the process. I trusted that it would lead me to where I needed to be.

Speaker 1: 6:57

I got a job here at a private hospital and I was fortunate that my patients weren't very sick. It was a post-op ward, so no one was really unwell, it was just me supporting their recovery from quite minor operations. However, me choosing not to have a nine to five, obviously nursing in the role that I was in, it was shift work. The daytime shift was okay. It was 7am to 3.30. The afternoon shift was one till, I think, 9.30, maybe even later some nights, and then the overnight shift was 9pm to 7.30am.

Speaker 1: 7:34

So I was thrown into that and really discovered that that also didn't align with me, because it threw off a lot of things to do with my health, and I got to a point very early on in my nursing career again in Talking Marks that I wanted to do something else. I knew that I wouldn't last there very long, and so I started back to the drawing board. Okay, what am I going to do? Am I going to go back to uni? I've just been a broke uni student for three years. I don't want to do that.

Speaker 1: 8:02

Is there any online courses that I could do? Do I want to become a naturopath? And then I found this 12-month online holistic health coaching course and I thought this is my ticket. This is me. I'm already inspiring and talking and encouraging all of my friends and family to look at holistic health, and so that's what I did back in 2017. I graduated there and became a holistic health coach and have been working in the online wellness space since then, and I left nursing in 2018. And, just from that, have really honed in on how I want to show up for myself, what I value with my health and wellness and just really prioritize the things that I know support me now, but also in the future.

Speaker 2: 8:45

Absolutely fantastic. So I want to just back over a few of the things that you said there as well. This is very common. I really do focus a lot on women's health because I find that majority of the people that reach out to me and follow me are females. In this space I've got I think about 85% of my following are females. But prescribing the pill to a female to fix skin and things like that is so common, isn't it in today's day and age of oh, I've got an irregular cycle, oh, here's the pill. Oh, my skin's playing up, oh, no worries, here's the pill. I'm having painful periods. Yep, here's the pill. This is so common, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 9:23

It is shocking and I think I look back to my generation, I will say, and like we were all on it, all my friends were on it and I remember the like relief when because I struggled with my skin you know pretty much my whole teenage life and I tried all of the things and I remember the doctor or I can't even remember who recommended or where we got to the point, but it was like, yeah, the pill is the next option. And I had seen all my friends go on the pill and their skin clear up and I thought I'd won the lottery. I was like, oh my God, I'm finally going to get CleSkin. And obviously it had other benefits, but the main reason I went on it, like you said, a lot of people get put on it for a symptom and it's just putting a bandaid on, because when I came off the pill 10 years later, my skin was the worst it's ever been. And so it's crazy that it's just a very easy fix.

Speaker 1: 10:17

And, like I interviewed someone on my podcast just earlier and this came up and he said a lot of doctors, a lot of practitioners, we blame them, but that's all they're taught, that's all they know. And so I even remember when I came off the pill and I was having issues with a regular cycle. I didn't get my period back for eight months and I went and saw a gynecologist and he said to me the two things you can do is take some medication maybe metformin, I can't remember or go back on the pill to regulate your cycle, to get your cycle back. And I was like that doesn't even make sense. And I was so grateful that at that time I'd become more aware and really trusted that I could get it back. And I was so grateful that at that time I'd become more aware and really trusted that I could get it back. And going back on the pill was just going to be a big fat band-aid, because then what happens when I come off it again?

Speaker 2: 11:04

One of the saddest things is they give you the pill to actually regulate your cycle but you're not actually having a cycle, and this is what people don't understand, and a lot of women. Can you just explain that, if you would? This is not where we wanted to go, but I would like to just cash in on this just a little bit, because a lot of females and I've done a number of espresso episodes of podcasts and, being a male, a lot of people think, yeah, what would you know? And I totally understand that Soph and I really do, but as a female that's into holistic health and working through that area, when females are actually prescribed the pill and put on the pill, you do not have a cycle, do you?

Speaker 1: 11:41

No, it stops you ovulating. You need to ovulate to then have your period later in the cycle. So if you're not ovulating, your hormones are literally just shut off, and that's why people have so many negative effects, because it's like your hormones fluctuate. Normally, when you have a regular cycle and your hormones are all doing their thing, if you see a graph, they've all got their own kind of structure and purpose and place. But when you're on the pill, your hormones are just like beep, and so no wonder people have depression, have anxiety, have all of these mood issues. Your hormones they don't just affect those things, they affect so much of your body. So I love that you asked this, because it's something that I think more people are becoming aware of, but I also think a lot of people still don't know.

Speaker 2: 12:29

Without any doubt whatsoever. If there's one thing that I have learned, like I'm pretty well read, all those books over there are all on women's health and I take a lot of pride in my knowledge on women's health. As a male totally understand, I'm never going to know what it's like I do. I totally understand that. I made that mistake once in a seminar saying I get it, no, you don't. Actually I copped the Roth and I totally understand that and I've never used that term since. But I am well-read in that area and I do understand the science behind a lot of this. A lot of females take the pill as it's an oral contraceptive pill. That's what it is and they think that it's for contraception and it is. But you only really need contraception for probably two, maybe three days out of your month. That's all you need. Other than that, you're not going to fall pregnant in that time, and understanding your cycle and taking back control of your body is the secret, correct?

Speaker 1: 13:30

Absolutely A hundred percent.

Speaker 2: 13:32

How did you feel when you came off the pill yourself? God, we've gone down an avenue that I wasn't even going to with you, but this is an important avenue, really important for women.

Speaker 1: 13:43

I love it.

Speaker 2: 13:44

One thing that I get as feedback, particularly from clients, when we have these conversations around the oral contraceptive pill and things like that, and they tell me oh no, I've got my cycle and no, you actually haven't got a cycle because you're on the pill, and blah, blah, blah. When they come off the pill, they actually feel completely different. Can you talk about that yourself? As to, there's a lot of research actually that people that have been on the pill for extended periods of time because of the artificial hormones, they then look at their partner and they don't look at their partner the same. This is common, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 15:22

It is so common. I'm fortunate that it didn't happen to me. I would have been really upset if that happened to me. But yeah, I mean it's been probably 10 years since I came off it. But I do remember just almost instantly, being like oh my gosh, I feel like me again. Like you don't realize, and this is what I talk about. A lot like, oh my gosh, I feel like me again. Like you don't realize, and this is what I talk about.

Speaker 1: 15:45

A lot things become so normalized that you don't actually remember or you don't realize that they've become an issue, until you're out of it and you're like oh my gosh, that was really bad. Or I look back and I don't even recognize the human that I was or the feelings that I had or what I tolerated when I had these synthetic hormones in me that were just causing so much chaos in my body. So it's so common for women to experience like, oh, I'm back online, I can feel again, I can actually feel like me. Yeah, it can change your perception around a lot of things, including your partner.

Speaker 2: 16:23

Yeah, that's right. People that have been on the pill for 20 odd years get married, have children or whatever, then come off the pill permanently. All of a sudden they're looking at their husband or their partner like a brother. It's not the same. Anyway, let's not go down that line. We don't want to terrify people. What advice would you give people who actually are on the pill then? I mean, obviously we have to be a little bit careful because it's horses for courses with a lot of people, but I recommend to people to sit down and have a good discussion with their GP around getting their life back and getting their bodies back. Then you can address the actual symptom. Do you agree with that?

Speaker 1: 16:56

100%. I think the best thing you can do, like you said before, it's like you get to take ownership of your health and the day when you have education and when you truly know your body which can take time you get to make the most empowered choices. So I think the best thing I did was learn and read the books and be educated and start to be like actually I don't want this in my body, and the best books that I read was woman code and in the flow.

Speaker 1: 17:45

I don't know if you've read them yes they were the turning point for me, because I started to learn not only about hormones, which, like, governs us as humans, especially as women, but I started to learn about what the pill actually was and what it was doing to me, and from there you can make better informed decisions and, depending what you are on it for, like, it's going to be different if you're purely on it for contraception.

Speaker 1: 18:12

Start learning about fertility awareness method. Like you said before, we only have a very short ovulation window, and so that's something you get to feel empowered with when you understand that, if you're on it for a certain symptom, that just gives you the ability to look at that, and that can be hard when you're like I'm struggling with so many things, but that's where you get to seek out support, right, you get to work with other people who can help you identify, okay, what's actually going on here, what's the root cause of these things, and then address that, rather than just using the pill as the band-aid yeah, because the pill is just such a false economy in your whole system with synthetic hormones, and I think I just wish a lot more females totally understood this.

Speaker 2: 19:00

I know my partner. When she came off the pill herself, she just felt like she'd just taken back control of her body. It's like anything in life and the journey that you've been down, which we will talk about. But once you come off the pill and you get your life back, you don't realize that you didn't have it until you've got it back. And then, once you've got it back, then you start to go wow, I just feel so different and I just feel like I am now me, because that pill is putting you in a total false economy. I just love that. Thanks, Soph, because that's just a really important part of the conversation for females From a holistic point, and we're here talking about holistic health. Stop just jumping on medications and start looking at what we can do to actually rectify these problems.

Speaker 2: 19:44

Now, you were a shift worker. Obviously you've spoken about that nursing. How long were you a shift worker for? Can you just talk about the impacts, as a female, that shift work was actually having on you? That you can remember? It's obviously some time ago now, but can you just talk about what impacts that shift work actually had on you as a female in particular?

Speaker 1: 20:05

Yeah. So I nursed for about two years in total and I probably averaged one night shift a week. So I was quite fortunate that I had other friends that I went to uni with that were doing like four or five in a row night shifts and so I was quite lucky. Like back then I thought, oh my gosh, I'm actually quite lucky that I only have, you know, one a week. But even the variation in shift it didn't allow me to have any regular routines. And for me I'm very much like.

Speaker 1: 20:38

I love to get up early, I love to go to bed early. Like people laugh at me because currently on the Gold Coast I'm getting up around 10 past four because sunrise is at around 4.40 AM and that's like my number one thing I love to do in my morning. My goal is to get into bed at seven o'clock and I'm trying to be asleep by 7.30. It shifts throughout the year, so in winter it might be more like 5, 6, 8, 30, 9 o'clock. 8.30, I'd say, is my average bedtime. So as a nurse I was still at work till 9.30, 10 PM or if I was working night shift, I remember so clearly, like getting ready for work, it was 8.30. Normally I'd be going to bed, my partner's getting ready to go to bed and I have to say goodbye to him and get in the car and go work for 10 hours or however long it was. So I remember just feeling really out of whack because I had no consistency with my sleep schedule, with my wake up times, with my meal times. They were all over the place. And I think, looking back, the blue light really affected me, especially with what I know now about our circadian rhythms and artificial light, because as a nurse especially, you're literally under bright lights. Your shift is eight to 10 hours and it's just constant and especially night duty, like that's just like me. It's like my body and my hormones and all of my neurotransmitters was like it is midday for 10 hours and it's midnight. You know I should be asleep. So, looking back, I don't think like kind of what I said before, I didn't realize how bad it was or what was really going on for me until I was out of it, like my energy was really bad, I just got used to it, like I just was like this is what it is. I'm a nurse, deal with it. Just this is how it is.

Speaker 1: 22:30

I do remember my anxiety and my stress. I would dread going to work, not only because I didn't enjoy the job, Like I was really stressed that I didn't feel confident as a nurse, I think because I didn't enjoy it, like I was just like I want to help people in a different way, even though like it was safe, but I just like, especially working overnight, if there was an emergency, I was like nothing ever happened, but I just was always dreading going to work. So because I was so stressed and so anxious, my gut health was really bad. I got told I had IBS my whole life. So there was just a lot happening.

Speaker 1: 23:07

And I just remember being quite unhappy and really kind of stuck in that I'm going to work for four to six months and then I'm going to take a two week holiday and then I'm going to do it all again. But it did get to a point very quickly where I was like this is not how I want my life to be. I want to wake up on a consistent timeline and I want to feel healthy and happy within my body and feel fulfilled with the work that I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 23:33

One thing that's really important to take out of that is you recognize that you are outside of your circadian rhythm and therefore it's having a massive impact. Now, anxiety, circadian desynchronization, stress, circadian desynchronization, ibs can absolutely be circadian desynchronization. Stress impacts massively on IBS. It's one of the first ports of call for us as a nutritionist, that if someone suffers from IBS, what's your stress like? And you would be the same. Let's manage the stress. Let's get you in line with your circadian rhythm and watch the difference that it actually makes to your health all the way through. I think this is something that's really important for people to know. Now, soph, what was the catalyst for change for you? What was it that you just went? Oh, you know what? I can't do this anymore. I've got to turn this around. You've said a number of times that you knew that you wanted to do this. You knew that you wanted to go this way, but you kept traveling down this one particular route. But what was the catalyst that made you go? No, that's it enough.

Speaker 1: 24:44

I remember it was like it was yesterday. I'd really started to understand the power of nutrition, and reducing inflammation is not just taking a pill, it's our lifestyle, it's the food we put in our bodies, the food we don't put in our bodies. And I was standing at the nurse's desk and one of the doctors came in with a rheumatologist. So they came in and they were laughing out of the lift and I could hear what they were saying and they were making fun of an anti-inflammatory diet. I thought, oh okay, good on them, dietary diet. I thought, oh okay, good on them.

Speaker 1: 25:27

And I went with them to a patient's room and this poor lady had horrific rheumatoid arthritis. All her hands were just like cramped. She was in so much pain, she was tiny, she just was really miserable. You could just see it on her face and she was just in there for pain management and it was really horrific. And so the doctors came in and I can't remember what questions they asked her, but I remember her saying is there anything else we can do? Is there anything I can focus on with my nutrition or my lifestyle? And they kind of just looked at each other because obviously they just had this conversation and kind of just stick it and were like no, we're going to double your medication.

Speaker 1: 26:06

I'm like in the corner in the fetal position, like this is not okay. This is not okay. I couldn't say anything, it was out of my scope. But I just remember that being the catalyst of like this is not how I want to help people. I understand that the hospital and the medical system has its place, but for me that was not okay and I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. So that was, I remember, a huge moment when I was like I need out.

Speaker 2: 26:31

Yeah, I've got to be honest with you. I can tell you mine was exactly the same as that when I started that I suffer from what's known as ankylosing spondylosis or sacroiliitis, and they wanted to give me medication. And then I said okay, how long do I have to take this for? And he said, oh, forever. And I went no, I don't think I want to take this forever. And he goes yeah, anyway. So I went off.

Speaker 2: 26:54

Three months later I was back again and I said I'm still suffering from this. And he said that's okay, we'll double the medication. And I said well, hang on a second. What's this actually doing to me? And he goes oh, but are you in pain? I said yeah, and he goes well, we've got to get rid of that. Anyway, I thought this is not good. This is not good at all. And then I said what about my gut? Like, what's it doing to my gut're out of control. Here we're starting to get to the stage where we're taking medication on medication to combat and this is classic doctors today and I'm not here to poo-poo the doctors it's like an education of how they can go about it in a holistic way. So, once you realized that you needed to make that change. What was your first step? That you thought oh my God, this actually makes a massive difference Like, wow, I'm starting to head in the right direction.

Speaker 1: 27:48

I think at that time I was probably either close to starting the health coaching course or that was like the line in the sand. But I also remember even just being around other people and eating our lunches together under the bright lights in the tea room and even like I'd take like overnight oats for like my breakfast or my morning tea or whatever, and people would comment being like because I'd add like cacao powder and berries, and they'd be like, oh, that looks decadent in a negative way and I'm thinking this is actually so good for me, like they're eating their like white bread with whatever on it. And I remember from there I was like I'm going to go eat my lunch outside so no one can critique what I'm eating, and I'm outside. I remember that being like I have the responsibility here, I can take ownership, I don't have to sit here and eat my food under the bright lights, I can go sit outside. And I remember even just doing that that had an amazing impact on.

Speaker 1: 28:53

There's going to be times where you're in an environment that you can't change. There's going to be times where you're in a job that maybe you love but the environment isn't supportive, or shift workers. There's people that love their job, but it's the hours that absolutely suck. You can only do what you can do and you can only control what you can control. So I think, just for me, it was starting to look at what are the things I can change and start to reap the rewards of that, and I really do think that that helped with my stress and anxiety. I even remember I would get to work a little bit earlier and I'd meditate in the car before I'd go in, just to like ground myself before my shift. So, yeah, it's just these little things that really do start to compound.

Speaker 2: 29:34

On the back of that. So whereabouts do you actually see that most people in society today go wrong?

Speaker 1: 29:41

Keeping it really simple, we're not optimizing our light environment. We are not being exposed to natural light enough, if at all, during the day, and then we are too exposed to blue light, which is our devices, which is artificial light, it's our screens, especially after dark, and I have really witnessed this in my own health and it is like the number one thing I prioritize every single day. It's getting outside first thing, not touching my phone in the morning, really allowing my body and my eyes to have the signal that it's daytime, and that causes our cortisol to rise. It allows our body and our brain to be like, oh my gosh, okay, it's time to be awake, it's time to be alert. It also helps our melatonin be produced later at night, and melatonin is our sleep hormone. It also needs darkness. So after dark, when we are just constantly on our phones, we're watching TV, we have all the artificial lights on, our body thinks it's midday and so we're not producing melatonin to the best of our ability.

Speaker 1: 30:45

Then people wonder why they're not sleeping properly. People wonder why they're unhappy, they're not having enough energy, like it's just such a catalyst. So if there's one thing I see people not optimizing well enough or not even realizing. And that's why I love these conversations, because sometimes you just need to hear something and the seed is planted and you're like, oh, I didn't even think about that, it's getting outside as much as possible.

Speaker 1: 31:08

I actually normally will sit outside and do my work out there, but I needed to charge my laptop, so outside as much as possible and then, once the sun has gone down, I have very circadian friendly house. I have this little like clip on reading lamp that I only bought like last month maybe, but it's the best decision, best purchase of 2024. I literally just carry it around with me, I'll clip it on my like towel rail in the bathroom and I'll just have that as my light. I do have like a circadian friendly flicker free blue light free bulb that I'll have in the kitchen because it's just a little bit easier if I do need to see. But that's my main thing, it's get more natural light, reduce artificial light.

Speaker 2: 31:48

I want to cash right in on this because I think of all the diets that everyone today is looking for, they're all going oh, how do I lose weight? Carnivore diet, vegetarian, vegan, what do I do? Low carb, high fat which? Which diet do I go? The bottom line is get your light diet right. Once you get your light diet right, so much in your life completely changes, completely changes. Now what I wanted to say in relation to that is by getting up and getting out early. Now you are on the gold coast, so, as you've said before, it's light at four o'clock in the morning, so you're up, and at 4 o'clock in the morning, so you're up and out at quarter past 4 in the morning. In that early light, that's your natural diurnal, where you should be right out. In that light, you're telling your body. Now, a lot of people today fear cortisol. Oh, cortisol inhibits fat loss. Oh, we actually need cortisol to get us up and get us going in the morning, don't we?

Speaker 1: 32:48

Absolutely, and yes, it can be detrimental. But in the morning is when it should be at its peak. And the way that you facilitate that is getting outside, not touching your phone, not being on screens, because, again, your body thinks at 5am, 6am, 7am, whatever time that you are waking up, the blue light signals through your eyes into your brain oh my gosh, it's midday, so your cortisol will drop, you won't feel energized, you won't feel alert, you won't feel awake. So everything has its own natural rhythm, right, we just have to A respect that, but allow our bodies to do its thing. It knows what it's doing. We just have to give it the right environment. And you're so spot on that. Focusing on our light diet is so key and so crucial to our health.

Speaker 2: 33:34

If anybody's listening today and they want to know what diet to go on, go on the light diet. Get your light diet right and everything in your life absolutely completely changes. There's no secret to the fact that the 5am club are thriving in life today because they're up, they're out, they're actually getting the light at the time they should be getting the light. They're working, they're moving, they're doing everything, and then it comes to the evening time and as the sun goes down now you're on the Gold Coast, so while it's getting light early, it's also getting dark earlier there as well, not like here at the moment, where it's still light at nine o'clock at night, whereas up there you're dark at what should be dark time. As far as I'm concerned, what you've said in relation to flicker-free, zero blue globes when you don't have your light diet right, anxiety elevates because we don't realize the impact that that artificial light is actually having on our anxiety. Stress elevates. We also are completely confusing our brains in relation to whether it's daytime or nighttime. Now I've had people say to me oh, but the phone doesn't actually prevent me from going to sleep, and that is 100% accurate. It doesn't. It's not statistically significant enough to postpone the latency of sleep. By golly, it is shifting your circadian rhythm by a minimum of 90 minutes with that blue light going in. So you go to sleep because the sleep pressure is built up and you're so tired so you say, oh well, the phone doesn't affect me, because it only delays sleep latency by somewhere between five and seven minutes, which is nothing right. But what you don't realise is is the impact that it's actually having on your circadian rhythm internally, which needs to run on this automatic like a swing, pendling backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards every single day. And once you start throwing that out, then you start having stress, anxiety, fat going. You then start having cardiovascular disease. You start ending up with IBS because your digestive tract is out of sync with your life. You then start having strokes, heart attacks and the worst and what people need to really understand breast cancer is knocking on your door with a blue light diet at night. Now everyone lies in bed looking at their phones going. It doesn't impact on my sleep, it may not. We are learning more and more now about melatonin.

Speaker 2: 36:08

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 ebook 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 ebook in the show notes.

Speaker 2: 36:34

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 rigours 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: 37:19

Now let's get back to the show. And melatonin is so important because it is our free radical eradicator. And if we don't have melatonin running through our system, eradicating those free radicals, what we're going to do? Free radicals are cancer cells running around through our bloodstream and if melatonin is not there to get rid of them. What do you think is going to happen to them? They're going to park all over the place.

Speaker 2: 37:43

And since the invention of artificial blue light, we've got a massive problem now with breast cancer in women, which has increased by 50% and that's significant. People say, oh, I can still sleep. Yeah, that's right, but the blue light is actually giving you breast cancer and, for some reason, prostate cancer in men as well. I know numerous shift workers that are having massive problems now with breast cancer, females that are having lumps and bumps removed, gaining weight. The reason why you're gaining weight is because your light diet is wrong. Get some sleep, get up, get moving, start feeling better.

Speaker 2: 38:19

And I think what you've said there and I know I've gone on my own rant here on my podcast, which I shouldn't do, but by the same token I just wanted to cash in on what you're saying is 100% right.

Speaker 2: 38:31

And those that make those changes in relation to zero blue, flicker-free globes, not getting blue light exposure at night with either blue light blockers or not having them on in any way whatsoever, having a zero blue reading light, reading a book in bed, getting sleep in the dark time well, who would have thought Going to bed as it starts getting dark, with that natural melatonin production, getting up early and getting on with the day are the ones that thrive and they are absolutely thriving. And to anyone working in a shift working environment that can see people that are really thriving. They're thriving because they're actually following the rules, they're following the circadian code, so to speak, and once you cash in on that and work with that, it just makes such a great big difference. Okay, soph, so you know, and I know the secret how do we actually bring awareness to other people with this? It's one thing to have a social media platform, but do people know that we're actually talking to them? I'm stressed, and so they're on medication. How do we bring awareness to this?

Speaker 1: 39:35

I think, just keep talking about it, keep sharing it. You know me and you, we do have platforms and we do have the ability. I feel so privileged that we do get to share this information. But you know, if your listeners are listening to this and they're like, okay, I can start to see that this makes sense, like this can be the most beautiful ripple effect and that's why I love the impact that we can have in this world. Like, okay, who do you know is scrolling on their phones late at night? Who do you know that could just change some of their light bulbs? Who do you know that you love and care about that? You can just say, hey, I listened to this awesome podcast and they just made it so simple Get outside more and reduce your artificial light.

Speaker 1: 40:14

Like, what can we start to do? Have a conversation with your family? Like, okay, I get it. We live in the world where we are exposed a lot to screens and devices, but how can we start to reduce it? What can we do? Can we wear the blue blocking glasses? Can you put the filters on? I'm not going to be here and be like live in a cave and live by candlelight. I know that is not realistic, but it's doing what we can and making that choice to do that and just spreading the information as best as you can to support the people that you love and care about.

Speaker 2: 40:45

And I think that's really, really important and that's what I do as well, and that's why anyone that follows me, that listens to this podcast and follows, knows that I'm huge. On every morning sky before screen, get that light and let your brain wake up. Let your body wake up. Get that light, get that light in, let that cortisol elevate, get you going, suppress the melatonin and then, all of a sudden, you can function. Then you can grab your phone. You don't have to get up and get out as a shift worker. They're tired, they've worked, but still get that light. Open the blinds, lie back in bed, but look out the window. Don't grab that phone. Trust me, you're not missing anything, because there's nothing there to miss other than your posts and mine, of course, which people need to be aware of. But that's different. You've been on quite a journey yourself, soph. Talk us through a day in Soph's life from the time you wake up. Does your alarm go off at quarter past four or do you tend to just naturally wake up at that time now?

Speaker 1: 41:38

Most mornings I will wake up and it's only because I really support my body and my brain in the evening, right Like I'm not going to bed at 10pm and I've been on the screens and then I'm forcing myself to get up at 4 pm, like my body now really is on this beautiful alignment with my natural rhythms. Does that happen every single morning? No, it really does depend on what has happened the day before, but most mornings I do have the ability to wake up, quite naturally because I don't have, like, any technology in my room.

Speaker 1: 42:10

I don't have my phone. That's an absolute no-no. I don't have a clock, I don't have anything. So I actually don't know what the time is. So sometimes I'll wake up and I'll be awake and I'll be like I wonder what time it is, is it time to wake up? And often it's like five minutes before my alarm would have gone off. So my body is very in tune with that.

Speaker 2: 42:27

Actually. So I'll just stop you there for a sec, because I know this feeling. It's not. I wonder if it's time to get up. Yet it's actually. I hope it's time to get up.

Speaker 1: 42:36

Isn't it?

Speaker 2: 42:36

Yeah, you're like, I'm ready, it's a totally different mindset because I will wake up going oh, I feel fantastic. God, I hope it's time to get up. If you tend to look at the clock and you think, oh, it's only three o'clock, how disappointing, I've got to wait another hour. Do you know what I mean? Like it gets Exactly. You are actually excited to get up and get into the day.

Speaker 1: 43:02

A hundred percent. I literally say this all the time. We have the ability to create a lifestyle for ourselves that excites us, that lights us up. I go to bed and I am so excited to start my day. My dog sleeps on my bed, which some people don't believe in, but life is short. I love her. She's gonna sleep on the bed. So before we go to sleep I give her a hug because she comes on my morning walks with me and we talk about our I have to say the bw probably shouldn't say because she's sitting over there, but the bw word and we just talk about how amazing our morning's gonna be. So that's what we do the. So bw is correct. I won't say it because she'll get excited.

Speaker 2: 43:34

I know you can't say it, but I can say you've got your headphones on or you've got earbuds in, and she won't hear it, because if she does, she's going to go bananas.

Speaker 1: 43:41

She will, yes. So yeah, we get excited for our BW and we wake up.

Speaker 2: 43:48

So you get up in the morning at 4.15, get up, grab her and off you go out in the light and have a walk along the beach. What a wonderful way to start the day Like seriously, truly blessed.

Speaker 1: 43:58

It's beautiful and we only leave like a minute walk from the beach. So we head out and I really love to spend at least the first 30 minutes in silence. So I will take my phone. It's on airplane mode. I keep my phone on airplane mode. I have my headphones but I often won't even put them in. We normally walk for about 40 to 60 minutes, depending on how far we're going, and so the first half of it is just me, my dog.

Speaker 1: 44:25

I might kind of like talk to myself a little bit, ask myself, just check in, how are you feeling today? Just let my brain do its thing, because I used to be someone that would just grab my phone, put the podcast on, not even allow myself to just be with myself. So I think solitude and stillness and silence has been such an impactful part of my journey and reducing stress, just being a lot more like confident with myself because I have that really beautiful connection. So we go for our beach walk. I'll often drop her home and then sometimes I will make a ceremonial cacao. I will head back to the beach and I have this like little chair that I've made in the dunes just out of sand. I have a little morning bag. I'll go down and sit there and I'll again be really present. I'll just sit in stillness, sit in silence. I'll drink my cacao, I'll do some breath work, meditation, journal, and then I'll normally read, and I'll read like a nonfiction. That's kind of like my little routine in the mornings.

Speaker 1: 45:26

Often we'll go for a swim. So often the first, I'd say three to four hours, I'm pretty much outside, except for when I'm like dropping the dog home, getting my stuff, and then I will come back and I work from home. So I will have all my things and I'll go sit outside in my backyard and I like to do like a one and a half to two hour work block and then I will break it up. I might go back down to the beach for a quick swim, I will take the dog for a walk, I'll just sit and do nothing. It really depends how I'm feeling, but I always make sure that I'm kind of like focus, break, focus, break, and there's always a lot of infusion of natural light. Sometimes I might go to the gym in the middle of the day if that's on the agenda, or I might be going for a run later that afternoon Once it gets to around five o'clock at the moment.

Speaker 1: 46:18

Five, five thirty. I will wrap up all my work and, surprise, surprise, we head back down to the beach. So we go for another quick little beach walk, we enjoy the sunset and I try and make sure I've got everything ready by the time I come home. So at the moment sunset's around 6, 6.30, and it's dark by about 7. So I'm very much eating within a daylight window as well.

Speaker 1: 46:42

So normally at the moment I'm eating, it's actually nearly my dinner time. I'm eating around 4 o'clock here, which I just love. I never really got it. I was always like no, that's too far away, like that's a big window. But it's so good for our digestion, it's so good for our sleep, circadian rhythm, all the things. So I had dinner by about four and then, yeah, once we go for our beach walk and we come back, I really just start to wind down.

Speaker 1: 47:05

I avoid screens as much as possible. I actually have the app called Opal on my phone. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it blocks your apps, so it's just really good. At the moment it kicks me off everything at quarter to seven, so that gives me a good amount of time to get my little red bulb reading light and I go into the bathroom, have a shower, get ready for bed and then, yeah, I just read in bed journal in bed, hug my dog. My partner will come in and often I'm going to bed way earlier than him, so we'll say goodnight and then we get to do it all again.

Speaker 2: 47:38

I love it. Now I just want to go back over a couple of things that you've said there, because I think they're really, really key points, something that I are a massive advocator for, but you're actually nailing it. One is you're eating probably in about a 10-hour window during the daytime, daylight, right. So this is extremely important for our circadian rhythm, right that we reduce our eating window down to about 10 hours and put majority of our calories in in the earlier part of the day. That's one thing. The second thing is how important it is for our eyes to see that sunset. You are truly blessed. You've got this beach, which is just sensational, right near you, and I've seen it on your stories. You're out on the beach and you can walk. There will be people that will be listening to this, going. Oh yeah, that's all right for you because you'd live near the beach. But, soph, you made that choice so that you can do that, and this is where people can stop their complaining because you can make that choice. Oh, it's all right for you, rog. Well, I don't live near the beach, but I still get up and get going and get out and about early and do my thing. You've gone the next level. What I love is you get up and you have this stillness in the morning and be at one with yourself. Right, really important. Give your brain a chance to do its thing, to wake up, to go through process the day, set your agenda for the day, practice, gratitude, journal, all the rest of it, because these are the keys and these are all free, the whole lot. What you've mentioned so far is free. Then what you do is you sit there and read, so you're educating yourself in that period of time as well, which is actually exercising your brain at the same time. Then you go through the day, you work, which you've got to focus on and you've got to do that. But then you get yourself back out in the light to watch the sunset, because those oranges and reds are so, so important for our melatonin production later on. For us to literally have that Then within about two hours, two to three hours after the sun goes down, is when that melatonin starts to peak. Now, melatonin you called the sleep hormone before. I'm just going to pull you up there, because melatonin is actually the notifier of the rest of the body that it's dark outside. Then it helps us. As we said before, it's our free radical eradicator as well, and that's when the body relaxes and goes into rest and digest mode and we sleep. And I'll guarantee that you sleep like a baby every single night and wake up. Now people say, oh, I'm not a sleeper.

Speaker 2: 50:06

Try Soph's routine. It's hard for people and we are a shift working podcast, but I will say this as well the title of this podcast is A Healthy Shift and how can you make a healthy shift from a poor place to a good place? It's not just about shift work, and there will be people that will listen to this that are not shift workers, that need to get this right. Because you can get it right, all kudos and all power to you, soph, because are you the person at the party at night? Or you're probably not going to parties and things like that, but don't get me wrong, it impacts on our life. But if you have to go out at night, are you the person wearing the crazy orange lenses?

Speaker 1: 50:43

Yeah, sometimes Yep.

Speaker 2: 50:44

Yeah, do you cop flak?

Speaker 1: 50:46

for that. Oh look, you do get some looks. Absolutely, but to be honest, I don't care. There was a time of my life where, of course, I would have never done that, but at the end of the day, like I value my health so much that I literally do not care what other people would think yeah, totally good.

Speaker 2: 51:03

And they come cool now too, like you see people at parties wearing them or they're out and about wearing them and they're just cool people that want to start their lifestyle and be Sophie Ballantyne today. It would be really hard work, like really really hard work, because you've laid these foundations, as you've gone and as you're educating and learning more so that you start to implement more, exactly the way I'm doing things myself Now. Give me five absolute non-negotiables in your life, every single day.

Speaker 1: 51:33

I love this and, like what you said, yes, some people might listen to this and be like, well, that's great for her, like she works from home and she lives by the beach and all the things. And, yes, that is well and true. But, like you said, I have chosen to create this lifestyle and if you want to make shifts, if you want to feel better in certain areas, then you have to not only have honesty of like okay, what isn't working, what am I sick of, what have I normalized? That absolutely shouldn't be the way that it is. What can I then choose to change? What can I do about it and start to do about it rather than just being like, oh well, it's great for them and all the things.

Speaker 1: 52:10

But, like you said, my lifestyle now is so easy to me, it becomes so natural because I have compounded over time. I was the girl who my favorite motto back in the day was sleep when you're dead, and I just had no education or awareness around sleep. I would stay up late till 1, 2 am and then I would sleep until 11. Or if I had to go to school or uni, my alarm would go off like five minutes before I had to get up, and then I'd be in a frantic state.

Speaker 2: 52:41

Stress, anxiety, horrendous because of that. Go, go, go A hundred percent.

Speaker 1: 52:46

You have the ability to change. You're not stuck in your ways. It just comes down to you making the choice. It just comes down to you making the choice. Okay, so my five things. Oh, I love this question because on my podcast I often ask the guests what's one non-negotiable you have. So I love that I get five, because I feel like there's a lot.

Speaker 2: 53:00

You do try.

Speaker 1: 53:01

Number one is getting outside first thing.

Speaker 1: 53:03

Yep, it's just a non-negotiable Yep. Even if it's raining like it's just water unless it's like torrential pour down I'll at least go in my backyard under the thing, under the little roof outside I'll still get the daylight. And I just want to go back to what you said before around. Yes, a lot of people listening don't live by the beach. They can't watch the actual sunrise or the actual sunset. I don't see the sunset, but I'm still outside. You can see the sky unless you live underground. You can see the sky unless you live underground. You can see the sky wherever you are. So that's not an excuse. You can still go for a walk around your neighborhood, sit on your balcony, still absorb all of the goodness that we're getting from the sky at whatever time of day. So first thing in the morning, that ties into no phone in the morning. I know they're separate, but they kind of go together.

Speaker 2: 53:54

So that's a non-negotiable too.

Speaker 1: 53:55

Non-negotiable number two is no phone in the morning, no screens in the morning. My Opal, which is the app that blocks everything, it doesn't come on till 8.30. So that's about four and a half hours after I wake up. So that just gives me so much time to be with myself, get myself ready for the day, put me first before the world pulls me in a thousand different directions. I just don't want to be exposed to that. Not only the blue light, but anxiety and the stress that social media can create for people. If there's one thing I know, we're talking about a lot of things, but like not going on your phone first thing, from a nervous system standpoint, is going to impact you so much because as soon as you open your phone, you're getting notifications about emails and then you're like, oh my gosh, I've got all these things to do and oh my gosh, this person over here has got a better body than me, and even me saying that I'm like whoa, that is a lot. So number two no phone.

Speaker 1: 54:46

Number three is eating mindfully yeah and this is something that I've really focused on this year, because it was something that I was always like, yeah, like chew your food and no distractions. But then I was not being congruent with that. I was like sitting here scrolling on my phone. So this year that's been a really big priority for me. I'll sit outside, no phone, I'm not listening, I'm not even reading a book, I'm not journaling, I'm literally just sitting and being present with my food, because I love eating and a lot of people do. A lot of people love eating and we're like bypassing yeah, but we're bypassing the amazing experience that we're getting because we're just shoveling our food down, being distracted by social media or whatever we're doing, and then all of a sudden, your food's gone and you're like, oh, that's over, right. So that would be. My number three is mindful eating, and eating outside, yep mindful eating yes number four is movement.

Speaker 1: 55:41

So every single day, pretty much every day, I take my dog for a walk. I just love walking. It's just such an easy low impact, especially if I'm earthing. I love that. But I will also often incorporate either like a run or a gym class or a Pilates class. I'm a bit of like a hybrid. I'm not going to call myself an athlete, but I like to do different things. So definitely movement.

Speaker 1: 56:04

Number five would be supporting my circadian rhythm at nighttime. So that is changing all of our light bulbs and I only have a bulb on if I need it, and it's one in the kitchen which has like three. Nighttime so that is changing all of our light bulbs and I only have a bulb on if I need it, and it's one in the kitchen which has like three colors, so it's like a really amber, no blue light, but then getting off my phone as much as possible, not being on screens. Like I don't watch TV, so it's. That's not even like a thing for me.

Speaker 1: 56:29

Again, it's a choice, like I get that some people want to watch TV. I'm not going to tell you not to, but it's. Can you reduce it? Can you only watch one episode instead of seven? Can you put the filter on? Can you put your blue blockers on? Just optimize the environment that you're in and make the best choices for the results that you want. So they would be my five, because I want to feel energized, calm, clear, grounded, confident, and I know that's how I get there.

Speaker 2: 56:58

And that brings it to you those five. I could see you really struggling with just coming up with five and being restricted to five. I could see your brain ticking over as you're going through your day, because you could add seeing the sunset as another one, which would be important. Narrowing down your meal times would be another one that's important. The time with your dog walking is important. The time on the bed with the dog at night is important. These are all non-negotiables for you and they're really important.

Speaker 2: 57:27

I love that you've actually embedded those into your life. You've got nothing to complain about because you are in control of exactly what you're doing. You've made it that way. We've probably got chronically exhausted shift workers that are listening to this and going. That's just not even realistic in my life and I understand that I do because I've done shift work. I did shift work for 40 years and I know that there's times when you're backing up, you're coming back from shifts, the next shift you're on your way. You're exhausted. You've been working five times. You're getting kids to school, kids home, trying to get meals organized, blah, blah, blah. So to a chronically exhausted shift worker.

Speaker 1: 58:06

That is in that situation and scenario that I've just explained. I mean, I cannot even imagine doing shift work as a parent, like I struggled, and I just think it would be like hands up to anybody doing that because it would be so hard. I remember, you know, doing the late early of getting home at 11pm and then having to leave the house at 6am and you know that only gives you about five hours sleep when you do all the things. So I think for people who are shift workers, who are in the thick of it, that is the choice they want to make, like they want to do that job. We need shift workers.

Speaker 1: 58:39

If that is the choice that you want to make, the only thing you can then look at is what can you control, what are the small things that you can prioritize that will have the biggest result, and it's the things we've spoken about. It's when you are able and you can get outside choose to get outside rather than I'm tired and I'm just going to check social media for the 18th time today and scroll for three hours like go for a walk, like another thing, I'm going to squeeze in a six because I think it's really important Earthing, touching the earth, especially if you do shift work, if you're a nurse or you're exposed to a lot of bright lights EMFs, especially overnight earthing, is just going to help you balance out and reduce inflammation.

Speaker 2: 59:26

Talk about earthing. Just tell us what you mean by earthing, because a lot of people won't understand what earthing actually is.

Speaker 1: 59:32

Yeah, it's literally just touching your bare skin, often your bare feet, to the earth. I actually saw my partner shared because I don't wear shoes a lot of the time, so I'm like a barefoot bandit and my partner shared a reel with me. It was like seven news and they were questioning it's becoming a bit of a thing that people are going barefoot. But it's really important and such. Again, a very easy, simple and free technique that you can do, whether you're connected just in your driveway if you have a beach amazing. If you have any kind of like grassy area, which I'm sure most people either have a backyard or a nature strip is better than nothing even if you live in an apartment, if you can, especially if you've been exposed to the bright light, to the EMS, earthing standing barefoot, even if you're just still, or if you go for a walk, especially if you're near a body of water, it's going to be a lot more conductive. The earth has its own electrical system, right, and so when we're connected with the earth, we're absorbing the negative ions, which are actually good for us, and we are expelling positive ions which are negative for us. So it has a whole range of benefits.

Speaker 1: 1:00:46

My little six thing, and I do that when I'm doing my beach walk or like even now, I'm not wearing shoes, I'm inside, but I just as much as I can. I'm not wearing shoes, but that's an easy thing people can start to do right, so it's just looking at. Okay, where can I make a better choice? I can get outside the food that you're eating, where you're eating it, how you're eating it, like what we just spoke about. How can you reduce your blue light exposure as best as possible? What you have control over. Start to become aware of that and then make better choices.

Speaker 2: 1:01:18

Yeah, because you're a product of your choices that you're making today. I think I saw that on your wall the other day that we are a product of the choices that we're making. So don't complain If you're continuing to make these choices. No one's coming to save you. You have to make these choices yourself. I've got one almost final question to ask you, which is do you believe that a shift worker can actually thrive, and not just survive in their shift working life?

Speaker 1: 1:01:43

100%. And again it just comes down to prioritizing the things that you know will support you, choosing not to do the things that aren't supporting you and aren't serving you. And again, there's going to be times where you're put in situations or your sleep is out and there's things you cannot control. Don't stress about that, because that's going to cause issues. Just focus on what you could control, and there are so many elements to our health and well-being, like what we've spoken about on this episode, that you can really choose to do that. You will feel amazing benefits with.

Speaker 2: 1:02:19

We could do episode 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. We could do a whole series of this, so I've really enjoyed the chat that we've had here today. Is there anything we've touched on or we've not discussed today that you would actually like to add for our shift working community at this point?

Speaker 1: 1:02:35

I feel like we've touched all of my favourite things. I really do. I feel like we've spoken.

Speaker 2: 1:02:39

I thought we might.

Speaker 1: 1:02:40

A lot, a lot about all the good things.

Speaker 2: 1:02:43

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:02:43

I think just choose to value your health and prioritise your how good you actually can feel and just start to think about have I normalized these symptoms? Have I normalized this level of yeah, I feel okay, because I can guarantee you probably can feel better and you can tweak, even if like for me, at the start of the year I felt good but I now feel 10 times better just because I started to take responsibility for the choices that I could make. Just really take my health to another level. So that's probably what I would say Just really value your health.

Speaker 2: 1:03:22

I love that People don't realize how good you can feel and I know I feel fantastic. I gave up alcohol at the start of the year and literally the start, the 1st of January, so I'm coming up to my anniversary but I gave that up and I thought, oh, I felt pretty good and I gave that up and I've gone through the year and I've coped pretty well with a lot of things that have gone on as trauma in the background. You don't realize. You think you feel good at times in your life oh God, I feel good. But then you don't realize in two months later, because you've done something a little bit different that's worked towards that value of your own health just how much better you feel and you think, my God, it couldn't get any better than this. Then it does, and then you start to feel even more.

Speaker 2: 1:04:05

And the one thing that I feel sad, really sad about and I know you'll relate to this is, and in particular, women that have severe body image issues and are overweight and really struggling with no idea where to start, what diet to go on. It's the choices that they're making and the simple strategies that they can change that can literally make such a difference in their life without them even realizing. They just get stuck in this whole poor cycle of oh it's just so sad and it's hard, and they don't realize that that light exposure at all the wrong times and scrolling the social media, looking at all the pitfluences which I call them, and things like that is actually causing them so many problems barefoot getting outside and just getting that light right. We're on the same page, soph. Make no bones about it. The one thing that I hope that people have picked up out of this podcast I really do. I hope that they've picked it up.

Speaker 2: 1:05:04

Every single thing that you have mentioned is free. Go for a walk, free. Meditation, free, being still free. No phone, free Eating within the window. It's a free strategy, right, because you've got to eat anyway. Everyone's got to eat. But it's a matter of eating and you know that when you reduce your window of eating, you actually eat less because you're in line with your circadian rhythm. So therefore, your hunger and satiety hormones actually in line and when you eat mindfully, you actually don't eat as much because you feel quicker, because you're checked in with yourself.

Speaker 2: 1:05:39

That's free. Getting light is free. Turning off the lights at night actually saves you a ton of money. At the same time, we're in a position where majority of the things that you've actually talked to you don't have to go buy a supplement. Nothing here is a supplement. Taking your shoes and socks off and going out on the nature strip standing on the grass is free. But we need guidance. And this is where it brings me to my next question. If you've said something that people really resonate with and they'd like to ask you a question or talk to you, whereabouts can people actually find you, soph?

Speaker 1: 1:06:10

Yeah, and just going on that, like what you just said before, like there are so many people out there that are struggling, I get it. We've all been there right, like especially us as health professionals like I haven't met anyone that is now in a capacity where they're helping people with their health and wellness, that haven't been through the struggle, that haven't been through the challenges, because that's where our passion comes from, right. So I know the feeling when you're like, oh my gosh, nothing's working. I'm stuck here, you're in the loops, you get motivated because it's the new year and then you fall off three weeks later. Like I totally get it.

Speaker 1: 1:06:45

And that is where working with someone is really beneficial Even me over the last few years I mean, I always am investing in, like a naturopath, health coaches. Like I want to optimize my health the best way possible. I think there's so much power in getting support and having not only someone to guide you and kind of hold your hand essentially, but sometimes to kind of give you a little bit of like tough love. No one is coming to save you. I'm here, but you have to have two hands up for your own rescue. Let's do this as a team and that's where I found the best results, especially with my clients, when people are like, okay, I want help, but they take that level of responsibility. Sometimes you just need someone to kind of give you that nudge right.

Speaker 2: 1:07:28

Because, let's be honest, so if it was that easy, everyone would just be doing it, wouldn't they? And a lot of people don't know where to start, and I think this is where a practitioner like yourself or myself comes in to help people, to guide them, because it is a very overwhelming world and to have someone that you can have a conversation with and say to them where do I go from here, what do I do here? And you just say, hey, listen, I've got you, I've got my arm around you. I will guide you through this. I will guide you with simple steps. Trust the process.

Speaker 2: 1:07:58

Go slowly, because those people that you are seeing out there, like you people, are going to jump on your Instagram as a result of this podcast. They're going to have a look at you and go have a look at that, look at her lifestyle. It's fantastic, it's easy and all the rest, but you have actually had to work to get there. You've come from your own journey. As you quite rightly said, majority of people who work in the fitness industry or the health industry do have a background story, and I think it's really important that we acknowledge that everyone's come from that place and that's what makes them a much better practitioner to help people in that zone there. Where can people find you, soph, so they can go and have a look at your happy lifestyle and also reach out to you and ask you any questions, if there's anything that you've said that resonates with them?

Speaker 1: 1:08:45

I just play on Instagram. At the moment. It's my favorite place to hang out. You will see my dog, You'll see my sunrises. My Instagram is at I am Sophie Kate and please reach out with any questions. I know sometimes you know you hear things and you're like I miss that, or I just want to know how I can implement into my life. I am an open book, so yeah, that's where people can find me.

Speaker 2: 1:09:06

And your links will be in the show notes, so I'll put your Instagram there. I'm Sophie Kate. Now, soph, you've been amazing and I've just won a billion dollars. I've actually won heaps and heaps of money. Right Now. I know that you are living in what you would probably consider is God's only corner of the world. No doubt about it at all, because you've chosen that. But you know what I'm feeling generous and you've come on the podcast, so I'm going to build you a house anywhere in the world that you want me to build it, but you have to live in it for six months. Now I know you're going to take the dog. You don't have to take your partner if you don't want to. Maybe you want a bit of six months away and have a bit of a gap or a bit of break, or maybe you want to take them with you. That's fine.

Speaker 1: 1:09:51

I don't have any problems with that lovely yes, I am, I would have to say. I mean, there's so many places in the world that I haven't visited. There's so many places that I would love. I would have to say, though, hawaii. Okay, that would be my choice.

Speaker 2: 1:10:05

Yep, Fair enough. What any particular isle? Have you been to Hawaii?

Speaker 1: 1:10:08

I've been to Hawaii a couple of times, but I've only been to like the main island, but we stayed on the North Shore. So I love that, but I'm feeling like Maui. I've never been there, but I reckon Maui or Kauai I'm not going to be choosy, but I'd say Hawaii. I just love the lifestyle there. I've always dreamed of living a lifestyle like that, hence why I live the life that I have now. Gold Coast is like a mini Hawaii.

Speaker 2: 1:10:36

Okay, I can tell you, I've been to Kauai and I was there with my first wife and I was also there with my sister and her boyfriend at the time and we were driving in Kauai and we pulled up at this beach and we thought, wow, that's great, the beach is packed and it looks fantastic. And we jumped into the water. There was no one else in the water and we're out there and we're swimming around having a great time. And as we walk back up the beach, this great time, and as we walk back up the beach, this American man, this great big man, walked up to us and goes where are you from? I said, oh, we're Aussies. And they said do you know that's shark infested that water. And we're going that's right, we're Aussies. And we just kept on walking off and we looked at each other and thought, oh my God, we're used to it. You know what I mean. Like great story We'll about the shark infested water.

Speaker 2: 1:11:12

You can still walk up and down the beach, just keep the dog away from the water. You'll have a fantastic time. So, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. Hopefully it'll come up and be something that's really interesting for people to have a really good listen to and I want to say thank you again.

Speaker 1: 1:11:27

Thank you so much for having me. This was super fun.

Speaker 2: 1:11:29

And there you have it. That's Sophie Ballantyne. I told you it was a great chat. I really do sincerely hope that you understood the complete underlying message there and I know I banged on and I wrapped it right up, but it's all free. Everything that we talked about there is actually free, and the thing that Sophie has really highlighted in this podcast to back over just a couple of things is you are a product of what you're actually doing to yourself and if you are getting overweight and you're not feeling well and you are feeling flat and lethargy, you need to be having a look at what habits and what you're actually doing in your life. Sophie's fantastic Go across, have a look at her, get inspired by what she's actually doing on her social media, because it's simple practices, they're free practices and I can guarantee to you they work. So thanks very much, and if you got anything out of that podcast, please do me a favor. Head over and give Sophie a follow. She will guide you. She's happy to answer any questions, as you heard, and if you got anything out of this podcast and you think somebody else could benefit from it a friend or family or one of your colleagues please share the podcast, your story and tag myself and Sophie in it.

Speaker 2: 1:12:41

We would love to know that people have listened to it and gained something out of it as well. And if you'd be so kind, give the podcast a rating. It doesn't take you five seconds to give it like five stars or whatever it is that you want to rate it. And on Apple, if you could go down to the bottom there and you can actually write just a short review so that other people can find quality gold like this to help you shift workers to thrive and not just survive? I will catch you on the next one. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshiftcom. I'll catch you on the next one.