Speaker 1: 1:17

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 rigours of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show and welcome back to another episode of a Healthy Shift podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:59

I'm Roger Sutherland and today I want to have a real conversation, just you and me, because I'm seeing something happening far too often, and it's honestly pretty disturbing, and especially in our healthcare and frontline emergency services, but especially amongst you nurses. Too many of you have made burnout. Your baseline Exhaustion has become your normal, and this is not okay. So let's talk about it. You wake up tired, you're pushing through a 12-hour shift, sometimes even more, and you're giving everything that you've got to everybody else. You're barely eating properly, you don't have time to think straight and sleep. Well, we all know that. That's just completely hit and miss. Tell me, how familiar does this sound? How are you going catching up with your friends, and what energy are you giving them when you actually do? See? Here's the thing when you live like this long enough, it starts to feel normal and it gradually takes hold of you. But it's not, and if you don't do something about it, it's literally going to get worse and the impact on your health is going to be massive. So let's talk about some of the warning signs, the quiet ones that creep in when you're running on empty. And here is what I hear and I see all the time. Remember, I've coached hundreds of shift workers and it's funny because majority of them have actually been frontline and nurses in particular. And this is some of the things that I hear.

Speaker 1: 3:48

You snap easily at people and then you feel guilty later on. Put your hand up, you get to the stage where you feel quite numb at work. You've got nothing left to give to the patients because you can't even give to yourself. You're just going through the motions, you wake up and then you feel dread. I've got to go to work again every single day and that's all it is. And you're just hanging out and working for those holidays all it is. And you're just hanging out and working for those holidays. Your brain feels foggy, you forget things because you just can't focus. And here's the clincher as well, and a really good warning sign you actually crave sugar, energy drinks. You can't go to bed without having a wine, or while you're cooking dinner, or just have a wine in the evening just to get through the day.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Your digestion, your gut, is playing up. You're either eating nothing or you're eating everything in sight, and this digestion issue can come from severe stress. Without you even realizing it. Everybody's looking for what diet it is, or what they're actually eating, or to eliminate things. How about you? Eliminate stress? It's the actual best thing to eliminate from your diet full stop stress it's the actual best thing to eliminate from your diet, full stop. And then the other thing, and the saddest thing that I see, is you cancel plans because you've just got nothing left to give, there's nothing left in the tank at all, and you end up just sitting at home and doing nothing.

Speaker 1: 5:20

Now, these are all signs that your body and your brain are starting to sound a real warning alarm, but we get so conditioned to it that we just silence the alarm and we just say, oh, it's just shift work, no, it's not. This is actually leading to burnout and if you keep ignoring it, it will break you, and then you will be forced to rest, because what's going to happen is it's going to have an impact on your mental health. It's going to start to have, it's going to have an actual impact on your physical health. Your body will start to break down and this is when we end up with massive problems around sickness, with cancers, with cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and stroke. Have a look at some people that have been doing shift work for a long time. Do they look healthy? It will take hold of you. And look, I get it. I've been there dragging myself to the last shift before a holiday. How often Surviving not living, but just surviving to get to that holiday.

Speaker 1: 6:28

But here's the truth, and I say this with the utmost care to you no one is coming to rescue you. Your management won't, the system won't. Your manager might care and ask you how you're doing, but they don't know what to do. But they are also very, very stretched. This is on you, and if you want to change, then you have to be the one that has to make it. So what you need to do is you need to actually sit and think, and here is five steps that I want you to really think about. So let's talk some action. Get brutally honest with yourself. Sit down, give yourself some time to actually stop and think. It'll terrify you, but it's something that you've got to address. Stop pretending that you are okay when you're actually not Name what it is that's actually happening. I'm burnt out. It's not a weakness, it's actually just awareness, and once you're aware of it and you put a name to it, then you can get the help that you actually need.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Number two is to respect your rest. Sleep is not a luxury. I know you think it is, but it's not. It is literally the foundation of health. You must prioritize stress. You must prioritize your wind down routine. You've got to ditch those screens. They're causing you more problems than you actually realize, and I hate to say it, but you've got to cut that wine. You've got to cut that alcohol. It's causing you further problems. I've got to tell you, since I gave up drinking alcohol, I've never felt better and it's amazing when you look back on the impact that it was actually having on you.

Speaker 1: 8:19

You're always battling with that weight, that mum-tum, those chicken wings. You're always battling with it. So get consistent with your bedtime. Cut out that weight, that mum-tum, those chicken wings. You know you're always battling with it, so get consistent with your bedtime. Cut out that alcohol and if you need, then we can help you with that. The next thing you've got to fuel your body Junk food and caffeine spikes will not sustain you. I know you think, oh, I'm a shift worker, I've got to eat junk food and I've got to be on caffeine. It's going to catch up. You need protein, you've got to have fiber, and what you do need also is we need to learn about slow burning carbs, low GI foods, because small changes go a long way. I've lived it, I coach it. It makes a massive difference.

Speaker 1: 9:09

You've got to also set boundaries, and that is my point four. You don't need to say yes to every shift or every favor or every time someone calls and asks you. Learn to say no and understand that no is actually a full sentence. No, you don't have to justify it, you don't have to say anything else. All you've got to do is just say no, end of story. If you satisfy the obligations of your normal shifts, you don't have to do the overtime, you don't have to keep turning up. You don't have to do the double shifts. When someone rings you and asks you for a favor or some help, it's okay to say no, because you've got to look after you as well. And the next one is the last one.

Speaker 1: 9:53

Number five is to connect and actually speak out, because burnout absolutely thrives in silence, and I mean that. Talk to a colleague, have a chat with a friend, talk to a coach. You can approach me, I will chat with you. Do not isolate yourself, because this is diabolical and you need to sit there and have a really good look at yourself in the mirror. And what are we looking at and where have we actually gone? Because it's going to get hold of you. Look, I'm not here to scare you, but I'm not going to sugarcoat it either. And if you're listening to this and I'm hitting a nerve, you need to act. You deserve much better than dragging yourself through life completely depleted.

Speaker 1: 10:44

And let me tell you something that I wish that someone had told me a lot earlier, and that is don't hit rock bottom before you start to make a change. Start now. Make one small shift, then another. It's not about going on some massive diet to lose weight. It becomes overwhelming and you'll lose it. What you need to do is just put simple habits in place, and this is literally how I coach, because I know the other way does not work. Simple habits start to gain momentum until you just don't even recognize yourself.

Speaker 1: 11:23

If you need help with this, that is literally what I'm here for, is what I do. You do not have to do it alone, but one thing that you do have to do is take the first step now. If you need help with this, you can approach me on social media at a healthy shiftcom, or you can literally go to the Facebook group, which is A Healthy Shift. You can go to Instagram, which is at underscore sorry, at A underscore, healthy, underscore shift. There are millions of ways to reach out to me and I am more than happy to try and help you through it. I come from empathy, compassion. I can help you with this because I do also have the understanding.

Speaker 1: 12:13

So don't let it take hold of you and ask yourself if the life that you're living now is actually normal, or whether it is because you've accepted it as your new normal and it's not you at all. Don't just hang out for your next holiday, because you'll get to the holiday and then you're going back to it and you're going to go back to the same toxic rubbish, right? So keep that in mind. All right, that's it. That's my chat today. Let's get to the bar and go and have a drink, all right? Well, it's going to be a zero alcohol, but let's get to the bar and have a drink. All right, well, it's going to be a zero alcohol, but let's get to the bar and have a drink.

Speaker 1: 12:49

So, thanks for listening to A Healthy Shift. And if this episode stirred something in you, share it with a mate who you know that needs to hear it as well. And if you do want that, support, guidance or a community that gets it, come and find me at ahealthyshiftcom and until next time, take care of you. Until next time, take care of you, seriously take care of you. 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.