Speaker 1: 1:42

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.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Enjoy today's show and welcome back to A Healthy Shift. You know who I am. I'm your host, roger Sutherland. I'm the veteran shift worker health coach, and I am also someone who knows firsthand just how tough it can be to stay healthy when you work 24-7 shifts. Now, in this episode, I'm going to talk about something that I get asked about as the most common question of them all Is it possible to lose weight when I'm working night shift? Bah, there it is. There's the million-dollar question that everyone asks oh, I'm just a shift worker, so therefore I can't lose weight. Interesting one, isn't it? Let me tell you, this is a real challenge, but it is also one that you can absolutely tackle with exactly the right approach, and I'm going to talk about it today. So stick with me because I'm going to explain why night shift messes with your body, why most of those diets that you have tried are failing a shift worker, and what there is that you can start doing today to not only lose weight but to feel so much better on and off your shifts.

Speaker 1: 3:29

First of all, let's cover the million dollar question why is it so hard to lose weight on night shift or on shift work? First off, let's talk about why weight gain is so common for shift workers, especially night shifters, because it's a really important topic. Well, it comes down to something called your circadian rhythm. Hello, here it is again. Unbelievable, isn't it? That circadian rhythm, that damn little pesky clock that keeps on running 24 hours, really does cause us a lot of problems. Well, actually, it causes us a lot of problems as shift workers, not so much your day-walking friends, because they are all in line with it, but that doesn't mean that you need to give up.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Let's talk about that. It's your body's natural 24-hour clock. It controls your sleep, it's controlling those hormones, it's controlling your energy and, most importantly, your metabolism energy and, most importantly, your metabolism. Now, our bodies are designed to be active and eating during the day and resting and fasting at night, but when you flip that and when you are awake at 2 am and reaching for those snacks, your body's natural systems get thrown out of whack. Now the key issue is this your metabolism actually slows down at night. Your insulin response is weaker, which means that your body is more likely to store food as fat instead of using it for energy. So it's not that you're weak or you're lazy, it's just that you're fighting your actual biology and that's why so many shift workers find themselves gaining weight over time without really understanding why. And here's an interesting fact for you Research actually shows that night shift workers, or shift workers, don't tend to eat anything more than regular nine-to-fivers do, which is quite interesting. So why are shift workers gaining body fat? That's the million-dollar question. Is the calories in calories out equation not so correct for the shift worker? Who knows? And in time in research we will learn a lot more about this but we do know one thing, and that is that shift workers don't tend to eat more, but they do gain body fat. So what's going on, first of all? Secondly, actually let's talk about why diets normal diets often fail our shift working community. Now, most of the diets out there are not built for our shift working community. Now, most of the diets out there are not built for our shift working community. Now.

Speaker 1: 6:04

You've probably tried some of them. Cutting calories, you do this intermittent fasting. That they call intermittent fasting, which is time-restricted eating. Jenny's been doing keto and she's lost a heap of weight. Yeah, good on you, jen. Karen's done low carb, lost a heap of weight. Yeah, good on you, jen. Karen's done low carb. Whatever the latest trend is, they're all over it. But I want you to check in with them again in 12 months and see where they're at in 12 months, because you might lose the weight but you're not losing the body fat. That's the bottom line. They lose a bit, they lose the water and they get on the scale and they think they've lost kilos. Or they're telling you that they've lost kilos but they're not really losing body fat, because keto and low carb is basically just cutting the water out of your system.

Speaker 1: 6:48

But the problem is that these diets usually assume that you're awake during the day and you're asleep at night. But that's not your life and when you try to copy the diet of someone on a nine to five, it will lead to this as a shift worker fatigue classic symptom of a poor diet fatigue, cravings, mood swings because you're hormonally imbalanced, and even burnout, where you just throw your hands up and you completely give up. You're not only dealing with the burnout of your job, but now you're dealing with what are you going to do about a diet and how are you going to lose body fat? And it just creeps on and on and on and you don't realize until one day you go to order your uniform. And we all know, because a lot of us that listen to this podcast are actually uniform wearers and we get constantly reminded every single time we go to work. Are you putting on a police uniform or a paramedics uniform or a fireman's uniform? Are you wearing a uniform in your control center or your call taking or wherever you work? Are you wearing a uniform Because you're getting reminded and all of a sudden, you're going up a size, and then you're going up another size, and then you're going up another size, and then you're going up another size, and then, before you realize it, you're three or four sizes up and you think, my God, what happened? Where did it go? It's frustrating, isn't it? And it really does cause us a lot of grief and people comment on it, and when they comment on it, it sends you spiraling out of control.

Speaker 1: 8:24

Now, the truth is, weight loss for shift workers needs to follow different rules, and that's why I'm here. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I honestly thought that nutrition was the issue as to why shift workers were gaining weight, so I returned to study at 55. After 35 years in the cops, I returned to study because I was going to solve all the problems with nutrition, and while it is nutrition essentially, there are so many contributing factors that sit over the top of that to help shift workers with, which is where I have such a good record now with clients working with them one-to-one to unpick and work through all of the issues and solve a lot of the issues that sit over the top of nutrition. And you wouldn't believe it, but nutrition just takes care of itself.

Speaker 1: 10:39

Now it's not just what you eat, but it's actually when you eat that truly matters. This is where something called chrononutrition comes in. So what is the actual power of chrononutrition? Now, chrononutrition is basically the science of timing your food intake to match your body's natural rhythms, and this is what I'm a specialist at in working with this with the shift working community, because even when you're on nights, you can't make the excuse. Your body doesn't say oh, I'm a shift worker, I'm a night shift worker, so therefore we flip our meals. And this is when I work. Your body still has a biological clock. You're a human. You're on a diurnal rhythm that influences how well you digest and how well you metabolize food, and the biggest mistake that I see shift workers making is eating their main meal right in the middle of the night or later in the day, at midnight, 2am, sitting down to a bowl of pasta. Hey guys, I've been there. I've done this spaghetti bolognese at three in the morning, don't you worry about that. I've done that. We've all sat down to our roasts at three o'clock in the morning because someone back in the stations cooked it up for us. We've all done that. We've all brought our food in and we get a break at three o'clock and we eat. But we are actually sabotaging our own health by doing it. It's when our body is least prepared to metabolize and store it. It's very efficient at storing it. It's called body fat. So instead, here's what will work better for us Eat your main meal before the shift, outside of the shift.

Speaker 1: 12:20

If you're on nights, for example, if you have dinner around 4, 5 o'clock or even 6 before you start work then this meal should be balanced and should include proteins, some healthy fats and some carbs, nothing too heavy, nothing that's going to strain your body overnight. And then what we do is we set ourselves up with a light snack during the shift, just enough to get us through. Something like protein, a Greek yogurt, nuts, some boiled eggs or even just a small wrap. Just something light. Something light that we can put into our system to sustain us and keep us going, but something that is not going to bog us right down in our gut, and we need to avoid those heavy meals. At the very minimum after midnight. I recommend from 9pm to 6am. I honestly do.

Speaker 1: 13:11

I never ate on night shift from 9pm to 6am. I would eat before then and then I would just literally have a highly blitz soup or something like that, something that just slipped through the system. That made it really easy, because your digestive system has completely slowed down. Regardless of whether you're awake, exposed to light, doing whatever you're doing, your body has slowed down and eating big meals at this time leads to sluggishness and it also absolutely categorically leads to fat gain body fat gain. This is where it comes from, and when you finish your shift, just have a small snack.

Speaker 1: 13:52

The focus should be actually on getting to sleep, not eating a huge breakfast, but I always found that a little bit of protein, a little bit of carbohydrate helped to sleep. So a little bit of protein in I would have protein. Or you can just have some cheese and veggie in my toast. Honestly, seriously, you can make it really light, but nothing too heavy or too big, because it will impact on your sleep. And if you look at it there, by simply changing the timing of when you put your food in, without even changing what you eat, you will definitely start to notice a difference. Long term, you will notice a difference. I absolutely did Huge difference. It's one of the best weight loss strategies. You can pretty much eat the same. Just change when you eat it. That will make such a big difference. So let's talk about some practical steps for our night shifters and fat loss. Here's what you can start doing today to lose weight on night shift, to lose body fat. So sit down, get ready, grab your pen.

Speaker 1: 14:52

Number one you've got to prioritize sleep. Yes, rog, I know I've got to prioritize sleep, but I'm a shift worker. No, that's a lame excuse. You need to prioritize sleep. This has got to be your number one pillar, because poor sleep drives your hunger hormones like ghrelin and reduces leptin. Now, ghrelin is the hormone that tells us I'm hungry, I'm hungry, and leptin is the hormone that tells us I'm hungry, I'm hungry, and leptin is the hormone that tells us that you're full. When those two hormones are out of balance due to poor balance in your sleep, then you have problems with appetite regulation, and lack of sleep also increases your body's stress response, which leads to those cravings of highly palatable carbohydrates and fats, especially high calorie and sugary foods. Why? Because your body's craving energy, glucose. So make your sleep environment dark, cool, quiet. Wear yourself an eye mask. Wear yourself an eye mask If you can see your hand and your outstretched arm. It's too light in your room. Put an eye mask on and set boundaries with your phone. Sleep is your fat loss foundation. I know you don't believe me, but I'm telling you that sleep is the fat loss foundation of all.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Number two is to eat mindfully before your shift. Plan your meal break before work. Don't rush it. Make it balanced and satisfying. And eat it mindfully so that you are not starving at 2am. If you scoff it at nine o'clock you are going to be hungry at 2am. Eat it mindfully and slowly. That's number two.

Speaker 1: 16:35

Number three stay hydrated, hydrated. Hydration will replace a lot Hunger and dehydration comes from the same center in the brain and the brain is not very clever at working out what signal it is. Dehydration can literally feel like hunger. So if you've got a water bottle with you, keep sipping it. You might find that by sipping the water actually gets rid of the hunger craving. Herbal teas can help enormously as well. Just by a little bit of flavored water or something. Watch the caffeine Caffeine. Just be careful of caffeine. It will impact on sleep, impact on your fat loss. I know a lot of people use caffeine as an appetite suppressant. It's not helping you, especially in the second half of your shift when you need to be winding down ready for sleep.

Speaker 1: 17:27

The next thing is plan your snacks. Bring your own snacks with you. If you rely on the vending machine or a bakery at work, then you're likely to end up with ultra-processed foods that leave you craving more. Some really good snack options that you can actually have is Greek yogurt. I loved, loved, loved to have just a handful of nuts with me in a container. Don't take the whole bag, just a handful of nuts in a container. Nuts are amazing. A protein smoothie, something that slips through. Hard-boiled eggs are a great snack to have on night shift. And veggie sticks with hummus, carrot sticks, celery sticks with a bit of hummus Fantastic snack for you to have on night shift. Not buckets of it, just small amounts, just enough to give you a bit of sustenance to get through.

Speaker 1: 18:14

The other thing that we need to do is number five, and that's move our body. Even light movement helps to regulate that blood sugar. It also helps to improve our sleep. Even a short walk just before bed with some gentle stretching I've got some clients that love to stretch before they go to sleep. It helps them to do some controlled breathing, it helps them to manage their stress and it works really well for you to go to sleep before. Or even a workout on your days off. All of this literally adds up to getting some form of movement which helps with their glucose metabolism, which stops that floating around and ending up getting parked as body fat. Simple. Now the common pitfalls that we need to avoid. Really important, really important. I want you to pay particular attention to this. There are a few traps that shift workers fall into that I really want you to be vigilant of and avoid yourself.

Speaker 1: 19:09

Number one don't skip meals all day. Don't just go. I didn't get time to eat. That's rubbish. You've always got time to get something to eat, even if you get it on the fly. And for those of you in Australia that are running around from job to job, you can zip via a 7-Eleven and you can pick up a protein drink, or you can pick up a fresh sandwich and wrap or something like that. It doesn't have to be an energy drink. That's not what you need. What you need is a protein milk drink. You're going to get the electrolytes. That's not what you need. What you need is a protein milk drink. You're going to get the electrolytes, you'll get the protein, you'll get the carbohydrates, you'll get all the good stuff out of that and it'll slip through the system nicely. So that's something you need to do. Do not skip. Don't skip meals, because what will happen is that you will end up not eating at all, and then, when you do start eating, you'll lose control and you'll end up eating at all, and then, when you do start eating, you'll lose control and you'll end up eating at midnight a whole pizza and you'll have all sorts of issues. Now the other thing that we've got to stop doing is we've got to stop relying on these.

Speaker 1: 20:08

Goddamn, I don't know why they call them an energy drink. Honestly, people that are drinking Red Bulls or White Monsters or whatever how are these things possibly energy drinks when they've got zero calories? I want you to think about the logic behind what you're actually doing. Oh, it's got caffeine in it. Hang on, it's got caffeine. Caffeine only prevents us from sleeping, which is a great idea when you're on night shift. But what we need is energy, and there's no energy in it at all Nothing. You'd be much better off having yourself something like a protein drink, like an Oak Plus or something like that that's got protein, or a Rokeby drink or something along those lines. They're really good. You could call it an energy drink because it's actually got calories. Calories, equal energy, end of story.

Speaker 1: 20:56

Don't go with zero energy, because you'll only end up having that and then you'll have to have something more. What they do is they spike your blood sugar and then it leads to a crash which leads you feeling more tired and then more hungry. So you end up eating more because there's no calories in it. All right, keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 21:15

Don't over-restrict. I've seen so many shift workers try to cut calories so hard that it's just not sustainable, especially with the added stress of shift work. They get to the end of the shift and then they just open the pantry and away they go one thing after the other Chips, chocolates, lollies, the tub of ice cream. Oh my God, I can't stop eating, and the majority of the reason is because you've restricted far too much during the day. So what I need you to do is to focus on consistency over perfection, because one good choice will end up leading to another good choice and you'll start really looking after your body. Go slowly. There's no magic solution to fat loss, but I will tell you that, as a shift worker, the best way to lose weight on shift work is consistency, with small changes, and when you eat, not so much what you're eating, it makes such a big difference.

Speaker 1: 22:10

So let's wrap this up. First of all, this is not about perfection. Shift work is never going to let you be the perfect fat loss client. It doesn't, and that's why the way I coach clients is I support them and help them with empathy. Because I've been there, I know that some of those shifts you can get two horrendous shifts in a row. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world, what it is, it's just two bad shifts.

Speaker 1: 22:37

And then what we do is we work on how we can strategize around that for next time. Because when we've got the right strategies and we focus on when you eat, what you eat, how you recover from it, you can absolutely reach your fat loss goals. It's about playing the long game. It's about small, consistent actions and not extremes. And the best part when you start eating in a way that supports your body clock, you'll not only lose weight, but the other onset from that is you'll have more energy, you'll get better sleep, fewer cravings, which means you'll lose more body fat and you'll move a lot more. Because you are moving more, you're going to lose more body fat. You've got to break into that cycle somewhere. You've just got to break into that cycle somewhere and the key is literally changing from what you're eating to when you're actually eating it and really focusing on what it is and where you want to get to around that, because that's going to make a huge difference for you, I promise you and this is where I get all of my success with clients and if I can help you with that, all you got to do is reach out to me.

Speaker 1: 23:51

You can go to ahealthyshiftcom and you can hit the coaching page right down the very bottom. There you can book a free 15-minute coaching assessment call where we can have a conversation and I will show you where I can help you and how I can help you as a client, and we will make a huge inroad. It won't be tomorrow and it won't be in an eight-week F45 challenge, but by golly, over time it will be sustainable, because you don't know anybody that's lost weight in an F45 challenge and kept it off. Mark my words, and if you do, then you're a unicorn, because it doesn't happen too often because people are not educated on how to come out of it. All right, go to healthyshiftcom. The coaching is up the top. Just click on that and go to the very bottom and you can book an appointment with me there and I will do a 15-minute coaching assessment call with you and let me help you to actually reverse it and turn it all around. It's a slow process. You won't feel like you're dieting, you won't feel like you're doing anything. We just restructure everything that you're doing, and that's it for today's episode of a Healthy Shift podcast.

Speaker 1: 25:00

Now, I hope you did find this one helpful and if you did share it with fellow shift workers, share it to Instagram stories, to your Facebook, to whatever because there will be people out there that can use this information. A lot of shift workers are battling with fat gain and don't forget, if you want more tips or resources, there is literally heaps on healthyshiftcom, or you can follow me on Instagram at a underscore healthy, underscore shift. I'm right there. Thanks for listening. Take care, stay healthy and I will catch you. Catch you on the next episode. 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.