Social Jet Lag And Timing

Signal One Early Daylight

Signal Two Eat At Normal Times

Signal Three Move Early Outside

Why These Signals Work

The Seven Day Challenge

Subscribe Review And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 1:41

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 back to another episode of a Healthy Shift Podcast. You are so welcome. Now, today's episode, I'm going to make it very simple. Just give me seven days and I'll fix your shift work rhythm for you. There's going to be a challenge at the end of this one, but I really want you to give the best possible attention that you can give it to. Give it a try, humor me, and watch the difference that this makes. Because most shift workers don't have a motivation problem. It's not. It's not about motivation, it's about breaking into that cycle. What you actually have is a timing problem. You're trying to feel good in a body that literally has no idea what time it is. And that's why you feel flat and wired and hungry. And your body just doesn't know. And you're out of sync with life and you've got brain fog and fatigue. And there's a name for this, and it's called social jet lag. What it means is your internal body clock is not matching what you're actually seeing and experiencing in life. And this causes all of those problems for you. So this is what happens when that internal clock in your real world don't line up. And most people try to fix it with more sleep, more caffeine, I got to be more disciplined. But this is not right. And it's not the lever. The lever is actually the input, the data that you're putting into it, the signals. Because your body runs on cues, not motivation, not willpower, not discipline. So today I'm going to give you those three signals. And if you do these for seven days straight, no overthinking it, no perfect plan. This is not about I'm starting on Monday and it's got to be meal preps and everything else. I just want you to focus on these three things. And then I want you to let me know how it is you feel after those seven days. Signal number one, early daylight. Oh, but Roger, I'm a shift worker. Right. Shut up and listen to me, all right? Because I'm sick of your excuses. This is the strongest signal that you have. Light hitting your eyes early in your day tells your brain night is over, this is the day. Start the clock. It's that simple. It's biological. You can't beat it. That's what it does. This sets your rhythm for the next 24 hours. All of those hormones shift, alertness rises, sleep pressure builds properly later. You got the early light, and you start to get tired towards the end of the day. So here's the rule. What you got to do is you've got to get light, daylight into your eyes early in the wake period. Not through the glass, not from a screen, actual daylight. Repeat, actual daylight. Doesn't matter whether it's a sunny blue sky or whether it's overcast and raining, daylight. Now, 10 to 15 minutes is enough on a bright day, a bit longer if it's cloudy. But even after a night shift, you still need to think about how you are actually using daylight. Think about it, daylight. Because sometimes that means a controlled exposure. And it might mean that you need to get that light at a different time, but you still need to get it. Because you've got to anchor that circadian rhythm at some stage. Most of you are totally underexposed to daylight. You get all the light overnight, you get all the light inside during the day, but you're not getting the daylight. This one change alone can literally shift your energy and sleep quality within days. And this is what my clients notice. Now let's go to signal number two. I want you to try this for one week. I only want you to eat at normal times. Now hear me out. Because your body clock doesn't just run on a clock in your brain. So your organs do too. And food is one of the main signals. So when you start eating at random times, especially through the night, what you're doing is you're actually confusing your system. Your blood sugar control is really depleted at night. There is less insulin being released. There is more sugar in your bloodstream. You're going to spike and drop. Digestion really slows down. And because of this, fat storage increases. That's where the weight comes from. So here's the rule that you're going to follow. I want you to eat within a consistent window for one week. What I also want you to try is to put more food earlier in the day and less as the day goes on. I don't want you eating at 2 a.m. in the morning or 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. We do not, do not flip our meals. Now, if you want to learn more about the circadian fast, I've written an e-book on this. And you can literally go to any of my social media posts and type the word fast, F-A-S-T. Or you can go to the website and you can scroll down and you'll see there's a place. And do you know what? It's free. I've released this book. It's an e-book, it explains the circadian fast, it explains why we don't eat overnight and how to go about it. I would highly recommend that you try it. We don't constantly snack over 16, 17, 18 hours. Even if you're awake at night, this does not mean that your body wants food. And this is where the majority of the shift workers go wrong. What they do is they match eating to being awake. And that's a mistake. You want to match eating to biology, not just your roster. Remember, the clock in your brain is more important than the clock on the wall. So start your eating window when you wake up at the right meal time. If you wake up at 10 in the morning, very small snack. Have your lunch at the main lunch time. If you wake up at 2 in the afternoon, very light snack. Have your main meal at 6 p.m. We are always having the majority of our food in those normal day walker meal times. And we just lightly snack outside of that. Because our body is primed to metabolize and store nutrients during those times. It's why we get hungry at those times. All of our digestive juices are running, everything's ready to go at that time. And this is on a circadian cycle. You can't change it. So start your eating window, your main meals on the main meal times. Your body will handle food better. Your energy will stabilize so much better. And those cravings that you get, they will drop. That's signal number two. Now let's look at signal number three. That is early movement. And this one is simple. Just move early in your wait period. And I'm not saying get out of bed and walk to the couch. And that's movement. That's not what we call movement. Well, it is. It's movement, but it's not what we need. What we need is we need outside movement because then we're hitting two cues. We're hitting daylight and movement. Because what this does is it stacks on top of that light exposure. Now you're combining two strong signals at once. Because movement tells your body, okay, we're active, we're alive. This is the daytime. It improves that blood flow. It raises your body temperature, it sharpens alertness. Now you don't have to go out for a full goddamn workout. A walk is enough. 10 to 20 minutes outside, light in your eyes, body moving. That is the most unbelievable, most powerful combination ever. But most people delay that movement or they skip it. Oh, I don't feel like it. You know why you don't feel like it? Because you didn't do it. But if you get up and go and do it, then you will feel like it. And you will feel so much better through the rest of the day. A lot of people just delay it. They just think, oh, I'll go later. They never get to later, so they never go. I've heard all the excuses under the sun from clients and from people that message me. Oh, I don't get the chance. Did you go first up? No. Well, is it any wonder? Well, yeah, I meant to, but I just never got there. And this is where the problem happens. And then you wonder why you feel slow, you feel desynchronized, you got brain fog, and you feel like that for hours, or it hits you at the worst possible time in the afternoon. You don't need more intensity. You don't need to make it fully impactful. You just need better timing and movement. Now, why does this work? Because these three things all hit the same system. They are what are known as Zekgebers, which are time cues for your internal timing system. It controls sleep, hormones, metabolism, mood, cognitive function. Because when those signals are messy, your biology is messy. And when your signals are clear, your body is well organized. You don't have to force it, it adjusts. You get better sleep pressure at night. So you're actually going to sleep because you are ready for sleep. Better alertness during your wake period because your body knows that it's daytime. Better appetite control because we're humans and we're supposed to eat during the day. And better metabolic health because our body is primed to metabolize and diet and digest, sorry, metabolize and store nutrients optimally. This isn't the theory. This is not just my theory. This is actually basic biology. And when you understand that, it makes an enormous difference. And here's your reality check. Right now, you're probably doing the opposite of what I'm telling you. You wake up and stay inside. You're eating at all different hours. You move later, or you don't get to move at all. And then you try and fix the outcome with supplements or gadgets. More sleep. Sleep in. Oh, I've got to catch up. More supplements. A whole heap more effort. Go to the gym, smash yourself. But you're stressing an already stressed body. All your inputs are all wrong. And you can't expect to feel in sync when your signals are in chaos. So here's what I want you to do, and this is your challenge. For the next seven days, that's it. That's all I asked for. I want you to do these three things. When you wake up, open the blinds and get daylight in your eyes. Go outside, get that coffee, hydrate, caffeinate, go outside and just sit out there for 10 or 15 minutes. Get early daylight. I know you're gonna come at me and say, but it's not light yet, Rog, so I can't. I don't care. Get it when you can. Get the daylight when you can. On a break, get outside. If you're if you got any job that you've got, you can get outside at that time. Move early outside. You don't need to change anything else. Just keep it simple. And then at the end of the week, I want you to ask yourself do I actually feel more alert? Is my energy more stable? Am I sleeping better? Do I feel more in sync? Because that's the goal. It's not perfection. All you gotta do is get aligned. So I want you to remember this, and this is where it's really important. You can't catch up on sleep. You can't eat at the wrong times and expect your body to cope. And you can't live under artificial light and feel normal. Your body needs signals at the right time, the right ones. So try that for a week. Then I want you to come back to me and I want you to tell me how you feel. And if you need help in setting this up, go to the link in the show notes and let's you and I have a conversation and talk about it. 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 ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.