May 4, 2025 • 13 mins
Text me what you thought of the show 😊
Ever wake up feeling like you’ve already lost the day before it even starts?
If you’re a shift worker, that feeling isn’t just common—it’s a sign your body clock is out of sync. But the fix doesn’t come from supplements or strict routines. It starts in the first 30 minutes after you wake up.
In this episode, I share the 6-step morning routine that’s helped countless shift workers reset their energy, focus, and sleep—without overhauling their lives.
You'll learn why checking your phone first thing drains your energy, and how just a few minutes of natural light can reset your body clock better than any energy drink. Plus, the truth about caffeine and why hydration is the real key to focus and recovery—especially after back-to-back shifts.
Try it for a week. You’ll feel the difference
Ready to finally wake up with more energy—no matter what shift you’re on?
Hit play now and learn how a simple morning routine can change everything. Your next shift could feel completely different.Â
----------------------------
ANNOUNCING
"The Shift Workers Collective"
https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective
Click the link to learn all about it
-----------------------------
YOU CAN FIND ME AT
COACHING
_____________________
Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
_______________________
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
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 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers using
evidence-based methods, to notonly survive the rigours of
(00:28):
shift work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and wellbeing so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show and welcomeback to the Healthy Shift
Podcast.
I'm Roger Sutherland and todaywe are talking about something
(00:51):
very, very simple but extremelypowerful.
Now hear me out.
It's your wake-up routine.
Now I'm not talking about somefluffy, picture-perfect morning
with candles and mantras,standing in front of the mirror
telling yourself you're awesome,although you can do that if you
wish.
I'm talking about what actuallyworks for us, the shift worker.
People who don't live on anine-to-five schedule In fact,
(01:14):
nine-to-fivers can absolutelyuse this and would benefit
enormously from it.
People need real strategies,they don't need fantasy, so
let's get straight into it.
It's a short and sharp grabbyone.
Today, first thing you got to dowhen you wake up and here's a
habit that's horrendous thatyou're going to have to break
Don't touch your phone Once youwake up.
(01:37):
This is rule number one for youevery single morning.
Don't reach for your phone,seriously.
Every single morning Don'treach for your phone.
Seriously.
Don't check your notifications,emails or your socials.
That screen and what it'sgiving you is going to scramble
your brain before the day evenbegins.
Nothing good comes from it.
If you think about it, you justreach for it and you aimlessly
(01:59):
scroll.
Got to check the email?
Oh, what's happening on thesocials.
Who's doing what?
The brightness, the informationoverload, the cortisol spike,
is not how you want to startyour day.
Just get up and take yourselfto the bathroom because, let's
face it, that's where we all gotto go when we first wake up, to
(02:19):
get rid of that bodily wastethat it's been working on all
night.
So that's the first one Ruleone do not touch your phone.
Number two let's let the lightin Once you come back from the
bathroom, open the curtains andlet that morning light flood
back in.
Two things you can do here.
You can try by jumping backinto bed for a few minutes, or
(02:42):
you can just sit on the edge ofthe bed and just look out the
window.
Now, before anybody at me, Iknow that in certain parts of
the world it's going to be pitchblack when you wake up.
What we are doing here is weare cashing in on the days that
we can.
We are controlling thecontrollable.
So what we're going to do isopen the curtains and let the
(03:03):
morning light in.
And we're going to do is openthe curtains and let the morning
light in.
Well, we're going to lay thereor sit there with our eyes open
and we're literally just goingto take in the daylight, just
drink in that daylight into theeyes.
Why is this?
Because this gives our brain achance to actually go okay, this
is where we're at it's daytime.
Suppress all that sleephormones, suppress everything
(03:24):
sleep related.
Let's get ourselves.
Let's get that cortisol up,let's get ourselves going and
let's get going and into the day.
We don't want it from the phone, we don't want the news, we
don't want to know what the hellis happening with work.
We just want light.
And why?
Because the morning lightresets your circadian rhythm.
(03:45):
It helps your brain and bodyknow that it's time to be awake
and it will queue up your energyand your hormones for the day
ahead.
Natural light exposure firstthing equals better sleep later.
Especially important for usshift workers.
That's step two.
Let the light in Number three.
(04:06):
Skip the coffee machine, fornow.
Relax, I'm not taking it offyou Now.
This one is definitely going toruffle a few feathers out there
.
But don't head for the coffeemachine yet why.
I'll tell you why.
We automatically just do it.
We go and get caffeine.
Oh, I need caffeine to wake up.
Caffeine doesn't wake you up.
(04:27):
Caffeine is not energy.
Let me say that again.
Caffeine contains zero energy.
It doesn't fuel you.
It just blocks the chemicalthat tells your brain that
you're tired, and this is calledadenosine.
And that's it.
The coffee molecule imitatesthe adenosine molecule and
(04:49):
blocks the adenosine receptorand prevents adenosine from
getting to that receptor andmaking you tired.
That's what it does.
We do this out of habit.
We get up, we turn the coffeemachine on and away we go.
It's automatic.
But first thing in the morning,your body doesn't need a
blocker, it actually needs water.
(05:09):
And that brings me out of stepthree, which you skip the coffee
machine into.
Step four rehydrate first.
Now you've just spent six toeight hours horizontal breathing
, sweating, maybe even mouthbreathing, and you've lost water
and you haven't replaced any.
So when we get to the kitchen,we're going to grab a big
(05:30):
tumbler of water and we're goingto drink at least 500 mil of
water.
Now, for you in America, you'llhave to convert that 500 ml to
ounces, but that's what we needto do.
It's two cups.
I drink nearly 1.8 litres in themorning to get going.
(05:53):
That's where I'm at now.
I won't drink any more thanthat because there's no need
going.
That's where I'm at now.
I won't drink any more thanthat because there's no need,
but that's what I drink.
I've built up to that.
A lot of people do this as well.
But 500 ml if you think that'sa lot, you need more.
You actually need more in.
So it's really important Now.
This rehydration actuallykickstarts your digestion.
This sets you up for the day,it supports blood flow and it
(06:20):
will actually help your brain toliterally fire up properly.
It's what your body actuallywants, not caffeine.
It will help to flush out thetoxins from overnight that your
brain and your body has beenworking on eradicating and then
flush them out.
And guess what?
Then, when you do finally havethat coffee, oh, it tastes so
much.
That's step four rehydration.
(06:42):
Step five we want fuel, realfuel.
Now here's where most of us getit wrong.
We wake up, crash, bang, crash,toilet straight off into the
fridge, chuck the clothes on,grab an energy drink out the
door, scull that all the way towork.
We're short on time, we'rerushing, so we just grab that
(07:02):
from the fridge.
But let's be honest.
I want to be clear with you sothat you understand this A zero
sugar energy drink equals zerocalories.
Zero calories equals zeroenergy.
Calories are a unit of energy,just so you understand.
They are a unit of energy andwhen there's zero calories,
(07:24):
there's zero energy.
Understand this.
You're drinking a can ofstimulants with no fuel.
It's no wonder you crash bymid-morning.
So instead, here's what I wantyou to do Put flavored protein
milk in your fridge.
Now.
Here in Australia we havevarious ones.
There's the Rokeby Farms,there's the Oat Plus, there's
(07:47):
the Rokeby Bold Brews with thecaffeine in it.
There's a whole range Farmer'sMarket or whatever it is.
They've got some as well.
Aldi, you've got them.
You can just go in.
You can get protein milk,protein, flavored milk.
This has got protein which isgoing to preserve muscle and
it's going to keep you to fullerfor longer.
Most of them have got about 30grams of protein in it.
(08:09):
This is ideal way to start yourday.
It's got milk, which is greatfor hydration.
It gives you calcium and get.
This milk is high inelectrolytes as well, which is
going to help you to charge upand get going as well, which is
going to help you to charge upand get going.
Plus, it's got 300, plus actualcalories, which is going to
(08:31):
fuel your brain and your body.
I want you to remember thesecalories are in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are the preferredsource of energy for the brain
and central nervous system.
For our body, that's the fuelyou need and that is literally
what gets you going.
Go to the fridge, grab your OakPlus or your Rokeby Farms or
whatever, and take that and sipon that.
(08:52):
You watch the difference thatthis makes to your life.
Forget your Red Bulls and yourMonsters.
Get out there with yourflavoured milk.
And I'm not talking big M's andthings like that with the added
sugar.
I'm talking about the no addedand things like that with the
added sugar.
I'm talking about the no addedsugar protein milks.
The next thing you need to do isyou need to get outside and get
moving.
Now I'm talking a day off here,as soon as you can get outside
(09:17):
and move, even just for five orten minutes, even just a short
walk around the block.
Why outside?
Because those lights insideyour house, even with all the
lights on, are around about 500lux of light.
Daylight, even on a cloudy day,when you step outside, is more
than 10,000 lux of light.
(09:38):
That is enormous difference inlight and this is one of the
reasons why people are so flatthat spend the whole time
indoors inside their house.
Even with the lights on,there's not enough light.
It's the blue light that weneed from outside, which helps
to reset that circadian rhythmand really locks in our body
(10:00):
clock to its daytime.
The bonus this will actuallyhelp you to sleep later.
It tells your body that this isday so it can later switch
properly into night as it startsgetting dark Light movement
natural, free, goddamn, it'spowerful.
It's incredibly powerful.
(10:21):
It's incredibly powerful.
They're my six steps Now.
I understand they're not alleasy to do every day, but we can
do them on a lot of days.
Apologies, right, so let'srecap this.
So here's your new wake-uproutine.
Give it a try.
Don't touch your phone, go tothe bathroom, open the curtains
(10:46):
and take in that daylight for 15minutes.
10 to 15 minutes, rehydratebefore your caffeine, eat real
food with energy like a proteinmilk, and then get outside and
move.
It's simple, it's doable andit's just incredibly effective,
and everyone that's tried itcomes back to me and says I
cannot believe the differencethat this actually makes.
(11:08):
So here is your challenge.
I want you to give this routinea go for one week.
Get up at the same time and dothis for one week, seven days,
that's it.
And then I want you to askyourself how do I feel?
Do I actually have more energy?
Am I less groggy?
Am I sleeping better and wakingup better?
(11:30):
Because let me ask you this howis your current routine working
for you right now?
So let's stop doing what we'vealways done just because it's
easy.
That's our comfort zone.
Get out of that.
Try this instead.
Let me know how you go.
I'd love to hear your feedback.
So thanks for listening.
I'm Roger Sutherland.
This is a Healthy Shift podcastand until next time, take care
(11:54):
of yourself and give this a go.
I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
It would also be ever sohelpful if you could leave a
rating and review on the appyou're currently listening on.
(12:17):
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshiftcom.
I'll catch you on the next one.
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 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers using
evidence-based methods, to notonly survive the rigours of
(00:28):
shift work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and wellbeing so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show and welcomeback to the Healthy Shift
Podcast.
I'm Roger Sutherland and todaywe are talking about something
(00:51):
very, very simple but extremelypowerful.
Now hear me out.
It's your wake-up routine.
Now I'm not talking about somefluffy, picture-perfect morning
with candles and mantras,standing in front of the mirror
telling yourself you're awesome,although you can do that if you
wish.
I'm talking about what actuallyworks for us, the shift worker.
People who don't live on anine-to-five schedule In fact,
(01:14):
nine-to-fivers can absolutelyuse this and would benefit
enormously from it.
People need real strategies,they don't need fantasy, so
let's get straight into it.
It's a short and sharp grabbyone.
Today, first thing you got to dowhen you wake up and here's a
habit that's horrendous thatyou're going to have to break
Don't touch your phone Once youwake up.
(01:37):
This is rule number one for youevery single morning.
Don't reach for your phone,seriously.
Every single morning Don'treach for your phone.
Seriously.
Don't check your notifications,emails or your socials.
That screen and what it'sgiving you is going to scramble
your brain before the day evenbegins.
Nothing good comes from it.
If you think about it, you justreach for it and you aimlessly
(01:59):
scroll.
Got to check the email?
Oh, what's happening on thesocials.
Who's doing what?
The brightness, the informationoverload, the cortisol spike,
is not how you want to startyour day.
Just get up and take yourselfto the bathroom because, let's
face it, that's where we all gotto go when we first wake up, to
(02:19):
get rid of that bodily wastethat it's been working on all
night.
So that's the first one Ruleone do not touch your phone.
Number two let's let the lightin Once you come back from the
bathroom, open the curtains andlet that morning light flood
back in.
Two things you can do here.
You can try by jumping backinto bed for a few minutes, or
(02:42):
you can just sit on the edge ofthe bed and just look out the
window.
Now, before anybody at me, Iknow that in certain parts of
the world it's going to be pitchblack when you wake up.
What we are doing here is weare cashing in on the days that
we can.
We are controlling thecontrollable.
So what we're going to do isopen the curtains and let the
(03:03):
morning light in.
And we're going to do is openthe curtains and let the morning
light in.
Well, we're going to lay thereor sit there with our eyes open
and we're literally just goingto take in the daylight, just
drink in that daylight into theeyes.
Why is this?
Because this gives our brain achance to actually go okay, this
is where we're at it's daytime.
Suppress all that sleephormones, suppress everything
(03:24):
sleep related.
Let's get ourselves.
Let's get that cortisol up,let's get ourselves going and
let's get going and into the day.
We don't want it from the phone, we don't want the news, we
don't want to know what the hellis happening with work.
We just want light.
And why?
Because the morning lightresets your circadian rhythm.
(03:45):
It helps your brain and bodyknow that it's time to be awake
and it will queue up your energyand your hormones for the day
ahead.
Natural light exposure firstthing equals better sleep later.
Especially important for usshift workers.
That's step two.
Let the light in Number three.
(04:06):
Skip the coffee machine, fornow.
Relax, I'm not taking it offyou Now.
This one is definitely going toruffle a few feathers out there
.
But don't head for the coffeemachine yet why.
I'll tell you why.
We automatically just do it.
We go and get caffeine.
Oh, I need caffeine to wake up.
Caffeine doesn't wake you up.
(04:27):
Caffeine is not energy.
Let me say that again.
Caffeine contains zero energy.
It doesn't fuel you.
It just blocks the chemicalthat tells your brain that
you're tired, and this is calledadenosine.
And that's it.
The coffee molecule imitatesthe adenosine molecule and
(04:49):
blocks the adenosine receptorand prevents adenosine from
getting to that receptor andmaking you tired.
That's what it does.
We do this out of habit.
We get up, we turn the coffeemachine on and away we go.
It's automatic.
But first thing in the morning,your body doesn't need a
blocker, it actually needs water.
(05:09):
And that brings me out of stepthree, which you skip the coffee
machine into.
Step four rehydrate first.
Now you've just spent six toeight hours horizontal breathing
, sweating, maybe even mouthbreathing, and you've lost water
and you haven't replaced any.
So when we get to the kitchen,we're going to grab a big
(05:30):
tumbler of water and we're goingto drink at least 500 mil of
water.
Now, for you in America, you'llhave to convert that 500 ml to
ounces, but that's what we needto do.
It's two cups.
I drink nearly 1.8 litres in themorning to get going.
(05:53):
That's where I'm at now.
I won't drink any more thanthat because there's no need
going.
That's where I'm at now.
I won't drink any more thanthat because there's no need,
but that's what I drink.
I've built up to that.
A lot of people do this as well.
But 500 ml if you think that'sa lot, you need more.
You actually need more in.
So it's really important Now.
This rehydration actuallykickstarts your digestion.
This sets you up for the day,it supports blood flow and it
(06:20):
will actually help your brain toliterally fire up properly.
It's what your body actuallywants, not caffeine.
It will help to flush out thetoxins from overnight that your
brain and your body has beenworking on eradicating and then
flush them out.
And guess what?
Then, when you do finally havethat coffee, oh, it tastes so
much.
That's step four rehydration.
(06:42):
Step five we want fuel, realfuel.
Now here's where most of us getit wrong.
We wake up, crash, bang, crash,toilet straight off into the
fridge, chuck the clothes on,grab an energy drink out the
door, scull that all the way towork.
We're short on time, we'rerushing, so we just grab that
(07:02):
from the fridge.
But let's be honest.
I want to be clear with you sothat you understand this A zero
sugar energy drink equals zerocalories.
Zero calories equals zeroenergy.
Calories are a unit of energy,just so you understand.
They are a unit of energy andwhen there's zero calories,
(07:24):
there's zero energy.
Understand this.
You're drinking a can ofstimulants with no fuel.
It's no wonder you crash bymid-morning.
So instead, here's what I wantyou to do Put flavored protein
milk in your fridge.
Now.
Here in Australia we havevarious ones.
There's the Rokeby Farms,there's the Oat Plus, there's
(07:47):
the Rokeby Bold Brews with thecaffeine in it.
There's a whole range Farmer'sMarket or whatever it is.
They've got some as well.
Aldi, you've got them.
You can just go in.
You can get protein milk,protein, flavored milk.
This has got protein which isgoing to preserve muscle and
it's going to keep you to fullerfor longer.
Most of them have got about 30grams of protein in it.
(08:09):
This is ideal way to start yourday.
It's got milk, which is greatfor hydration.
It gives you calcium and get.
This milk is high inelectrolytes as well, which is
going to help you to charge upand get going as well, which is
going to help you to charge upand get going.
Plus, it's got 300, plus actualcalories, which is going to
(08:31):
fuel your brain and your body.
I want you to remember thesecalories are in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are the preferredsource of energy for the brain
and central nervous system.
For our body, that's the fuelyou need and that is literally
what gets you going.
Go to the fridge, grab your OakPlus or your Rokeby Farms or
whatever, and take that and sipon that.
(08:52):
You watch the difference thatthis makes to your life.
Forget your Red Bulls and yourMonsters.
Get out there with yourflavoured milk.
And I'm not talking big M's andthings like that with the added
sugar.
I'm talking about the no addedand things like that with the
added sugar.
I'm talking about the no addedsugar protein milks.
The next thing you need to do isyou need to get outside and get
moving.
Now I'm talking a day off here,as soon as you can get outside
(09:17):
and move, even just for five orten minutes, even just a short
walk around the block.
Why outside?
Because those lights insideyour house, even with all the
lights on, are around about 500lux of light.
Daylight, even on a cloudy day,when you step outside, is more
than 10,000 lux of light.
(09:38):
That is enormous difference inlight and this is one of the
reasons why people are so flatthat spend the whole time
indoors inside their house.
Even with the lights on,there's not enough light.
It's the blue light that weneed from outside, which helps
to reset that circadian rhythmand really locks in our body
(10:00):
clock to its daytime.
The bonus this will actuallyhelp you to sleep later.
It tells your body that this isday so it can later switch
properly into night as it startsgetting dark Light movement
natural, free, goddamn, it'spowerful.
It's incredibly powerful.
(10:21):
It's incredibly powerful.
They're my six steps Now.
I understand they're not alleasy to do every day, but we can
do them on a lot of days.
Apologies, right, so let'srecap this.
So here's your new wake-uproutine.
Give it a try.
Don't touch your phone, go tothe bathroom, open the curtains
(10:46):
and take in that daylight for 15minutes.
10 to 15 minutes, rehydratebefore your caffeine, eat real
food with energy like a proteinmilk, and then get outside and
move.
It's simple, it's doable andit's just incredibly effective,
and everyone that's tried itcomes back to me and says I
cannot believe the differencethat this actually makes.
(11:08):
So here is your challenge.
I want you to give this routinea go for one week.
Get up at the same time and dothis for one week, seven days,
that's it.
And then I want you to askyourself how do I feel?
Do I actually have more energy?
Am I less groggy?
Am I sleeping better and wakingup better?
(11:30):
Because let me ask you this howis your current routine working
for you right now?
So let's stop doing what we'vealways done just because it's
easy.
That's our comfort zone.
Get out of that.
Try this instead.
Let me know how you go.
I'd love to hear your feedback.
So thanks for listening.
I'm Roger Sutherland.
This is a Healthy Shift podcastand until next time, take care
(11:54):
of yourself and give this a go.
I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
It would also be ever sohelpful if you could leave a
rating and review on the appyou're currently listening on.
(12:17):
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshiftcom.
I'll catch you on the next one.
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