July 13, 2025 • 25 mins
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Shift workers can absolutely lose weight despite the challenges of irregular schedules. I explains the science behind why night workers gain weight and offers a practical approach to sustainable fat loss that works with your body's natural rhythms.
• Understanding why shift work makes weight management difficult
• Research shows shift workers don't eat more than day workers yet still gain body fat
• Why typical diets fail shift workers and cause fatigue and cravings
• How your metabolism naturally slows at night regardless of your work schedule
• The power of chrononutrition - when you eat matters more than what you eat
• Eating your main meal before night shift rather than during it
• Five practical steps: prioritise sleep, eat mindfully before shifts, stay hydrated, plan snacks, move your body
• Avoiding common pitfalls like meal skipping and relying on zero-calorie energy drinks
• Focus on consistency over perfection with small, sustainable changes
For personalised help with your shift work health journey, visit ahealthyshift.com and book a free 15-minute coaching assessment call with Roger.
----------------------------
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
_____________________
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.
_______________________
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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
(00:29):
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 A Healthy Shift.
You know who I am.
I'm your host, roger Sutherland.
I'm the veteran shift workerhealth coach, and I am also
(00:51):
someone who knows firsthand justhow tough it can be to stay
healthy when you work 24-7shifts.
Now, in this episode, I'm goingto talk about something that I
get asked about as the mostcommon question of them all Is
it possible to lose weight whenI'm working night shift?
Bah, there it is.
There's the million-dollarquestion that everyone asks oh,
(01:15):
I'm just a shift worker, sotherefore I can't lose weight.
Interesting one, isn't it?
Let me tell you, this is a realchallenge, but it is also one
that you can absolutely tacklewith exactly the right approach,
and I'm going to talk about ittoday.
So stick with me because I'mgoing to explain why night shift
messes with your body, why mostof those diets that you have
(01:38):
tried are failing a shift worker, and what there is that you can
start doing today to not onlylose weight but to feel so much
better on and off your shifts.
First of all, let's cover themillion dollar question why is
it so hard to lose weight onnight shift or on shift work?
First off, let's talk about whyweight gain is so common for
(02:01):
shift workers, especially nightshifters, because it's a really
important topic.
Well, it comes down tosomething called your circadian
rhythm.
Hello, here it is again.
Unbelievable, isn't it?
That circadian rhythm, thatdamn little pesky clock that
keeps on running 24 hours,really does cause us a lot of
problems.
Well, actually, it causes us alot of problems as shift workers
(02:24):
, not so much your day-walkingfriends, because they are all in
line with it, but that doesn'tmean that you need to give up.
Let's talk about that.
It's your body's natural24-hour clock.
It controls your sleep, it'scontrolling those hormones, it's
controlling your energy and,most importantly, your
metabolism energy and, mostimportantly, your metabolism.
(02:48):
Now, our bodies are designed tobe active and eating during the
day and resting and fasting atnight, but when you flip that
and when you are awake at 2 amand reaching for those snacks,
your body's natural systems getthrown out of whack.
Now the key issue is this yourmetabolism actually slows down
at night.
Your insulin response is weaker, which means that your body is
(03:12):
more likely to store food as fatinstead of using it for energy.
So it's not that you're weak oryou're lazy, it's just that
you're fighting your actualbiology and that's why so many
shift workers find themselvesgaining weight over time without
really understanding why.
And here's an interesting factfor you Research actually shows
(03:36):
that night shift workers, orshift workers, don't tend to eat
anything more than regularnine-to-fivers do, which is
quite interesting.
So why are shift workersgaining body fat?
That's the million-dollarquestion.
Is the calories in calories outequation not so correct for the
(03:56):
shift worker?
Who knows?
And in time in research we willlearn a lot more about this but
we do know one thing, and thatis that shift workers don't tend
to eat more, but they do gainbody fat.
So what's going on, first ofall?
Secondly, actually let's talkabout why diets normal diets
(04:19):
often fail our shift workingcommunity.
Now, most of the diets outthere are not built for our
shift working community.
Now, most of the diets outthere are not built for our
shift working community.
Now.
You've probably tried some ofthem.
Cutting calories, you do thisintermittent fasting.
That they call intermittentfasting, which is
time-restricted eating.
Jenny's been doing keto andshe's lost a heap of weight.
(04:41):
Yeah, good on you, jen.
Karen's done low carb, lost aheap 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 withthem again in 12 months and see
where they're at in 12 months,because you might lose the
weight but you're not losing thebody fat.
That's the bottom line.
They lose a bit, they lose thewater and they get on the scale
(05:02):
and they think they've lostkilos.
Or they're telling you thatthey've lost kilos but they're
not really losing body fat,because keto and low carb is
basically just cutting the waterout of your system.
But the problem is that thesediets usually assume that you're
awake during the day and you'reasleep at night.
But that's not your life andwhen you try to copy the diet of
(05:22):
someone on a nine to five, itwill lead to this as a shift
worker fatigue classic symptomof a poor diet fatigue, cravings
, mood swings because you'rehormonally imbalanced, and even
burnout, where you just throwyour hands up and you completely
give up.
You're not only dealing withthe burnout of your job, but now
(05:43):
you're dealing with what areyou going to do about a diet and
how are you going to lose bodyfat?
And it just creeps on and onand on and you don't realize
until one day you go to orderyour uniform.
And we all know, because a lotof us that listen to this
podcast are actually uniformwearers and we get constantly
(06:04):
reminded every single time we goto work.
Are you putting on a policeuniform or a paramedics uniform
or a fireman's uniform?
Are you wearing a uniform inyour control center or your call
taking or wherever you work?
Are you wearing a uniformBecause you're getting reminded
and all of a sudden, you'regoing up a size, and then you're
(06:24):
going up another size, and thenyou're going up another size,
and then you're going up anothersize, and then, before you
realize it, you're three or foursizes up and you think, my God,
what happened?
Where did it go?
It's frustrating, isn't it?
And it really does cause us alot of grief and people comment
(06:44):
on it, and when they comment onit, it sends you spiraling out
of control.
Now, the truth is, weight lossfor shift workers needs to
follow different rules, andthat's why I'm here.
That's why I'm doing what I'mdoing.
I honestly thought thatnutrition was the issue as to
why shift workers were gainingweight, so I returned to study
(07:07):
at 55.
After 35 years in the cops, Ireturned to study because I was
going to solve all the problemswith nutrition, and while it is
nutrition essentially, there areso many contributing factors
that sit over the top of that tohelp shift workers with, which
is where I have such a goodrecord now with clients working
(07:29):
with them one-to-one to unpickand work through all of the
issues and solve a lot of theissues that sit over the top of
nutrition.
And you wouldn't believe it,but nutrition just takes care of
itself.
Now it's not just what you eat,but it's actually when you eat
that truly matters.
This is where something calledchrononutrition comes in.
(07:51):
So what is the actual power ofchrononutrition?
Now, chrononutrition isbasically the science of timing
your food intake to match yourbody's natural rhythms, and this
is what I'm a specialist at inworking with this with the shift
working community, because evenwhen you're on nights, you
(08:13):
can't make the excuse.
Your body doesn't say oh, I'm ashift worker, I'm a night shift
worker, so therefore we flipour meals.
And this is when I work.
Your body still has abiological clock.
You're a human.
You're on a diurnal rhythm thatinfluences how well you digest
and how well you metabolize food, and the biggest mistake that I
see shift workers making iseating their main meal right in
(08:37):
the middle of the night or laterin the day, at midnight, 2am,
sitting down to a bowl of pasta.
Hey guys, I've been there.
I've done this spaghettibolognese at three in the
morning, don't you worry aboutthat.
I've done that.
We've all sat down to ourroasts at three o'clock in the
morning because someone back inthe stations cooked it up for us
(08:57):
.
We've all done that.
We've all brought our food inand we get a break at three
o'clock and we eat.
But we are actually sabotagingour own health by doing it.
It's when our body is leastprepared to metabolize and store
it.
It's very efficient at storingit.
It's called body fat.
So instead, here's what willwork better for us Eat your main
(09:20):
meal before the shift, outsideof the shift.
If you're on nights, for example, if you have dinner around 4, 5
o'clock or even 6 before youstart work then this meal should
be balanced and should includeproteins, 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 setourselves up with a light snack
(09:44):
during the shift, just enough toget us through.
Something like protein, a Greekyogurt, nuts, some boiled eggs
or even just a small wrap.
Just something light.
Something light that we can putinto our system to sustain us
and keep us going, but somethingthat is not going to bog us
right down in our gut, and weneed to avoid those heavy meals.
(10:07):
At the very minimum aftermidnight.
I recommend from 9pm to 6am.
I honestly do.
I never ate on night shift from9pm to 6am.
I would eat before then andthen I would just literally have
a highly blitz soup orsomething like that, something
that just slipped through thesystem.
That made it really easy,because your digestive system
(10:29):
has completely slowed down.
Regardless of whether you'reawake, exposed to light, doing
whatever you're doing, your bodyhas slowed down and eating big
meals at this time leads tosluggishness and it also
absolutely categorically leadsto fat gain body fat gain.
This is where it comes from,and when you finish your shift,
(10:51):
just have a small snack.
The focus should be actually ongetting to sleep, not eating a
huge breakfast, but I alwaysfound that a little bit of
protein, a little bit ofcarbohydrate helped to sleep.
So a little bit of protein in Iwould have protein.
Or you can just have somecheese and veggie in my toast.
Honestly, seriously, you canmake it really light, but
(11:12):
nothing too heavy or too big,because it will impact on your
sleep.
And if you look at it there, bysimply changing the timing of
when you put your food in,without even changing what you
eat, you will definitely startto notice a difference.
Long term, you will notice adifference.
I absolutely did Hugedifference.
(11:33):
It's one of the best weightloss strategies.
You can pretty much eat thesame.
Just change when you eat it.
That will make such a bigdifference.
So let's talk about somepractical steps for our night
shifters and fat loss.
Here's what you can start doingtoday to lose weight on night
shift, to lose body fat.
So sit down, get ready, grabyour pen.
(11:55):
Number one you've got toprioritize sleep.
Yes, rog, I know I've got toprioritize sleep, but I'm a
shift worker.
No, that's a lame excuse.
You need to prioritize sleep.
This has got to be your numberone pillar, because poor sleep
drives your hunger hormones likeghrelin and reduces leptin.
(12:16):
Now, ghrelin is the hormonethat tells us I'm hungry, I'm
hungry, and leptin is thehormone that tells us I'm hungry
, I'm hungry, and leptin is thehormone that tells us that
you're full.
When those two hormones are outof balance due to poor balance
in your sleep, then you haveproblems with appetite
regulation, and lack of sleepalso increases your body's
(12:39):
stress response, which leads tothose cravings of highly
palatable carbohydrates and fats, especially high calorie and
sugary foods.
Why?
Because your body's cravingenergy, glucose.
So make your sleep environmentdark, cool, quiet.
Wear yourself an eye mask.
Wear yourself an eye mask Ifyou can see your hand and your
(13:01):
outstretched arm.
It's too light in your room.
Put an eye mask on and setboundaries with your phone.
Sleep is your fat lossfoundation.
I know you don't believe me,but I'm telling you that sleep
is the fat loss foundation ofall.
Number two is to eat mindfullybefore your shift.
Plan your meal break beforework.
(13:23):
Don't rush it.
Make it balanced and satisfying.
And eat it mindfully so thatyou are not starving at 2am.
If you scoff it at nine o'clockyou are going to be hungry at
2am.
Eat it mindfully and slowly.
That's number two.
Number three stay hydrated,hydrated.
Hydration will replace a lotHunger and dehydration comes
(13:48):
from the same center in thebrain and the brain is not very
clever at working out whatsignal it is.
Dehydration can literally feellike hunger.
So if you've got a water bottlewith you, keep sipping it.
You might find that by sippingthe water actually gets rid of
the hunger craving.
Herbal teas can help enormouslyas well.
(14:08):
Just by a little bit offlavored water or something.
Watch the caffeine Caffeine.
Just be careful of caffeine.
It will impact on sleep, impacton your fat loss.
I know a lot of people usecaffeine as an appetite
suppressant.
It's not helping you,especially in the second half of
your shift when you need to bewinding down ready for sleep.
(14:30):
The next thing is plan yoursnacks.
Bring your own snacks with you.
If you rely on the vendingmachine or a bakery at work,
then you're likely to end upwith ultra-processed foods that
leave you craving more.
Some really good snack optionsthat you can actually have is
Greek yogurt.
I loved, loved, loved to havejust a handful of nuts with me
(14:54):
in a container.
Don't take the whole bag, justa handful of nuts in a container
.
Nuts are amazing.
A protein smoothie, somethingthat slips through.
Hard-boiled eggs are a greatsnack to have on night shift.
And veggie sticks with hummus,carrot sticks, celery sticks
with a bit of hummus Fantasticsnack for you to have on night
shift.
Not buckets of it, just smallamounts, just enough to give you
(15:14):
a bit of sustenance to getthrough.
The other thing that we need todo is number five, and that's
move our body.
Even light movement helps toregulate that blood sugar.
It also helps to improve oursleep.
Even a short walk just beforebed with some gentle stretching
I've got some clients that loveto stretch before they go to
(15:34):
sleep.
It helps them to do somecontrolled breathing, it helps
them to manage their stress andit works really well for you to
go to sleep before.
Or even a workout on your daysoff.
All of this literally adds upto getting some form of movement
which helps with their glucosemetabolism, which stops that
floating around and ending upgetting parked as body fat.
(15:55):
Simple.
Now the common pitfalls that weneed to avoid.
Really important, reallyimportant.
I want you to pay particularattention to this.
There are a few traps thatshift workers fall into that I
really want you to be vigilantof and avoid yourself.
Number one don't skip meals allday.
Don't just go.
(16:16):
I didn't get time to eat.
That's rubbish.
You've always got time to getsomething to eat, even if you
get it on the fly.
And for those of you inAustralia that are running
around from job to job, you canzip via a 7-Eleven and you can
pick up a protein drink, or youcan pick up a fresh sandwich and
wrap or something like that.
It doesn't have to be an energydrink.
(16:36):
That's not what you need.
What you need is a protein milkdrink.
You're going to get theelectrolytes.
That's not what you need.
What you need is a protein milkdrink.
You're going to get theelectrolytes, you'll get the
protein, you'll get thecarbohydrates, you'll get all
the good stuff out of that andit'll slip through the system
nicely.
So that's something you need todo.
Do not skip.
Don't skip meals, because whatwill happen is that you will end
(16:59):
up not eating at all, and then,when you do start eating,
you'll lose control and you'llend up eating at all, and then,
when you do start eating, you'lllose control and you'll end up
eating at midnight a whole pizzaand you'll have all sorts of
issues.
Now the other thing that we'vegot to stop doing is we've got
to stop relying on these.
Goddamn, I don't know why theycall them an energy drink.
Honestly, people that aredrinking Red Bulls or White
Monsters or whatever how arethese things possibly energy
(17:21):
drinks when they've got zerocalories?
I want you to think about thelogic behind what you're
actually doing.
Oh, it's got caffeine in it.
Hang on, it's got caffeine.
Caffeine only prevents us fromsleeping, which is a great idea
when you're on night shift.
But what we need is energy, andthere's no energy in it at all
Nothing.
You'd be much better off havingyourself something like a
(17:42):
protein drink, like an Oak Plusor something like that that's
got protein, or a Rokeby drinkor something along those lines.
They're really good.
You could call it an energydrink because it's actually got
calories.
Calories, equal energy, end ofstory.
Don't go with zero energy,because you'll only end up
(18:03):
having that and then you'll haveto have something more.
What they do is they spike yourblood sugar and then it leads
to a crash which leads youfeeling more tired and then more
hungry.
So you end up eating morebecause there's no calories in
it.
All right, keep that in mind.
Don't over-restrict.
I've seen so many shift workerstry to cut calories so hard
(18:23):
that it's just not sustainable,especially with the added stress
of shift work.
They get to the end of theshift and then they just open
the pantry and away they go onething after the other Chips,
chocolates, lollies, the tub ofice cream.
Oh my God, I can't stop eating,and the majority of the reason
is because you've restricted fartoo much during the day.
So what I need you to do is tofocus on consistency over
(18:45):
perfection, because one goodchoice will end up leading to
another good choice and you'llstart really looking after your
body.
Go slowly.
There's no magic solution tofat loss, but I will tell you
that, as a shift worker, thebest way to lose weight on shift
work is consistency, with smallchanges, and when you eat, not
(19:10):
so much what you're eating, itmakes such a big difference.
So let's wrap this up.
First of all, this is not aboutperfection.
Shift work is never going tolet you be the perfect fat loss
client.
It doesn't, and that's why theway I coach clients is I support
them and help them with empathy.
Because I've been there, I knowthat some of those shifts you
(19:32):
can get two horrendous shifts ina row.
It doesn't mean it's the end ofthe world, what it is, it's
just two bad shifts.
And then what we do is we workon how we can strategize around
that for next time.
Because when we've got theright strategies and we focus on
when you eat, what you eat, howyou recover from it, you can
(19:53):
absolutely reach your fat lossgoals.
It's about playing the longgame.
It's about small, consistentactions and not extremes.
And the best part when youstart eating in a way that
supports your body clock, you'llnot only lose weight, but the
other onset from that is you'llhave more energy, you'll get
(20:14):
better sleep, fewer cravings,which means you'll lose more
body fat and you'll move a lotmore.
Because you are moving more,you're going to lose more body
fat.
You've got to break into thatcycle somewhere.
You've just got to break intothat cycle somewhere and the key
is literally changing from whatyou're eating to when you're
(20:37):
actually eating it and reallyfocusing on what it is and where
you want to get to around that,because that's going to make a
huge difference for you, Ipromise you and this is where I
get all of my success withclients and if I can help you
with that, all you got to do isreach out to me.
You can go to ahealthyshiftcomand you can hit the coaching
(20:57):
page right down the very bottom.
There you can book a free15-minute coaching assessment
call where we can have aconversation and I will show you
where I can help you and how Ican help you as a client, and we
will make a huge inroad.
It won't be tomorrow and itwon't be in an eight-week F45
challenge, but by golly, overtime it will be sustainable,
(21:21):
because you don't know anybodythat'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 oftenbecause people are not educated
on how to come out of it.
All right, go tohealthyshiftcom.
The coaching is up the top.
Just click on that and go tothe very bottom and you can book
(21:46):
an appointment with me thereand I will do a 15-minute
coaching assessment call withyou and let me help you to
actually reverse it and turn itall around.
It's a slow process.
You won't feel like you'redieting, you won't feel like
you're doing anything.
We just restructure everythingthat you're doing, and that's it
for today's episode of aHealthy Shift podcast.
Now, I hope you did find thisone helpful and if you did share
(22:06):
it with fellow shift workers,share it to Instagram stories,
to your Facebook, to whateverbecause there will be people out
there that can use thisinformation.
A lot of shift workers arebattling with fat gain and don't
forget, if you want more tipsor resources, there is literally
heaps on healthyshiftcom, oryou can follow me on Instagram
(22:28):
at a underscore healthy,underscore shift.
I'm right there.
Thanks for listening.
Take care, stay healthy and Iwill catch you.
Catch you on the next episode.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
(22:50):
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.
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
(00:29):
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 A Healthy Shift.
You know who I am.
I'm your host, roger Sutherland.
I'm the veteran shift workerhealth coach, and I am also
(00:51):
someone who knows firsthand justhow tough it can be to stay
healthy when you work 24-7shifts.
Now, in this episode, I'm goingto talk about something that I
get asked about as the mostcommon question of them all Is
it possible to lose weight whenI'm working night shift?
Bah, there it is.
There's the million-dollarquestion that everyone asks oh,
(01:15):
I'm just a shift worker, sotherefore I can't lose weight.
Interesting one, isn't it?
Let me tell you, this is a realchallenge, but it is also one
that you can absolutely tacklewith exactly the right approach,
and I'm going to talk about ittoday.
So stick with me because I'mgoing to explain why night shift
messes with your body, why mostof those diets that you have
(01:38):
tried are failing a shift worker, and what there is that you can
start doing today to not onlylose weight but to feel so much
better on and off your shifts.
First of all, let's cover themillion dollar question why is
it so hard to lose weight onnight shift or on shift work?
First off, let's talk about whyweight gain is so common for
(02:01):
shift workers, especially nightshifters, because it's a really
important topic.
Well, it comes down tosomething called your circadian
rhythm.
Hello, here it is again.
Unbelievable, isn't it?
That circadian rhythm, thatdamn little pesky clock that
keeps on running 24 hours,really does cause us a lot of
problems.
Well, actually, it causes us alot of problems as shift workers
(02:24):
, not so much your day-walkingfriends, because they are all in
line with it, but that doesn'tmean that you need to give up.
Let's talk about that.
It's your body's natural24-hour clock.
It controls your sleep, it'scontrolling those hormones, it's
controlling your energy and,most importantly, your
metabolism energy and, mostimportantly, your metabolism.
(02:48):
Now, our bodies are designed tobe active and eating during the
day and resting and fasting atnight, but when you flip that
and when you are awake at 2 amand reaching for those snacks,
your body's natural systems getthrown out of whack.
Now the key issue is this yourmetabolism actually slows down
at night.
Your insulin response is weaker, which means that your body is
(03:12):
more likely to store food as fatinstead of using it for energy.
So it's not that you're weak oryou're lazy, it's just that
you're fighting your actualbiology and that's why so many
shift workers find themselvesgaining weight over time without
really understanding why.
And here's an interesting factfor you Research actually shows
(03:36):
that night shift workers, orshift workers, don't tend to eat
anything more than regularnine-to-fivers do, which is
quite interesting.
So why are shift workersgaining body fat?
That's the million-dollarquestion.
Is the calories in calories outequation not so correct for the
(03:56):
shift worker?
Who knows?
And in time in research we willlearn a lot more about this but
we do know one thing, and thatis that shift workers don't tend
to eat more, but they do gainbody fat.
So what's going on, first ofall?
Secondly, actually let's talkabout why diets normal diets
(04:19):
often fail our shift workingcommunity.
Now, most of the diets outthere are not built for our
shift working community.
Now, most of the diets outthere are not built for our
shift working community.
Now.
You've probably tried some ofthem.
Cutting calories, you do thisintermittent fasting.
That they call intermittentfasting, which is
time-restricted eating.
Jenny's been doing keto andshe's lost a heap of weight.
(04:41):
Yeah, good on you, jen.
Karen's done low carb, lost aheap 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 withthem again in 12 months and see
where they're at in 12 months,because you might lose the
weight but you're not losing thebody fat.
That's the bottom line.
They lose a bit, they lose thewater and they get on the scale
(05:02):
and they think they've lostkilos.
Or they're telling you thatthey've lost kilos but they're
not really losing body fat,because keto and low carb is
basically just cutting the waterout of your system.
But the problem is that thesediets usually assume that you're
awake during the day and you'reasleep at night.
But that's not your life andwhen you try to copy the diet of
(05:22):
someone on a nine to five, itwill lead to this as a shift
worker fatigue classic symptomof a poor diet fatigue, cravings
, mood swings because you'rehormonally imbalanced, and even
burnout, where you just throwyour hands up and you completely
give up.
You're not only dealing withthe burnout of your job, but now
(05:43):
you're dealing with what areyou going to do about a diet and
how are you going to lose bodyfat?
And it just creeps on and onand on and you don't realize
until one day you go to orderyour uniform.
And we all know, because a lotof us that listen to this
podcast are actually uniformwearers and we get constantly
(06:04):
reminded every single time we goto work.
Are you putting on a policeuniform or a paramedics uniform
or a fireman's uniform?
Are you wearing a uniform inyour control center or your call
taking or wherever you work?
Are you wearing a uniformBecause you're getting reminded
and all of a sudden, you'regoing up a size, and then you're
(06:24):
going up another size, and thenyou're going up another size,
and then you're going up anothersize, and then, before you
realize it, you're three or foursizes up and you think, my God,
what happened?
Where did it go?
It's frustrating, isn't it?
And it really does cause us alot of grief and people comment
(06:44):
on it, and when they comment onit, it sends you spiraling out
of control.
Now, the truth is, weight lossfor shift workers needs to
follow different rules, andthat's why I'm here.
That's why I'm doing what I'mdoing.
I honestly thought thatnutrition was the issue as to
why shift workers were gainingweight, so I returned to study
(07:07):
at 55.
After 35 years in the cops, Ireturned to study because I was
going to solve all the problemswith nutrition, and while it is
nutrition essentially, there areso many contributing factors
that sit over the top of that tohelp shift workers with, which
is where I have such a goodrecord now with clients working
(07:29):
with them one-to-one to unpickand work through all of the
issues and solve a lot of theissues that sit over the top of
nutrition.
And you wouldn't believe it,but nutrition just takes care of
itself.
Now it's not just what you eat,but it's actually when you eat
that truly matters.
This is where something calledchrononutrition comes in.
(07:51):
So what is the actual power ofchrononutrition?
Now, chrononutrition isbasically the science of timing
your food intake to match yourbody's natural rhythms, and this
is what I'm a specialist at inworking with this with the shift
working community, because evenwhen you're on nights, you
(08:13):
can't make the excuse.
Your body doesn't say oh, I'm ashift worker, I'm a night shift
worker, so therefore we flipour meals.
And this is when I work.
Your body still has abiological clock.
You're a human.
You're on a diurnal rhythm thatinfluences how well you digest
and how well you metabolize food, and the biggest mistake that I
see shift workers making iseating their main meal right in
(08:37):
the middle of the night or laterin the day, at midnight, 2am,
sitting down to a bowl of pasta.
Hey guys, I've been there.
I've done this spaghettibolognese at three in the
morning, don't you worry aboutthat.
I've done that.
We've all sat down to ourroasts at three o'clock in the
morning because someone back inthe stations cooked it up for us
(08:57):
.
We've all done that.
We've all brought our food inand we get a break at three
o'clock and we eat.
But we are actually sabotagingour own health by doing it.
It's when our body is leastprepared to metabolize and store
it.
It's very efficient at storingit.
It's called body fat.
So instead, here's what willwork better for us Eat your main
(09:20):
meal before the shift, outsideof the shift.
If you're on nights, for example, if you have dinner around 4, 5
o'clock or even 6 before youstart work then this meal should
be balanced and should includeproteins, 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 setourselves up with a light snack
(09:44):
during the shift, just enough toget us through.
Something like protein, a Greekyogurt, nuts, some boiled eggs
or even just a small wrap.
Just something light.
Something light that we can putinto our system to sustain us
and keep us going, but somethingthat is not going to bog us
right down in our gut, and weneed to avoid those heavy meals.
(10:07):
At the very minimum aftermidnight.
I recommend from 9pm to 6am.
I honestly do.
I never ate on night shift from9pm to 6am.
I would eat before then andthen I would just literally have
a highly blitz soup orsomething like that, something
that just slipped through thesystem.
That made it really easy,because your digestive system
(10:29):
has completely slowed down.
Regardless of whether you'reawake, exposed to light, doing
whatever you're doing, your bodyhas slowed down and eating big
meals at this time leads tosluggishness and it also
absolutely categorically leadsto fat gain body fat gain.
This is where it comes from,and when you finish your shift,
(10:51):
just have a small snack.
The focus should be actually ongetting to sleep, not eating a
huge breakfast, but I alwaysfound that a little bit of
protein, a little bit ofcarbohydrate helped to sleep.
So a little bit of protein in Iwould have protein.
Or you can just have somecheese and veggie in my toast.
Honestly, seriously, you canmake it really light, but
(11:12):
nothing too heavy or too big,because it will impact on your
sleep.
And if you look at it there, bysimply changing the timing of
when you put your food in,without even changing what you
eat, you will definitely startto notice a difference.
Long term, you will notice adifference.
I absolutely did Hugedifference.
(11:33):
It's one of the best weightloss strategies.
You can pretty much eat thesame.
Just change when you eat it.
That will make such a bigdifference.
So let's talk about somepractical steps for our night
shifters and fat loss.
Here's what you can start doingtoday to lose weight on night
shift, to lose body fat.
So sit down, get ready, grabyour pen.
(11:55):
Number one you've got toprioritize sleep.
Yes, rog, I know I've got toprioritize sleep, but I'm a
shift worker.
No, that's a lame excuse.
You need to prioritize sleep.
This has got to be your numberone pillar, because poor sleep
drives your hunger hormones likeghrelin and reduces leptin.
(12:16):
Now, ghrelin is the hormonethat tells us I'm hungry, I'm
hungry, and leptin is thehormone that tells us I'm hungry
, I'm hungry, and leptin is thehormone that tells us that
you're full.
When those two hormones are outof balance due to poor balance
in your sleep, then you haveproblems with appetite
regulation, and lack of sleepalso increases your body's
(12:39):
stress response, which leads tothose cravings of highly
palatable carbohydrates and fats, especially high calorie and
sugary foods.
Why?
Because your body's cravingenergy, glucose.
So make your sleep environmentdark, cool, quiet.
Wear yourself an eye mask.
Wear yourself an eye mask Ifyou can see your hand and your
(13:01):
outstretched arm.
It's too light in your room.
Put an eye mask on and setboundaries with your phone.
Sleep is your fat lossfoundation.
I know you don't believe me,but I'm telling you that sleep
is the fat loss foundation ofall.
Number two is to eat mindfullybefore your shift.
Plan your meal break beforework.
(13:23):
Don't rush it.
Make it balanced and satisfying.
And eat it mindfully so thatyou are not starving at 2am.
If you scoff it at nine o'clockyou are going to be hungry at
2am.
Eat it mindfully and slowly.
That's number two.
Number three stay hydrated,hydrated.
Hydration will replace a lotHunger and dehydration comes
(13:48):
from the same center in thebrain and the brain is not very
clever at working out whatsignal it is.
Dehydration can literally feellike hunger.
So if you've got a water bottlewith you, keep sipping it.
You might find that by sippingthe water actually gets rid of
the hunger craving.
Herbal teas can help enormouslyas well.
(14:08):
Just by a little bit offlavored water or something.
Watch the caffeine Caffeine.
Just be careful of caffeine.
It will impact on sleep, impacton your fat loss.
I know a lot of people usecaffeine as an appetite
suppressant.
It's not helping you,especially in the second half of
your shift when you need to bewinding down ready for sleep.
(14:30):
The next thing is plan yoursnacks.
Bring your own snacks with you.
If you rely on the vendingmachine or a bakery at work,
then you're likely to end upwith ultra-processed foods that
leave you craving more.
Some really good snack optionsthat you can actually have is
Greek yogurt.
I loved, loved, loved to havejust a handful of nuts with me
(14:54):
in a container.
Don't take the whole bag, justa handful of nuts in a container
.
Nuts are amazing.
A protein smoothie, somethingthat slips through.
Hard-boiled eggs are a greatsnack to have on night shift.
And veggie sticks with hummus,carrot sticks, celery sticks
with a bit of hummus Fantasticsnack for you to have on night
shift.
Not buckets of it, just smallamounts, just enough to give you
(15:14):
a bit of sustenance to getthrough.
The other thing that we need todo is number five, and that's
move our body.
Even light movement helps toregulate that blood sugar.
It also helps to improve oursleep.
Even a short walk just beforebed with some gentle stretching
I've got some clients that loveto stretch before they go to
(15:34):
sleep.
It helps them to do somecontrolled breathing, it helps
them to manage their stress andit works really well for you to
go to sleep before.
Or even a workout on your daysoff.
All of this literally adds upto getting some form of movement
which helps with their glucosemetabolism, which stops that
floating around and ending upgetting parked as body fat.
(15:55):
Simple.
Now the common pitfalls that weneed to avoid.
Really important, reallyimportant.
I want you to pay particularattention to this.
There are a few traps thatshift workers fall into that I
really want you to be vigilantof and avoid yourself.
Number one don't skip meals allday.
Don't just go.
(16:16):
I didn't get time to eat.
That's rubbish.
You've always got time to getsomething to eat, even if you
get it on the fly.
And for those of you inAustralia that are running
around from job to job, you canzip via a 7-Eleven and you can
pick up a protein drink, or youcan pick up a fresh sandwich and
wrap or something like that.
It doesn't have to be an energydrink.
(16:36):
That's not what you need.
What you need is a protein milkdrink.
You're going to get theelectrolytes.
That's not what you need.
What you need is a protein milkdrink.
You're going to get theelectrolytes, you'll get the
protein, you'll get thecarbohydrates, you'll get all
the good stuff out of that andit'll slip through the system
nicely.
So that's something you need todo.
Do not skip.
Don't skip meals, because whatwill happen is that you will end
(16:59):
up not eating at all, and then,when you do start eating,
you'll lose control and you'llend up eating at all, and then,
when you do start eating, you'lllose control and you'll end up
eating at midnight a whole pizzaand you'll have all sorts of
issues.
Now the other thing that we'vegot to stop doing is we've got
to stop relying on these.
Goddamn, I don't know why theycall them an energy drink.
Honestly, people that aredrinking Red Bulls or White
Monsters or whatever how arethese things possibly energy
(17:21):
drinks when they've got zerocalories?
I want you to think about thelogic behind what you're
actually doing.
Oh, it's got caffeine in it.
Hang on, it's got caffeine.
Caffeine only prevents us fromsleeping, which is a great idea
when you're on night shift.
But what we need is energy, andthere's no energy in it at all
Nothing.
You'd be much better off havingyourself something like a
(17:42):
protein drink, like an Oak Plusor something like that that's
got protein, or a Rokeby drinkor something along those lines.
They're really good.
You could call it an energydrink because it's actually got
calories.
Calories, equal energy, end ofstory.
Don't go with zero energy,because you'll only end up
(18:03):
having that and then you'll haveto have something more.
What they do is they spike yourblood sugar and then it leads
to a crash which leads youfeeling more tired and then more
hungry.
So you end up eating morebecause there's no calories in
it.
All right, keep that in mind.
Don't over-restrict.
I've seen so many shift workerstry to cut calories so hard
(18:23):
that it's just not sustainable,especially with the added stress
of shift work.
They get to the end of theshift and then they just open
the pantry and away they go onething after the other Chips,
chocolates, lollies, the tub ofice cream.
Oh my God, I can't stop eating,and the majority of the reason
is because you've restricted fartoo much during the day.
So what I need you to do is tofocus on consistency over
(18:45):
perfection, because one goodchoice will end up leading to
another good choice and you'llstart really looking after your
body.
Go slowly.
There's no magic solution tofat loss, but I will tell you
that, as a shift worker, thebest way to lose weight on shift
work is consistency, with smallchanges, and when you eat, not
(19:10):
so much what you're eating, itmakes such a big difference.
So let's wrap this up.
First of all, this is not aboutperfection.
Shift work is never going tolet you be the perfect fat loss
client.
It doesn't, and that's why theway I coach clients is I support
them and help them with empathy.
Because I've been there, I knowthat some of those shifts you
(19:32):
can get two horrendous shifts ina row.
It doesn't mean it's the end ofthe world, what it is, it's
just two bad shifts.
And then what we do is we workon how we can strategize around
that for next time.
Because when we've got theright strategies and we focus on
when you eat, what you eat, howyou recover from it, you can
(19:53):
absolutely reach your fat lossgoals.
It's about playing the longgame.
It's about small, consistentactions and not extremes.
And the best part when youstart eating in a way that
supports your body clock, you'llnot only lose weight, but the
other onset from that is you'llhave more energy, you'll get
(20:14):
better sleep, fewer cravings,which means you'll lose more
body fat and you'll move a lotmore.
Because you are moving more,you're going to lose more body
fat.
You've got to break into thatcycle somewhere.
You've just got to break intothat cycle somewhere and the key
is literally changing from whatyou're eating to when you're
(20:37):
actually eating it and reallyfocusing on what it is and where
you want to get to around that,because that's going to make a
huge difference for you, Ipromise you and this is where I
get all of my success withclients and if I can help you
with that, all you got to do isreach out to me.
You can go to ahealthyshiftcomand you can hit the coaching
(20:57):
page right down the very bottom.
There you can book a free15-minute coaching assessment
call where we can have aconversation and I will show you
where I can help you and how Ican help you as a client, and we
will make a huge inroad.
It won't be tomorrow and itwon't be in an eight-week F45
challenge, but by golly, overtime it will be sustainable,
(21:21):
because you don't know anybodythat'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 oftenbecause people are not educated
on how to come out of it.
All right, go tohealthyshiftcom.
The coaching is up the top.
Just click on that and go tothe very bottom and you can book
(21:46):
an appointment with me thereand I will do a 15-minute
coaching assessment call withyou and let me help you to
actually reverse it and turn itall around.
It's a slow process.
You won't feel like you'redieting, you won't feel like
you're doing anything.
We just restructure everythingthat you're doing, and that's it
for today's episode of aHealthy Shift podcast.
Now, I hope you did find thisone helpful and if you did share
(22:06):
it with fellow shift workers,share it to Instagram stories,
to your Facebook, to whateverbecause there will be people out
there that can use thisinformation.
A lot of shift workers arebattling with fat gain and don't
forget, if you want more tipsor resources, there is literally
heaps on healthyshiftcom, oryou can follow me on Instagram
(22:28):
at a underscore healthy,underscore shift.
I'm right there.
Thanks for listening.
Take care, stay healthy and Iwill catch you.
Catch you on the next episode.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
(22:50):
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.
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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