Now working shift work hours is bad enough, but are you spending way too much time at work as well?

You see I remember when I was much younger – some time ago when I was in my twenties – I used to work crazy and irregular hours, but they were also LONG.

I would happily put my name down to do some overtime and not batter an eye-lid at the thought of working a 0400-1600 shift. You’ve got to love those 12 hour shifts – not.

But fast forward 10 years or so, I made a decision to work my rostered shift and that was that. Yes the extra money was always nice, but at what cost? You can push yourself to work hard for awhile, but eventually your body will say “enough is enough!”

I for one, wanted to get in first and not give my body the satisfaction of telling me so.

So I made a decision to make my health – my PRIORITY.

Shift work hours are hard enough to get used too, in fact you may even work permanent night shifts or 12 hours shifts because a lot of work environments these days expect their staff to be willing to put in the long hours and commit to the job. But this in effect can be counterproductive – especially if you’re sleep deprived to begin with.

When you try and push yourself too hard, your productivity decreases. Which if a lot of businesses realised this, they would think twice about making their staff work 12 hour shifts.

* Recovery time is so important.

* Spending time with your friends and family is so important.

* Undertaking regular exercise is so important.

* And having the time to undertake fun activities outside of work is also so important.

So take a look at your shift work hours. If you are choosing to make them longer by doing a lot of unnecessary overtime, then it might be time to reassess your life and where you’re going.

Now I don’t need to tell you that shift work hours can leave us feeling tired, exhausted and burnt-out. In fact some days we just want to go home, curl up in a ball and sleep for hours on the well used sofa or couch.

But is there a way to reduce the impacts of shift work hours on your health?

Quite simply – YES.

You see when you learn how to ‘Eat for Energy’ with the right foods, you can quite literally turn your shift work life around.

Yuri Elkaim is the author of ‘Eating for Energy’, a book which teaches you how to get your energy back by simply eating the right kind of foods.

And I do want to reinforce that statement – eating the right kind of foods.

As shift workers, we often blame sleep deprivation as the main cause of our extreme fatigue and tiredness and even though this may be true – it’s certainly not the ONLY reason why you may be feeling so tired.

If you’re filling up your body with sub-optimal fuel (ie; junk food, fast food, soda, sweets, cakes etc) – then you are effectively contaminating your body – just like you would if you filled your car with contaminated fuel. And just like a car, your body coughs and splutters trying to go about its daily tasks when it just hasn’t been given the right fuel to do so.

So if I was to ask you to stand up right now, leave your computer and walk into your kitchen and take a good hard look inside your fridge and pantry – what would you find?

* A pantry filled with whole grains, nuts and seeds? Or a pantry filled with jars, tins and boxes of processed food?

* A fridge filled with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables? Or a fridge filled with soft drink, left-over instant food, sauces, condiments etc?

You see quite frankly I think the energy you have depends enormously on what is stored in both your fridge and pantry. They represent a true reflection of your health. That is one that is healthy – or one that is tired, exhausted and overweight.

So if you are serious about wanting to stop feeling tired and exhausted, then clean out your fridge and pantry and get rid of the processed food. Because if it’s not within your reach, then you simply cannot eat it.