Don’t Limit Your Calories, Limit Your Eating Window.

When we work 24/7, we tend to eat 24/7 which can lead us on a downward spiral of all sorts of health complaints over the long-term.

This is because our innate timing system, or circadian clock, is essentially switched to the ‘ON’ position for a very long time.

Have you ever considered what time you take your first bite of food in the day, and then your last bite of food at night?

For example, if you have sugar with your coffee at 4am and have a biscuit before bed at 8pm or later, your Eating Window would be 16 hours or longer.

This means your circadian clock is running for 16 or more hours.

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Have You Measured Your Waistline Lately?

Soooooo I’m going to be addressing a bit of an Elephant in the Room here, but have you measured your waistline lately?

Now before you scramble for the DELETE or unsubscribe button, the reason why I’m raising awareness around this topic is that my entire Healthy Shift Worker philosophy has always been about sharing stuff that people don’t necessarily want to hear, but need to.

Quite simply, I care about your health, and want you to be the healthiest version of yourself possible.

That being said, I’d be pretty safe to say that most people would have answered with a “no’ to a waistline check, so don’t take it personally if you can resonate!

But let’s get back to your waistline, and why its circumference is important.

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Does Your Job Involve Sitting Inside All Day?

Does your job involve sitting inside all day (and maybe night?) Have you spent years on a weight gain-weight-loss-weight-gain roller coaster?

Could lack of sunlight be a contributing factor? My simple answer to that is “yes, most definitely”.

Without sufficient vitamin D, AKA vitamin “daylight”, your body thinks you are hibernating.

It thinks winter is coming.

So what does it instinctively do as a response?

It slows down the metabolism, encouraging you to eat more, and store lots of fat to help you to “see through the winter”.

Even when it’s not winter!

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Are We Over-Complicating Our Health?

If there’s one thing that’s really hit home over the last 12-months it’s this.

Taken from an excerpt from the book ’Blue Zones – 9 Lessons for Living Longer, From The People Who Have Lived The Longest’ by Dan Buettner.

Without a shadow of a doubt, our lifestyles are the chief determinant in how long we live.

The daily, weekly, monthly and yearly accumulation of behaviours including what we eat, watch, read, whom we hang out with all the way to how much we move … all play an instrumental role in how healthy we are right now.

These things are pretty much common sense – yet astonishingly, have been completely missing from all public health care policies worldwide at a time when its been needed the most.

But let’s face it. There have been a truckload of inconsistencies over the last 11-months.

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HSW 99 – Shift Scheduling and Chronotypes with Michael Wieden.

This week we’re heading all the way to Germany to chat with Michael Wieden, the founder of Aliamos, a company that works with organisations to improve the health and well-being of employees by taking into consideration the unique biological rhythms of individuals.

Things we discuss:

1. What is chronobiology, and why is it important for shift workers to understand its significance?
2. What are chronotypes and how do they influence our ability to work specific shifts?
3. How incorporating plant-based food options into workplace canteens is improving the health of employees.
4. Why the mindset of the employer is key in rolling out successful health and wellbeing programs.

Links mentioned on the podcast:
Michael’s website – http://www.wieden.com/ and https://www.aliamos.de/
Michael’s email – wieden@aliamos.de
Michael’s Instagram account – liquidworker