Tag Archives: eating tips for shift workers

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Fancy A Banana Bread Breakfast?

banana breadI don’t know about you, but I often get bored eating the same old thing over and over again for breakfast so I decided to spice things up a little and make some banana bread for brekky instead.

Whilst there’s a fair bit of flack in the media at the moment regarding fruit, bananas and sugar I’m not convinced (despite heading into my 2nd year of a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutritional Medicine degree), that we have to give bananas (or any fruit for that matter), the flick!

Why?

Because bananas contain a heap of healthy goodness despite all of the “I Quit Sugar” media hype, some of which include: vitamin B6 and vitamin C, folate, antioxidants, fibre, potassium and they make an awesome “fatigue-busting-snack” as they’re quite filling and help to return low blood glucose levels back to normal.

And considering this “bread” contains 3 bananas, a small amount of coconut sugar and maple syrup, by the time you sit down to your one slice (if you can stop at one slice), I still believe it makes a far superior breakfast than any store-bought breakfast cereal on the market which is laden with hidden salt, sugars, additives and preservatives that has next to no nutrition!

This recipe is ideal for making the night before (especially for those on early shift), and can be transported into work very easily – unlike juices and smoothies which can sometimes “surprise us” with a bit of spillage in the bottom of our handbag.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups spelt flour
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 tbsp. maple syrup
  • 2 organic eggs, lightly beaten
  • 150g plain Greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil, melted

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 23cm x 13cm loaf tin with non-stick baking paper and set aside.

Mash the bananas in a large bowl and add the remaining wet ingredients.  Mix until combined.  Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, ensuring there are no clumps of baking soda or flour.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and fold until just combined.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the break comes out clean.  Allow the break to cool in the loaf tin for 30 minutes.

To Serve

This is super tasty toasted and you can top with butter, honey or natural yoghurt and berries.

Note:  Recipe adapted from ‘Life’s too short for diets’ cookbook by Nicole Joy.

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Shift Work Struggle – How To Curb Those Bad Eating Habits.

I don’t need to tell you that there are many struggles when it comes to working shift work. In fact there are so many struggles that I even decided to write a book about it.

But let’s talk about how to curb those bad eating habits.

Shift workers are notorious for eating badly. We tend to come up with every excuse under the sun to justify our junk food and caffeine addiction.

So what can you do to change this?

By simply making the decision to change – and sticking to it!

It never ceases to amaze me how we often neglect our bodies by filling them up with toxic, unhealthy food. Yet at the same time we would never fill our cars up with toxic, contaminated fuel.

There is absolutely no difference between our body and our car.

Actually let me rephrase that. There is a difference. A BIG difference.

Your car will give you warning signs when it is not feeling well like stalling, breaking down or failing to start. But your body is different. The warning signs will come, but not straight away because our bodies are incredibly resilient. They will tolerate a lot of junk food, alcohol and excessive rich food for quite awhile before eventually sending you those warning signals. For example shortness of breath, high cholesterol, weight gain, sleepless nights – to name just a few.

So if you’re serious about wanting to curb those bad eating habits you have to recognise that the more junk food you eat – the more your body will crave this food.

You have to break the junk food cycle because once you begin to eat more nutrient dense, high quality food it will begin to crave more of this food – and then reject the junk food.

Breaking the ‘Bad Eating Cycle’ is the KEY to curbing those bad eating habits.

So when contemplating your next shift work struggle, focus on eating healthy, nutritious food as opposed to processed, fatty and sugary foods.

As world renowned medico of Nutritional Medicine Dr Greg Emerson would say:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Or quite simply – take 100% responsibility for the food that you put in your mouth and those very bad eating habits. At the end of the day, the only person that can do this is you.

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A Little Secret Weight Loss Tip For Shift Workers

Now if you’ve been working shift work and struggling to lose weight for quite some time – then I’m not surprised. Because weight loss and weight gain can certainly become the bane of our existence.

Shift workers are prone to eating all of the wrong foods at all different times of the day because quite simply, we become too tired to take care of ourselves properly.

So if you’re struggling to lose weight, would you like to learn about a little secret weight loss tip for shift workers?

Well I’m going to tell you anyway and it’s called … Firing Your Diet!

So if you are on some kind of diet – whether it’s the cabbage soup diet, the lemon juice diet, the purple diet, the low-carb diet – whatever it is, just fire it!

Because you are never going to achieve a healthy weight (and be happy) – by constantly dieting.

Whenever you just mention the word diet, it brings up messages of having to “deprive yourself” of something. And to overcome this feeling of deprivation, the only way to fix this is to “cheat”.

And this of course makes it even worse.

Ultimately fad diets don’t work because they focus on a number on a scale. Remember it’s not about the number on the scale – it’s about being healthy. There is no magical number.

And whenever you’re on a fad diet – the weight loss that you do achieve is only temporary. In fact, studies have shown that two-thirds of the weight that was lost through some kind of diet, is actually regained within 1 year.

So just remember, there is no quick fix to losing weight. It’s about changing your eating habits for life – not just for a day, a week or a month – for life.

Adopt the 80/20 rule. Eat healthy foods 80% of the time, and enjoy your life (and food) – by eating the foods that you love, the other 20% of the time.

So despite what you may think – you can work shift work AND lose weight all at the same time. It’s about knowing the little secret weight loss tip which quite simply is called – Firing Your Diet! As soon as you do this you will not only feel an enormous sense of relief – but your journey to becoming a healthy and happier shift worker will begin from that moment onwards.

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The Shift Work Diet – How Eating Makes You Feel Tired!

I guess if you’re reading this article right now, then I don’t need to tell you that the shift work diet is not a good one. In fact, just eating food can make you feel tired – let alone working crazy hours.

So as a shift worker, do you tend to ‘eat for energy?’ Do you head for the fridge or snack machine whenever you’re starting to feel tired?

If so, then you’re going to want to read this.

You see, the simple act of ‘eating’ – or putting food into your mouth, can actually increase your tiredness and sap your precious energy.

Most people are not aware that the actual process of ‘digestion’ takes a whole lot of energy.

In fact, we burn over 10% of our available “fuel” every day just digesting our food!

Now obviously digestion is an important process and something that we can’t – nor would we want too – stop doing. But we can certainly make things easier for our digestive system so that it frees up some energy for us.

“Ahhh … more energy!” I can hear you saying.

So here’s a little trick for you.

Chew every bite of food 30 times before swallowing.

Sound a bit silly?

Well it might sound a bit silly, but it’s actually more profoundly life-changing than you can possibly imagine.

And here’s why:

• Digestion starts in the mouth. If we skip that process, we only get a fraction of the nutritional value of our food. Small amounts of nutrition = low energy.

• Gulping down partially chewed food puts tremendous stress on our digestive system which is why you feel so tired after a big meal, or you’ve eaten in a hurry.

PLUS – a huge proportion of shift workers suffer from digestive problems every single day, but are blissfully unaware of it.

And what’s worse is that a lot of digestive problems don’t even manifest in a sore stomach – only in FATIGUE.

But the good news – (yes, finally there is some good news) – is that by simply correcting your chewing habits, you can open the energy floodgates by freeing up energy that was already there!

So try not to eat in a hurry. Eat slowly, savour every piece of food that goes into your mouth … and chew, chew, chew!

Your stomach will certainly thank you for it – and you won’t feel so tired after eating your meal. Sound like a nice change?

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Shift Work Nutrition – The KEY To Beating Fatigue!

Now first class nutrition is essential for absolutely everybody, whether you work shift work or not. But because you’re placing extra strain on your body by working crazy and irregular hours – then it’s even more critical that you adopt healthy eating habits – daily.

And the good news is that first class shift work nutrition is the KEY to beating fatigue. Now the word ‘fatigue’ is certainly a familiar word in a shift workers vocabulary!

So as you take better care of yourself by feeding your body first class nutrition, you will become more charismatic, you will have more energy and you will even become better at your job.

You will simply feel so much better when you put the best fuel possible into your body.

The food that you eat everyday will help your immune system become stronger and your mind fresh and focused. (I don’t know about you but I’ve had so many ‘forgetful’ moments over the years I used to just place it down to sleep deprivation, but in hindsight I think it was just poor eating habits and bad nutrition on my part!)

You see for most shift workers, they blame sleep deprivation as the major reason for making them feel so tired and lethargic. And of course there is a lot of truth to this statement.

But what most people don’t realise is the power of what you take in your hand and put in your mouth can make a huge difference in how you feel – particularly with your energy levels.

I also believe that for most shift workers, they are blissfully unaware of just how food affects their body and their overall health.

So if you’re sick of waking up feeling tired and lethargic – take a good hard look at what is passing through your mouth. If your diet consists mainly of boxed or processed foods then it might be time to make the switch to include more fresh, raw and organic foods.

I guarantee that you will start to feel much more vibrant and energized as you start to feed your body first class shift work nutrition.

After all, do you put contaminated fuel in your car? I think not. So why feed your body with contaminated food – which essentially is what processed food is.

P.S – So your tip for today – write down everything (and I mean everything) that passes through your mouth for the next 3 days. I think you will be shocked at just how much junk you’re actually putting into your body …