Hoppe Ever After

I’ve been working nightshift for about 6.5 out of the 9.5 years of my nursing career, and it is no easy feat staying healthy when working the overnight shift. It throws off your entire circadian rhythm which alone will contribute to weight gain and cardiovascular health problems, even studies showing nightshift workers on average live a shorter lifespan. But what if the night shift is the best schedule to support your family? Between having “more time” to spend and take care of your family as well as the typical pay differential for the overnight hours, it’s not always super feasible to leave nightshift.

So I’ve spent a majority of my career trying to figure out ways to optimize my health. This is by no means a proven or successful study that will give you results of a longer life or decreased health issues, rather things I’m doing to try to optimize my health in ways that I can.

1. Drink WATER. I feel like this is the number 1 rule of life for any wellbeing advice. It’s easy to chug down an energy drink (or 2, or 3, or 4) when you’re trying to stay up in the wee hours of the morning, especially if you take care of parents or children during the day and don’t get the recommended 8+ hours of sleep before your shift. I’ll always allow myself a travel cup of coffee (which is like 1.5 cups really) to get my night started, but afterwards really commit to only consuming water/noncaffeineated drinks. 
2. Avoid caffeine. This one’s tricky because for many of us, caffeine gives us that little boost that gets us through when we’re feeling sluggish and tired. However, caffeine has its own negative impacts especially when consumed within a time frame before our sleep cycle. The general rule of thumb is to avoid caffeinated beverages after 2pm to reduce its effects on a regular sleep schedule; however, for night shifters it is important to know that caffeine effects linger longer if consumed after 11pm and can still affect your sleep cycle when you go to lay down after a nightshift. I try my hardest to make my caffeine cut off line up with my lunch break (so I can have my little soda treat with lunch) to try and reduce the caffeine linger when I go home to sleep.
3. Try to create as much of a consistent routine as you can. Again, HARD. When I was single and childless, this was so much less of a priority for my wellbeing. I just slept when I wanted and woke up when I wanted. Went to a 24-hour gym at 2 am. Meal prepped at 11 pm. Slept for a few hours midday. I always joke that I am a “chronic napper” working night shift, but lately I’m prioritizing my sleep hygiene a lot more than ever before. I still haven’t quite figured out the perfect sleep schedule to swap between day and nightshift (I’ve got a house to run at home, okay?!) but I do make it a point to let my body rest as much as I can, since so many benefits come from quality, uninterrupted sleep cycles.
4. Eating wholesome foods. Listen, I am by nooo means above reaching for that sweet/salty snack in the middle of the night. Especially in my line of work, I’m always telling myself I deserve a little treat to make it through a bit longer. But the more I work on my overall health, the less I crave those vending machine snacks and instead want wholesome foods that make me feel better. I love meal prepping food I’m excited to eat at work (and this helps me to enjoy my break all the more) and enjoy not feeling bloated and sluggish after. I work with my health coach (whom is conveniently one of my best friends) to help think about the foods I’m eating, meeting nutrition goals, and discuss recipes. During nights I’m at work, I really focus on my protein and water intake to really curb cravings as much as possible.
5. Move. I’m not necessarily talking about crazy, big, hard workouts. Some days you’ll catch me doing T25, other days at a barre class, other days training for a run, but most days I’m just taking a nice walk around my neighborhood. Walking lets me zone out for a little while, enjoy the music I’m listening to, and get lost in my thoughts all while burning calories and prioritizing my body. I usually set my work outs for when I wake up, because high intensity workouts can disrupt your sleep patterns if you do them too close to bedtime. Plus, moving your body is a natural way to wake up your internal systems and prepare for the day.

Prioritizing your health can be difficult when you’re not on a consistent schedule as a nightshift worker, and even more so when you don’t have a set schedule to follow (looking at you, fellow healthcare workers). These are the tricks that have helped me the past (almost) decade and I hope they’re helpful for you, too!