It is no news that staying up late at night exposes us to many health dangers.
The body is deprived of its need to refuel and re-energize every time we stay awake into the night.
Adequate sleep is as important as dieting and exercising for healthy living.
The more you starve your body of sleep, the more sleep debt you accumulate.
Sleep deficit exposes the body to a weaker immune system, weight gain, low sex drive, decreased brain power and so much more.
In a changing world where human services are needed and employed all around the day, what happens to those who render night services?
This article contains information that will help you stay healthy and fit even as a late-night worker.
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Working night shifts puts your body in an anti-body clockwise direction, disrupting your circadian rhythm.
You need to understand your circadian rhythm as an individual and gradually work towards resetting or adjusting it to fit your new routine. The adjustment of your circadian rhythm to suit your night shifts puts you at risk of sleep disorder when you resign from your night shift. The good news is that you can always reset your circadian rhythm when occasion demands.
The following are areas where you need adjustments.
- SLEEP ROUTINE
Your new morning might just become 12-2 p.m., but this should not make you lose out on living a healthy life.
Sleep for 6 hours once you get off work every day.
Most night shift workers finish their night shift and move into a new day without getting adequate sleep. This leads to sleep deficiency and exposure to a lot of harmful health effects. Adjust your schedule to give you at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep and maintain this schedule long term. Take a cool bath, get into comfortable wear, dim the lights in your room, reduce external sound to the barest minimum, and get some sleep. Invest in black-out curtains, ear plugs, and eye masks for better sleep. Take an extra 30-60-minute nap a few hours before getting ready to leave home for the night shift. During your off days, take a lot of small naps to make up for lost days.
- EATING ROUTINE
“I’ve noticed my waistline and belly fat increase weekly since I started working late into the night weeks ago,” says Precious, a hair wig technician.
As a night shift worker, eating healthy is one of the most challenging issues you will face. Our eating habit directly affects our body fat production and distribution level. Night workers tend to turn to caffeine for its effect on tackling drowsiness.
It is advised to take more water throughout the day and during the night than to take caffeine.
Good hydration keeps your body active. If you insist on taking caffeine, do so 6-8 hours before your shift ends, so it doesn’t affect your 6 hours of sleep after work. Night shift workers also tend to turn to food as a cure for boredom. Eat a healthy meal every time before you start work.
A balanced meal keeps you active and carries you into the night.
Get healthy snacks (fruits, nuts, vegetables, low-fat yogurt) to eat every 4 hours after your last meal till your shift ends. Do not eat before sleeping in the morning, as this might disrupt your sleep due to indigestion. Eat a healthy meal an hour after waking. Eat a healthy snack (fruits, nuts, vegetables, low-fat yogurt) or a mini meal (fruit salad, vegetable salad) before your next main meal.
- EXERCISE ROUTINE
Exercise for night workers is best before breakfast, right after waking.
You can hit the gym, do a home workout if you have your routines, take a walk, or jog in the sun for 30-60 minutes. This will leave you feeling energized and ready to maximize time before the next shift. On most days in most occupations, the night shift is not always rush hour. This makes it easier to draft a pocket of exercises like walks and active stretches during work hours.
Take a 15-30-minute break every 4 hours to walk the stairs or walk around, hit some basic exercise routines (squats, push-ups, jump jacks), or basic stretches (cobra stretch, child pose, lumbar stretch, arms stretch, bridge position)
With regular workouts throughout your day, your body stays active. Being active improves your brain and immune system and helps manage weight gain that may result from late-night work.
CONCLUSION
No matter how we try to adjust our circadian clock to fit our night routine, the importance of night sleep cannot be put aside. Work fewer night shifts to give you more regular work hours time. You can also look at a job change if your career path permits. But if you are part of the few in the world population who are night owls, enjoy your work.
If you keep to this vital information, you will be as fit and healthy as ever.
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As a Photographer in Lagos, it’s quite hard to maintain a balanced sleep schedule cause I edit at night and in the morning I shoot, is there a way I can get my 6 hours sleep with this kind of routine?
Yes there is. Our aim should be at least a 7-8 hours of sleep within the 24 hours in a day though.
You need to find ways to get pockets of naps throughout the day making up to at least an hour. And hit at least a straight 5 hours sleep within the 24 hours of the day.
Let’s imagine you leave home for the days shoot everyday by 8am and get back home by 8pm. Find a way to take short [15-30 mins] naps in between your shoot session. After the days shoot once you get home, take another quick 1-2 hour sleep before resuming editing. Try as much as possible to keep your editing work timed, working while you work, so you can get get your 5 hours straight sleep before it’s morning.
Gigs don’t come all the time, so try to utilize your no gig days to pay up on your sleep deficit. But if you get gigs round the clock all year, this might just be your hint to put out a recruitment signage.
Amazing article! Proper sleep cycles are great for helping one get into shape while optimising productivity at work. It’s really hard to get fit and deliver on your job if you’re cheating your body with sleep.
This is aptly said.
Thank you!
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