The Challenge
Days, nights and evenings. Shift work can be a tough way of living. I never have the same schedule. I know I should be active, but when I have time, I am too tired to get going.

The Moment
After a night shift, all I can think about is going to sleep. At the end of a day shift, I can’t wait to get home to relax in front of the TV.
I’ve been so tired the last few weeks that as soon as I get home, I go to bed. I pretty much work and sleep and very rarely spend time with friends or family.  Life should be more than working and sleeping. I needed to figure out how to get out of this cycle. I want to find a way to revitalize myself.

The Change
I need more energy! I made an appointment with my doctor. He said that being more active and eating a well balanced meal could help me feel more energized. I had no idea what to eat or where to exercise, so I made an appointment at the local fitness centre with a personal trainer and a nutritionist.  The personal trainer suggested buying a few sets of dumbbells for home. He said this might be a good way to be active regularly, since my schedule is different every week. He showed me a full body routine that I can do three times a week. He also said that I might want to include some cardiovascular exercise in my routine. He suggested getting an exercise bike for home. He said the bargain finder and garage sales often have used fitness equipment for good prices.

The personal trainer showed me how I can be active with my every changing schedule. He even said I would have a better sleep if I exercised regularly. That had me sold in a heart beat!  There was no way I was going to start running, so he made a couple of other suggestions. The first was to go to a drop-in kick-boxing or circuit training class when they fit into my schedule.

The nutritionist wasn’t too impressed with my diet. I was picking up my dinner from the fast-food joint across the street on my way to work, then getting my second dinner from the 24-hour convenience store later in the evening. I was also drinking half a thermos of coffee at each of my breaks.  The first change the nutritionist suggested was getting rid of the coffee and drinking water at my breaks.
Then she encouraged me to make homemade meals and bring them to work, but I told her there’s no way that’s happening. Our compromise was that I would make a healthy fast-food choice, which has to include some sort of vegetables for my meal. Instead of a second meal, I would bring healthy snacks from home.

The Best Part
Who would have known exercise can actually give you more energy? Since I’ve been active, I feel great. I’ve made some new friends at the kick-boxing class, and I’m thinking about starting swimming on my way home from the night shifts.