A Mommy Story

Overall I’ve been pleased with the progress I’ve made in losing weight and improving my health. But this recent plateau has forced me to look at every aspect of what I’m doing and figure out what’s holding me back.

I’m working out and pushing myself hard each week with a combination of cardio and strength training. I’m tracking my calories and remaining under my allotment each week. I’m trying to eat more vegetables, more protein, drink more water, and take my vitamins.

My sleep? Well, that’s not so great. I work an overnight shift, so when most people are happily asleep in their beds, I’m hard at work at my desk. In exchange, I sleep during the day, although that sleep is never as restful as it is at night, even with room darkening curtains. Obligations always pop up, too – always during my sleep time, of course, since the rest of the world is on a day schedule.

At night, there’s no cafeteria open to serve fresh food. Pizza is available for delivery early on, and there is one 24-hour McDonald’s. Our food is whatever we bring in to eat, which often consists of snack foods and frozen meals. My frozen meals are often low-cal choices, but when I’m tired, snacking helps wake me up.

I know there are plenty of studies linking night shift work to poor health conditions. We’re more likely to be sleep deprived, have a higher risk of heart attacks, have weaker immune systems to fight off illness, and more likely to be overweight. Just the hours of my work make it harder for me to lose weight.

Is my unusual schedule playing some part in my plateau? Possibly. But this is one factor I can’t change. While working third shift isn’t ideal, I really like my job so I have no plans to give it up.

So if I can’t change it, I’ll have to find some way to counter this disadvantage. Finding new ways to get more sleep would be nice, as well as making better choices at which snacks I choose to indulge in at work. Maybe I can even go for a walk around the building on my lunch break to squeeze in a little more exercise?

Working night shift may make it harder for me to reach my goals, but it doesn’t have to stop it entirely.