If you happen to work in the outsourcing industry, then there are high chances that you must have rotational shifts, sometimes working in the night shifts, or at other times in early morning shifts. Such weird working hours might take a toll on your health if not taken care of. Here is what you should be doing in such a scenario.
For those working in night shifts, consuming caffeine-rich drinks and fast food is almost a given. This wreaks havoc on our health. Almost 3% of the entire workforce in America works in night shift as per the data given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In order to stay fit while working night shifts, the first thing that you need to set as your fitness goal is to eat right. To make sure that you don’t gorge on the company food and beverages, you should bring your own food and drinks to the office. Here are three more great tips to stay fit if you have an unusual work schedule.
Research findings
This also makes sure that you don’t put on weight. There are multiple researches that have proved night shift workers are heavier than day shift workers. A study performed by researchers in 2003 in Italy found that Italian factory workers on evening and night shifts gained more weight and had more problems of high blood pressure than days shift colleagues. These studies are enough to confirm that night shift work plays a role in increasing cancer rates, heart disease, and other illnesses.
The myriad of problems that night shift workers suffer from include weight gain. For one, they are dependent on the employer food. Then, it is too late in the night to go out for a walk or something. Day shift workers can go out for brisk lunchtime walks and gyms in the evening after returning from work. Night shift workers are often too tired to try anything similar. That’s why their first priority is to go to sleep and recharge themselves for the next job after coming back from work. The natural sleep cycle is disturbed which again is a major problem. This complicates your metabolism which affects the health of the individual.
How to manage these complications?
If you want to pursue call center job or BPO job, prepare yourself by cultivating some good habits. The first thing to do is to avoid any large late night meals as it will make you sleepy and boost additional meals. Instead it is advised to consume small meals at regular intervals of time. Vegetable and fruit juices along with protein-rich foods such as sandwiches, boiled eggs, a muffin spread with cheese or peanut butter. There should be plenty of fruits and salads in your food. In addition to that, keep a mix of nuts, dried fruit and seeds.
Your habits after night shift
Before your scheduled bedtime make sure to stop consuming caffeine. Eat foods that are high in carbohydrates and contain less amount of protein so that you can fall asleep easily. Exercising is one of the best ways to strengthen your body against demanding circumstances. Regular workouts will make your body stronger and immune against all sorts of diseases, improving alertness and offering you adequate energy to carry on with the erratic schedule.
When you do apply these tips consistently it becomes conditioned to the changed shift timings and makes it more fit and productive. Exercising and healthy diet is the key to everything good that you want to achieve in life and at workplace.