I used to work overnight shifts, which can really take a toll on a person. While there isn’t always as much work on overnights in some industries, it certainly messes with what is natural for a human body. I have to willingly admit that a lot of it was my own doing.
Aside from being up all night, sleeping a good portion of the day, and not really exercising, one of my big issues was my diet. It was just easier for me to eat for convenience rather than for my health. It wasn’t that I was unaware, just that I didn’t have the energy really to care.
That all changed with a visit to the doctor because I couldn’t shake the fatigue that was gripping me. I’d avoided making this appointment for a bit, chalking it up to my wonky schedule. It ended up getting to the point where it was getting out of hand. I was sometimes nodding off at work, which I could get in a lot of trouble for. Then one day I found myself nodding off on my drive home, which could obviously be way worse, so I was done speculating.
My doctor didn’t think twice about doing a full blood work up on me. I had also gained a significant amount of weight; nearly 20 pounds since I’d last been in for a visit and my blood pressure was a little elevated too. That right there could have been a major contributor to how I was feeling. The next day when my blood work results came in, it showed that my cholesterol was high, along with my triglycerides. The doctor said I needed to change my diet immediately if I wanted to make this better. I was set to go in for a follow up in 6 weeks, which told me that I needed to take this seriously.
So I sat down and did some research on what I could do to improve my health. I knew the basics of healthy eating, but I had to make it work for me and my schedule. In the meantime I’d be searching for a new job with a daytime schedule, because I certainly wasn’t getting enough sleep either.
I knew I obviously needed a normal amount of exercise, but that wasn’t going to be the only thing to get me on the right track. I would have to take the time and make myself healthy meals. I was hoping for a quick fix with healthy prepared meals, but those contained a lot of things that the doctor told me I needed to avoid.
I looked up sustainable ways to prepare food on an abnormal schedule. I was happy to find that I wasn’t the only one going through something like this. It looked like there was one big hack to making food prep easier and less time consuming: a food processor.
I didn’t have one, but before I went ahead and ordered one on my own, I gave my sister a call to ask if she had ever used one. I explained my situation to her and it was clearly upsetting to her, especially when I used to be pretty fit when I was younger.
She told me that strangely enough her in-laws had just gifted them with a brand new food processor, and that I could have her old one, I’d just need to order a few replacement parts for it. The timing couldn’t have been better, and we both agreed that it seemed like someone was looking out for me.
She directed me to KitchenWorksUSA, where she had ordered Cuisinart 14 cup food processor parts in the past. She also agreed to help me find recipes that were easy and healthy to make with the food processor. I was so thankful for her at this moment. When the parts arrived, I got to work with my sister.
I started walking when I had free time, and I was food prepping on one of my days off. I also found a job where I could work a day shift instead of overnights. I was currently on my last week at the job with the graveyard shift. Things were really changing for the better. I was feeling good, but the true test would be when I had my follow up.
When I went back in, I had lost 8 pounds, which was a great start. I felt less stressed overall as well. All of my blood work came back better than before too. My doctor has been very happy with my progress, but made sure to let me know that if I fell back into my old habits that things would get bad again. I certainly wasn’t about to let that happen. Especially not after coming so far. I highly recommend giving this a try to anyone, mainly to be proactive about your health.
