Health for the 12 hour shift

And I can breathe again....

Started my job
4- 12 hour shifts in the ER, one day off of rejuvenation and intense detox of work and back on for 2-12 hour shifts.....

and now I breathe- one week off

I also got to coach my little girls team to another win! One of my track girls qualified and ran a PR in the 5K! I love getting to celebrate over achievements that are hard earned.



So all my tips, thus far, work well especially if you get to stay home all the time.

Now for figuring out how to stay fit and eating well while trying to stay calm while life throws stress and deadlines at you.

Truthfully I don't have a one-size-fits-all answer.
I don't even have an answer for me. I struggle with this.

I bring the perfect foods to eat, then people bring cupcakes, candy, offer french fries. Then my coworkers start talking about something delicious in the cafeteria and bring back smells that tempt. It's very hard to say no when you work hard and you get a few de-stress minutes to gobble down. I want everything in sight because I don't know if I will get another chance to eat. Then, no matter how much I ate at work, I always want unending food when I get home.

Not to mention the night shifters that practically have to eat to stay awake half the time. Night shift is no easy endeavor, I've been there.


I find it hard to get out of bed before my husband unless I have to go to work before him.

I love going to workout classes and pick-up basketball in the early mornings but sometimes cuddling wins over.

So working a 9am-9pm shift, I have little light to workout currently.

I always get up with Jonathan for breakfast and coffee before work so I decided to do at least 50 jumping jacks every 15 minutes when he left at 7am the other day.

Just so you know, if you have a busy day or are just getting started into exercising this can be a great option.

I wear a fuel band and have a goal of 3000 points a day which I usually don't get just from normal activity during the day. 

If I'm really active I've gotten anywhere from 6-7500 points.

If I don't barely move I get 1500 points. 

At work I get about 2500 points from a 12 hour patient-care shift. 

These points are all based on movement of your wrist and not on muscle tone. It's something best used with cardio exercises where your arms move or just to track how much you move during the day.

It does have a pedometer and a calorie counter.

So this gave me about 1000 extra points just doing 50 jumping jacks every 15 mins for 2 hours. Adds up quick, 8 sets, 400 jumping jacks, while you are still getting ready!

I just uped my calorie burn effortlessly.

Another way to do this, especially good for at home lazy days or study days, is exercise 10-15 minutes every hour. 

In 6 hours you have effortlessly exercised for an HOUR that day.

 Any movement that gets the heart rate up is beneficial to building that muscle, your heart, making it fight heart disease and heart failure a little easier.

This way of working out is actually quite helpful because it clears your mind each hour to set you up for the next.

There is even research that exercising throughout the day is more beneficial. So make it a cinch and spread it out when you just can't get that motivation!

Best exercises for this are jumping jacks, running in place, jump rope, dancing. Music helps!

The tabata style would work fine for this too! 20 seconds hard 10 seconds off then repeat for the rest of the minute, switching between burpees and squat jumps.

This is for your effortless days. It will be very beneficial for some other types of workouts on days you have more time but this will do for those lazy, study days.

So to say the least, all I can do is bring good healthy hearty foods, avoid temptations, and have exercise plans ready for before work and right after to de-stress.

Then detox on days off. Hope this helps!