Losing Weight When You Don't Control Your Schedule

Do you think it would be easier to lose weight if your schedule wasn’t so jacked up? It’s easy to get caught up in feeling like you just can’t lose weight because of your life.

For teachers, it looks like this…

I can’t go to the bathroom when I want to, my lunchtime is set for me; I have no time all day and then eat my face off at night because I’m hangry. DAMN teacher’s lounge and all it's dancing pastries.

For nurses, doctors, and medical professionals…

I can’t go to the bathroom when I want to, my mealtimes are at the whim of medical emergencies; I have to stare down the cafeteria every day and all the treats. 

For night shift workers or those on a rotating shift schedule...

I don't eat at normal meal times. I just eat and sleep whenever I can. I can't get enough sleep and the treats in the break room are just calling my name all shift. I'm tired and eating helps keep me awake for my shift.

On this episode of the Loosing 100 Pounds with Corinne podcast I give you loads of tips and tricks and help you STOP using your current schedule against yourself.  This episode is for the teachers and anyone that works some sort of shift work or is on a set schedule that they blame for being overweight. 

Common Work Schedule Problems & Solutions

Instead of focusing on what prevents you form losing weight, put your brain to work on solutions to the problem. Before you can use any of my methods for overcoming these obstacles you have to FIRST realize these are excuses…not real problems. Strategies and solutions are only available if you believe this is a solvable problem. If you use it as an excuse for it to be hard then guess what…it is harder to come up with a solution. You just keep eating with excuses.

"I don't get a bathroom break"

You might not be able to go to the bathroom when you want to, but you can always test water strategies that work within your schedule. Your lunch might be at a specific time, but you can time meals to be hungry during that time. Don't complain, just decide you're solving the problem and do it. 

The moment you wake up, drink 20 oz. of water right away. You need 64 oz. a day. Water first thing in the morning will help your mental alertness and lubricate everything inside of you. Then, one hour before your scheduled break or lunch, start drinking 20 more oz. The second school is over, drink 20 oz. on the way home. That leaves you with 4 oz. to drink between the time you get home and the time you go to bed. If you're a nurse, doctor, or shift worker, you have to get creative with your thinking and find a workaround to the problem. Drink extra water on the weekends.

Fun fact about one of my No BS Coaches, Kathy, she worked on an assembly line during the summer in college. She was stuck on the assembly line during her shift and couldn't get up except for her assigned breaks. I used to work 10 hour restaurant shifts not getting food or restroom breaks.

 "I had a stressful day and I make horrible decisions in the evening."

It's typical for teachers/nurses to run on adrenaline/cortisol all day and then crash in the evenings when the hormones lower. It's not that you don't have control over food in the evenings, it's a chemical/hormonal thing. Once you realize that, you should eat a normal meal so the hormones can level out normally.

If you're starving when you leave work, this is when it's so important to have a realistic food plan. Have a plan this is realistic for the days that might have been more stressful than others. Have a dining out solution or a very easy meal solution (tacos, chili). Know which healthy choices you can always pick if you eat out.

When the adrenaline/cortisol drops when you're heading home, listen to the conversation going on in your head (beating yourself up for what went wrong during the day, listing all the things you have to do in the evening still). If you go home with a mismanaged brain and the hormones are dropping...chips will win everyday. If you're feeling defeated emotionally, it's just the thing you're thinking.

When someone is ready for a new thought, they can typically come up with it on their own. 5% of your brain is your reasoning brain, 95% is the unconscious brain. We start thinking something is wrong because we're not thinking happy thoughts all the time. The modern brain has to engage the reasoning brain more often and engage more than that 5% Know what you're thinking on the way home and if it's a shit show in your brain, it will probably be a shit show in your mouth later on. This happened...what do I want to think about it?

"I have an assigned lunch!" or "I have a 10:45 lunch period, but I'm not hungry till close to noon, what should I do?"

Eat a super light lunch and then eat again right after school or work. You may have to play around with how much food will get you to different times in the day. Look at your schedule and figure out a solution that will work.

Use the hunger scale whenever you have the opportunity to use it. It's there to help you answer whether you're emotionally or physically hungry. Its job is to stop the emotional eating. How am I going to eat according to my body today?

Stay in the mindset of "I'm doing this, I can figure it out." How can I make this better? Going back to school could be better than summer. It could get you back in a routine and away from the pantry. It could challenge you on how to be creative to lose weight.

Figure out how you could enjoy something, instead of dwelling on how you're going to suffer. How can i make it fun? Stop telling yourself that the only way to be healthy is to be miserable or inconvenienced. This applies to everyone, not just teachers or shift workers.

"There's free food in the break room/nurses station" or "I just found myself eating all the snacks"

Everything you put in your mouth is a decision, don't act like you don't have control. Take ownership. Don't be a victim to the cupcakes.

This is the situation you have (all the free food) arguing with it and wishing it wasn't there is causing you to suffer. You need to visualize how you want to deal with free food situations, instead of complaining bout it and how hard it is to turn down.

What do I want to think when I go in the break room? Don't think "I can't have this" or "this is off limits" that doesn't feel like you're in control. Instead, think "oh that looks good" and walk away...visualize it.

If you know you're going to go into the break room every day, then every morning visualize yourself going in there and not caring about all the food. If there were free kittens in the break room, you wouldn't just pick one up and take it home just because they're there. You'd think "how cute" and keep going about your day. I can be around any food and it's okay. Nothing happens until you decide to put the food in your mouth.Develop a Mindset for Weight Loss When You are a Teacher, Medical Professional or Shift WorkerWhen I lost weight, the options for self-development were minimal. No Facebook, no podcast, no life coaching. I had zero resources except my brain and I decided I was going to figure it out. No matter your situation, you can think "I'm so lucky and I can figure this out." Then find a solution. Check out my freeLosing for Life Kickstart Video Course + Guide to jumpstart your weight loss journey and lose weight the way you can live forever. No bullsh*t diet meal plan or crazy workout schedule.