“The journey has ups and downs but it is about picking yourself back up and realizing that by staying down, you’re not actually going to get to where you want to be. It’s only you who can make that choice.”
On this week’s episode, Spencer talks to former Police Officer Grace Cowan about her 6 years of experience doing shift work. Grace has always had a passion for helping others, but this rarely left time for her to take care of herself. After finding herself struggling mentally and physically, she realized the importance of self care and decided to become a full time coach to help other shift workers.
As a Police Officer, Grace worked a 6 day rotation of 8-10 hour shifts, working “earlies”, “lates” and nights with very little sleep. She talks about the difficulties of working unpredictable shifts and how to deal with the constantly changing routine and conquer bad mood, fatigue and sleep troubles.
As a young kid, Grace never considered herself “athletic”. She was overweight in University and realized that there was more to life than how she was feeling. She started doing activities that were in her comfort zone and eventually worked her way into weight training, bodybuilding and triathlon training.
Now as a fitness coach, Grace says that fitness saved her life and wants to show other people that it is possible to fit training into a shift work schedule. Spencer and Grace talk about what it means to have an athletic mindset and the importance of accountability and mental health.
Key topics
12:27 Training before or after work?
16:50 How to manage training based on mood
18:22 Sleep must haves
20:10 Food choices: Days vs Nights
25:40 Spacing meals and fasting
31:05 Accountability is everything
46:25 Mental health affects everyone
Support Grace’s SkyDive Fundraiser for Mental Health: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/graciefit?ltclid=b86d4c91-5416-461e-96dd-f80397566767
Instagram: _graciefit