Trucking and Road Food

Nomad13

For just over 2 years I've been a long haul truck driver and managed to mostly keep the weight just under 230. Recently though I switched jobs to local/regional. The good part is I'm now home weekly but it's been running at a different pace. The adjustment to the new job has been enough to run me on weird schedules and I've wound up putting on more weight.

I'm in my 6th week of this new job getting a better handle on it though and this week before I took off I tried to get what I hope are reasonable groceries in the truck. Although some of it is canned goods and I think I need to watch out for sodium. I also bought a loaf of bread and peanutbutter.

I think my toughest problem is reaching for Coffee/Energy Drinks like Rockstar or Java Monster that say they have nutrition but also probably have lots of sugar. Also it's tough for me not to munch on something or grab a soda out of sheer boredom.

pipinana

Morning,

My husband is a long haul driver. We have a cooler in the truck that hooks into the A/C power, so there's no need for ice (I think it's by Coleman, you can get it at WalMart in the camping section).

Throughout the week he's home, I make an extra serving of dinner, and freeze them for him to take. We buy bread, sandwich meat and cheese for lunches, for breakfasts, he has either a yogurt, banana, or a donuts (I try to get him off these, lol)... I pack him healthy snacks... Sunflower seeds, string cheese...

He has a 'hot box' (looks like a lunch box, that plugs into A/C power, and heats to 350 degrees)... That's what he uses to heat his dinners.

Hope this helps - the most important thing is the 'fridge'... There's no real way to eat healthy on the road unless you can cool things. You're right the sodium in the boxed/canned foods is going to catch up to you! NOT good...

Oh, and bring lots of WATER!!!

Drive safe!

RentThisSpace

Congrats on the new job. While I'm no long hauler like yourself, I definitely understand the caffeine addiction. For a long time, I did several sodas and energy drinks a day before realizing that it was a lot of empty calories. It was a hard transition for me to get down to only 1 cup of coffee a day now. I weened myself off of it over several weeks, gradually talking in less and less. Seemed to work well and was much better than quitting cold turkey.

It sound like you are on the right path of packing groceries and your own food for trips. One thing that I did that may or may not work in your situation is add more natural sugars from sources like fruits - apples, strawberries, grapes, etc all have additional sugar that can help keep you alert. I don't know how well these would keep in a truck, but its worth a shot if you have the ability.

One other thing that may help is taking breaks to do some exercises. Some exercise bands can allow you do some good exercises almost anywhere, and just walking for 10-15 minutes every hour or two can help keep your heart rate up.

Good luck on your your journeys.

bonkers5975

My dad's been trucking for 20 years, and been up and down with his weight. He did Atkins while on the road and had great success, losing 80+ lbs. My mom is instrumental in keeping him healthy, by stocking his truck and cooking up all kinds of good stuff, packing it in single, microwavable servings and trying to read all his labels for him!

Nuts, (unsalted) are a staple in his truck, as are jerkies. High in sodium though. Anything processed is going to loaded with sodium, which is the convenience food truckers rely so heavily on. If you have the time and inclination, buying and cooking your meats ahead of time will really help you with that. Things like chicken breasts, or turkey breasts, lean beef and the occasional pork.

As for the energy drinks, he's hooked on the 5 hour energy, I don't know what the nutritional info is on those, but I think they rely more on B vit. than sugar to pack their punch.

HTH!

Ange

TropicalKitty

It can definitely be difficult to find easy to transport foods. The mini-fridge suggestion, I think is awesome. Pack that sucker full of veggies like carrots, cucumber, celery, whole leaf romaine (use that to make sandwich rolls instead of bread), or whatever veggies you like. It's summer time so you can get some fantastic fresh produce and I bet with all your driving you'll roll past some great fresh produce stand you could take advantage of! (Hell, I remember seeing them in Florida on the turnpike's rest stops even)

My biggest concern really is the boredom thing. Swap out that sugar! I switched from regular sugar to fake (or try stevia) and now I'm in the process of weaning myself down from that. Instead of bringing a ton of soda, just grab water or tea. I don't know what you do while on the road, but I've always loved comedy and now some good talk radio. It keeps my mind going on things other than milage. (I don't fly so when I travel, it's in a car) I love my satellite radio! What about books on tape/cd/ipod? Is there something you can do with your hands? I have a set of Turkish worry beads - you just flip them back n forth in one hand. I know it gets dull on the road, but if you can find something to keep your mind going, I bet that'll help you out immensely!

Nomad13

Thanks for the feedback. I don't actually have a fridge in here yet but I've heard good things about the Coleman brand.

However I've been thinking about other advantages I have of getting home weekly now and just being able to go to a real store. I should be able to get produce to take with me that can carry through just the 1 week. With over the road I couldn't do that. So along with the nature sugars idea I have some seedless red grapes handy this week. I also got some Kashi granola bars.

As for the boredom thing I do have XM radio and it helps a lot. I'm kind of picky about audio books but I've enjoyed a few. That last one I went through was the Audio CD of World War Z by Max Brooks. What appealed to me was it had a cast of several people instead of just one guy sitting there reading the story to you.

I guess one other food thing I'd toss out is that I do like finding truckstops that have Subways. I just get the 6 inch not the footlongs and try to get something reasonable like the Melt. I always get "the works" including the jalapenos and often Vinegar and Olive Oil or Honey Mustard.