loosing weight as a otr truck driver

sdcarpenter66
sdcarpenter66 Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anybody have any good ideas to loose weight and keep it off. I do nothing but eat truck stop food and no exercise

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Pre plan food and take it with you

    Choose better

    Move more at truck stops
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    Get a portable gym membership and workout for part of your break
  • CaptainJoy
    CaptainJoy Posts: 257 Member
    You have to eat fewer calories than you burn and that's hard when your job requires you to sit for 11 hours/day. I've found that keeping a loaf of bread and tuna packets in the truck helps keep me from the starving/binging cycle that most drivers face when there's either no food or too much food available.

    Choose which truckstop to eat at based on the best lower calorie choices. I used to eat a Hardee's sourdough thick burger but didn't realize it was over 850 calories. Now I choose a turkey gyros from Wendy's at about 450 calories or a rotisserie chicken Subway. By avoiding the cheese and mayo you save a lot of calories.

    Bananas are good but they can have as many calories as 2 eggs so you want to pick foods that satisfy you for longer periods. Also, drink lots of water. A large glass that you can refill with ice will also give you something to chew on while you're driving.
  • KettleBelle68
    KettleBelle68 Posts: 34 Member
    My husband is an OTR driver too and is in the same boat you are. Like the others have suggested, he's been trying to make better choices at the truck stops, portion control packing/cooking food in between runs, and is trying to exercise along with drinking a lot more water. When he's home, he packs bananas, apples, oranges, pears, baby carrots, etc..any type of fruit/veggie that will last. He will cook chicken, pork chops and steak and divide those out into portions. He's bagged out salad portions and has said that they keep in his fridge for awhile. Low salt/fat lunch meat and cheese for sandwiches are a staple too. To help control hunger, he has been buying fireballs (hot jawbreakers). Not the healthiest choice, but it seems to do the trick.

    For exercise, I bought him set of exercise/toning cords that he can use in his bunk or even outside if he wants. He's able to do strength training with those. You can find them cheap on Amazon or Walmart. He is also trying to get up and walk more when he's parked waiting to pickup or deliver a load. Once you get into the routine/habit of making better choices and putting in some effort, it gets easier. You can do it! :)
  • AJF230
    AJF230 Posts: 81 Member
    edited September 2016
    Sir, first, thank you. Your job puts you into some higher-risk health categories, and takes you away from your family and friends for longer than anyone should have to. Nobody even thinks about how their "stuff" gets to where they are, its people like you.

    Sounds like you know what's holding you back, now just start making changes and turn them into habits.
    You really got to stop eating truck stop and fast food, learn how to make an prepare your own as much as you can, and make sensible choices if at restaurant meals. the portable gym membership is a good idea. places like Gold's are everywhere it seems. Plan your stops to fit in some exercise.

    "Thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become character. " -not by me, but true
  • SarahSloth342634
    SarahSloth342634 Posts: 90 Member
    I definitely agree on preparing your own food to take to work, it makes a huge difference. Stop eating at truck stops. Fast food is full of sugar, fat and minimum nutrients and will leave you craving more. Damn this sounds harsh but I know because my husband is a truck driver. He had some bad eating habits a few years ago. Prep food at home (i know it's hard after a long days work but gotta do it) prep wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, chicken, tuna, salads, fruit, bottled water or sugar free drinks. Enough to stop energy slump midday. :) good luck you can do it.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    As has been mentioned thanks for the job you do. I remembered a pretty good article in men's health a while back on living healthy as a trucker. Was able to find it

    http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/on-the-road-fitness

    Apparently Prime Trucking is pretty good with driver fitness programs. Might want to do some Internet searches.

    Best of luck.

Categories