Tips & Advice on Shedding Excess Pounds on the Road

Ask the average person to describe the average trucker and you’ll hear things like overweight, fat, obese, dirty and unkempt. Those are terrible adjectives for professionals who are the heart of the nation’s economy. 

Commerce and business is often possible because truckers and other drivers move goods from one location to another. Truckers are often the unacknowledged heroes of the roads. Unfortunately, they also tend to be overweight and obese because of the sedentary nature of their jobs. 

Whatever the case, something can be done to prevent and stop that. You can actually stop packing on extra pounds and shed some weight while on the road and be on track to a slimmer, fitter you. To achieve this goal, here’s what you should do:

Stop Eating Junk on the Road

And start eating lots of healthy foods. Admittedly, most truck stops don’t provide the necessary healthy eating options. This is why we recommend that you look for places with healthy meals in their menu wherever you stop. 

Thankfully, the internet is there for you to find just about anything you want. A quick search should provide you with a list of restaurants with healthy foods. In fact, McDonalds offers some healthy food choices –yes, it’s not just junk- like the McDonald’s Southwest Salad, grilled chicken and water. 

Eat more fish and less red meat. Avoid dairy products –even when they’re supposedly low fat- chocolate drinks and other drinks that will add to your calorie intake. Eat more lean meat, more protein and less carbs. 

Get Out and Exercise Every Day

For truckers, this has become a necessity. There’s a reason many truckers are obese and overweight: they sit around all day without making any move to get some exercise. 

In fact, it’s common to see truckers, park their trucks, walk to the nearest café or restaurant, sit down, orders a large plate of fried foods, eat and walk back to their cabs to sit down and maybe talk to fellow truckers. Basically, they get little or no exercise in between. 

You need to change that habit starting now. If you’ll be in the truck stop for 30 minutes, spend that time grabbing a bite and getting some exercise. If you have to walk around for 20-30 minutes at every truck stop, you’ll find that at the end of each day, you’d have walked for an hour –a sure way to shed some weight. 

Get skipping ropes, running shoes or even stationary bikes that you can ride while you’re on break. Do this every day and you’ll soon find yourself losing weight and getting slimmer. 

Stay Hydrated

Hydration is your pal. It’s better than consistently drinking tons of coffee or alcohol. Instead, drink more water or healthy drinks. You should also avoid soda –even diet coke- and drinks with high sugar content. Fruit juices, unless they are fresh squeezed should also be avoided. 

Eat More Fruits and Veggies

When you’re cooped up in your cab for hours on end every day, the boredom can soon lead to adopting unhealthy eating habits. It is therefore not surprising that many truckers often indulge in high calorie snacks which ultimately end up in their guts, hips and faces. 

Here’s what we suggest: pack a flask of fruits and vegetables that you can eat when you’re bored or want something to snack on. No one has ever gotten fat off of eating veggies and fruits. If anything, they help boost your body’s immune system, lower your cholesterol level –thus reducing your chances of getting cardiac diseases- improve your circulation, keep you healthy and reduce your weight. 

Basically, fruit and veggies are your pals on the road. Get apples, celery, cabbage, carrots, cucumber and any other fruit you can think of and put them in your cooler. Eat them and you’ll see how quickly you’ll lose weight or at the very least, stop putting on weight. 

This article was written by Oscar Stan, former truck driver and health nut. Oscar is now a professional writer who enjoys helping others live healthier, happier lifestyles. For truck drivers who are in need of their regular DOT physical exam, he recommends visiting DriverPhysicals.com.