Theres no substitute for eating clean/healthy. If you are eating right you can lose weight and stay healthy without exercise. Exercise keeps your mind sharp and your body strong. If you are not eating right everything else that you do is pretty much futile. If you are working out/exercising like a mad man, but you are eating crap, you are just spinning your wheels. You may look good on the outside for a while but your overall health will be crap and you are setting yourself up for major health problems.

What a great thread lil daddy!

I am seriously thinking of getting into trucking and one of my major concerns was eating properly on the road. Biggest concern was how?
Didn't realize you can have a fridge and microwave in a truck! Also, you are so right on about breakfast, multiple meals per day, and exercise first thing in the day. I have let myself go up and down in weight between 25-40lbs over the last couple of years depending on how I eat and how much or little exercise I get.

I start out with a brisk walk for 35-40 minutes as soon as I get up and dressed. I get back to the house and do pushups, dumbells, crunches, squats, and will mix in stretch bands for my rotator cuffs real soon. My doctor was impressed that I understood cardio and weight/resistance training. All of this is something I know I can perform on the road.

My biggest concern as a newbie is that I may have to stay out on the road 2 weeks at a time and not sure how I can prepare meals on the fly or even where to buy good food when you have 18 wheels to park?

I'd like to help u, but as far as breakfast goes, I would usually just get an apple and a banana or something and eat it while driving. These r healthy but u might want hot, cooked food, so u could probably find that in a buffet at the bigger truck stops (Flying J, Petro, TA, and others). Ur company will tell u they don't want u using the truck for personal reasons, but as far as that goes, my company didn't even care. They would see our trucks up the block from the terminal parked # Wal Mart and never cared. I guess the DOT makes them say that or something, but I've never been hassled going into Wal Mart or any grocery store and getting food. U just got to find a lot big enough for ur truck. Ur company mostly doesn't want u going around showing off ur truck just doing stuff u could easily do in ur car, but they understand a person's got to eat. All the past tense in this refers to I used to drive 2 yrs. ago, am trying to get back in it.

Oceansidehog, If you will go back to the 1st page of this thread and read all of my post, they will give you solid idea's on way's to eat and attain your exercise goals as well as how to get and keep good healthy food in your truck while you're on the road. Good luck

lil daddy, I know where you are coming from on most everything you are saying. I was injured back in 93’ and because I was not eating very healthy though getting a ton of exercise from doing autobody repair and being exposed to harmful chemicals I had a hard time recovering and actually got really sick for a while. I learned in a hurry about eating right and taking better care of myself. I have followed a very close regimen as you have mentioned throughout your many posts. In recent years though I have struggled with keeping on top of diet and exercise but still try. What has been hard is being around other family members who either won’t or don’t care to live the real healthy lifestyle. They are slowly coming around. I know when I hit the road again I will be determined to balance things out and do some exercise along the way. I know it is a must or I could revert back to the past. I know that eating fresh fruit and veggies while driving makes me feel a whole a lot better than eating chips and candies laced with msg or white cane sugar. I stay away from most store bought junk food but will eat an occasional homemade treat. I do frequent health food stores and places like Trader Joes for things like raw nuts and dried fruits etc. There are plenty of good snacks out there that won’t hurt you other than maybe carbs for those concerned with that. I try to drink plenty of water and herb teas. I do cheat and drink a coffee now and then because I really enjoy it and I stay away from the bad imitation creamers and such. Some folks need to slowly transform from a poor diet to a better diet. Most of what you are saying I do agree. Something that I stress besides what you have mentioned is that people need to cut out the hydrogenated oils of any type, this is like injecting pure poison into your body.

Whenever I do prepare a meal that requires the use of some oil for cooking or some salad dressing, I always use extra virgin olive oil. It's actually loaded good fats(omega 3's,9's and 6's), some vitamin E and is good for you. I can fully understand what you're saying about family members and freinds that don't really care about their diets or exercise, all I can say is lead by example. As their health declines and it will, and they see you healthy and strong they'll come around. You have to allow people to progress at their own pace. You can't force people into a healthy lifestyle and old habits die hard, but as they see you loseing weight, looking good and in good health they will ask you how you do it and then they will be more receptive to your suggestions. Keep up the good work and good luck. "It's sad that most people have to develope serious health issues before they are motivated enough to make changes and be more health oreinted".

lil daddy - this topic really hits home to me after years of fighting high blood pressure and cholesteral...

What are the healthiest types of nuts to eat?

How about regular tea - any health benefits?

Keep this discussion goin'!!!!!

__________________
Currently a 53 year old computer programmer considering a career change!

In one of the previous posts u talked about how processed sugars were real bad, and natural sugars r good. It seemed to me like u were saying the HFC was the worst kind of processed sugar, and if this is the case will it always say that on the labels. I want to avoid that kind, and when it just says sugar on the labels, does that mean a different kind than HFC's?

rdubill, I will tell you that eating clean and getting the the proper rest and execise is really vital in you case. I'm not a physician so I don't really feel comfortable about advising you on what you should or should'nt be doing as far as diet and nutrition or exercise beyond the basics. I would have to see your blood work and know your overall physical condition to know in detail what you really need and what type of exercise regimen would be benificial to you. As I stated in my earlier post, you should be consuming 5 to 6 meals a day with each consisting of 40-40-20(protein,carbs,fats) ratio. The staples of your diet should be lean meats, a variety of fruits and veggi's and whole grains and nuts, and alot of water(gallon a day if possible). Stay away from fried foods and sweets and white rice,white bread and white sugar as all 3 of these will cause your insulin levels to spike/rise. Stay away from processed foods and stick to the fresh whole foods. Eating 5 or 6 small to moderate meals a day will also keep your metabolism stabolized versus 3 huge meals a day that causes your metabolizm to surge and insulin levels with it. Whole fresh foods take longer to digest, provide you with sustained energy levels and are more readily burned as fuel in your body, as processed foods are digested fast, spikes your insulin levels, are stored in the body as fat and contain all types of nasty chemicals that once in the body wreak havoc on your system and organs. Almonds are one of the healtiest nuts that you can consume. It's loaded with vitamin E and healthy fats as well as protein. I ussualy consume about 2 handfuls a day. Regular tea is okay, but green tea is outstanding, its loaded with antioxidents(removes toxins and free radicals from the body) and some nutrients that provide you with an overall sense of well being. I hope that this helps to answer your questions. Good luck Hey theroadagain3, Hope you are doing well my friend. Yes HFC is a really nasty form of processed sugar that causes a muriad of health problems in the human body. It's in the same league as trans fat. Both do alot of harm to the body, and yes it always listed on food labels. If you look at the foods that you have around you right now I think that you will be surprised to find that it's in just about everything food thats processed. Many nutritionist think that it is the single most contributing factor to the obesity problem in america today.

This is very good dialog here and these suggestions and ideas will more likely than not help anyone especially a trucker stay healthier and fit for longevity on the road if he or she chooses and of course life after trucking.

Most all nuts are good for you, especially raw. You will find that eating raw nuts are very tasty and don't need any flavorings. The only nut that I stay away from due to being problematic to the pancreas is peanuts (causing blood sugar issues).

KJ