Weight loss

I cook in the truck. I REALLY cook in the truck. Don't have microwave, no refrigerator... I cook on a little burner. Buy my vegetables and fruits at Walmart once a week and cook almost every day after driving. It's not for every body. It takes about one hr... I prepare my "kitchen counter", cut and slice vegetables, stew everything, don't fry anything... then I clean all the pots and containers, put things away, wipe the floor... Gotta have inside truck always clean and neat. I cook enough for no more than one meal so it doesn't spoil and I keep everything inside my cooler with ice. It takes discipline... But it's worthy the time and effort. A crock pot can be helpful too... but I don't have it.

 

It is so nice to read your experience. I can even picture your meal time. lol - Great ideas!!

 

Two years ago I lost 50 pounds and got back down to the weight I am at now which is the same weight I was before I started driving... 165 lbs... I try and walk 1 hour 3 times a week of course time provided... At the very least it doesn't take but 15 minutes before you lay down for the night to walk a couple laps around the truck stop... A lot of people I think are scared to do this cause the other drivers are looking at them but who cares... Its your health not theres... One huge thing that helped me get into walking was I bought an I-pod and put all my music on it and even till this day I buy new music off of I-tunes... Like others have said park far as possible away from the truck stop, sweep your trailer after every delivery and everytime you stop do a walkaround your truck for an inspection... I eat out as I don't cook or have a fridge/cooler in my truck... Salads with fat free dressing, WHEAT bread subway sandwhiches NO MAYO... Cut out bread as much as possible.... Stay away from fried foods... and when your eating and feel full STOP eating its ok to throw the rest away!!! Water water water.... Its not gonna happen overnite but with small changes it will happen... I also joined a gym at home for $20.00 a month and when Im home I go everyday and walk on the treadmill for 1 hour...

 

I'm kind of new to trucking, I dont regularly weigh myself, but, when I started, my pants would fit pretty snuggly without a belt when I started 2 months ago and now theres a lot of room and my pants will fall off without a belt.

I eat fruits, canned chicken breasts, these pure protein bars, instant oatmeal, plain cheerios, instant mashed potatoes, ramen, and peanut butter with bread. I have a jetboil that boils enough water for my meals and boils in 1-2 minutes, #### is awesome for cooking in the truck. I plan to add low sodium V8 to this.

I only drink water, I dont even get diet soda, or gatorade, or fruit juice. Fruit juice sounds like it might be healthy, but its pretty #### awful. Get a coca cola and a vitamin c pill and you have the equivalent nutrition of fruit juice. Those sports drinks are terrible too, theyre like trailmix, its alright if youre doing intense physical activity and burning lots of calories, but when youre on your ### all day, you don't need that ####. You'll find soda repulsive after not drinking it for a while.

If you get coffee, drink it black and straight with no sugar or cream added. Myself, I got a bottle of caffeine pills from walmart for $4, and it equals about 160 cups of coffee worth of caffeine for a measly $4!!! I save money, time, boost my metabolism, give myself energy, without the stomach problems coffee usually gives me.

Fast food - nothing wrong with an occasional burger, just get the burger only though, skip the soda and fries. A burger will have protein, fiber, and nutrients, the soda and fries are just empty calories. Sometimes I'll use my fuel reward points for a subway sandwich, I always get something with chicken, extra tomato, spinach, on wheat. No mayo, no trash iceberg lettuce. I have some hot sauce and pepperocinis in the truck if the sandwich is too boring.

My next gameplan is to get adjustable dumbbells and put them under the bunk or behind the passenger seat. It's too cold for jump rope or a folding bicycle, and what a lot of people dont know is that lifting weights isnt just for building muscle, its great for burning fat.

 

I have a 12V crock pot that my wife bought me. Shortly after I go a local job and I am home nightly so I have never used it.

If anybody is interested in it PM me.

Mikeeee

 

Since most truck stops do not charge for hot water......

I know the Ramen and ramen bowls can be very boring so I had a friends dehydrate a couple of bags of frozen veggies, I toss in some dried green onions, carrots, peas, and broccoli into one of the bowl ramens and it helps make them much more palatable.

Also a handful of raisins mixed in with instant oatmeal is good.

I also Carry dried apricots and dried plums (aka prunes) as a sweet snack. (Costco has good prices on these).

Cans of tuna, chicken breast and salmon so you can make a quick samich @ a pic, drop, or in the rest area.

Small containers of Unsweetened applesauce (good ripe apples do not need sugar)

Cereal bars (the ones without chocolate because the chocolate melts) if I need a quick pick-me-up or to soak up too much coffee in the stomach.

I just keep a boot box sized plastic container of the canned goods and restock when at home. The dried/canned goods also double as survival rations if you get stuck in snow and things during the winter.

 

Not only are they boring, they are all SALT!

In the Medical section of Land Line a Doctor commented, "The average daily reccomended intake of sodium us about 3000 milligrams. A typical OTR trucker diet has 10-15 thousand milligrams!!!"

Mikeeee

 

Yipes! You get high blood pressure enough just from driving.

 

For what my two cents are worth, I am in the same situation. I changed my diet about 60 days ago and have lost 20 lbs so far.
This is what works for me
1) Before you start, keep a food diary. Most people don't know what they actually consume in a day. When you have a few weeks of data, look for
what you can drop out of your diet. For me it was sugar, I completely dropped it out of my diet. You need to be able to maintain these changes the
rest of your life, otherwise you will eventually regain whatever you lose, if not more.
2) Have a realistic outlook on weight loss, if you are losing a ton of weight to start, it is water loss and not sustainable. Expect to lose about 1-1 1/2 pounds a week. Do not freak out if you screw up one day, just keep going on. It is not a race, it is a change of lifestyle.
3) Walk, I try to walk at least a half hour every day, even if I can only do laps of the parking lot.
4) Eat only when you are hungry, and then only eat half what you would normally eat. If you are still hungry, wait an hour or two before you eat something else.
5) Drink water, not diet soda, energy drink, ect.. I know this gets thrown around alot, but I was suprised about how often what I thought was hunger was just thirst. And I have come to believe that even zero calorie drinks mess up your metabolism making it harder to lose weight.

Anyway, just wanted to put my iron in the fire. It is working for me, hope it helps someone else.

 

Oh Man, I really loved what you wrote, the whole article you post pumped me up even more. My Doctor last week told me the same thing "DRINK MORE WATER..." and so, as you said, "we are thirsty and confused it as we were hungry..." - even the fatigue we feel some time it is just lack of water. Great post... THANK YOU!! Buy the way, I'm gonna cut off sugar, for real... What are you using to substitute sugar?