Profile For Kidzstang

Great minds think alike and all that! LOL. I have done what you do as well and love me the spinach (forgot about it when I wrote my reply).

I know how cooks will go out of their way to make special stuff. It's like they need a challenge once in a while too.

Good luck to your son! I wish i would have eaten right when I was younger.

And, I'm sure you know the best part. I can eat like a king for less than $60 a week!

I'm sure the training time can be a bit of a challenge, but if I think ahead, it would probably be better since I won't be holding the trainer up waiting on a big steak dinner. Or having to stop and get rid of it 45 minutes down the road. LOL.

Good talking to you and comparing notes Half Pint, and thanks again to all for the comments!

That's great!

I'd really like to see your meal plans. I'm WFPBNO (whole food, plant based, no oil) and I eat fairly simple. You sound like you have a better handle on how to eat on the road than I do.

I hope the quote above looks ok.

My meal plans depend mainly on what I'm going to able to take with me and what I'll be able to get on the road. I was a sales engineer, so it was easy to stop at any grocery store that I wanted to to stock up, at least in the US. I also spent a lot of time in Europe driving 1,500 miles or so a week and it was a little harder over there to be able to find good plant based food so I planned more ahead.

This is how I look at it. The trick is to make sure that you can stay satisfied and not be hungry while getting enough protein. That way, you won't crave junk food and blow up like a balloon. I use eggs (which you probably don't), cheese, nuts, beans and peanuts (which are beans) for protein and then fill up with fruit and other vegetables.

A bare bones meal plan might be:

Breakfast could be a hard boiled egg or two and an apple or banana. If I can find hot water, I'll make oatmeal and add some local honey or a banana.

Lunch could be three or four stalks of celery piled high with peanut butter (I get natural peanut butter at a farmers market, no sugar added) and a piece of fruit on the side.

Dinner could be a soup or chili (loaded with mushrooms, any kind of veg, beans, tofu, etc.) that I made at home and froze in freezer bags (eaten either heated or cold), and a piece of fruit. Or a wrap with a whole shoot of romaine lettuce heart, some homemade salsa, onions, cheese, peppers, etc. and fruit. I also make veggie burgers with two caps of portabella mushroom stuffed with ground up veggies and cheese (typically Sargento's cheddar since it doesn't have animal based rennet in it).

I'll then snack throughout the day on a handful of almonds, cashews. or chopped up cauliflower or broccoli (if I'm not worried about the flatulence, lol) every so often and drink water, I'm also addicted to sparkling water.

In a pinch, I'll get the Amy's soups or chili in the organic aisle at the grocery and eat them cold or warm depending on what I have around me.

I've also carried around a single burner camp unit that screws to the top of one of those little bottles of propane to heat things if I have time. I'm not sure that those tanks are legal in a truck.

Don't forget to get your V12 shot or take supplements because V12 only comes from meat and we need it to live.

I'd be interested in your meal ideas as well having been out there on the road.

Cool Beans! Now all that I have to do is tie up some loose ends by the end of the year and get my daughter married off in ceremonies in India and St. Pete. Shortly there after, I'm good to roll.

I'll go on lurking around here for the next 5 months or so and then check in before I start a class. I think I'm going to go for an independent class, just to keep my options open while I learn the ins and outs of this trade.

Thanks all!

It's possible, but don't count on it. Take the opportunity to have a conversation with your potential trainer and ask (politely) if they would let you use a small section of their fridge or cooler for some food.

But be prepared to adjust to not having any cooler space. And also to paying much higher prices for those types of foods at truck stops.

Take a little time to research some alternatives that don't require refrigeration and also things you can order at different fast food places that work with your food choices.

If you aren't a strict vegan, things will be a bit easier. If you are, well, things are going to be tough. The best advice I can give is do some homework.

Thanks all! I think from your comments it won't be so bad. I, unlike carnivores can go without refrigerating my food for weeks on end; which is why I became a veggie to begin with. A couple zucchinis, some good peanut butter, an apple or two and a bag of nuts and I'm off to the races for a few days. The biggest problem is probably getting to a real food store every six or seven days as opposed to what I could find at a truck stop.

So, as I understand the answers, taking along my own food shouldn't be a problem just so I don't need to have refrigeration. I was worried that if I showed up with a couple bags of groceries (about the size of two gallon jugs of milk), that it may take up too much space.

I'll definitely talk this over with my trainer, if he doesn't allow me a bit of space for my food in the truck, I'll just tough it out.

I don't eat fish, or meat of any kind, but I'm not a vegan. I agree that they would have a bigger problem, but luckily that isn't me.

Interestingly, my past career requirements of long times away from home, long working hours and long hours in the car led me to become a vegetarian. It was very convenient to pull off of the road, open the cooler, make a veggie wrap, eat an apple, go the the bathroom and get moving on down the road. I've now a good fifteen years into the vegetarian lifestyle and couldn't even think of eating meat.

My question is relative to the driver training phase where you travel with a trainer. I'm sure that at some truck stops, I'll be able to catch a salad or two, but wouldn't want to count on that.

But, what's the chance that I'll be able to take along my own food during this phase of training?

What do you guys and gals think?