Trucker Diet Need Help

Hello everyone. There are some great replies on here!!! I have lost 50 lbs & I was already wondering about eating on the road. I'm real picky & wasn't going to drive all over creation looking for food. Not to mention factoring in parking for a big truck.

I have to do exercise as I can, if that means laps around the truck. Provided I pass trucking school lol

Take care.

Karen

Its the same old thing you always hear but never do, diet and exercise. Control your diet and exercise. eat fruits and vegetables, limit meat serving to the size of a deck of playing cards. Dont add extra butter or sour cream. Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise so dont think you can exercise your way to weight loss. Use a dash of lime juice in your water, get a fridge or cooler. Stop making excuses.

Get a Road Pro slow cooker... dirt cheap and does wonders for a 12v

Well Robert, I keep apples handy to snack on while driving and lots of ice cold bottled spring water. I found a slim line cooler to keep beside my seat and got a small square shaped container and used wide stick on velcro tape from hobby lobby to put on the top of the cooler and the bottom of my container and I stick the two together. Before I start my next preplan I put a couple of apples in it and some cheese and peanut butter crackers and other healthy snacks in it so that if I get hungry I can reach and grab something with out disturbing my driving.. It works extremely well. As a lady I wore a size 16 when I stared im now down to a size 12 and feel great.. I start my day about 4am with a balanced breakfast like a sausage, egg and cheese corrsaint or a biscuit then fruit through out the day for snacks even cups of grapes that some truck stops sell. I always make sure that I eat a hot well balanced supper. That eating format works great. I rarely eat any junk food for snacks at all. You can find a slim line cooler that you can put right beside your seat at a leg high. Level so easy to reach I. To access water bottles chilling. I also carry Kool aid pouches. And have a soda about once aday. For a xaffine pick up because I do not drink coffee. Just some ideas for you to work with but it works great for me.

I have been driving for 5 years in the oil field so from bad sleep and eating what I could because I was running mad hours.... I have gained like 75 pounds so I weigh around 300 pounds and that's not good. Now I am running for a regional /OTR company so I get sleep at night or day. I need help or advice on what I should keep in truck to eat and snack on. I do not have a refrigerator or cooler yet so it might make things harder.... But any advice is grateful and appreciated. I just don't know what is good foods and bad but I know candy and fast food is bad stuff and I seldom drink coffee but I do drink one or 2 soda a day.

Celery is a good crunchy snack with very little calories but lots of vitamins and fiber.

I read somewhere in one of the comments with scenario: "If hamburger is your only option, just drink water" <~~ I so do not agree with this. Plus, if the guy can find a hamburger to purchase, I'm betting he can find a second (and healthier) option in the same eatery!! And hamburgers aren't all that bad that someone can't just have one for -- however, eating 10 hamburgers in one sitting is bad. Or, well, one every hour is bad too. But, we do need food for fuel....... food is converted into energy. So, drinking all the time just to not chew on things? Yeah -- One must decide if he wants to lose weight the "fast" (read: unhealthy) or the "healthy" (read: sustaining) way. In fact, the faster the pounds are dropped, the more probable it'll all be regained. Healthy loss in a sustaining manner is the best way to lose weight!

Drinks: ONLY WATER, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TEA. If you "need" flavoring, add fruits or veggies. Absolutely *zero* sugar! Gatorade is sugar -- if one needs electrolytes, it can be made with water, *natural* juice for flavoring and crushed sea salt sodium, calcium, and potassium supplements. Coconut water contains natural electrolytes. Anything and everything else are calories -- unless the calories are actually needed, i.e. protein drink, avoid them. They add up. Drinkable things are *not* substitutes for water! Drink half your body weight in ounces of water... a day.

Snacks: Nuts, Fruits, Vegetables, Tuna on Multigrain crackers, Peanut Butter, Hummus, etc. In other words -- natural and raw "finger foods". Yes, in moderation! Even dark chocolate (with 70% cocoa, minimum!) has its benefits in indulging, but also it's to be in moderation!

Meals: Ahem... combo of Fruits, Vegetables, Meats, Eggs, Carbs, etc..... simply: preparing your own is healthier than the fast food junk. Want a hamburger? Don't go to McDonald's -- get some lean meat, a portable grill, and add all your dang veggie toppings with whole wheat buns. That so beats McD's. Invest in a crockpot and let it cook all day with the fresh veggies and lean protein. Stay away from fried and processed foods. Make *smarter* choices when ordering food off a menu, and maintain portion control!!!!

Substitutions:

Bread, Tortilla, Rice, Crackers -- switch out white for multigrain, whole grains, whole wheat Ezekiel, brown, etc

Meats/Proteins-- switch out high sodium and high fat meats for low sodium and low fat/lean meats

Pasta -- in its own class because not only it can be switched out with spinach or multigrain, but spaghetti squash can be a 100% complete substitution... and in fact, is much more flavorful than regular good ol' pasta!

Junk Foods -- shouldn't need be said, but: switch them out with healthy foods. Homemade versions usually end up much healthier.

Pretty damn sad when people think there are no other options besides fast foods and processed foods -- as if they've forgotten there's a supermarket full of fresh produce and meats to create their own healthy *anything*. A lot of this is attributed to laziness and unwilling to look past the "inconvenience" when they want something ready-made and immediately-consumable.

ALSO IMPORTANT TO MENTION: EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE AND MORE EXERCISE IS CRUCIAL KEY IN WEIGHT LOSS, IN ADDITION TO PROPER NUTRITION! DON'T JUST EAT AND REMAIN SEDENTARY!!!

As others have said, very very very few sodas. try to cut out all the extra sugar if possible. if you are looking for something like a soda, i tend to find the naturally sweetened carbonated drinks. Schwepps sells a sparkling water that is flavored, like black cherry or lime, which are pretty good. If you are needing a caffine drink, I would say unsweetened iced tea. some people can't drink unsweetened tea because of the taste.

fruits and vegetables are good for snacks. those little packs of baby carrots are handy for snacking, and they taste good. You can also buy bags of pre made salad and keep a bottle of italian dressing in your truck (if you have a refrigerator or a cooler).

Also, you can find dry pack foods. For example, Dinty Moore sells a beef stew that is in a plactic bowl that does not need to be refrigerated. There are also other things that are sold in the same section of the grocery store. Point is that, while it may not be as healthy as fruits and vegetables, they are a good meal, they taste good, and are a lot cheaper than buying food at the truck stop. All of it is microwavable.

and lastly, when you shut down at the end of the day for your 10, don't spend all of your time in the truck watching TV, get out and stretch, walk around the truck stop. Get some exercise, get the blood pumping. Will help with keeping you in shape and will also give you more energy for when you are driving.

Actually, I just got to thinking, there is actually a VERY good way you can eat healthy on the road, and best of all, it's extremely cheap.

So, awhile back, I decided to look into the nutri system plan. I actually ordered a months supply of food, and to my surprise, it was all actually pretty good.

So, here's the deal, you can tailor a meal plan to what you like. You will receive a box that has pretty much a full months supply of food. 28 breakfast, 28 lunch and 28 dinners. They are all individually packaged, and all are either ready to eat, or microwaveable. Most of the stuff I tried tasted pretty good, there were a few things that werent to my liking but not bad by any means. The good thing about it is you can go online and customize what you want. You basically order a package, and then go in and take things you may not like and substitute it for something that you do like.

The cost is very good as well. I havent looked at prices lately, but when I ordered, the meal plans were somewhere in the $400 range per month, however, if you signed up for automatic resupply, it brought the price down to right at $300/month, possibly a little less. You order and then you receive a box that has everything in it. You could take this and pack them in your truck, and you have a full months supply of good food that doesn't need to be refrigerated. Also, since it is designed for weight loss, it will be very instrumental in helping maintain or even reducing weight.

The only thing you really need to buy are things like milk and any fruits or vegetables that you need as filler foods. Basically, even if you didn't want to actually "do the program", you could use this as an easy and healthy way, and a cheap way to eat while on the road.

Also, they have a higher priced program that actually includes fresh frozen foods, that, again, they will deliver right to your door.

So, you can order a supply, then when it arrives, make a trip by your house when you can, pick it up, then go back out, and in another month, another box will arrive at your house..etc..

This may not be to everyones liking, but I tried it once and found it to be very efficient. Likely, I will sign up again with them and this will be my meal plan while out on the road.

The cost is very good as well. I havent looked at prices lately, but when I ordered, the meal plans were somewhere in the $400 range per month, however, if you signed up for automatic resupply, it brought the price down to right at $300/month, possibly a little less. You order and then you receive a box that has everything in it. You could take this and pack them in your truck, and you have a full months supply of good food that doesn't need to be refrigerated. Also, since it is designed for weight loss, it will be very instrumental in helping maintain or even reducing weight.

The only thing you really need to buy are things like milk and any fruits or vegetables that you need as filler foods. Basically, even if you didn't want to actually "do the program", you could use this as an easy and healthy way, and a cheap way to eat while on the road.

Also, they have a higher priced program that actually includes fresh frozen foods, that, again, they will deliver right to your door.

So, you can order a supply, then when it arrives, make a trip by your house when you can, pick it up, then go back out, and in another month, another box will arrive at your house..etc..

This may not be to everyones liking, but I tried it once and found it to be very efficient. Likely, I will sign up again with them and this will be my meal plan while out on the road.

Yikes, that seems costly for not even having all the ingredients and inconvenient when it's shipped to the house. I mean, to be honest, it just looks like someone else was paid to do a portion of your grocery shopping -- veggies should be a component of the meal, not considered "filler" food. All that this is, is simply paying to not make choices. Some paid "meal program"/"system" is unnecessary -- If the macro-nutrient components (protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats) are understood and kept in mind when groc shopping/creating meals, anyone can create their own weight-loss "meal program" -- or just simply: eat properly. Then again, I'm not the kind of person who likes being told my food choices and meals were decided for me without a choice lol. The only reason this NutriSystem is a "weight-loss program" is because it eliminates the need for people to make their own choices at the supermarket and creating meals. All the ingredients in the NutriSystem meals came.... from the supermarket. I mean, if it works for you, then cool, I guess... but yeah, I'd personally just cut out the greedy middle company and go to the supermarket myself.

I think a huge problem with obesity these days is that people don't really seem to even try attempt understanding their own nutritional (er, non-nutritional?) habits and choices and how to balance the macro-nutrient ratios and exercise portion control, but instead attempt to rely on everything else to do that for them (if at all). Just the basic fundamental understanding of the macro-nutrients makes a huge change in proper nutritional dieting. It doesn't have to be complex and weird, like creating an entire meal from a recipe, but if the ratios of the ingredients in a the meal is understood (what makes the carb, the protein, the healthy fats), then it won't really matter the recipe used. Relying on "programs" like the NutriSystem just encourages one to be completely clueless about how to adjust and maintain their own proper nutritional habits and choices. It doesn't teach anyone things... and things that aren't learned, does not stick. Everyone should know how to take care of their own health and understand what their own individual body needs. Oh, and understanding the differences between a "need" and a "want" -- like "needing" something in their water or tea (ahem, use a piece of fruit!). One thing that isn't commonly understood is we train our taste buds.. this includes "needing" something in our beverages and craving fried foods -- this means, we can also *gasp* untrain.

A word mentioned somewhere gave an idea: "blender. Blend veggies and/or fruits with greek yogurt, coconut water/milk, and whatever. It's healthy calories, use in lieu of hand-to-mouth snacking or even meals. BTW - Not widely known, but -- Chia seeds are awesome to add to meals, snacks, salads, drink blends and even eaten by itself -- a lot of fiber, protein, and has healthy fatty acids (fats). One of my favorites, with a bit of a crunch and nutty flavor.

Macro-nutrient Ratios Specifically for Weight-Loss:

40% - 50% Protein -- dairy, *moderate* nuts/seeds, meats, fish/tuna, *some* deli meats, hummus, peanut butter, eggs

30% - 40% (Healthy) Fats -- avocado, oils (olive, coconut, walnut, fish), grass-fed butter, *moderate* nuts/seeds, peanut butter, dark (minimum of 70% cocoa) chocolate, tuna, dairy, eggs

10% - 30% Carbs -- whole grain/wheat products, brown rice, dairy, veggies, oils & dressings, *limited amts* fruits

Try cutting out the empty calories first - sodas, sauces, and sweets.

1. The average American drinks 45 gallons of soda per year. This amounts to about 78,000 calories. 2. Sauces like mayonnaise, ranch dressing, and honey mustard are high in fat. Ketchup and barbecue sauce are high in sugar. 3. Giving up sodas might make you crave sweets more, so watch out! If you have to indulge once in a while, find something with a low sugar content (around 10 grams per serving)

Hope this helps. Stay safe, drivers!