It’s tough to keep your weight down and your physique up when most of your waking hours are spent on the road. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
November is a great month to re-evaluate your diet and workout plans. First of all, it’s American Diabetes Month. Second, the holidays are nearly here and that can mean full-bore gluttony. If you think you don’t have the diet or willpower to start a diet, it’s important you understand a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean an entire overhaul of your life. Mostly, it just means building good habits.
Whether you’re just getting started on a healthy journey, or you just need to reevaluate things, take a look at our simple tips to get you on the right path.
1) FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
- Make a plan. Whether on the road or at home, one sure way to fail on a diet is to grab what ever is available when your stomach growls. You wouldn’t go off on a long drive without directions, right? Whether it be daily or weekly, make sure you plan your meals. This keeps you from missing meals and binging later. It also makes you take a good look at what you’ll be putting into your body.
- Count calories. Whether you use a fitness app or just write them down, keep track of your calories. First, find your daily caloric goal. There are tons of apps and websites dedicated to this, and we’ll get to that later. Once you find your goal, keeping track of your caloric intake will help keep your diet top of mind and it will build discipline.
- Pack a lunch. Not only a lunch, pack snacks and plenty of them so you’re not constantly stopping for chips or donuts. Packing sandwiches, fruit, bags of nuts and cereal will be a huge help in avoiding fatty stops along the way.
- Eating out. Let’s face it, you’re going to have to stop for meals sometimes. But there are good options. First, avoid fried options. Sandwich shops like Subway allow you to choose cleaner, leaner meats and low-cal breads. At truck stops, scan the menu for healthier options. And if you do have a brutal craving for a burger, don’t fight it. As long as burger and pizza trips are few and far between, it’s o.k. to treat yourself.
2) WORKOUT TIPS
- Take a walk. You don’t need to run a marathon to stay in shape. Doctors consider a 25-minute walk four days a week good activity for your heart. It gets the blood flowing and stretches the muscles. Whether you walk around a restaurant, a rest stop, or a hotel parking lot, taking a walk break is fantastic. Plus, it’s a good way to ease yourself into a bigger workout program later.
- Can’t get to the gym? Pushups, sit-ups, stretching, burpees, shadowboxing, jumping jacks, there are tons of workouts that can be done anywhere. You don’t need a Gold’s Gym membership. Want to kick it up a notch? Invest in some weights and take them with you. After your walk, crank out some curls or pushups. If it’s only 10 minutes, you’re still doing work.
3) HELP
- Apps. There a ton of apps out there. The one we love is http://www.myfitnesspal.com which is free. When you start using it, it asks you questions in order to come up with your calorie and weight loss goals. On a daily basis, it helps you record calorie intake and exercise work. You don’t even need to look up calorie-counts elsewhere, it does it for you. Each day, it shows you how well you’ve done or if you need to do a little better the next day.
- Websites. There is a gold mine of great websites to help you along the way. A great one is The Healthy Trucker. You’ll find a huge amount of exercise routines, diet recipes and plenty of tips collected by people who know your daily routine.
- YouTube. Type in “trucker workout” on YouTube and 13,500 hits come up. That’s a great, free resource that offers tons of variety to suit your needs. Just set up your iPad, laptop or mobile device to stream and you can workout in a hotel room, a parking lot or even at NDI Truck and Trailer while we fix your truck. These are great workout routines and most of them require little to no equipment.
These are just some ideas to get you started on a healthier plan. Do you have ideas you want to share? We’d love to hear from you so we can share them out on Facebook or Twitter. And remember, if you need our help for any reason, don’t hesitate to contact us by email to [email protected] or our 24-hour emergency line at 1-800-440-9523.