Weight Loss For Full-Time Drivers

Truck driving is a mentally demanding profession that requires mental alertness and focus coupled with long periods of concentation. Truck driving requires long hours and weeks of being on the road. Pair this constant travel with frequent occasions of eating on the run at fast food joints and other comfort eating places and you get a recipe for weight gain. So, how can full-time drivers slim down when spending so much time behind the wheel?

The first step in maintaining or reducing weight is calorie control and you can only do this by planning for eating healthy. Eating less food in healthier potions will allow you to more quickly burn calories. Long haul drivers face challenges when trying to eat right and it’s important to plan meals accordingly. The importance of drinking water can’t be stressed enough when beginning and maintaining your full-time driving weight loss plan. Be sure to try to consume at least eight glasses of water a day.

The temptation to eat high sugar processed foods while on the road can be reduced by packing a healthy snack cooler into your cab. Incorporate bottles of water, high protein meats like roast beef and ham plus nuts based foods such as peanut butter, almonds and cashews with fruit and reach for one of those snacks instead of a cheeseburger.

Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day for truckers. Plan on eating high protein foods like eggs, granola and yogurt paired with high calcium shakes and watch the pounds slip off. Lunch should begin to reduce calorie intake by pairing salad greens such as spinach with high protein meats like chicken with dinner being the lightest meal of the day, try to consume beans and rice or eat a nice healthy light soup for dinner. And at all costs avoid fast food when you spend a lot of time on the road. Fast food contains over the amount of daily calories, sugar, salt and fat that should be eaten in a day in a single serving of fresh fries.

Here’s a list of good and bad food you might want to consider adding to or keeping out of your snack cooler for beginning an effective weight loss plan.

Good

Water
Protein gram shakes
Sunflower seeds/almonds
Beef jerky
Fruit

Bad

High calorie diet sodas or fruit drinks
Pizza
Highly salted nuts
Pastries
Apple pies or other processed fruit snacks

Yet, following a healthy diet is only one part of making any weight loss plan work. In order to enjoy all the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, daily exercise is a must. It’s important to try to gain a good cardiovascular workout paired with strength training to burn more calories and lose weight. The following exercises are sure to give you a great workout without any expensive fitness equipment needed, other than a yoga mat. Start your daily workout by doing a light warm up such as taking a short walk and then begin doing your strength training and cardiovascular workout by doing a series of push ups, crunches, mountain climbers and burpees to get your heart pumping. These exercises can be done outside your truck and are a great workout.

Do two sets of ten on each of these and keep a moderate pace until you’re ready to do the complete workout. Move smoothly from exercise to exercise at a comfortable pace and watch the pounds melt away.

Sebastian writes for an blog about driving and drivers. Truck driving can be a rewarding career and it’s more important than ever to maintain great fitness to meet the demands of this even changing job. So, begin incorporating a healthy eating plan and exercise into your daily driving schedule today!

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