Since I’ve gotten a lot of help from this site, I wanted to give something back and what better subject than food at this time of year? I don’t want to sound like I have all the answers, but here's how I'm attacking the challenge of eating on the road. And PLEASE REMEMBER . . . I caution anyone embarking on a weight-loss plan to consult their physician first! You need to understand what’s going on with your body before you make changes to it.

How am I going to eat on the road? I’m going to eat primitive.

And no, that doesn’t mean I’ll eat the occasional lizard.

I know. Stupid joke. I couldn’t help it.

Here’s a simple way to plan Food For Fuel.

This is different from Food I Eat When I’m Frigging Half-Asleep And Want To Eat So I Don’t Kill Myself Or Any Frigging Civilians.

Or Food I Eat Because I’m Just Frigging Bored.

This is about food being treated as “fuel” to keep my other machine (my body) running. I want to eat to drive, not drive to eat.

Personally, I have to work my butt off to stay in decent shape. That's one reason I chose flat-bedding. If I had gone dry van, I would have figured out some way to exercise on the road. I have to. I’m in that Over-50 group where my body puts on weight just thinking about food. My metabolism has just plain slowed.

But exercise is just 15-20% of the weight control equation. The rest is DIET. In other words, if you want to lose 20 lbs, expect 3-4 to come off as a result of exercise and the rest to come off from reducing calories. If you want to maintain your weight, you have to eat the right diet. All the flat-bedding and extra exercise alone won’t help.

If your diet consists of doughnuts, candy bars, Big Macs, fries, chips, non-diet sodas and fried chicken . . . all the tarping, chaining and strapping isn’t going to matter unless by accident, you happen to expend HIGH levels of energy and eat LOW levels of calories.

But who ever ate LOW levels of french fries? Who buys fries, eats 3-4 and tosses the rest out the window?

So, I'm approaching eating on the road the way I would if I was heading out on a 5-14 day dismounted patrol or field exercise and had to haul it on my back:

I first figure out how many calories I need to maintain my weight and provide me with sufficient energy. Then I figure out how much of that needs to be fat/carbs/protein. Then I figure out my meals for 5-14 days. Then I go shopping for “clean” food.


AN EXAMPLE

Let’s say you’re a 45-years old flat-bed driver, 6’1” tall and weigh 250 lbs. You’re muscular (not Arnold or Hulk-muscular, but strong). You can see some flab and want to cut a few pounds but you don’t want to get too weak to turn the steering wheel. How do you plan your meals?

Here are two methods. One is slightly easier than the other. Both work. Pick the one you like.


METHOD 1: CALORIE CONTROL

Visit a site like Am-I-Fat (http://www.am-i-fat.com/calmaintain.html) and figure out your daily caloric need. For our example I’m going to say the driver does only LIGHT EXERCISE. Some drivers might want to use SEDENTARY just to be on the safe side, since these web sites tend to over-estimate caloric needs.

Our driver needs roughly 3,000 calories a day to maintain his weight at 250 lbs and do LIGHT EXERCISE.

Divide your 3000 calories by 5-6 and you end up with 5-6 meals that each contain 500 to 600 calories. Theoretically, this should allow you to maintain your weight at 250 lbs.

But wait . . . don’t go shopping yet. Remember . . . our driver wanted to lose a few pounds. Let’s say 20 lbs.

A pound of flab = 3500 calories. Now, to maintain strength and avoid going into a starvation mode which is unhealthy and where your body fights against losing any weight, you want to take the weight off gradually . . . say one or two pounds a week. Since our driver wants to lose 20 lbs, he should plan on it taking 10-12 weeks.

Let’s figure this out the easy way. If you want to lose a pound a week (3500 calories of flab) eat 500 calories less every day than you need to. If you want to lose two pounds a week, eat 1000 calories less than you need to.

Go back to your website and figure out the caloric need for a 230 lb, 45-years old doing LIGHT EXERCISE. Answer = 2750 calories a day. So, our 250 lb driver is supposed to eat 3000 calories to maintain his current weight and 2750 calories to maintain a future weight of 230 lbs.

He wants to lose two pounds a week so subtract 1000 calories from each of those and that gives him a range of 1750 – 2000 calories a day.

Please use ranges. Don’t say “I’m going to eat exactly 1752 calories a day and lose exactly 2.3 lbs a week.” Your body is a wonderful "machine" . . . but it’s not really a machine. 200 calories today might not affect you the same as 200 calories tomorrow because of hormonal changes or different activity levels. A Big Mac might have 600 calories . . . or it might have 700 calories. Don’t get wrapped too tightly around these numbers.

So, our driver wants to eat 5-6 meals a day and keep his total caloric intake to 1750-2000 calories. That means each meal should be no more than 350 calories.

That’s about one can of Campbell’s Chunky Soup. Or two peanut butter sandwiches. Or a tuna salad.

A McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese is 510. Filet O Fish is 400. Grilled Chicken Classic is 420. You can eat these sandwiches if you pinch off a lot of the bread. Or eat only four meals and allow yourself 400-500 calories per meal.

Just remember that there is evidence that eating too much food at one time triggers an insulin over-response that may make the body store more of what you eat as fat.

There is also evidence that the insulin over-response will make you hungry later.

So pigging out on a 2000 calorie meal at McDonalds is not the same as eating those 2000 calories over 5-6 meals. By controlling insulin during the day with small meals, you have a better chance of using your food as fuel and controlling your weight.

And remember too, that there is evidence that eating early in the day is healthier than eating late at night. Of course, this is based on civilians who have a 9-5 schedule and not truckers. But humans are not naturally nocturnal and I suspect eating more of your food early in the day applies to truckers too.


METHOD 2: CARB CONTROL

The method above, basically treats all calories as being equal. But all calories are not the same.

A calorie is basically just a measure of energy: Specifically, the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water, one degree on the Celsius scale, when the room temperature is 15 degrees Celsius.

A Peterbilt, or any other truck, produces calories.

We just don’t say, “this truck produces 10,000,000 calories” . . . I mean, you could say that, but you’d probably get your ass kicked the first time you said it. We say . . . this truck produces so many horsepower or gets such and such mileage. But it’s the same thing. Calories just mean “energy.”

Food is basically broken down into three macro nutrients: Fat, Carbohydrates and Protein. These are measured by the gram. (As you old hippies and dopers know, there are 28 grams in one ounce.) A gram is an extremely small quantity.

Macro-nutrients produce different amounts of energy. A gram of carbohydrates and protein each contain 4 calories. A gram of fat contains 9. So, naturally, a lot of people believe that if you avoid food with high fat content, you will eat less calories and lose weight.

This is true. Sort of.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the story of Jared Fogle. He’s the fat kid who lost 245 lbs eating low-fat Subway sandwiches. (Read about him here: http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/Men...red/index.aspx)

A six-inch Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki has 370 calories and 6 grams of fat. Compared to that, a Burger King Whopper has 670 calories and 39 grams of fat. (That’s because beef has high fat content compared to chicken.)

But here’s the problem with low fat diets: You tend to eat more!

The problem with the six-inch Subway Chicken Teriyaki is that one probably won’t fill you up. So you’ll eat a 12-inch sub instead. Now, suddenly, you’re consuming 740 calories compared to 670 with the Whopper.

And because you’ve eaten a low number of fat grams (12) your body will still feel hungry later!

A diet low in fat and high in carbs tends to make you hungry after you eat. Anyone who has ever eaten a big spaghetti dinner and then felt hunger pangs an hour later knows what I mean.

So you keep eating more and more carbs and eventually consume more calories. Our low fat diets have actually become high carb diets.

That’s why we’ve become a nation of fat-asses ever since the low-fat craze started.

60% of Americans are either overweight or obese. Clinically, obesity is described in terms of Body Mass Index (Body Fat Percentage), a more accurate measure than weight alone. A healthy BMI is 19-24. Simple overweight is a BMI of 25-29. Obesity begins at a BMI of 30. Morbid obesity begins at a BMI of 40. Super morbid obesity begins at a BMI of 50, and super-super morbid obesity begins at a BMI above 60.

It breaks down like this . . . 40% of Americans are “normal.” 30% are overweight and 30% are obese.

60% overweight or obese! Are you kidding me? :roll:

And what do you bet the percentages are even worse for truckers?

We’ve become a nation of unhealthy, fat slobs. That’s why so many people are switching to low carb diets.

But there’s a problem here too. Remember the calories required for our 250 lb driver? Well, if our driver eats too many calories over his required amount, he will gain weight even on a low carb diet.

So you have to remember that not all calories are the same . . . you have to know whether you’re eating carbs, protein or fat. But you also have to remember that whether you’re on a low fat or low carb diet . . . you can’t pig out.

That's a lot to remember, but it's really not that hard. If you can figure out DOT rules in your log book, you should easily handle this.

If you think back to the example above, our driver was eating 1750-2000 calories a day in order to lose 2 pounds a week.

What Method 2 says is that he needs to eat those 1750-2000 according to a good nutritional balance of protein, fat and carbs. Here’s how you do it.

You start by figuring out your current percentage of body fat. You can do this either by buying some sissified calipers, finding a website that does it based on body dimensions . . . or the best way . . . go to a local gym and have them figure it out. (Just tell them you’re considering a membership but you don’t know if you’re really carrying enough body fat to be worth it. They’ll kill themselves trying to figure out you BF. Then say thanks and leave. Or if she’s cute, hang around and talk to the trainer who measured you.)

OK . . . back to Method 2.

Take your BF percentage and multiply it times your weight. Let’s say our 250 lb driver was at 25% BF. That means his body is roughly 188 Lean Body Mass (or LBM . . . bones, muscle, etc) . . . and 62 lbs Body Fat.

Uhh . . . cough, cough . . . yes, our driver is overweight. He'll be a lot healthier after cutting those 20 lbs.

Our driver is now going to figure out how much protein he needs every day. He's going to multiply his LBM by 0.75.

188 X .75 = 140.

That means he needs to eat 140 grams of protein to maintain his LBM and not lose muscle while dieting. Elite athletes need one gram of protein per pound of LBM. Someone who’s sedentary might only need 0.5 grams per pound.

Remember that a gram of protein is 4 calories, so our driver needs to eat 560 (140 X 4) protein calories a day.

He will want to restrict his carb intake to around 40-50 grams a day. This is very low, but it’s not “Atkins” low. Carbs have 4 calories per gram so our driver needs to eat up to 200 calories a day from carbs.

That leaves 1240 calories that will come from fat (137 grams since a fat gram has 9 calories).

1240 + 200 + 560 = 2000 calories

Now, in reality, unless he's killing, skinning and roasting wild animals on the road . . . or eating fresh road-kill . . . because of how our meat is processed, the driver will probably eat slightly more protein and less fat.

The key however is the carb content. Carbs affect the body differently than fat and protein. That's why all calories are not created equal. Carbs make it easier for your body to put on weight.

So by eating low carbs you trigger a hormonal response which will cause you to lose weight faster. The protein keeps your muscles intact. The fat keeps you satiated and not hungry. It’s as close to a “perfect” eating system as you can find.



By the way, this is all based on Protein Power . . . a dietary approach invented by Dr & Dr Eades (They’re a married doctor team.) I highly recommend that you read their books and visit their website here: http://www.proteinpower.com). You can find free articles on the plan here: http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71

Now comes the easy part.

You’re going to plan your meals by dividing your allowable carbs by 4-6 meals. (Personally, I eat six small meals a day. The Eade’s say to eat 4.) The key is to limit the number of carbs at each meal to no more than 8-10 grams. (This prevents the body from over-responding with too much insulin.) Then add some protein and fat.

It would take too long to list all the foods you can eat, but basically, you’re going to eat primitive. Eat what our ancestors ate: Vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat and fish. Maybe a little dairy here and there.

Just stay away from lizards.

It takes a little bit of shopping time and label-reading to figure out what are your “clean foods.” You're going to have to retrain yourself. Think of it as an eating "HAZMAT" or "driving on ice" class. After a trip or two to the supermarket, you’ll have it down.

A few tips.

Refrigeration helps. It allows you a wider choice of fresh foods.

Fiber helps. I eat a lot All Bran High Fiber cereal (very low carbs) and raw cabbage with high fat dressing (basically cole slaw). Not only does it keep you regular but the high fiber content keeps your butt clean. Sorry to be graphic, but let’s just say that there’s a lot less “paperwork” involved when you eat high fiber and this is important for hygiene whether you’re on the road without a shower or on a long-range recon patrol without a shower.

The calendar helps. I don’t track the carbs I eat per day. I track by the month and week. So if I want a pizza, I eat a pizza. Then I eat low carb at other times to make up the difference.

Finally . . . you can even cheat and it will still work!

Eating low carb is a “style” not a diet. Carbs are basically sugar . . . fast energy for your body. When I’m on the road, I will eat between 50-100 grams of carbs a day to have sufficient energy to function at my physical peak. This is not the strict limit of the 40 grams I talked about earlier . . . but it is still low carb. I know I can do this because from long experience I know that my body can tolerate the extra carbs as long as I’m active.

In other words, over time, you’ll learn what your limits are. 40/day is not set in concrete. We each have the right limit that works. 40/day is just a place to start.

Eating more carbs allows me a lot more food choices that don’t need refrigeration. For example . . . old Ranger patrol trick . . . put Minute Rice in a bag (dry, of course) with some crumbs of beef bullion, and when ready, just add hot water. (You can get hot water at most rest stops where the coffee maker is.) Ramen and Cup Of Soup are also good. Campbell’s Chunky Soup is also OK. You can even eat bread in moderation and still call it low-carb.

Just remember to eat lots of protein and keep total calories down to your limit. If you focus on consuming protein (remember our driver was supposed to eat 540-600 calories a day) and keep total calories low (remember our driver was to eat no more than 2000 calories a day) and eat fat (remember it’s twice as dense calorically as carbs) you can’t eat too many carbs.

40 grams of carbs a day (average) is the goal. But 100 is OK as long as you watch total calories.

Whether 40 grams a day or 100 . . . it all works. The low carb eating style is self-regulating. It's like putting a governor on your body.

One other great thing . . . after you’ve eaten low carb for 2-3 weeks, you won’t be hungry . . . or at least . . . you won’t be as hungry. You won’t get an urge for pumpkin pie and marshmallows at 2 A.M. when you’re in the middle of New Mexico. You’ll actually find that many days you have to remember to eat. And when you do binge on carbs (like a few beers or pumpkin pie) it should translate into increased energy the next day or two. This is all because you’ll be finally be regulating your insulin levels and be at a normal, steady-state instead of the wild insulin gyrations Americans normally go through.

Your body will finally be working the way it was designed . . . the way our ancestor's bodies used to work before agriculture, processed foods and Burger King.


CONCLUSION

Both methods are effective to control or lose weight. You can even combine the methods by eating slightly more carbs to allow greater food choices. But please remember to get routine check-ups and see your doctor before going on a diet.

I hope this helps some of you, whether new or old-timers. I’ll update this as I get more experience.

PM me with questions and I’ll try to point you to the right source.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, play nice and stay safe!

And remember . . . no lizards!

 

Not to be a smartass but I can't help it... being that T'Giving is right around the corner... Stop and enjoy a nice T'Giving dinner somewhere but then you can't eat for like 2 weeks so better make sure you enjoy it

On a serious note tho, that is great of you to put on here. And it does work. I did that the hard way a couple years ago. Just took 2 weeks of monitoring my calorie intake and my weight to figure out what kept me at my weight ( 6'1" 170lbs) and then cu the carbs back a lil bit. Tho since my son was born I've slacked off and I'm up to 185lbs but still in decent shape. I need to start focusing more on my weight now that Imma be driving and not walking 10-15 miles a night (walking trains for Amtrak).

 

I actually gained 20lbs bedbugging this summer, and most of it was NOT muscle I eat fried mozerella sticks, garbage food (at any hour of the day or night) and my body has learned that Mt Dew is a substitute fr water :x

Next time out I gotta actually se whats at the salad bar, and worry less about the buffet. I've also learned water is an important input that your body really needs.

 

Wait... you're tryin to say that Mt. Dew really isn't water with green food coloring?? /slitwrist NOOO IT CAN'T BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I hate to rui your day, but Mt Dew isn't that great for you in large doses. Results include driving 1000 mile stretches, prank phone calls to your buddies, and having to pee ina abottle a LOT.

Aqua is my friend now. Cutting down on soda/pop is like weening a junkie off herion :lol:

I noticed that my body has slowed down in metabloism, and I'm 24. 2 years ago I could eat what I wanted and it was impossible to gain weight. Boy, have the tables turned@!!!

 

Yeah I hear you there bandit... i'm 25 and mine took a nose dive bout a year ago. Tho lately i've been eating right (and less) and the motor is stratin to crank again.

 

<-----------------------Just sayin'.

 

BC, your problem may well have less to do with lowered metabolism, and more to do with your body's metabolizing food improperly. High soda intake and junk food, along with the shifting of your body's pH. balance, reduces the body's ability to absorb nutrients, as well as an improper balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, which further exacerbates the problem.

You are also at an age where many men start to get that "spare tire"' around the waist line. That isn't necessarily caused by body fat. but rather by a sagging of the Greater Omen tum muscle tissue. I know that as a bed bugger, you do a lot of physical work, but the ONLY thing that will rectify that problem is doing a bunch of sit-ups each day.

Hope this helps!!

 

Well said! Enjoy Thanksgiving. Eat and be happy.

My wife and I go through the same kabuki dance every year.

"Do you want a whole Dutch Apple Pie or one or a slice from the bakery?"

"Duh. Entire pie, please!"

Eating Thanksgiving dinner is a social activity. The advantages of that are a hundred times more powerful to your well-being than any weight you might gain from a weekend of pigging out.

Second . . . There is a lot of evidence that the high carbohydrate levels in a big meal like a Thanksgiving Dinner (ah, what the hell . . . let's call carbs what they are: SUGAR . . . since carbs are transformed into blood-sugar . . . mostly glucose) induces an increased serotonin response.

Serotonin is one of the body's magic substances. It creates a "happy feeling" and ensures sound sleep and good moods. This is grossly over-simplifying but . . . when people have mood disorders or are depressed, they put them on what are called serotonin re-uptake inhibitors . . . drugs that basically maintain a high level of the stuff.

Serotonin release can be triggered by high carbohydrate (sugar) load . . . which many scientists feel is why we like to eat when we feel down: We are naturally trying to elevate our mood. It's also why people who go on the Atkin's Diet which is very, very low carb, often complain of being cranky.

Serotonin is manufactured in the body from the amino acid tryptophan. You can get trytophan from many sources such as oats, bananas, cottage cheese, milk, meat fish and poultry.

In fact, one of the best sources of trytophan is: TURKEY.

By the way, trytophan is also a natural sedative so don't be surprised if you fall asleep after your big turkey meal!

 

Drink alots of coffee that's what i do.

As far as AQUA goes i think any one that pays for water is a fool. They will buy a bottle of water around a 20oz. for .99 and bitch when gas is 3.00 a gal. I don't understand it when i do drink water i get an old milk jug and fill it up at my house.