watching what you eat is very important, it is very easy to gain weight especially if your body is not used to the inactivity, I very rarely eat in truckstops,and I especially stay away from the big chain truckstops (flying j, TA etc) and I never eat fast food, I have everything in my truck that I need so I don't have to stop at truck stops

I have a fridge in my truck, if you don't have one get a cooler, I bring lots of fruits and vegetables, and healthy snacks, I eat alot of soup it fills you up without alot of calories

I would suggest installing a power inverter so you can plug in a microwave
if this is not an option, truckstops also sell small ovens, kettles etc that plug into your lighter so you can heat up food

also I exercise in my truck (sit-ups, push-ups etc) or do some squats or lunges before I go in the shower, bring some weights or those elastic exercise bands you can get at walmart are great too, I also walk every chance I get, if I can't walk outside I go walk around in a mall or a walmart for an hour if I have time to kill

 

Been in a truck stop lately??? Many of them DON'T keep from getting fat!!

Buffet Billy's!! That's what I call them!!

 

I love buffets (a lil too much) especially after a day of loading

But, buffet akronyms are too funny-

B-unch
U-v
F-at
F-&^%ERs
E-ating
T-ogether

I'm fat and eat buffets, so its cool :lol:

I always wash my hands first :?

 

Walking is a great exercise and an even greater stress reliever. And it's legal and free. The new "thing" is to walk "10,000 steps" which equals out to 5 miles a day. Since most people walk at 2-3 mph, that means you have to walk for two hours to keep the purists happy.

Other than an inventive way for fitness companies to sell shoes and pedometers, this "10000 steps" nonsense isn't very useful advice, in my opinion.

(Of course, any distance is better than no distance. 2000 steps isn't "10,000" but it is better than zero steps.)

Some alternatives in case you don't have the time, a place to walk long distance, or it just isn't your thing:

1) Try walking with Heavy Hands. They're just weights that wrap around your palms. A 2-lb dumbell in each hand works just as well. The basic idea is to "pump" your arms as you walk, doing various movements (curls, presses, tricep extension, rowing motion, straight arm lifts, butterfly, etc, etc). This increases the calories burned and works your upper body. If walking long distance is impossible because of where you're parked, then you can walk 200 feet while doing one HH move, turn around and return doing a different move. Do several laps. You can even do laps around your truck (naturally, after it's parked . . . and of course, just be careful not to get run over by the truck next to you). Take it easy with HH at first. It's a lot harder than it looks (and sounds).

2) You can even do Heavy Hands drills laying down. Sounds easy, but try it! Lay on your back, put your legs in the air, hold a 2-lb weight in each hand and do some drills. It kicks butt. Great way to start the day.

Here's one site on HH. There are several others.

http://www.heavyhandsfitness.com/hhworkouts.htm

3) Jump rope. A 20-min session is equal to 60 min jogging. And that's a total of 20 min . . . not just one long session. Takes a while to work up to that.

Here's a sample program:

http://www.jumpropeinstitute.com/training_programs.htm

4) Kettlebells. Amazingly versatile tool for hacking off the fat and staying in shape.

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode2/Kettlebells

5) Step ups. Carry a milk crate, wooden box or even the plastic "aerobic" units that the ladies use to to step-aerobics. Lots of sites on the internet describing moves. But you don't have to do anything fancy. Just step up and down for 30 sec each foot. (Step Up Left, bring the right foot up, Step Down Left, bring the right foot down). Try to do more repetitions each time. Increase the length of each set. Try to do 20 min total, minimum.

6) Body weight exercises . . . squats, jumping jacks and push ups will get your heart rate up and work total body.

7) Finally, read up on something called Tabata Protocol. (Also called Tabata Method, Tabata Intervals, etc.) Here's an article on it:

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....4-046-training

WARNING!!! Tabata is only for the very fit since you have to go all-out during the work period to get the results of this technique. This is for well-conditioned athletes and the mentally deranged. See your doctor before attempting this!

I only mention Tabata because you can modify it . . . and just do interval cardio training. There are lots of sites on the internet describing cardio intervals.

Confused about which is best? There isn't a best. Do them all. Try a different method every time you go out.

Just pick a method (or methods) stick with it for 2-3 months and you won't believe the difference.

 

Here's a cool jump rope vid:

http://www.rossboxing.com/thegym/thegym26.htm

Scroll down to the video.