Music – Whether you’re hitting the road or kicking back in the cab, it’s time to take a load off with BigRigBanter, powered by AllTruckJobs.com, your source for finding the trucking jobs drivers really want. Get ready to shift into gear and let the conversations roll.
Troy: Alright truckers, the date is February 6th and you’re listening to the 24th episode of BigRigBanter. I’m your co-host Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And we’ve got an exciting episode on tap for today. We’re talking all about wellness for truckers. You know, I’m sure many of you have your New Year’s resolutions that you’re currently working on, I know I’m still working on mine. But Lenay, how is your New Year’s resolution coming along?
Lenay: I wouldn’t say I’ve made any New Year’s resolutions this year, but our company gave us a new benefit at the beginning of the year where they reimburse us for wellness, so I did sign up for the gym. That’s been a fun adventure, going to the gym every day after work. What about you Troy?
Troy: Umm, I’m actually doing pretty well. I think you can see that I’m not bringing in the fast food as much during the day.
Lenay: Yeah. . .I mean you do still come in every morning with a McDonald’s cup so I’m not sure what you’re consuming on your way to work.
Troy: Hey what happens in my truck before work stays in my truck before work.
Lenay: Okay that doesn’t count then I guess. Driving while eating doesn’t count.
Troy: Yeah, but I think I’m doing pretty well, one of our guests today, Andrea, did told me that I can still eat chicken Mcnuggets in moderation, so, she probably knows what she’s talking about.
Lenay: Yeah yeah, in moderation.
Troy: Yeah.
Lenay: So, I wonder what that means. . .you know, moderation.
Troy: I’m still struggling. But before we get into things, Lenay it’s also February, you know Valentine’s Day is coming up, love is going to be in the air, and I thought it’d be great for us each to say one thing that we love about hosting together, and I’ll let you start.
Lenay: Oh well, umm, my favorite thing about hosting is getting to boss him around and tell him when he’s screwed up and then we get to rerecord the podcast and do it the right way.
Troy: Yeah I also begrudgingly love that. . .no I do like hosting the podcast with Lenay. It’s great having a co-host to keep me in line. I grew up in a family with many women so I’m kind of used to being bossed around by women so I don’t mind that as much.
Lenay: All well good, I’m glad that you’re used to it because some people would get really annoyed by me which is why I’ll be spending Valentine’s Day probably alone.
Troy: You’ll have your bottle of wine with you.
Lenay: Yes, yes.
Troy: But uh, let’s jump into things folks, we have an exciting episode. We’re talking about healthy trucking and Lenay I know you spoke to a very unique company that’s working with truckers and you actually ran into them at GATS previously.
Lenay: Yeah, I met Hope this summer at the Great American Trucking Show and she is a yoga instructor and she had this great idea to make yoga instruction videos for people do in the cab of their truck or in relation to their truck. So, it was a really interesting about fitness, yoga, meditation and honestly just how you start to make it a habit instead of, you know, for me I’m struggling like “okay I have to go to the gym every day after work and it cuts into my evening” where as she talked a lot about how can you do what you do every single day but just find ways to be more active while you’re doing it. So, stretching at the pump while you’re getting gas, parking further away and walking further to the truck stop, things like that. So, it’s pretty cool tips for you guys and girls.
Troy: Yeah! And let’s get into that interview with Hope.
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Lenay: Hello truckers this is Lenay and I’m here today with Hope from Mother Trucker Yoga. I met Hope this past summer at the Great American Trucking Show, Hope, it’s nice to talk to you again.
Hope: Hi, thanks so much for having me on it’s great to be with you as well.
Lenay: No, thank you, thank you. Why don’t you tell listeners who are just learning about you for the first-time about what Mother Trucker Yoga does and how you guys first got started.
Hope: Sure absolutely, so I have been in the fitness and wellness industry for almost 20 years, and about a year ago I met my partner Phil, and he at the time was in the trucking industry and I was like “Hey, you know is there anything yoga-related in the trucking world?” and we got to talking and just kinda hit it off and Mother Trucker Yoga was born. So, we are an online platform. We offer easy 3 to 5-minute videos that they can do in the comfort of their cab. All our videos are filmed in and around the truck, so what we’re doing and what we’re experiencing is that same thing that the truck driver is. The of the things that I noticed when I was doing some research were that trucker drivers were saying “Yeah but I’m in a confined space” or “I don’t have that equipment” or “I’m not in a home gym.” So, really trying to make sure that we’re bringing easy, effective movements that they can do in their environment, is really key to their success and long-term success for health and wellness.
Lenay: Yeah absolutely, and I’m just throwing this out there as a guess, with the New Year, you know, I signed up for the gym for the first time in many years, and when I went, it was extremely crowded. Did you get that same influx of signups from truck drivers for Mother Trucker Yoga?
Hope: We did get some. So, it’s always interesting when it becomes the New Year. I’m personally not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. A little science in our brain – our brains ton’d like ultimatums, so when we give our self an ultimatum like “I’m gonna lose thirty pounds this year” or “I’m gonna stop eating every carb I see, or else” our brain goes into self-deprivation mode like “Oh no,” it’s kind of like a snowstorm like I need to go shopping and buy 90 cans of beans and every flat of water I see because I might die tomorrow and our brain just doesn’t like those types of choices, or being backed into a corner and we literally almost subconsciously, not knowingly, rebel against that. And it’s like “Nope, I’m not gonna do that.” So we’re kind of setting ourselves up for a lack of success so I have a whole different perspective on New Year’s resolutions and I’m more of a goal setter, and looking at small, like “Okay what are some building blocks that I can do to get to that goal cause most people when they set New Year’s resolutions they actually don’t have a plan. So if you ask people “Hey what’s your New Year’s resolution?” and they’re like, “Lose thirty pounds or “I’m gonna get more sleep” or “I’m gonna spend more time with my kids” and then you ask them, what’s their plan, they’ve never even thought about it. The plan is the key to the results that you’re looking for. Typically, New Year’s resolutions don’t offer you that.
Lenay: Right. So, what are some suggestions you would give to someone who is listening for how to implement a plan, specifically a truck driver, on how to implement a plan for working out or just being more healthy on the road?
Hope: Absolutely. First things first, don’t feel bad about starting small. I am a big believer in making one small change, applying it to your life, until it’s just as automatic as you would never leave the house without brushing your teeth, at least the majority of people wouldn’t.
Lenay: Right.
Hope: Once that becomes automatic then you can add another thing. You were talking about the gym, how many people do you see, because we were talking before the call started recording that it’s really crowded and there’s tons of people there, and all of a sudden it’s February, March and pretty much everyone’s gone except for a small handful of people, because it was like an all or nothing, “I’m gonna go five days a week” and then all of a sudden, their favorite Netflix show is back on or their kids have basketball or they’re just tired and then they just stop going because they never had a plan. So, for truck drivers, my suggestion is, you know, I don’t care what your health issues are, start small. Pick one thing. So that’s the great thing about Mother Trucker Yoga, is that we have easy three to five minute videos. The average attention span for someone is not 60 minutes, it’s not 45 minutes, it’s not even 30 minutes.
Lenay: Right.
Hope: So, if we can start showing you some instant relief in your back pain, in your knee issues, in your neck pain, in the fact that you can’t sleep or you’re not sleeping well, then, you’re gonna start to add another thing in because that’s working so effectively. And so just one thing at a time and so the way our platform is set up, is that you can do any one of our videos but they’re all in little bite-size snacks. And then, we drip-feed you new content every single month so when you first log on, it’s not overwhelming. The first time you go to the gym you see all this equipment and it’s like, “Okay where do I start?” I’m supposed to use the elliptical and the treadmill and I’m supposed to do these weight things and I don’t really know how to do any of this and you just feel confused and then you just don’t do anything. I don’t care how intelligent you are or how many degrees you have, we all get intimidated by stuff like that especially if it’s new and we’ve never done it before. In the case of a truck driver, what I’m finding that in all the truck drivers I’ve worked with is that many of them want the same thing. They don’t know where to start, they’re tired and they’re exhausted, they’re confined in space. But one of the biggest things that I’ve noticed, which there are a few programs out there for truck drivers, is that a lot of them revolve around things that require impact. A lot of these men and women are overweight, they have knee pain, they have back issues, they have neck issues, so running around their truck 20 times and doing 20 pushups, and doing jumping jacks is not ideal for them. It’s not because they don’t want to do it, it’s because they can’t do it.
Lenay: Right, because it makes them more uncomfortable than it does helpful.
Hope: Exactly, so this idea of starting small, and let’s say Mother Trucker Yoga teaching you how to do a proper hip stretch, if your back starts feeling better, we don’t start with running, but how about you park your rig as far away from the truck stop front doors as you can and start walking more. Walking is still the number one way to lose weight. It still is. It has been for decades, and decades, and decades, so we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I don’t care if you’re a truck driver or not, start walking more, start drinking more water, and start adding in simple and easy stretches. So that your muscles can feel better, you can get your lymphatic system working again, you can get your metabolism working again, and most importantly, you can start reducing pain.
Lenay: Right, and you kind of hinted at this, but there are certain pain points for truck drivers specifically, so what are some areas that they have the most pain or most common injuries that you see when you’re talking to drivers?
Hope: Absolutely. Number one is lower back, and it’s because they’re sitting all day long and a lot of them have ill-fitting seats because it can be expensive to invest in a gread seat. I’m just gonna give a little plug to Back Shield. It’s an amazing product, I am a huge believer in it and it’s like $89 and it can really help your spinal curvatures be where they belong, which is going to help reduce back pain. So, a little bit of anatomy, when you’re sitting in a seat, a typical seat truck or not, your spine curves into a “C” so the spine pushes backwards. That’s not how the spine is designed to be. Now, you do that every day, all day, your spine starts to think that’s how it belongs. When you have the right support it helps push to the spine back where it belongs. Not only is that gonna help absorb impact then, so you’re not gonna have a lot of neck pain and shoulder pain and things like that, but it’s also gonna help your digestive system, and everything else, because now all your organs are where they belong again. Back pain is huge. Probably, almost every truck driver that I talk to, to be honest, complains that they have some sort of back pain. They next would be hip pain, definitely hip pain, and they kind of tie together. Your hips are tight and your back often gets the brunt of that if you have back pain that can often give you referred pain in your hips. They complain of tight hamstrings, a lot of them have tight calves, or they get cramping in their calves a lot, and it goes back to the lack of movement and the long-term sitting, and the other one is neck issues, probably a forward head position probably because they’re at the steering wheel, and then, carpal-tunnel stuff. I say whole body, but this is the cool thing about Mother Trucker Yoga, we did a case study back in the Spring of this last year and we had a control group of men and women of all different shapes and sizes and they had been driving truck for a long time and asked them to start doing these simple stretches for three to five minutes and when I say they’re not fancy, I mean they’re not fancy. This is not “put your leg behind your head, you need to do the splits, you need to do these really complicated things” this is like, very not rocket science yoga, but the cool thing is it works, and all of them said their wrists feel better, they have less back pain, they’re sleeping better, they’re moving better, and if you can do your job more effectively, your outlook on life is gonna change, and how you interact with people is gonna change, and how you see yourself is gonna change. For me, I started yoga because I was suffering from depression and anxiety and I had an eating disorder. I always tell people that yoga saved my life, because it slowly kind of spoon-fed me this idea that I need to start taking better care of my body, and my outlook on life and myself started to change, and I’m seeing that in truck drivers, even with three to five-minute videos.
Lenay: Well, first of all, I’m definitely gonna say I just sat up a little straighter after your speech on posture. But, for drivers, three to five minutes is not that much time, and how often do you recommend that drivers do these stretches?
Hope: So, I always recommend to truck drivers or not, one, find something that you can implement every day. So, that means that’s three to five minutes every single day. So, what if that means you get up five minutes earlier and do that hip stretch every single day, and while you’re waiting to unload, because you and I both know, there’s a lot of waiting time when you’re a truck driver, waiting to get weighed, waiting to unload, waiting to get your load, waiting in traffic, and now, obviously a hip stretch in traffic is not going to be doable. But, wrist stretches are, or a simple twist is, so what if you start thinking outside the box and start thinking how I can implement one stretch here, one stretch there. Another thing I was just talking with a female truck driver about, it’s like, when you’re filling up with fuel, why don’t you stand by the side of your truck, stand by the step and hold onto the handle and step up and step down. How long does it take you to fill up your rig? Well, that’s movement that you wouldn’t have otherwise had. So, for a truck driver, I want them to not think about having to set aside 20 or 30 or 40 minutes after they’ve been driving all day and they’re exhausted and, for women, you know, you don’t want to be out in the parking lot in the middle of the night with a light on. It’s just not safe all the time.
Lenay: Exactly.
Hope: So, how can we implement more movement throughout the day when you’re doing what you’re already doing, and that’s really key for not just truck driver’s health, but everybody’s, because the reality is that most of America sits all day. You don’t have to be a truck driver to be sitting all day, you and I both know that.
Lenay: Yeah I sit all day at a desk, it drives me nuts. You’ll ask my coworkers. I pace a lot.
Hope: Yeah, so how can we start getting smarter about what we’re already doing? So that takes the whole taboo or placebo of like “ew, that’s exercise” cause some people are like “ew, I don’t exercise” or the whole gym mentality. “I’m gonna go and I’m gonna work out for 40 minutes five days a week” and then they never do it. What if we just start adding more movement into our day? Call it yoga, call it pilates, call it “I need to get moving more,” whatever you wanna call it, I don’t care, but my mentality and approach with movement for truckers or not, is starting adding more movement into your day. When you’re in the bathroom stall, one hand on each side of the stall and assist your spine into a twist. A little down dog on the step of your rig when you’re at the pump or when you stop and you’re waiting to unload. Honestly, you have to get to the point where who cares if people see you, it’s a matter of “I’m in pain. I don’t feel good about myself. I have diabetes. I have a lot of back pain. I’m on track for knee replacements,” or, “I start taking better care of myself because I value myself.”
Lenay: Exactly, and I think that is a big thing – time, feeling like you have to set a special time aside to do it and then number two, not wanting people to look at you, is something people really struggle with, like “Ew, I don’t want to go exercise around other people.”
Hope: Mhmm
Lenay: Even though everyone’s there thinking the same thing. It really is okay.
Hope: Yeah, and that’s the great thing about programing that can be done inside your rig is, people don’t have to see you if you don’t want them to see you, and that’s totally okay. I think as we gain more confidence in our beings, we care less about that. That’s the beginning of anything new because we’re unsure and we’re worried about if we’re going to do it wrong or right and I think that’s natural as a human, but find some ways that you can sneak these types of things in so that you can increase the quality of your life because I believe that truck drivers are really one of the lifelines of America. Without them we wouldn’t be able to freak out in snow storms when it’s only two inches or what you said was pouring rain, and buy five flats of bottled water and bread and all that. Without all of them, that wouldn’t be possible.
Lenay: I saw an article the other day that grocery stores would be empty in two days if there were no truckers, so that’s pretty crazy to think about. They’re always on the road and they keep us all going too. Is there anything else you’d like to say? I know your specialty is yoga and fitness, but when you talk about the whole body, I don’t know if you want to throw in anything about. . .I don’t want to use the word diet, but food choices or anything like that, feel free.
Hope: Absolutely. It’s the New Year, and maybe, again looking at 2019, maybe don’t think about New Year’s resolutions and think about what your goals are. I always tell people to work backwards and how am I gonna get to that goal? So, ask yourself those questions. If it includes eating healthier, my first thing whenever people say that to me is first things first, you need to starting drinking more water. And, if I ask people how much water they drink and they go “uhh,” I’m like, don’t worry about anything you’re eating, you first need to hydrate your body. We’re primarily water, all of our systems run on that water we should be drinking. If you want to raise your metabolism, improve your digestion, your mental fog, sleep better, your joints not hurt so much. Water is a big component to that. This is also a big problem for truck drivers because they don’t have a bathroom to stop at every hour. If they do, it’s going to definitely take away from their delivery time and then they’re in trouble and then they don’t have a job. My suggestion for truckers to get that water intake up is, is the second you park your rig at the end of the night, or even start about an hour before you park for the night, you need to start drinking water. Okay? And try to get at least maybe 2 quarts in, maybe 16 ounces, 20 ounces at night if you can, because there’s a bathroom right there. Sure, you have to get up and walk into the truck stop, but it’s there. Try to get up a good hour before you leave and start drinking water right away in the morning, at least a good eight to ten ounces. That’s also going to jumpstart your metabolism and flush your system for the day. Add a little lemon or even a little cayenne pepper to help jumpstart everything and you’ll be really happy that you did. During the day, think about eating more watery snacks. So, watermelon, or pineapple, or oranges, something that has a higher water content to it, and that you can maybe snack on those and will also help you get some of those fluids in during the day. It’s a hard thing for truck drivers to do, so you just gotta be smart about it. So that you definitely one that I would say start there, and from there, looking at what your snack foods are. Are you buying Doritos? Are you buying Snickers candy bars by the handful? Can you switch to, how about, maybe, a trail mix with almonds, walnuts, and maybe dark chocolate mixed in there and some raisins or something. So, I’m not saying you have to stay away from some of the things that you love but sometimes we need to kind of reinvent them into a healthier version. So, nuts and seeds are good things to snack on if you’re a snacker while your drive and they’ll also keep you fuller, and they’re also really good for your heart and they’ll balance your blood sugar, so those would be some healthy things to start with. I always like easy, so people don’t feel overwhelmed. I’m definitely a person where let’s not reinvent the wheel. Where can we start where you can be successful? So, water and just looking at some of the snacks you’re eating and see if you can switch to more heart healthy snacks.
Lenay: Yeah absolutely. And, so for those of you listening, this is Hope from Mother Trucker Yoga. We will include a link to Mother Trucker Yoga in the show notes. You can check them out and see if that’s something you want to get into. Hope, do you have anything else you’d like to add before we jump off the call?
Hope: I actually don’t but I just want to say to all the truckers out there, just remember that there are options out there for you and there are solutions and it’s getting better every single day, and one of the best things that you can do and be an advocate for yourself is let your company know that you need programming like this. You need health and wellness programming for you while you’re on the road. You need in-services that are focused on health and wellness and fitness, and if you don’t ask for it, you’re not gonna get it. Be your advocate and start speaking up and start requesting these things from your companies and don’t just do it once, three, four, or five times and that’s one of the best ways to get those types of amenities for you, and that’s to keep letting them know that there’s solutions out there. They don’t need to reinvent the wheel as a company. That’s why we created mother Trucker Yoga. We love coming into corporations and into companies and doing in-services and programing and showing them how easy it is to help their trucker drivers stay healthy, because without the health and well-being of the truck driver, they don’t have a company.
Lenay: Absolutely, well thank you so much for sharing and I hope you stay warm out there in Wisconsin. I’m sure it gets a little windy.
Hope: Oh yeah, windy, cold, we kind of get everything. I always say “oh I’d love to live somewhere else” but, yet, Wisconsin is so nice because we’ve got all four seasons and we kind of get the best of everything, so I think I’m gonna probably be staying put and just travel.
Lenay: Plus, you’ve got the cheese and the lakes.
Hope: Exactly, exactly. Thank you so much this was so fun!
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Lenay: Alright well a special thanks again to Hope for jumping on the show with us. Also, Mother Trucker Yoga is also running a special right now, so we’ll have a link to that in the show notes you can check out the discount that they’re offering.
Troy: Yeah! And let’s jump right into another interview, I spoke with Andrea Morley. She’s a health coach and nutritionist for HealthyTrucker.com and we covered a wide range of topics. We talked about fitness, and healthy eating, sleep, and it was really interesting to talk to her. I even brought up some of the healthy issues that I’ve been dealing with.
Lenay: You mean the unhealthy issues.
Troy: Yeah, yeah. The big thing we talked about was my soda consumption. About two or three months ago I stopped drinking soda and I‘ve noticed many good side effects from that, including being able to sleep better. I know the first couple days were rough. I know Lenay noticed how grumpy I was.
Lenay: No, not at all.
Troy: That was a serious thing to cut out. She said that was one of the most important things you can do is to cut out soda, or at least cut out as much sugar as you can, so let’s hear what else Andrea had to say.
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Troy: Alright I’m here with Andrea Morley, she’s the nutritionist and health coach for HealthyTrucker.com, Andrea how are you today?
Andrea: I’m great, how are you?
Troy: I’m doing good. So, there’s a bunch of truckers out there doing these New Year’s resolutions, a lot of people including myself are trying to be healthier, especially for the New Year, and I figure you’d be the perfect one to talk to. You can help not just our truckers but hopefully help me get back on track with some healthy eating habits and some exercise habits as well.
Andrea: Yeah for sure. So, I’ve helped a lot of different people in the industry whether they are a driver or they work at a trucking company or they work in some other allied trade within the industry. I’ve helped all different kinds of people reach their goals and get healthier.
Troy: So why is trucker health so important? We’ve seen tons of statistics that truckers are more susceptible to high blood pressure and things like that, obviously they’re sitting for long periods of time. So, what makes health so important while they’re on the road?
Andrea: So, we know because they’re sitting for long periods of time that they’re not getting in the normal amount of activity that we’d ideally like them to get. So, they need to counteract that and get as much activity in after their work day as they can. It’s no different than somebody who commutes long hours. If somebody is commuting for an hour and a half each way per day, they’re sitting for long periods of time, people who sit at a desk all day long, or maybe has some other type of sedentary job where they’re not able to get up and move often or they aren’t able to run around and be active throughout their work day. It’s really important for all these people to be mindful of that and to get as much activity in, when they’re able to. Everybody has different types of schedules so that’s going to look different for everybody. but basically, if you’re sedentary throughout your work day, you need to be getting more active because over time if you’re in a career for 10 years, 40 years, however long it may be, that is going to have lasting effects on your health. You need to be proactive in order to prevent that.
Troy: Like you said, I know schedules are different for all truckers out there. What are some ways that they can work out whether it be in the cab or at a truck stop and how often should they be doing so?
Andrea: Yeah definitely. So, the frequency of working out doesn’t matter quite as much as the weekly duration of the workouts. Some drivers like to do a 10-minute workout three times a day. I see a lot of drivers that say, “Yeah before I start the truck, I go for a quick 10-minute walk around it, when I have a break I do the same, stopping for lunch or fuel,” and then at the end of the day, they do a quick 10-minute walk again. That’s great. So, they’re working out quite frequently throughout the day, every day. But, then other drivers prefer to do a longer work out three times a week. So, a 45-minute workout 3 times a week. Again, it doesn’t really matter how often you’re working out, as long as you are getting, I mean, in Canada the guidelines are that you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. So, you get to break that up however you want. Different ways that they can actually be working out, it really is up to them. I see drivers, for example, that take bikes on the road in their trucks and they go cycling wherever they are in North America. They find nearby cycling paths and they head out on their bike. Now, that is a bit extreme and it’s not realistic for everybody. So, for those who don’t want to go to that level, they could just be doing a workout right inside their truck, by taking a set of dumbbells with them. They can do a variety of different strength exercises with that one pair of dumbbells, like bicep curls, squats, and shoulder presses. I’ve personally done this right inside a truck, recording videos doing this to prove that it is possible, and you can do this and I have many drivers that I work with that do, do this. You can also do a lot of core exercises by laying in the bunk. Search like a quick YouTube core work out and do that by laying down. Outside the truck there’s so many different workouts you can do just directly beside the truck, outside your door. You could be doing a hip workout by doing jumping jacks and pushups. You could take your set of dumbbells outside and do a workout there. You could go jogging or go for a walk if you want to. I also like to mention that you can use the truck as leverage. You can use the bumper, you can use the steps, and you can do pushups off of that, or triceps dips of off that to kind of increase the variety of workouts. The main thing they need to do is drop the excuses and understand that they are able to get a workout in, it just might not look the same as if they were at home. They can get some movement in, even if it is just for 10 minutes and even if it is just a simple bodyweight workout where they don’t have any equipment.
Troy: And let’s move to the eating side of things. I know that’s something I struggle with personally. That was my big New Year’s resolution. It was to quit picking up the fast food or do some meal prepping, or shy away from that. I know for me, it was more of a convenience thing and I tend to just grab something on the go quick. I know it’s something right there, but I know that’s a huge thing that truckers are definitely gonna struggle with when they’re on the road. But what are some tips you can give to our truckers for eating healthy on the road?
Andrea: Yeah, for sure. So, eating healthy really boils down to two different things. Eating the right foods, in the right amount. So, eating them in the right amount, that means portion control. No matter what they are eating, healthy or not, they need to make sure that they’re not overeating. Truck stops tend to make it easy to overeat. Whether they’re going to a buffet at a truck stop, or whether they’re ordering at a restaurant in a truck stop or the fast food restaurants that are available, the portions tend to be very large, and then they are going to overeat, and then they’re going to gain weight and have health issues as a result. So, making sure that portion sizes are looked after, that’s something they can always do when they’re on the road. Then of course, eating the right food. That means, that when you’re at a truck stop, the first thing I recommend that you do, is look for the vegetables and fruit. If you can find some source of vegetables and fruit to be the base of your meal, then you’re one-step ahead of everybody else. So maybe that means you are able to find a salad, maybe it just means that there’s a stir fry menu at the restaurant and that’s going to have a base of vegetables. Or, maybe vegetables aren’t on the menu anywhere, but you can ask for them. Just be friendly, and somebody is probably going to be accommodating for you. If you say “you know, I’m looking for some vegetables, what do you have in the back? What are you able to substitute in or offer me?” And they’ll do that for you. Aside from that, I recommend checking out the convenience section of the truck stop or checking out the prepared foods section. In the convenience section they’ll have a refrigerator that as fresh made sandwiches, cut up fruits and vegetables that are actually, shockingly, really good quality a lot of the time. I’ve seen them where they are a little bit wilted and not great looking, but you can find them where it is fresh, nice apples and bananas and cut up celery and carrots. So, these things do exist, you just have to look for them, and then buy them when you do find them. There are a lot of different ways that drivers can eat healthy in truck stops. I do talk a lot about that and I do have a lot of drivers that do so successfully. There is the other side of eating healthy on the road which is cooking your food in the truck. I recommend that above anything else. Obviously, it is a bit of a challenge for some drivers, especially if they’re not in the habit of it. I have seen drivers that have almost a full kitchen set up in their truck. They don’t make any excuses for themselves they just say, “You know what, this is where I cook my meals, yes, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage because I’m on the road and I’m in my truck and I can’t take everything with me, but I make it work” and that’s the most important thing.
Troy: And what are some meals, vegetable based meals? Can you throw out some meals for truckers who do have the capability of cooking in their truck?
Andrea: Yeah for sure! So, to start out with breakfast for example, I really like smoothies for drivers. If they can get a little bit of fruit while they’re on the road, whether they get that at a truck stop, they pick up a couple of bananas if they’re available and they have a little bit of fruit in the fridge or the frozen section. If they can find that and make smoothies for breakfast every day, maybe throw in a little bit of protein powder, chia seeds, whatever they prefer, that is the best option for breakfast every day. All they need is a little tiny portable blender. It’s the size of a cup. That’s a great option for breakfast. For actual meals, lunch and dinner, if they have a rice cooker, they can make all different kinds of stir frys or soups, and jambalaya’s, plenty of different meals right within that rice cooker. They just throw in the meat and the vegetables, the rice, whatever they want. Throw it all in together with some spices, and then 15, 20 minutes later their meal is finished. Obviously, that’s just a couple of examples. There are plenty of other options for them and maybe in the show notes I can send you some better options for them to cook in the truck.
Troy: For sure! What about snacks? I have this issue where I start eating a snack, and then I don’t stop until it’s finished and I hate myself. So, how do truckers get over that? And what are some snack ideas?
Andrea: So, with not stopping until you hate yourself, that’s an issue with portion control, of course, and you know, it’s hard, because snacking can be addicting. First, it’s important to make sure you’re snacking on the right things, so that if you do overeat it, it’s not going to be that much of an issue. Now for drivers, for anybody, I recommend fruits and vegetables as snacks, fruits especially are an incredible snack because they really do provide you with the carbs you need in order to keep your brain going and fuel yourself for the next couple of hours. If drivers are able to snack on fruit, that is the best option. If not, then I do recommend things like seed crackers, with a few things like walnuts, almonds, cashews, a little bit of nut butter or almond butter, cashew butter. Try to stay away from things like chocolate bars and chips of course, and soda. I know a lot of drivers rely on those as their snacks because you can just purchase them at a truck stop and they’re packaged, and they can keep them in the truck. Obviously, it’s convenient but they’re absolutely not going to help with their health whatsoever.
Troy: Yeah, I want to go back to that. How important is cutting out things like, obviously sugar, but more importantly soda, because that’s something I made a point to do probably three or four months ago and I’ve definitely noticed a huge difference. I was a big soda drink and iced tea drinker and I cut both of those out and I’ve turned towards things like La Croix and things like that. How important is that, to be able to cut down that amount of sugar.
Andrea: Cutting out soda, if you have one soda a day, is one of the absolute best things that you can do for your health, that’s how important it is. I actually wrote an article on this last week and shared it with the challenge participants that are working on losing, say, 10 pounds over the months of January and February and I really wanted to drill that into their heads that if they do have that habit, and they think that it’s not harming their health, it really is. Maybe you aren’t overweight, so you think that you’re getting away with eating or drinking that amount of sugar every day, but it’s harming your organs. It is damaging your health over the long term, you just don’t see it yet. You won’t see those issues pop up maybe until your 40s, 50s, 60s, and then you really will see the effects of it and you’ll regret it. That goes for people who drink diet pop as well. People always ask me “which is healthier, regular pop or diet pop?” and I say neither of them. They’re equally as unhealthy as each other. On one side, you have the sugar, and on the other side, you have the artificial sweeteners, and those are incredibly unhealthy and extremely damaging to so many different areas of your body. You need to be cutting those out at all cost. Really, you’re trading one for the other. The health issues are just going to be a little bit different. What’s interesting about diet pop is that they have the same artificial base ingredients, so artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, caramel coloring. Those are extremely toxic ingredients that are unhealthy no matter how you market it, how you phrase it, you should be cutting them out.
Troy: Yeah! I definitely felt that I could sleep better. After the initial day or two of feeling a little groggy because you don’t have that caffeine kick, but especially through the night, being able to sleep through the night, and waking up and not feeling tired throughout the day, I definitely noticed a difference there, and I think that would benefit a lot of truckers.
Andrea: That’s amazing. I’m so happy to hear that you were able to feel such a good benefit of it, and your sleep is so important, so if you’re struggling with sleeping, maybe that’s all you need to do is cut out something like soda because that could be what is causing you to have poor sleep and then you’re so tired all day that you think you need to be drinking more soda, but it’s really just the actual culprit to begin with. You cut that out, you may have a bit of withdrawal symptoms over the first couple of days because the caffeine and the sugar is addicting. They design it to be that way they want you to come back for more, but after a couple of days, you’ll get through it and you will feel amazing.
Troy: Well thank you for all this information Andrea, I appreciate it. You know, we mentioned working out, and we mentioned healthy driving, and I recently touched on the sleep aspect but, other than working out and eating healthy, what can drivers do to stay healthy? What are some other things?
Andrea: Mental health is really important for drivers, especially because the lifestyle puts them at a really great risk for things like loneliness, depression, stress, PTSD if they’ve witness or been part of a traumatic accident. There’s also a lot of drivers that come from the military so they may be suffering from PTSD as a part of their service, and now they’ve transitioned back into civilian life and they have become a driver which is fantastic, but then they are still struggling with their mental health because of their previous career. It’s really important no matter what mental health issues a driver is facing; they need to take care of their mental health. That might mean for them that when they get up in the morning, they spend about five minutes sitting in the passenger seat with their eyes closed and taking in 10 really deep breaths. It will kind of ground them and center them, or maybe they actually like to meditate. We actually do have a lot of drivers that meditate consistently every day. Speaking of free resources, that we talked about before, I really like a couple of apps, one of them being Insight Timer. You go on the App Store on your phone. InsightTimer is a free app and it’s full of guided mediations so you can meditate for maybe five minutes and it will guide you through the process of breathing and disconnecting from your thoughts in order to reduce stress levels which is really important while drivers are out on the road. We don’t want them getting road rage and angry and stressed out while they’re driving. We want them to be calm and focused. So, that is a great way to manage their mental health and just taking some time for themselves, managing their relationships, making sure that they’re putting themselves first, and looking after their mental health.
Troy: Awesome! Well, I just have one more question Andrea. I know the New Year just started and many of these truckers are making New Year’s resolutions, so what are some tips you have, whether they’re starting or keeping a New Year’s resolution? I think I’m doing pretty good on my own, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to give up chicken McNuggets anytime soon, but other than that, I think I’m hanging in there.
Andrea: And you know what, that’s the thing. You don’t have to give up your chicken McNuggets. I always tell people this time of year, start slow and stay consistent. Ease into a workout routine. If you’ve never worked out before, I don’t want you going to the gym seven times a week or working out seven days a week. Just ease into it. Start with walking. Maybe add in a little bit of jogging, then add in the weights. Ease into the process and just keep showing up, keep doing the work, keep choosing the vegetables over the french fries whenever you go out to eat. That’s where you’re actually going to start seeing the results. When you get those results, you’ll want to keep going because you’ll know that what I’m doing is actually working. I never want people to swear anything off, like with your chicken McNuggets, you can have them, and you will have them again.
Troy: That’s what I like to hear.
Andrea: Exactly! You’re just not going to have them today. Instead, you’re going to have a healthy stir fry or you’re going to get the salad at McDonald’s instead of the nuggets, or maybe the grilled chicken sandwich. You’re just going to have something else right now and you’re going to look forward to when you can have your treat, the food that you really like and you’re looking forward to, and you’re going to enjoy it fully. Not just when you’re in a rush and you’re on your way home from work and you need to stop and grab something, or when you’re at a truck stop and you’re in a hurry, that’s not when you have your treat foods or your favorite foods. You have them when you’re with your family or when you have a Saturday night to yourself and you’re gonna cook something that you really like, like pasta. Or maybe you’re going to go out for dinner or you’re going to go to McDonald’s to lunch because it’s your birthday, and you really want to. That’s fine. Just don’t make those things the norm.
Troy: Awesome! Well, once again, thank you Andrea I appreciate it. Again, we’re talking to Andrea Morley, the nutritionist and health coach over at HealthyTrucker.com. Thank you so much.
Andrea: No problem, thanks for having me.
Music
Troy: Alright and once again a big thanks to Andrea Morley from HealthyTrucker. I think those were a bunch of great tips that will hopefully help you truckers stick to your New Year’s resolution and keep you all healthy while you’re out there on the road.
Lenay: Yeah and if anyone has any other additional tips or suggestions for how to stay healthy while you’re on the road, be sure to reach out to us. You can reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter. We’re always checking our social media accounts.
Troy: Yeah and if you need a few more additional tips or tricks, check out the Troy Thunder trucking workout video. I’ve actually met him in person and he’s really handsome and talented and it was an honor meeting him, to be honest, Lenay.
Lenay: Yeah, I feel like we should bring Troy Thunder back for another episode.
Troy: Yeah, I’ll have to negotiate with his agent, but I think we might be able to lock some time down with him in the future.
Lenay: He’s a pretty busy guy.
Troy: Yeah, but, thanks again folks, I’m your co-host Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And this has been BigRigBanter.
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