Bill

I was a previous OTR driver and it cost my husband and I approximately $1000.00 to $1400.00 a month eating out of the truck stops. It was crazy and we were eating big unhealthy meals. Both of us love to sit down and have a meal and a good cup of coffee. But along with that comes the unhealthy issues. I gained a ton of weight and that creates havoc on every part of your body inside and out and we both were tired after eating a big meal and then wanted to just take a nap, which in this industry was not always and most times not possible. So, eating a big meal was counter productive for us financially and physically. We did have a fridge in our truck so we stopped at grocery stores and stocked up on what we called “ordervies” which consited of fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese and crackers and sandwich stuff. We would have our coffee in the morning and along about 10/11 am I would create a cheese, meat and vegie tray. That was our ordervies. It was healthy and not heavy so it didn’t make us tired. Then mid afternoon I would make us up a gormet sandwich out of the sandwich meat and the vegetables used earlier in the ordervies tray. It was good, healthy and really saved a ton of money running up and down the highway. If our schedule permitted, we would have a hot meal in the evening when we knew we where going to shut down for the night at a reasonable hour.

There are alot of grocery stores up and down the highway you can get into. Of course Walmart always does. The key is, if you see a store and need to replenish some items, take the few minutes to stop, don’t wait thinking you just get it down the road. You may not find another store, now you are out of groceries and guess what? You will be in that truckstop having that $20.00 “heavy” meal and that $20.00 could have bought a couple of days worth of good, healthy, nummy foods. And, it’s true, you will feel better, and after about 3 weeks you will start loosing the cravings for those high calorie/high fat, greasy foods. AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER. YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW GOOD YOU WILL FEEL.

Take care of yourself out there. Don’t forget how important you are to yourself and others!!!!!

In the long run, you’ll be healthier if you stick to a good diet plan, and it’s easy as hell once you do it for a while and it becomes second nature. Sure, treat yourself to a burger and fries on rare occasions, but after changing your habits, you may not even have the desire to eat anything greasy.

If people realized how easy it is to make healthy eating their lifestyle by eating healthy consistently and not just consider themselves as “dieting” they would kick themselves for not doing it sooner. Great advice top to bottom. Thanks!

A couple of things to add; Plan a budget that works and stick to it. Buy enough groceries for your time on the road and if you have anything left over in your budget, treat yourself to a restaurant meal or two, or better yet, deposit that money into your savings.

Also, don’t forget about hidden costs, such as your health. Eating restaurant food, especially fast food, buying processed junk at the grocery store, will certainly impact your health at some point. And of course, having poor health means having to pay doctor bills, hospital bills, and the price of prescription drugs, not to mention the cost of taking time off to deal with medical issues.

So, make wise choices at the grocery store: Stay away from soda, all you really need is water. Avoid the fried stuff, try to stick with cold-cuts, baked or even grilled, if you can. Tuna is perfect, easy to prepare and great for you. Sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole grain bread instead of white bread, low-fat yogurt — all good. Instead of chips or beef jerky, whatever your poison is, get plenty of fruit and healthy snack foods. There are chips and popcorn and all kinds of other snack foods available that don’t contain all those bad cholesterol building and artery clogging ingredients, just check out the nutrition facts and the list of ingredients. And if you have room in your cab, get a small juicer, make a gallon of juice with fresh fruit (and vegetables) before you head out, drop in some protein powder if you want.

In the long run, you’ll be healthier if you stick to a good diet plan, and it’s easy as hell once you do it for a while and it becomes second nature. Sure, treat yourself to a burger and fries on rare occasions, but after changing your habits, you may not even have the desire to eat anything greasy. You’ll save money on health costs, you’ll be more alert and focused while driving, possibly saving you more money because you’ll be a safer and happier driver. You’d be surprised what a healthy diet can do for your attitude and overall mood.

-Bob