Want To Lose Weight? Try Flatbed

Is there an element of truth in this or am I being naive? I would think having to handle a 100 pound tarp and having to strap it down would give your body a good work out. One of the reasons I like the sound of flatbed. I like to be active. Not to say I don’t like driving, but it would break it up a bit.

Yes!! There is a bit of truth to this. Flatbedding can keep you in shape as you are quite regularly staying active on every single load. You will be securing every load with chains or straps and tarping a lot. So yes the job is quite physical and it does break up the monotony of just driving. It even gives you a small sense of accomplishment with each load you do when you look at it and think man that securement or tarping looks good. When I did flatbed I did lose some weight, but at the same time I also had a decent diet.

You definitely get in some physical work running flatbed, but like with any exercise plan your body will simply ask for more food, so unless you had some kind of limit on your diet you would likely just be hungrier, eat more and stay about the same.

I did lose some weight in flatbed but that was just because I was too busy to eat a lot of times! Skipped a lot of breakfasts and a few dinners to stay ahead of the clock.

I see overweight flatbedders everyday. The path to losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in. The easiest way to accomplish that is reduce the calories you consume.

I see overweight flatbedders everyday. The path to losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in. The easiest way to accomplish that is reduce the calories you consume.

This is it in its purest form. I think one misconception most people have is that they can out-exercise a poor diet. It's simply not true. Also, 100 pounds is not that much weight for the average man to lift. Your body would quickly adapt to that and that amount of fitness would not overcome the sedentary part of your day.

Jeff Cavaliere lays it out pretty well in this video. 16 minutes of burpees or jumping rope done by a novice - even only a bit overweight - would be cancelled out by a 20 oz Coke. Someone who is in better shape - but still overweight - would have to do those same exercises for a longer duration in order to cancel out that same Coke. Then he can start making some progress with losing weight. Proper nutrition and caloric intake are key.

I think one misconception most people have is that they can out-exercise a poor diet. It's simply not true.

To a certain extent you can. When I've ridden back to back centuries (200 miles in two days), I can eat a large breakfast, light lunch, two cheeseburgers and fries for "pre-dinner" and then a half of pizza for dinner and still lose weight.

Old School's quote is correct.

The path to losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in.

The problem that I have when I'm very sedentary, is that I have to eat almost nothing to lose weight. For me, I need to be somewhat active to lose weight.

The problem that I have when I'm very sedentary, is that I have to eat almost nothing to lose weight. For me, I need to be somewhat active to lose weight.

That's not true, and that's not unique to you. That's because human beings are very efficient. The average adult with a sedentary lifestyle only needs about 1,600 - 2,000 calories per day. If you count every calorie you take in you'll find that's a ridiculously small amount of food. It seems like the amount you would expect to feed a small child.

I've been an athlete my entire life and I train hard six days a week. I constantly have to watch what I eat and I'm rarely at my ideal weight. The human body is maddeningly efficient. The biggest mistake people make with regard to weight loss is to the belief that exercise is the key to losing weight. It's not. Caloric intake is the key to losing weight. Food has far more calories than you would expect, and exercise burns far fewer calories than you would expect. Go jogging for 30 minutes and you've earned yourself a small cup of flavored yogurt, or maybe a slice of bread. Ask yourself if that seems like an appropriate reward for the effort.

Cantankerous Amicus said it perfectly:

I think one misconception most people have is that they can out-exercise a poor diet. It's simply not true.

I feel very strongly that every human being should get some exercise every day, and reasonably hard exercise most days. Unfortunately, the people who sell exercise equipment and gym memberships have us convinced that you need to exercise to lose weight. That's simply not true. The proper approach is that you exercise to be fit, you control your diet to maintain the proper weight.

Will pulling a flatbed help you lose weight? No. Will it help you be more fit? Not really. Do not choose flatbed because you want to lose weight or you want to be fit. Choose flatbed only if you enjoy the unique challenges of the job. You can be healthy and fit no matter what type of freight you haul.

If you count every calorie you take in you'll find that's a ridiculously small amount of food.

The good thing is that if you ease into it gradually, eventually you get used to the seemingly tiny portion sizes and the old ones will boggle your mind after that.

OP if I may suggest, grab a food journaling app like MyFitnessPal and start recording what you eat for a few months before you head out on the road and you habits completely change. Yes, it's tedious and annoying weighing all your food, but you start to get a good feel for things after a while. You see what the worst offending foods are and learn to avoid them. Wean your way off of them if they happen to be favorites. Make sure what you are recording is accurate because some people add foods that have numbers that are way off. If your weight remains constant then that's your daily caloric balance for your average daily activity level.

When you go out on the road keep tracking your food along with your weight. Tweak your numbers accordingly if anything changes.

I guess you have to be careful out there on the road, it would be so easy to put on weight if you weren’t being diligent about what you eat and drink. I would choose flatbed more because of the unique challenges it brings. I need a new challenge in my life to bring me back to life! I know some of you on here try to take care of yourselves and stay healthy and that’s beneficial to you and your company you’re working for, maybe in terms of productivity or whatever it may be. That old saying you are what you eat. I truly believe that.

My point is really consistent with what everyone is saying. Losing weight is simple math. You need to burn more calories than you consume.

If you burn a huge a amount of calories, you can consume a huge amount of calories. So long as your calorie consumption is less than the calories you burn (factoring in base metabolic functions), you will lose weight. But you can't walk for thirty minutes and think that now you can have bacon double cheeseburger that has 1,200 calories.

If you count every calorie you take in you'll find that's a ridiculously small amount of food.

My point, based on Brett's quote, it is hard for me to lose weight if I don't exercise because I have to "eat a ridiculously small amount of food."

For me, I have been more successful losing weight with a moderate amount of exercise and tracking my calories very precisely.

I use My Fitness Pal and I have a Garmin fitness monitor that syncs to My Fitness Pal account. When I was just using My Fitness Pal, I was starving all the time and I couldn't sustain that diet to lose weight. When I began using the Garmin fitness monitor, I was more successful in losing weight because it adjusted my daily calorie goals in My Fitness Pal based on the calories I burned exercising. Therefore, moderate exercise and tracking calories works for me because I can eat a more normal diet and still lose weight.

Also, very low calorie consumption is counter-productive to losing weight. As Brett points "the human body is maddeningly efficient." If your calorie consumption is dramatically too low, your body will lower your metabolism to a dangerously low level in an effort to survive.