A drivers diet.

After leaving my active job last November im now sat on my ■■■■ for most of it driving.
Eating the same foods as before but burning less off.
I could honestly count on 1 hand how many times ive eaten off a food van in that time.

Diet is (and always has been) corn flakes etc for breakfast. 2 rolls, 2 oatmeal,cereal or chocolate bars. 1 or 2 bags of crisps and an apple and grapes. 4 to 6 cups of coffee.

Decent dinners. Salads etc in the summer and heart warming grub in the winter.

Ive put on 2 stone in almost a year. I bought new clothes about 6 months ago that dont really fit me anymore so need to do something about it now.

Exercise wise, i walk the dog for an hour or so every evening.

Working the hours i do mean im either eating, sleeping, working or winding down in the evenings.

What do the health conscious among you do to keep the weight off?

Im 47, 5ft9 and 14 stone. Should be around the 12 mark.

Cheers
Rich

Buy a set of smart scales, they will tell you your resting metabolic rate.
Then organise your diet to suit.

Calorie counting. Work out what you need for the day, count your food to match but spread throughout the day.

I’ve cut my food intake right down now I don’t use as many calories. Literally my lunch is a sandwich, an apple and a banana. That’s it. Then an evening meal. To complicated it further I start work at 1am so don’t fancy breakfast then surprisingly so I end up haggling my fruit about 5am then my sandwich about 10am then my evening meal about 4pm.

Intermitent fasting…

I don’t eat from 18.00 to 12.00 the following day. If I do get hungry, I have a cod liver oil capsule and fibre tablet. During those six hours, I hoof down everything I can see. I do 10 minutes top heart rate cardio every day. Ytube has loads of 5 minute cardio blasts that you can adapt and keep up with. I’ve lost 11kg in 14 months but, losing the belly is near on impossible after you get in yer 50s.

I put a ton of weight on when I stopped smoking.

It takes years to put the weight slowly on. So slowly you really don’t notice it until yer trousers fit tightly. It takes waaay more than a couple of months to lose body fat, it takes years, that’s why most people give up trying to lose weight because the insant fix just isn’t there.

If they come up with a weight loss pill that really worked, I’d take it.

c&p from another thread

Quite seriously, adding some muscle mass or doing some vigorous exercise for short spaces of time will boost your metabolism. It is very difficult to get out of the habit of eating what you eat. It is also the natural thing to do on a break and the last thing you want is not having any energy. You don’t need to be a long distance runner to burn off calories. I would say to drink at least as much water as you are drinking coffee as well.

I’ve lost ten stone and kept it off for two years. I did (and still do) low carb. But I have to have a blow out every so often or I wouldn’t be able to do it. I really thought it would be easy to keep it off once I’d lost it - but it’s still a struggle.

Then I wrote a book about it and it’s on Amazon. Well, I say a book, it’s more of a leaflet… It’s sold enough copies to keep me driving lorries I had visions of me having to turn down jobs due to having book signings…

Must admit to being worried going back to driving lorries and getting back into bad habits, but you have to put the effort into being organised, taking stuff with you rather than having to choose from the dire offerings in service areas. Exercise is the easy bit… put your trainers on and move!

Im the same age as you.Ive been losing a pound a week over the last 3 months.I have three meals a day.If Im at home only eat about what will fit in a cereal bowl.If Im at work,one sandwich,banana and one yogurtcounts as one meal.
And no junk food most days,.If you arent losing weight you need to reduce how much you eat,but to do that you need to keep a track of what you are eating.Chocolate was a real problem for me and 2 bars a day was the normal thing but I found with chocolate,if I didnt have it for 2 days,the craving would go.But all this was no good when I was sheilding,I still put weight on.You need cardio,walking might not be enough,something to get slightly out of breath,running or cyclinv maybe

I’m 11 st , bag bones ,continue to loose weight , but I have to ridgidly follow a diabetic diet , I can’t answer for you but I don’t have crisps / chocolate bars , I was also advised not to drink coffee / tea prostrate , drink water
Being thin might look better than fat , but I’m not finding it much fun ( I’m now wearing small size boxers & they still keep falling down ) , belt sorts trousers .

yourhavingalarf:
Intermitent fasting…

Pretty much that ^^^^ . Tuesdays and Thursdays I only drink one coffee first thing and then water for the rest of the day. No idea what it’s doing for my weight or BMI but according to my Fitbit my sleep quality on Tuesday and Thursday nights is excellent.

I’m 6’4” and 16 stone, I’m not fat but according to the blurb I should be 13 stones. I’d look like a lollipop.

I would say cut out the crisps ,have fruit instead. Try porridge instead of the corn flakes. As you have reduced activity you dont need the same amount of calories. Tell us how you get on. I am on the buses and I see some really fat drivers.

As an alternative - try getting cold.
Historically:
In the warm months the human body stored fat as white fat - storage fat.
In the cold months it stored it as brown fat - instant access fat.

Therefore to make sure you are using brown fat as an energy source when you are exercising you need to make sure your body knows when it is winter - i.e. don’t be warm all/most of the time.
This winter turn the heater down real low in the cab & also take a good icy blast occasionally.

To fool your body into believing it is still winter when the weather is warmer take a cold shower regularly; start with warm then finish with cold.

Thank you all for your input.

The thing i find is i graze through the day. Roll here, chrisps there etc rather than sit and eat the lot (or most of it) during a break.
Ive realised it helps keep my energy and concentration levels sharper if i do this.

As for the coffee, i actually have 3.5 mugs of strong white coffee a day. 1 when i get up and my flask holds 2.5 mugs.
Maybe a large costa once a week if im on a long run. But no more than that as it can affect sleep and £££.

Usually have a litre of water with me that i may or may not drink. Depending on thirst.
Only drink water in the evenings.

Im off this week but will address my lunch box on Monday.

Exercise is the next thing to look at…

Thanks again

Rich.

3 years ago, I decided to lose some weight and try to get fitter (I had been overweight for many years since becoming office-bound). I was 54 then, I changed my breakfast to fruit and fibre, but I think the secret here is (and this sounds crazy) smaller bowls and plates, we eat with our eyes, and using smaller crockery makes it look like you have more food so you don’t tend to pile it up as much. I also halved my lunch (always have prepared it myself) 1 sandwich instead of 2, a small bag of baked cheese crackers, no chocolate but added much more fruit bananas, apples, etc. Still had a “proper” dinner but just less. I also took up cycling (bought a semi-decent bike - around £300) and used to cycle 10 miles 3 times a week, luckily I lived near a canal then so no risking my life on busy roads.

I lost 2 stone over the period of 6 months, and still drank alcohol as I did before (maybe 5-6 pints a week) and on Fridays would have a pizza and a chocolate bar as a weekly treat, and have managed to keep it off , although I am much more cautious of what I eat and drink, but have got used to the smaller portions.

The old adage “eat less - move more” stands true.

The snacking does not keep your energy/concentration levels up - it is responsible for your fluctuating energy/concentration levels.

As you are off work I highly recommend you try the 18:00 - 12:00 fasting now - i.e. only eat between Midday & 18:00.
You will probably be amazed how good & consistent your energy/concentration levels are in the morning before eating.
You may feel a little hungry at times, but just drink water (no coffee) & prepare to be surprised at how much better you feel overall.

Caffeine borrows energy, it does not provide it. You will have to pay it back.
If you think you can’t start the day without caffeine, then like an alcoholic you need to admit you are an addict & are controlled by an addiction. Once you accept it you can then work to fight it.
Drink the water! Just pure thirst quenching without any temporary up followed by a down.

Rich T:
After leaving my active job last November im now sat on my ■■■■ for most of it driving.
Eating the same foods as before but burning less off.
I could honestly count on 1 hand how many times ive eaten off a food van in that time.

Diet is (and always has been) corn flakes etc for breakfast. 2 rolls, 2 oatmeal,cereal or chocolate bars. 1 or 2 bags of crisps and an apple and grapes. 4 to 6 cups of coffee.

Decent dinners. Salads etc in the summer and heart warming grub in the winter.

Ive put on 2 stone in almost a year. I bought new clothes about 6 months ago that dont really fit me anymore so need to do something about it now.

Exercise wise, i walk the dog for an hour or so every evening.

Working the hours i do mean im either eating, sleeping, working or winding down in the evenings.

What do the health conscious among you do to keep the weight off?

Im 47, 5ft9 and 14 stone. Should be around the 12 mark.

Cheers
Rich

Too much sugar! Eating cereal loaded with sugar in the morning (don’t forget the milk is full of sugar also), 2choc bars at lunch plus maybe 6 coffee’s with 2 sugars each? Just the sugar in coffee alone is probably the recommended daily intake.

It’s a recipe for getting fat and probably diabetes later in life.

Personally these days i don’t eat until around 1500 or 1600 just have a cup of tea in the morning. Then every time i feel hungry i have a glass of water.

Not easy to break the cycle though

the maoster:

yourhavingalarf:
Intermitent fasting…

Pretty much that ^^^^ . Tuesdays and Thursdays I only drink one coffee first thing and then water for the rest of the day. No idea what it’s doing for my weight or BMI but according to my Fitbit my sleep quality on Tuesday and Thursday nights is excellent.

I’m 6’4” and 16 stone, I’m not fat but according to the blurb I should be 13 stones. I’d look like a lollipop.

NO you will still look the same as me 6`00" and 16 stone

I’ve cut out crisps and most sweets (only have 50g of minstrels a day )
Swapped to fruit
In the afternoons and after dinner I’m not snacking either now
Also helps being less stressed and busy and having a taxed or not having to get receipts for nights out so I don’t go buying rubbish to make £5 up [emoji49]

Sent while from gods know where

Rich T:
2 oatmeal,cereal or chocolate bars. 1 or 2 bags of crisps and an apple and grapes. 4 to 6 cups of coffee.

Ive put on 2 stone in almost a year. I bought new clothes about 6 months ago that dont really fit me anymore so need to do something about it now.

What do the health conscious among you do to keep the weight off?

Man who got to 133kg/20st 13lb here. It’s all about the calorific intake. Choccy bars, the crisps and the 4 to 6 cups of coffee if they’ve sugar in won’t help. A small packup won’t help if you’re wolfing down a large dinner and breakfast.

So my original lunch box was:

Sandwich: ~225 calories
Oatmeal Flapjack Bar: 550 calories (had no clue they were that much)
Small lunch box chocolate bar: 185 calories (again disbelief, the things barely a couple of inches long)
Banana: 80 calories
Pack of crisps: 130 calories
Grapes to munch on whilst driving (100g): 67 calories

Total: ~1240.

I used to have a flapjack in my packup, an innocuous little bar barely an inch and a half wide and four inches long until I read the label and found out it had 550 calories. That got junked straight away and over a 5 night week I dropped basically an entire day’s calorific intake for a man. Out of the window also went the snack sized chocolate bars because even those small half size double decker and mars bar types are over 200 calories each. I replaced them with some low calorie diet things that B&M do which are 99 calories each and you get five for a quid. In regards to the crisps, junked the fried potato types for Lidl Quavers and Wotsits knock offs that are half the calories. Drinks wise I binned anything with sugar in ages ago so on my night trunks I take a 500ml bottle of diet cola (refill same bottle from a 2L one) and a 750ml bottle of zero sugar dilute juice.

Lunch box now:

Sandwich: ~225 calories
Low cal choccy bar;: 99 calories
Banana: 80 calories
Quavers/Wotsits: 69 calories
Grapes: 67 calories

Total calories: 540.

So saving ~700 calories a night, about the same over a week as a day and a half’s calorific intake for a man.

The other thing I also do is eat within an 8-9hr window so have 15-16hrs a day when I don’t eat anything. One thing that bangs on the weight is constantly grazing. Breakfast comes in at around 200 calories, main meal usually between 700 and 1000, the 1000 being fish & chips with curry/peas on a Friday - got to have a treat once a week to keep you motivated. Total calorific intake per day is around 1450-1750. Recommended intake is 2500 for a man and for my weight and low activity I burn 2632 calories a day if I wanted to maintain it so anything less than that and I lose weight.

Going on online calculators around 1600 calories a day will see me lose 1kg a week. Sat on my backside doing night trunking I’m losing around 1-2kg a week, nice and steady. Now down to 112kg/17st 9lb and dropped clothing sizes and not far off needing to go down again. Bloody expensive this losing weight business. Targetting 100kg by Xmas.

I’m gonna upset the apple cart a touch then,
Work day food(i work 5 over 7) would normally be 800g-1kg lean meat , 6 pack of bread rolls, salad or veggies depending on summer/winter and 2x protein shakes weighing in about 400 cal a pop , a small sarnie when I get in and a few beers to top it off, about 3600 cal a day.
Was 16 stone 6lb 3 years ago now about 12 stone 8
The downside is I tip a double decker of bread a day manually(my lot dont use wheels) usually 10-14 ton and pick up 5 ton on the way back to base .
I’m used to it now but was bloody hard to start . Im 52 btw and smack on 6 foot
Richie