Ive been working as a tramper for near on 10 weeks now and i really enjoy the life driving all over the country and earning good money, im even thinking about trying to get on the overseas work that my company does.
Anyway what my main concern is that even though i dont eat at roadside cafes and the like (where eveything is either fried or deep fried!) i mainly eat out of my cab which is a broad mix of tinned food, noodles or ther dryed foods as well as fruit. but i cant seem to help but notice i have started to swell around the midsection i always was big and did struggle to loose weight but then i could always go for a run or hit the gym when not working but when your parked up in a layby for the night you cant go for a run down the hard shoulder can you? and ive yet to see a truck with a fitted shower (not even that scania longline i always see has one of them i bet!)
what im asking is how do you loose weight when dieting is not enough and still tramp out for a living??
any hints and tips will greatly be apreciated.
I’m a container driver, and a tramper, and I’ve lost 4.5 stone in the last year. I also can’t exercise a great deal because of a health problem, but I’ve lost the weight despite that.
The hard fact of the matter is that you simply need to eat less. I self-cater and live on fresh pasta with tomato and vegetable based sauces, with granary or onion rolls filled with low-fat cream cheese or similar for lunch, and fruit for breakfasts and snacks. I’m also a lot more careful what I eat at weekends these days - I used to scoff far too much, even though it was reasonably healthy food, and that was my downfall. I don’t drink, so fortunately that isn’t a problem, although it can be for some - there are a LOT of calories in alcohol.
I generally buy something down the road for lunch on a Friday, but I make it a nice tuna/egg/chicken salad sarnie rather than a pasty or greasy bacon butty. I also have a basic rule that I don’t at any time eat anything that isn’t “food” as far as possible. So if you look at the label and a lot of the ingredients aren’t things you would put on a plate on their own and recognise as being edible, don’t eat it.
Little stuff helps, exercise-wise. Park in the furthest spot away from the building in truck parks, rather than the nearest, for example. I do physio daily for my medical condition, and there’s no reason why a “normal” person can’t spend a bit of time exercising in a similar way.
Ultimately, though, we only get fat for one reason. Eating too much. So to lose fat, you have to eat less. Sorry, but there it is. I take medications that increase weight as well, but that simply means I have to allow for that when choosing meals. It isn’t an excuse for being a lard arse. You may not think you eat much, but you obviously still manage to overeat, and there’s only one way to change that situation.
Lucy:
The hard fact of the matter is that you simply need to eat less…
That about sums it up, meself I don’t do breakfast, just 4/5 cups of coffee a day with a sandwich around mid morning, perhaps a bag of crisps in the afternoon to nobble any munchies lurking in the stomach, then a proper meal at night.
There is good sense on offer in the above posts.A lot of breakfast cereals are loaded with sugar ,so avoid make your own porridge instead you could add nuts or fruit or other stuff to your own liking. Pasta is also good as it gives you a slow release of energy through out the day.I often do stretching exercises when I have to stand around idle for a while.Weight is easier put on than getting off,just stick with the regime.
Since being diagnosed with sleep apnoea 2 months ago I have lost nearly 2 stone and I’m still losing it. The reason for this is my cpap machine I use at night.
Before being diagnosed I was probably consuming over 3000 calories a day because my body was so tired all the time it was telling me to eat to keep my energy levels up. I was waking up 57 times an hour, so just wasn’t getting any proper sleep.
Now I’m on cpap my food intake has cut in half, I can now feel full on 1500 calories a day so I’m losing weight nice and steady. I’ve also adjusted my eating so no more fried foods or pastry or chocolate but instead I have Wheetabix x3 for breakfast, 4 slices of nimble wholemeal with cold meats for lunch and I will have a proper evening meal. for snacking between meals I will have fruit, both dried and fresh or a fat free yogurt or as a treat a cereal bar.
It can be done and it’s easier if you have a fridge as you can take fresh foods instead of tins.
Before cpap I was nearly 27 stone eight weeks later I’m 25 stone I want to get down to 20 stone before next summer. I know that is still heavy for a person of average height but I’m 6"8 so 20 stone will do me.
Ive lost 1st 9lbs since May 1st - average about a 1lb a week, only another 12 pounds till i back till my ideal weight. I put a fair bit off beef over the last year and i put it down to the fact i no longer do handballs runs anymore. I used to strip 18 pallets down on occasion, not had a hand ball in donkeys.
The thing that set alarm bells ringing for me was my uniform was getting tight (L) and i just couldn’t face putting in a uniform request for XL
As Lucy has pointed out its about your calorie intake. Simple weight loss is about expending more calories than you take in. Simply cutting down and doing things like going for walks whilst sitting on a bay, or whilst on break at a MSA or somewhere go for a walk around the truck park. I normally try to park up at places where I know there is geocaches. Means I could get out the cab and ‘‘exercise’’
We all know that cabs, at the best of time, are tiny and way to small. If you can get over the fact that to others (normally the ones that take no care of their appearance and look like they are smuggling a wok)
These things are fantastic, they fold up and take less space than a CD case but when used can help you burn off tricky fat whilst out on the road all week. Pretty much all exercises can be done with them…
Firstly, well done Lucy I know that couldn’t have been easy given your issues
Pretty much as everyone else says. I’m not a big self caterer though (to bloody lazy)
I usually have a v8 or similar veggy juice for brekky along with coffee and a Marlborough
I drink water or coffee (black) through the day. A salad, panini or light sandwich for lunch. I limit myself to one can of Coke a day and snack on dried fruit pieces i.e. Mango, banana or pineapple instead of crisps.
If your hungry all the time and need food to prevent tiredness, it may not be how much you eat but what you eat !!
I have a good full evening meal but I try to have it before I park for the night then do another hour or so. Eating a big meal then doing nothing but sleep is a recipe for piling on the pounds.
I also park as far a way as possible and even when just stopping to grab a coffee I walk all the way around the motor checking straps and tyres etc etc (every little helps)
I used to go running in the morning or afternoons. Parking on an industrial estate or outside customers where space is is better then lay bys for obvious reasons. It’s not always practical, but could be achieved twice a week and then I’d run or lift weights at the weekend.
Diet is the key, I can’t imagine those tins being any good though. I used to cook fresh spag bol sauce, chilli, chicken curry all frozen and tom based pasta sauce and then eat out once a week for a treat.
You can either spend an hour on a treadmill to burn off a burger or simply not eat the burger (or any other food) in the first place.
That’s not to say exercise is not good for your general health. It’s just easier to not eat something than it is to exercise your ■■■■ off just to burn off excess calories.
Just don’t go below 1200 calories a day or your body will go in to starvation mode and try to put on fat.
Always used to have a packet of Chedders next to me just to keep hunger at bay, but they were normally gone in half hour! Don’t drink midweek now, only have a couple at weekends and get on my push bike when ever I can - weight fell off and stayed off.
Having a power nap in Clackets a few years ago, got woken up by a clanking noise. I walked around the motor to see a motor from S.Wales (Raymond?) with the driver standing alongside doing weights
i usually run about 4 times during the week, anywhere from 3 to 8 miles. if i can’t get a shower, a big bottle of water does the trick untill i find a shower. I’ve lost 3 stone in a year, mainly due to exercise, and also kicking my biscuit habit. couldn’t drink a cup of coffee without a few biccies!
i started off walking half an hour every night, and gradually progressing onto short jogs. you can walk or run virtually anywhere. MSA…look for the access road, this normally takes you to a fairly quiet country road. layby…look for footpaths. industrial estates…look on map for roads leading into town.
i have built a network of runs which i can usually plan into my day, breaks or overnight parking. some routes are city centres, some are all out muddy off road runs. even run up and down the devils staircase on the west highland way.
i still have the odd pint mid week, and usually a binge at the weekend. food wise, i tend to bring home cooked stuff ie chilli, curry or bolognese. just heated through on a gas stove. avoid very sugary cereals and snacks. and i also eat very little bread.
hope that all makes some sense and hopefully helps a bit!
The TRUE trampers of yesteryear never had weight problems(well only with overloading!) with all the sheeting and roping plus regular handballing they did.They also stayed in digs as well and ate 3 square meals a day,no E.coli vans or camping in cabs in those days! Just shows how far the transport industry has sunk IMO! Bewick.
Exercise and good diet, Bread is bad, brown rice is good.
Drink water instead of having a nibble at something.
Having a walk round the estate, MSA/Truckstop etc or even a run, if you like the gym then look around the interweb for fitness first/DW etc and see which looks favourable regarding where you go, if you can park near enough (mile or so walk is exercise again) and go for a gym swim n shower, and you can guarentee a better shower than your MSA or Truckstop.
If you WANT to lose the weight and the bubble around your belly you will, If you think about it you wont.
