I’m sure this is a subject which has been discussed many times before, but i was wondering how you chap/chapesses keep a decent level of health and fitness while doing the job. Whether your a tramper, away all week, a day or night driver, how does the long hours, generally poor diet and sedentary lifestyle affect you?
I am 42 now, been in the job 15 or so years and my health is suffering quite badly. I put it down to the job mainly. I came off tramping because i was so bad. i now drive nights but dont seem to be any better off.
My diet is poor, there are little or no facilities open at night (Mcdonalds usually) to get a decent meal.
Soggy sarnies made at home are not the most interesting meal. And do you night drivers find that eating properly at night difficult?
And how easy have any of you ex smokers found it to quit, i am struggling a lot to stop. Which i guess doesnt help the health much.
I do work for Stobarts, which means i do fairly long hours so dont have much time at between getting up and starting work to cook and eat a decent meal. (microwaves R us)
Its not viable to join a gym or some kind of after school club to do stuff cos time off is limited.
i have a new grandaughter now and its always on my mind that i may not see her grow up. (morbid i know, but thinking of the children)
I’m just interested in your thoughts as so called professional drivers…
i cook my own food.
i park a reasonable distance from a service area, so i walk to the toilets. (unlike some lazy [zb]s).
i believe that laughing at problems, that others find stressful really helps.
and if the wife goes off the boil, then tell her to sort herself out, or you’ll trade her in.
i find ■■■ to be excellent excercise, we need to learn from the muslims. they have several wives, that they could put in a circle, and have a go on each, like a circuit gym.
This is part of the problem with the job having become too easy over the last couple of decades, chauffers now.
Unless you can discipline yourself to eating and excercising better it might be an idea to get a proper job… , something like Lidl’s or the like where they go round the stores and unload themselves…paid exercise…
I was very fit on the car transporters because the job is so active, and if you get too fat you can’t squeeze into the cars anyway, don’t do it any more but only do about 45 hours weeks now so plenty of time for a life.
Is cycling to work an option for you?, do you have a dog that you can take for miles of walks during your time off?..smoking you have to stop, i watched my brother die from excess smoking related illness and it was horrible.
Good suggestions above except the multiple wives, one bugger is headache enough…
We as drivers have done far too many hours over the years, you don’t see any other jobs where people are still doing 60+ hours a week and fiddling POA etc to earn a crust.
Whilst we carry on like this it will continue.
your quite correct, the job is easier these days, the most physical thing i do is open the curtains or the back doors and walk to a waiting room.
I have a dog, but a quick run round the block is all i have time for.
and cycling is a possibility, good suggestion.
Fat is not a problem for me tho, i struggle to put weight on, with the bad diet and all.
but smoking is the problem for me.
Can you not take a stove with you fella? I take those microwave rice packets with me and throw them in a saucepan with a splash of water and it’s done in a couple of minutes. Couple that with tins of curry,chicken in sauce whatever and it does me for a meal…Well it did before I got lazy and started stopping at Tebay every other night.
And join Phil’s gym…I’ve sent my membership monies in advance,I hope that’s ok Phil.
i think you are in the worst situation being on nights.
like you said, not much time to yourself.
on tramping i always have in my fridge, plenty of salad stuff, ham, cheese etc etc etc
also tins of peas, carrots, sweetcorn. and stewed steak, chicken in white wine sause plus
packets of pasta. i also carry fresh apples and other fruit.
that gives me a varied diet with lots of fruit juices. tinned fruit is also a good replacement.
as for trying to stop smoking, i did a lot better with the small plastic tube shaped like a submarine that i got from my gp.
they are free, after 2 weeks i was off cigs.
Ive found the fitter Ive got, the more my ■■■ life has improved
As a Day driver Im able to get down the local gym / swimming pool to get some exercise, which is where Im just been for the 4th time this week.
Even after a 12hr+ shift and the gym is open for 1-2hrs beyond the time I get home, then I usually find time for a little light training. Now my weight has gone from under 14st to 11st 8lbs
Excercise aside, as others have said diet and motivation is the key to staying healthy in this job. If you cant break your habits, and change your ways then youve lost the battle. dragging yourself out of bed early at the weekend to go for a long walk (with the kids/missus) instead of having that extra 10mins (that turns into 1-2hrs) can be hard, but its not difficult.
The small cool box I take my packed lunch in usually contains sandwiches (2-4 slices of wholemeal bead) with low fat filling, and always salad. Theres usually also a low fat yogurt, apple/orange and a banana. for the ocasional treat I`ll pack a musili bar also. Drinks are usually a choice of either my thermos of fresh coffee, or a litre bottle of sugar free orange dilute pop.
Takeaways and other junk food are a thing of the past, but I do occasionally home cook curries, spag bol, etc. I still do eat the odd bacon buttie, or full english, but never more frequently than once a week/fortnight. I guess non of the old favourite meals are off the menu, its just that I eat less of them. Also I never eat the same main meal twice in a week, except for maybe the 2 slices of wholemeal toast, or the bowl of bran flakes I have in a morning to go with the glass of OJ and the cup of tea.
Beer is another thing that can wreck your diet. Though I still do partake in a couple of beers, my weekly intake has gone down considerably over the last couple of years since I started going to the gym, & now my total beer consumption is probably no more than the recomended 24 units per week. which is generally 2-4 beers on a fri/sat night, a couple of beers on a sunday lunch if I have a late start monday. With vertually no beer during the week.
grumpybum made a valid point some time ago, when she pointed out that as a tramper it is possible to get some excercise while away from home, as she pointed out that she was able to pull on her trainers, and jog / walk around the truckpark. She was able the to shrug off the looks from the other drivers who though she was a little crazy for doing it, but she persisted and got the result she wanted.
Winning the battle to get fit is hard …loosing the battle is harder
ShropsBri:
Can you not take a stove with you fella? I take those microwave rice packets with me and throw them in a saucepan with a splash of water and it’s done in a couple of minutes. Couple that with tins of curry,chicken in sauce whatever and it does me for a meal…Well it did before I got lazy and started stopping at Tebay every other night.
And join Phil’s gym…I’ve sent my membership monies in advance,I hope that’s ok Phil.
I couldn’t agree more - leave the nasty food alone and cook your own. I put enough fresh food in my fridge for a week out and I have never had a MacDonalds or any of that crap at work. Leave the pop alone too and drink plenty of cordial type drinks instead.
The only time that I don’t eat my own food is on the ferry and the food there is pretty good.
I guess I’m lucky though as I do general work and still get a sweat on getting the load on a secured and we also do quite a bit of handball too.
the food/weight thing is probably a bit odd for me, i’m not an overweight driver, quite the opposite. i’m about 10 stone dripping wet. i can eat well, if on the rare occasion we have a takeaway at home, i can put away a monster chinese meal, but never put weight on.
in this day and age of obeisity etc, i get some odd looks when i say i want to put weight ON!!
but some good suggestions there fellas, appreciate it a lot.
Re the ■■■■:
I stopped years ago after many attempts,you know how it is you give up,after a while and a few beers one wont hurt but it’s that one that hurts most of all.
I eventually gave up after having a chest cold and not being able to breathe…I thought to myself,if I’m like this now at 36 what am I going to be like at 50 so that was my motivation.I don’t think you will give up unless you have a good reason and want to.
I didn’t use any patches or owt like that just went cold turkey but a bit at a time,not weaning myself off but when I needed a ■■■ I would say to myself ‘Not just yet,I’ll wait 10 minutes’ and kept doing that. To me,saying I will never have another ■■■ was too much of a bridge to cross all at once so just putting it off was my answer. I’m still putting it off now 4/5/6 years later,I don’t know how long as I’m not counting.
Do a search on BBC iplayer for the horizon documentary , the truth about exercise , very interesting , I’m lucky in my job that its quiet physical so that keeps me fit, but a healthy diet is important …
I’ve gotten in to pot noodles lately & although there isn’t much to them, I find them tasty and not packed full of fat. You only need a little kettle in the cab to heat the water.
It does not matter what time of day i start work useually between 5 and 6 am i always start the day with a bowel of frosties and a pint of tea then all i have through the day is 3 ham rolls a apple and a youget plus several cups of tea or coffee if i am on a night out i will either cook up in my cab or walk and have a nice pub meal now and again i will have a kfc or macdounalds i am on euroliners so i get exersice doing those although i was a lot fitter in the old days when they were tilts were ever i park i will always park at the furthest point away so i get to walk at the weekend or if i am home at night i take my dog for long walks i am 50 this year and have been driving since i was 22 and on the whole i do not think i am in too bad of shape
Immigrant:
Eat lots of English Apples and German sauerkraut
unfortunately as it’s a sedentary job you’ve got to have the discipline to keep fit! After 15 hours I’ll park up at a schnell imbiss order zweimal currywurst MIT pommes frites oehne Mayo ( very fattening Mayo ) Scran it down me Gregory peck then nip off for a swift B.F.T! Shower, change and then find the local watering hole for some pils! Two hours kip then drive again! On a serious note how many of you a diabetic type two? I’m nine stone wet through still am from 2 para 1978! How many of you take aspirin at least once a day? D.V.Ts sat with you’re legs dangling over you’re comfy isri seat! That’s the job lads and if you add stress ( if you’re that way inclined ) it’s a dangerous job for some, but not for others!
I don’t drink anywhere near enough water as I just don’t like the stuff! My intake has gone up though since I took to drinking the bottles of flavoured water. Asda do some canned fruit drinks as well that are pure fruit fizzed up a bit, no sugar or additives, count as 1 of your 5 a day.
I’m a tramper. I self-cater, being very careful about what I take with me - no tinned crap, just fresh pasta, vegetable-based fresh sauces, fruit, cereal bars, rice cakes and rolls with low-fat cream cheese and pate etc. Since the advent of fridges and cooler boxes, there really is no excuse these days. We have a takeaway on a Friday night, but I’m sensible about what I order - boiled rice instead of fried, grilled chicken kebab instead of donner etc. Then I cook properly the other two days, aiming to eat sensible, balanced portions with as little processed crap as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I do have treats, just in moderation.
Exercise wise, I’m into competitive rowing. I train for two hours both days at weekends both on and off water (indoor rower in the gym), then work to a gentle training plan comprising core work, brisk walks and stretches through the week. I also genuinely do park further away from the buildings at truckstops etc. to increase my exercise, and try and jog 'round the lorry rather than walking to do doors/twistlocks/blah. You’d be surprised how it adds up.
I’m not saying this from the position of someone who’s naturally thin, incidentally. A couple of years ago I was 14 and a half stone at 5ft 5.
I then pulled myself together and lost 6 stone over 14 months and that then enabled me to start getting fit. And I’m a container driver with Primary Progressive MS, so if I can do it, I fail to see why anyone else can’t.
Just need to give up smoking now… … When I’m good and ready…
which means i do fairly long hours so dont have much time at between getting up and starting work to cook and eat a decent meal. (microwaves R us)
and its always on my mind that i may not see her grow up. (morbid i know, but thinking of the children)
