Drive My Way has a new health columnist. He’s a longtime driver who’s had a CDL trucking job in one capacity or another for 35 years. These days, he’s an owner operator leased to Mercer Transportation.
His name is John Reed.
“Whatever I do, I strive to become the best,” he says. For years, Reed strove to be the best owner operator he could be. He supported his wife and two kids. And in the little spare time he had, he educated himself on business management, accounting and tax preparation.
But he was skimping on one important thing: his health.
“Unfortunately, I never thought about my health,” he says. “I have been struggling with my weight since I was in school 50 years ago. Except for 4 years in the military, I have always been overweight because of my bad eating habits.”
In 2010, already suffering from sleep apnea, high blood pressure and back pain, Reed was diagnosed with diabetes.
His two-year medical card was reduced to a one-year medical card. But his weight continued to climb until 2014. That’s when Reed, 240 pounds and racked with depression, chose to make a change. “I decided to make my health a priority,” he says.
Reed began researching diets online, but none of them would have been easy to implement in a CDL trucking job. Besides, there were so many diets promising weight loss, he didn’t know which to believe.
“I decided the only correct way to find the truth was to become a nutritionist myself,” he says.
Two years later, Reed is 75 pounds lighter and a certified specialist in nutrition. Having made so many strides in his own health, he now spends his spare time helping other truck drivers get healthy.
You can find him consulting on health matters at the Expedite Expo in July and the Great American Trucking Show this August. Today, we’re happy to introduce him as Drive My Way’s new health columnist.
Look for Reed’s column, “Reed’s Way: The Trucker’s Fast Lane to Better Health,” every month right here on DriveMyWay.com. He’ll cover a different topic every month, so you’ll be able to keep up with several of Reed’s great tips on how to stay fit on the road. Stay tuned for his first column right here on April 19.
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The Ultimate Guide for Truck Drivers to Maintain 3 Healthy Habits Over the Road
Download the complete guide for tips to easily maintain healthy habits over the road.
