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Reed’s Way: The Trucker’s Fast Lane to Better Health

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The Trucker

If you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle, you should know that fat is a much healthier source of energy than carbohydrates. That’s because energy from fat is steadier, lasts longer and burns more consistently than any energy we obtain from carbs. While sugars and carbohydrates create big spikes in metabolism, healthy fats do not.

For people with CDL driver jobs, it’s not always easy to find healthy options at truck stops, but they are out there. The next time you’re on the road, look for these four foods and be sure to include them in your grocery bag. Not only are they all easy to find on the road, they’re also great, nutritious sources of healthy fats.

TruckerAlmonds

The best almonds are whole, raw almonds. Raw almonds have a good quality fat and are definitely one of the best nuts for you. Blue Diamond has a really good raw almond, which I highly recommend.

Eggs

Eggs are a good source of protein. Store-bought eggs are always healthy for you, but even healthier than store-bought eggs are organic field-raised chicken eggs. They have the highest nutrient compound of any egg you can buy. You can buy them at Trader Joe’s or any health food store.

Olive oil

Olive oil is very good for you, but be very careful about the brands you buy. The olive oil industry has had problems with people putting out products that are not 100 percent olive oil (read “Extra Virginity: the Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil” by Tom Mueller).

I recommend California Olive Ranch oil. It’s been tested and proven to be 100 percent pure virgin first-pressed olive oil—one of the best oils for good fat content. While olive oil is the best oil to use atop salads, nut oils like pecan and walnut also are very good for you and make for great alternatives to olive oil. For cooking, old-fashioned lard or beef callow are healthy options, too.

ReedAvocados

Avocados are very high in good fats. Humans only need two macro nutrients: fat and protein. As long as you have those, you will thrive and grow. Avocados are full of healthy fat that is easily digestible and protects our internal organs from injury. If you’re looking for a creative way to incorporate avocados into your diet, try some homemade guacamole.

Hobbies, travel, all the fun in the world, none of it matters if you don’t have your health. Trucking is more than a job. It’s a lifestyle. Connect with us here for more great lifestyle choices in your newsfeed.

ultimate-guide-truck-drivers-maintain-3-healthy-habits-over-the-road

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.

Download the Guide Now

Reed’s Way: The Trucker’s Fast Lane to Better Health

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trucker health
The Great American Trucking Show is over for another year and the excitement of this great annual event, done. For me, this year’s event was personally gratifying. For the first time, I was a featured speaker in the Health Pavilion. Thanks to Rick Ash of Trucking Solutions Group and Randall-Reilly for inviting me to participate in this year’s event. I had a great time.

Another Year at GATS

This year’s show was very special for me. I was given the opportunity to participate in the Health Pavilion as a nutritionist in the trucking industry and share my knowledge with all of the wonderful people who heard me speak. I gave two talks, one about controlling Type 2 Diabetes with diet and another about losing your job due to government regulations on the health of CDL permit holders. Afterward, I opened it up for questions so people could ask me about the ketogenic lifestyle and all it has to offer.

I have had the privilege of attending the Great American Trucking Show for the last few years. I am amazed at the growth of the Health Pavilion since its beginning just a few short years ago. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of the people who have worked to make it a reality. Along the way, they have raised awareness for health problems among truck drivers and given truckers valuable tools to live healthier on the road.

Each booth in the pavilion offers something useful for the health of the trucking community

This year, nurses were on hand to take blood pressure, give back massages and offer lotion to alleviate joint pain. Women truckers received free mammograms. A DOT-certified physician gave free physicals so drivers could update their DOT medical cards. And there were a host of healthy giveaways too numerous to count.

The rest of the Great American Trucking Show was just as fabulous

Down on the main floor next to the Pride and Polish Truck area was my team at the Drive My Way booth hard at work. Truck drivers spun the wheel for a snack of some sort. (Too bad none of the snacks were ketogenic. I need to talk to them about that.) I hope to see all of you there next year, with healthy snacks and all.

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ultimate-guide-truck-drivers-maintain-3-healthy-habits-over-the-road

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.

Download the Guide Now

Reed’s Way: The Trucker’s Fast Lane to Better Health

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ReedWe all know the main addictions: Nicotine, alcohol and narcotics. But what about that other addiction we don’t hear as much about? If you can’t go down the candy or snack cake aisle without grabbing a treat for yourself, if you eat so much you have to unbuckle your pants just to breathe, let’s face it. You have a food addiction.

Addictions, even food addictions, start slowly over time. Maybe as a child your parents made you eat everything on your plate before dessert. Maybe you have one of those ethnic mothers who always made sure you had just one more plate of her cooking. Whatever the cause of your bad habits now, you are an adult and you need to look in the mirror and have a serious discussion with the only person who can change your unhealthy lifestyle, you.

Do you think that at some point it will not catch up with you? Think again. I know it will catch up with you, because it caught up to me. Diabetic and weighing more than 250 pounds, I had to change my ways. And I did change my ways. It was easier than I thought it would be. It will be for you, too.

Here are 3 simple steps you can take right now toward a healthier you. By advancing one step at a time, you will find it’s not as hard as you think.trucker

Step 1: Substitute healthy snacks for unhealthy snacks. Forgo the chips and cookies for raw nuts or nuts that have sea salt. Even a small bag of pork rinds are better than all the sugar goodies.

Step 2: Stop adding sugar and flavored creamers to your coffee. Try half and half instead. Better yet, if you have a cooler, use heavy whipping cream, which does not have lactose.

Step 3: Stay away from soft drinks and energy drinks. The average soda has no nutritional value and as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar. Energy drinks, meanwhile, can have just as much sugar as soda and more caffeine than you’ll find in four Cokes. Instead, drink Perrier Lime or plain ‘ol water.

Get matched with the very best trucking companies hiring. Register today. It’s free!

ultimate-guide-truck-drivers-maintain-3-healthy-habits-over-the-road

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.

Download the Guide Now

Meet Drive My Way’s New Health Columnist (He’s a Truck Driver)

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imagejpeg_1Drive 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.

Find the best CDL trucking job for you. Register today. It’s free!

ultimate-guide-truck-drivers-maintain-3-healthy-habits-over-the-road

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.

Download the Guide Now