When traveling long distance, it’s difficult to maintain a healthy diet. Because of the ease of fast food and pre-packaged food, eating healthy seems to become a chore. Perhaps you are looking to make a lifestyle change on the road. Or maybe you’re starting your trucking career and have a concern about staying healthy on the road.
Staying Healthy: Tips for Long Hauls
Snacking
If you eat out of habit, make sure the foods you are putting into your body are doing more good than they are bad. Snacks like nuts, trail mix, and granola are great and easy to keep in reach. Staying healthy, for you, could mean snacking in moderation, or changing your go-to road snack!
Eating
Try to eat three meals within the day. This adds to your goal of staying healthy because it prevents you from over-eating after missing a meal. If you eat regular meals throughout the day, the weight will be easier to keep off.
Not Just Eating
Exercise! Try taking a small walk during a stop. Staying healthy will be easier for you if you’re doing more than just eating better. You can start small and gradually add to your walks/runs. Your body will begin to notice the difference, and this small boost of activity will increase your energy, as well! Your walk can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as you would like!
After your outdoor activities, you can work out on the road, too! You can do things like shoulder shrugs (bringing your shoulders to your ears and holding for a few seconds). This will release tension in your neck and shoulders. Staying healthy isn’t difficult, you just need to consciously make the choice! Also, you can try abdominal crunches. Squeezing your abs and holding it for a period of time (think, 2 minutes or the length of a song).
Keep Track
If you can, start a journal of what you’re eating and when. In addition, log what kind of exercise you did for the day. By nothing this, you’ll be able to see your progress and potentially be able to spot problem areas if you’re not seeing results.