Rambling On

When I came back out on the road in September of 2008, I weighed a little under 200lbs. After one year back in the truck I'm up by nearly 70lbs. I've tried watching calories, burned myself out on salads, given up and gorged myself on junk food in bouts of depression, resolved to exercise every day and never find the time to do it, alternately been determined to lose the weight and resigned to my fate as a fat trucker slob.

 At the moment I'm on a new track - I've discovered the idea of living (and eating) primally. The whole idea is to look back at the diet and lifestyle of our caveman ancestors because that was the life and diet our body evolved to handle best. That means a diet low in carbs, high in meat and veggies, and moving whenever possible rather than set and repetitive workout routines. The basic premises are:

• Eat lots of animals and plants.
• Move around a lot at a slow pace.
• Lift heavy things.
• Run really fast every once in a while.
• Get lots of sleep.
• Play.
• Get some sunlight every day.
• Avoid trauma.
• Avoid poisonous things.
• Use your mind.

 Check out the Primal Blueprint at Mark Sisson's blog - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

My biggest problem is the fare available at truckstops. Every truckstop is full of the usual convinience store fare of junk food, candy and sodas. Most truck stops also offer selections of fast food - delectable tempations garounteed to pack on the pounds. They don't carry much in the way of veggies.
My strategy so far:

Sunflower Seeds - most truck stops carry these, and they are full of protein and good fats.
Hard Boiled Eggs - some truck stops carry these. Flying J usually has them.
Subway Salads - I can still have the Subway sandwiches I enjoy, I just have to ditch the bread and order them as a salad instead.
Beef Jerky - something else I can find in almost any truck stop.

Not a whole lot of variety here, but I'm looking for more options so I don't burn out on this diet. Hopefully we'll find time for a sit-down restaurant meal soon so I can order myself a nice big steak.

My biggest problem so far is that without bread in my diet it's hard to find meals I can eat while driving - no sandwiches, no burritos.

It's been two days now since I've cut out the carbs. I even got out of the truck and went for a forty minute walk yesterday - and instead of pushing myself to walk hard and fast and ending up with my legs cramping up five minutes into the walk and giving up, I did it primal style and just walked at a normal pace, not worried about getting my heart rate up or pushing myself. I just enjoyed the great outdoors, watched the dragon flies and butterflies and enjoyed the lush, jungle-like foliage of central Florida. I even walked on the grass on the side of the road instead of on the road itself - to make my feet and legs have to flex and work more naturally. I have to figure out how to work in strength training, though, but I'm going to step into this gently and slowly by changing my diet first, and just trying to move more. I'll update as I go. I'm pretty excited about the whole idea of Primal Living because it's not just a diet, but a lifestyle.

 It's not going to be easy, though. Truck stops are not designed with health and fitness or natural living of any kind in mind.