Monday, April 23, 2012


4/23/2012

Thought I would write a little today about fixing food on the road.

My current workplace/home
A lot of drivers don't think that they can eat healthy on the road because of the space problems as well as the lack of a kitchen, so they grab fast food or even worse, junk food at the truck stops. Seems these day that all of the truck stops have abandoned selling any kind of healthy choices for us, guess it's the old profit margin thing, the good news is even with very little space and some careful shopping you can eat well and eat for your health.

In my last post I gave the food plan that I have been using for the past 14 months that has been responsible for my now 165 lb weight loss and the reversal of my diabetes. This food plan costs me about 70 to 80 dollars a week to eat on and I am seldom ever hungry. The biggest “secret” to this food plan is shopping at Wall Mart.

Typical Lunch on Food plan
Most Wall Marts are truck friendly and have big enough parking lots for us to park in without problems, please be courteous and don't overstay your welcome or that may change in the future and for God's sake don't dump your pee bottle in their lot!

Wall mart is carrying a plain wrapper brand now that provides almost everything that I need, it's called Great Value and it really is a great value, not only that, but Great Value brand doesn't add all kinds of unnecessary ingredients like sugar or extra salt, and unlike previous plain wrapper brands the food actually tastes good.

You will also note in my food plan that I use a lot of salad, there is a secret here too. Buy the 12 oz. bags of pre-cut salad, why? Because it wont go limp on you for at least 6 days. The pre-cut salad is packaged in nitrogen and as long as you keep it at about 38 degrees Fahrenheit and don't puncture or open the bag, wilting wont take place. I use an ice chest in my truck and the salad keeps just fine for a week. Longer than a week or if I let the chest go over a day without ice then I will have some loss.

Concerning salad dressing, I use GV's Italian dressing it is somewhat lo-cal very good tasting isn't loaded full of sugar and is cheap. One of the big bottles last all week.

You really don't need a microwave or hot plate to eat on this food plan. I didn't have a microwave in my truck for a long time and the only problem I ever encountered was on those rare days that I had to park somewhere where a microwave was not available then I had lunch for breakfast and had breakfast when I could get to a microwave, my oatmeal was the only thing that needed to be cooked as I bought pre-cooked meats (look in the freezer section of Wall Mart).. The Great Value brand sells pre-cooked chicken patties (don't get the breaded ones) that weigh 3 oz each so I didn't even need a kitchen scale. Read the labels and know what you are looking for in portion size and it's easy enough to figure out. The same brand also sells pork and turkey sausage which is delicious and will hold in an ice chest for a week without spoilage. In some Wall Marts, Great Value also has pre-cooked hamburger patties that also weigh 3 oz's. It does take a little looking to find these items but they are there in most of the super stores.

One quick note about oatmeal. All oatmeal is “quick oats” don't let the merchandisers fool you into paying more than you have to. Follow the directions (½ cup dry oats and 1 cup water) and watch that it doesn't boil over in the microwave. I do not use sugar but I do flavor my oats with about a half teaspoon of cinnamon and sometimes cut up my apple or orange and add to it.

For dishes I use Rubermaid resealable containers, they can be used in a microwave and they double as storage containers ( they are cheap too) cleanup is easy, just wipe with a paper towel until you can get to a sink with hot water.


Well, that's it for now, happy trucking.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

2012 Update

340 lbs Feb. 2011
Didn't realize it has been nearly two years since I wrote on this blog last, wow does time fly by fast.Much has happened since my last post so I will try to be brief..
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I did receive my Federal waiver to return to work while using insulin but had decided to return to school instead. So, I went out and got my school bus endorsement and drove as a substitute driver for the remainder of the school year and returned to my former employer on a part-time basis.


I was to begin college In June of last year but my wife and I had a falling out and separated two days before my first class, sucks. The separation meant I was homeless, so, what to do? I know go back to truck driving full time.

I have been back in the saddle now since June of 2011, nothing has changed, same 'ol crap.

My wife and I did get back together but are now separated again and she is pretty serious about getting a divorce, I am too since we just can't seem to get along for more than a few months at a time



Dec 2011, 210 lbs
Here is the best news for you drivers who are facing diabetes, in the past year and a half I have found a way to reverse mine and it does not include exercise unless you want to, (faster results if you do I suspect). I will be sharing it all on a new website just as soon as I can get it put together.

I finally found an editor that didn't charge me an arm and a leg to edit “So, You Want to be a Truck Driver” and will be posting links to that as soon as the revision is ready and available. Think gifts for your young people that want to quit school and drive truck or that office worker you know that thinks his job really sucks, or that young dock worker that thinks he/she wants to drive the big steel. My book tells it from my unique view, that is truthful, easy to read and includes a simple twelve question quiz that will give the reader an idea if their personality is cut out for this kind of work.

Thank-you to those that had bought the book in it's unedited version, if you had, please e-mail me at shipit007@yahoo.com and I will send you a copy of the edited version for free as soon as it is ready for press.

Well, God bless you all till next time

Les

The Numbers are in!!!


04/11/2012

The Numbers are in!
I went to my Doctor Monday before last and had blood drawn and what I am doing is working so well......... judge for yourself

Item
04/04/11
04/02012
A1C
6.9
5.8
Weight
310
189
Cholesterol
165
123
Triglycerides
93
51
HDL
27.4
35

Insulin
5 times a day (sorry don't remember the dosages)
None since July 2011
nor any pills since then
Okay, I am not going to keep anyone is suspense anymore, I will share what I am doing right here today, but first a few preliminary’s.

Most of us truck drivers get no exercise except to walk from the parking lot to the restroom, our life is from the drivers seat to the bunk and back 6 to seven days a week. That has not changed with me. Nothing else in my life has changed, the stresses are the same, (maybe even worse) the work is the same, I still drink tons of coffee, (no soda, don't like the stuff) and smoke 2 to 3 packs of cigarettes a day.

There is one major change besides the diet and that is I have begun to develop a relationship with the God of my youth. I am convinced that without His help all of this change in my body would not have been possible.

Also, the only thing I have changed is my diet and here it is:

Les's Food Plan

Breakfast

½ cup oatmeal cooked with 1 cup water and cinnamon to taste
6 ounces of protein
1 piece of fruit ( apple or orange )

Lunch

2 cups of salad (Italian dressing)
16 oz. Of can green vegetable ( I use either spinach or green beans)
6 oz protein
1 piece of Fruit

Dinner

Same as Lunch


2 Snacks per day are allowed choose between 6 oz of plain yogurt or 3 oz of protein or 1 piece of fruit

For my protein I use primarily chicken and tuna but sometimes use pork or beef . Tuna, for me, seems to stabilize my blood sugar better than any other protein but too much tuna is not good for you so I keep it limited to 1 can a day. The weights are cooked weights.

If you wanted to use other fruits I would use the standard serving for that fruit. No “canned in syrup” fruit

If I use yogurt I use unsweetened plain.

Also, I don't use sweeteners or added salt, all other seasonings are fine. Nor do I use butter margarine or cheese of any kind.

Any questions feel free to e-mail me at shipit007@yahoo.com

There it is folks, plain and simple.

One thing that needs to be mentioned here is that this plan is for men and if you are a woman it has been told to me that you need to knock the protein level down to 4 oz per serving.

My nutritionist who works with my endocrinologist did approve this plan, one further note is if you cannot stick to this plan and make it your lifestyle than there may be one more thing you need to look at but I am not able to discuss it here so please e-mail me privately and we can “talk” about it at shipit007@yahoo.com.

Lastly, you DO need to make up your mind that this is not a diet it is a lifestyle change and your life is in serious jeopardy if you don't do it. The difference between a lifestyle and a diet is this; a diet ends when the goal is reached and “normal eating” resumes, hence the weight and health issues come right back.

Good Luck and God Bless

Les

PS further blogs will discuss how to implement your new lifestyle.