Expediting and good health do not generally fit well together.
Sleep: The first challenge is sleep. Experts recommend 8 hours of sleep per night on a regular schedule and they have volumes of science to back that up. But the expediter's life often requires irregular sleep. That does not necessarily mean you are driving tired to make a buck. But it does mean you are foregoing the significant health benefits regular and high-quality sleep provides. And for many expediters, they forego that for years and even decades. Not good.
Nutrition: Another major challenge is food. A quick glance at the trucker population reveals their unhealthy eating habits. A quick glance at the menus they view where they eat reveals more.
Hydration: Hydration is another core component of good health. The best thing humans can drink to hydrate themselves is water. But many expediters love their sodas, caffeine-laden drinks, and sugar drinks. These drinks add calories and degrade the brain; thereby contributing to poor health decision making and the lack of motivation to exercise.
Exercise: Virtually everyone agrees that exercise is good for you. But the sleepers and truck stop TV lounges are often more convenient and/or tempting. So, there too, the tremendous benefits exercise can provide are foregone. And the consequences of that show up in the weaker, injury prone, disease-prone, and fatter bodies many truckers develop.
That's the bad news. The good news is all is not lost. There are healthy truckers out there. I doubt that any of them live the perfect, healthy life all day every day, but the healthy ones seem to have developed at least a few methods that make a positive difference.
What's the good news, expediters? What have you done that, because you did it, your health is better not just six weeks later but six months later? What is the single-best thing you've done for your health on the road?
Sleep: The first challenge is sleep. Experts recommend 8 hours of sleep per night on a regular schedule and they have volumes of science to back that up. But the expediter's life often requires irregular sleep. That does not necessarily mean you are driving tired to make a buck. But it does mean you are foregoing the significant health benefits regular and high-quality sleep provides. And for many expediters, they forego that for years and even decades. Not good.
Nutrition: Another major challenge is food. A quick glance at the trucker population reveals their unhealthy eating habits. A quick glance at the menus they view where they eat reveals more.
Hydration: Hydration is another core component of good health. The best thing humans can drink to hydrate themselves is water. But many expediters love their sodas, caffeine-laden drinks, and sugar drinks. These drinks add calories and degrade the brain; thereby contributing to poor health decision making and the lack of motivation to exercise.
Exercise: Virtually everyone agrees that exercise is good for you. But the sleepers and truck stop TV lounges are often more convenient and/or tempting. So, there too, the tremendous benefits exercise can provide are foregone. And the consequences of that show up in the weaker, injury prone, disease-prone, and fatter bodies many truckers develop.
That's the bad news. The good news is all is not lost. There are healthy truckers out there. I doubt that any of them live the perfect, healthy life all day every day, but the healthy ones seem to have developed at least a few methods that make a positive difference.
What's the good news, expediters? What have you done that, because you did it, your health is better not just six weeks later but six months later? What is the single-best thing you've done for your health on the road?
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