Is it time to lighten your load? I don’t mean the freight you are hauling. Are you personally overloaded?
When you go through the truck scales with too much weight, there’s a price to pay. You have to lighten the load. That’s much like your personal health: If you don’t manage your weight, there’s a price to pay. If you’re over a healthy body weight, it can lead you down the wrong road to many health issues.
Excess weight increases your risk of hypertension, diabetes and sleep deprivation — three medical issues that could cost your CDL … and your livelihood. When you carry around extra pounds, you can have trouble staying active and have low energy.
You know it’s just not drivers who struggle with being overweight. In general, obesity is a national concern in the US. Did you know that almost three out of four adults are considered overweight?
Personal issues can affect weight gain by making you want to eat more and feel less motivated to exercise. Time away from your family, work situations, economic problems, the loss of loved ones and a host of other factors that cause stress can contribute to weight gain. Sometimes you need to take the time to reflect. Try to identify the stress points going on in your life that may derail your good intention talking on a healthier lifestyle and focus on how to address them. Weight gain is sometimes a result of these stress “buttons.”
How can you lighten your load — and keep the weight off? Here are some key points you may find helpful.
- Find a health program that matches your lifestyle, your likes, your interests and your goals.
- Find the exercise you WILL do — not the exercise you SHOULD do. Look for something you will stick with.
- Don’t over-commit yourself. Set realistic goals.
- Finally, stay positive, and understand there are going to be setbacks. Staying positive and learning from any setbacks will produce lasting results.
Known as The Trucker Trainer, Bob Perry has played a critical role in the paradigm shift of regulatory agencies, private and public sector entities, and consumers to understand the driver health challenge. Perry can be reached at [email protected].
Bob Perry is a regular contributor to The Trucker. He has spent nearly the past four decades on a mission to educate professional drivers and share life-changing products and services to help them live healthier lives while on the road. Recognized throughout the transportation industry, from bus drivers to over-the-road professional drivers, Perry has played an important role in creating a paradigm shift helping regulatory agencies, private and public sector entities, and consumers understand the current health challenges of the professional driver. He has participated as a wellness advocate in several roundtable discussions, large audience groups and small forums as well as going “curbside” through a national truck stop tour.
Bob’s articles have been featured in The Trucker and a number of other national transportation industry publications and is the host of a weekly wellness call produced by Rolling Strong. Bob has been a regular guest on RedEye Radio and Land-Line Radio, and is often an invited guest on Sirius radio shows. He has been featured in the New York Times, Men’s Health Magazine, Drug Store News, American Road Magazine, WSJ, NPR, ABC National Radio, as well as hundreds of daily newspapers. He has appeared on television news shows across the nation, including a featured TV segment on ABC NightLine News.
