What's wrong?

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Ericwbyers

Ericwbyers

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So I started at 392.2 back in May of this year. So between May and Aug I lost 35.8 lbs I'm stuck at 357.4/351.3 I keep fluctuating.

I'm a truck driver, exercise and diet are even more difficult because of time and schedule constraints. So one week I'll be able to doy exercises but sometimes I just don't have the time to. Also when I take hometime it throws my routine off and I usually gain lbs when I go home.

I started my diet by cutting sugar, carbs, and keeping my calories to 1,200 a day. Which worked for about three months. Then it started getting uncomfortable so I uped the calories to 2,000 a day. I do my best to start my day with 20 min of step exercises, retention cable, squats, and leg lifts. (All done inside the truck to eliminate "weather" excuses) It's limited space but I've managed a routine. I'm cooking all my food on the truck now and have a handle on my calories but it seems like the gains have diminished

Between Aug and now I've gotten down to 351 but I can't seem to break the threshold. What's wrong? Why can't I just stay focused?
 
1200 was most probably too little for you & 2000 too much. How many calories are you aiming for now? Well done on losing over 40 lbs since May. That is excellent!
 
1. Start small, no need to over do it or starve yourself right out of the gate. Eat a healthy diet as best you can, eat less, never totally deprive yourself of everything you love to eat. 1200 calories for an adult male over 350lbs is brutal and way too little. THIS IS NOT A DIET, IT IS A CHANGE IN YOUR LIFESTYLE AND IT IS FOR LIFE.

2. Everyone has time to workout! I hate this excuse. I have worked 80rr weeks many times and always found the time to exercise....so can you. If you have no idea how to do that, ask someone, read a book, join a website like this one....

3. You can eat great on the road, it is very easy. I was a sales rep in LA for a decade, I was on the road all the time and never ate healthier or better. You need to put in some effort and make a plan. How I ate on the Road: I never ate fast food, I brought my own food in a cooler and if I did stop for food I stopped at a supermarket and bought healthy food. It is not hard to do this.
 
What you eat is much more important than the exercise you do when it comes to weight-loss. Exercise has lots of benefits of course, but don't stress about it.
Be proud of what you have achieved. Juggle your calories until you find out what works for you & keep going.
 
Calorie calculator

I punched in your stats, 5'11'' male, 34 years old, weight 350lbs, for activity level I put in Inactive. The result was about 3000 calories a day to main current weight. I think that number is very low. Cutting that number in half is a drastic reduction, typically I would suggest starting at -500 and no more then -1000 calories so about 2000 to 2500. At 1900 you are in a -7000 calorie deficit for the week and 7000 calories add up to about 2lbs of fat loss a week.

Another way to really make this calculator work is writing down how you were eating (in detail) when you were gaining weight or maintaining the 350-390lbs. This will better show you how many calories your body truly needs to gain or lose weight.


Good luck and congratulations on the weight loss so far.
 
Bflat said:
1. Start small, no need to over do it or starve yourself right out of the gate. Eat a healthy diet as best you can, eat less, never totally deprive yourself of everything you love to eat. 1200 calories for an adult male over 350lbs is brutal and way too little. THIS IS NOT A DIET, IT IS A CHANGE IN YOUR LIFESTYLE AND IT IS FOR LIFE.

2. Everyone has time to workout! I hate this excuse. I have worked 80rr weeks many times and always found the time to exercise....so can you. If you have no idea how to do that, ask someone, read a book, join a website like this one....

3. You can eat great on the road, it is very easy. I was a sales rep in LA for a decade, I was on the road all the time and never ate healthier or better. You need to put in some effort and make a plan. How I ate on the Road: I never ate fast food, I brought my own food in a cooler and if I did stop for food I stopped at a supermarket and bought healthy food. It is not hard to do this.
Click to expand...

As a truck driver things are far different. For instance, getting into supermarket regularly is challenging. Juggling a rotating schedule, not knowing when or if you're going to be able to sleep. Tight deadlines and living in a vehicle are ALL real obstacles. I was doing my exercises in the morning but my schedule rotation messed that up. Sometimes I only have a few hours to get sleep before I have to drive for over 8-9 hrs. So yes, time is a real obstacle for me and in no way an excuse.

As far as eating on the road, I cook most of my meals in a crock pot and skillet in the truck. I keep track of my calories intake using a Samsung Health app which has been both very useful and very affective (when I do keep track) I do find it tedious and annoying. Lol

I'm trying to keep my calories under 2,000 a day but...not successful all the time. It's actually funny cause I was able to do 1,200 calorie days for about three months but idk if I could do it again lol. Obviously I could but it wouldn't be comfortable.

I appreciate all the feedback and encouragement . Thank you!
 
Yes, I can see how being a truck driver would really throw lots of things - even what hours you're allowed to drive through town on a big cross-country trip, I expect - and truckstop cafes are notoriously poor places to find healthy food. Earlier this year I was catching a few inter-city buses in Australia, and their toilet breaks were invariably at such places - hopeless for healthy! (When travelling I have taken to carrying packet soups with me, and a cup and spoon - then at a pinch all I need is access to boiling water - I carry apples, too, because the body has got to have freshness somewhere along the line.)
Being stuck on that 351 threshold must feel horribly frustrating, but hang in there! I see you exercise inside the truck - are you going to be driving in snowy weather over the next few months? I ask because I think taking a break out of the truck might somehow shake things up a bit - but obviously the snow or driving rain, or even light rain would make that unfeasible. How far ahead do you know where and which days/hours you'll be driving?
 
Ericwbyers said:
... I started my diet by cutting sugar, carbs, and keeping my calories to 1,200 a day. Which worked for about three months. Then it started getting uncomfortable ...
Click to expand...
cutting back on sugar is a huge factor, especially when you discover all the ways sugar can show up in practically all processed foods. the rest is the typical outcome of eat less, move more diets. they work for a few months, but then you metabolism slows down to match the caloric intake.

let me ask you to describe a typical eating day. when do you eat meals? when do you eat breakfast? do you ever "finish" eating for the day, or do you eat right up until you retire. do you ever go more than a few hours between eating something? do you constantly snack?
 
I think you do incredibly well with a very difficult job. Eating at regular hours would be nigh on impossible & I can't imagine that you get good quality sleep or enough of it. Kudos to you for not giving up. Getting whatever exercise you can outside I think is a good idea.
 
aiminglow said:
Yes, I can see how being a truck driver would really throw lots of things - even what hours you're allowed to drive through town on a big cross-country trip, I expect - and truckstop cafes are notoriously poor places to find healthy food. Earlier this year I was catching a few inter-city buses in Australia, and their toilet breaks were invariably at such places - hopeless for healthy! (When travelling I have taken to carrying packet soups with me, and a cup and spoon - then at a pinch all I need is access to boiling water - I carry apples, too, because the body has got to have freshness somewhere along the line.)
Being stuck on that 351 threshold must feel horribly frustrating, but hang in there! I see you exercise inside the truck - are you going to be driving in snowy weather over the next few months? I ask because I think taking a break out of the truck might somehow shake things up a bit - but obviously the snow or driving rain, or even light rain would make that unfeasible. How far ahead do you know where and which days/hours you'll be driving?
Click to expand...

I don't know where or what I'll be doing until I talk to dispatch. They put me on single loads of 200-800 miles so I can work my eating/exercise schedule in pretty regularly. It's just when thing's change up that I get thrown for a loop. I'll give an example. To understand you have to know how a truck drivers log book rules are. Simplified once I start my clock (driving) I have 14 hrs to complete 11 hrs of drive time before I have to take a 10 HR break. I'm not allowed to drive more than 8 hrs without taking a 30 min break. So here we go, sorry for the length but this will give some insight.

So I started my week mon woke up at 7 am (exercise/Eat breakfast and prepare lunch/dinner)
Didn't get a load til 11 am which delivers 411 miles (roughly 8-9) away at 2 am. Run the 8 hrs to delivery and arrive at 9pm. Delivery is in 5 hrs so I started my 10 HR break. I do my delivery during my 10 HR break they finish unloading at 4:30 am. I have to fit my sleep in between running paperwork inside, backing into dock, getting a call when paperwork is done and finding parking for the rest of my break. Which ends at 7 am

Breakfast 8:00 am ish
2 Scrabbled eggs, 2 strips bacon, glass of milk= 315 cal

breakfast snack 11:00 am ish
1 Banana, 1 cheese stick= 185 Cal

Lunch 3:00 pm ish
Crock pot Chilli= 414 Cal

Lunch snack 7:00 pm ish
Larabar= 210 cal

Dinner 9:00 pm ish
Crock-Pot chilli=414 cal

Dinner snack 11:00 pm ish
Breakfast essentials Bottle = 230 cal

Tue, wake up 7 am
Call in get a load that picks up at 8:00 am 90 miles away (2 hrs) no time for exercise/prepare lunch/dinner

Breakfast 7:00 am ish
Larabar and breakfast essentials= 450 cal

Arrive late to pickup 9:30 am and get a dock. Do exercises prepare lunch/dinner, They finished loading 11:00 am, gotta go get paperwork load delivering at 3:00 am 485 miles away (9 Hrs)

Breakfast snack 10:30 am ish
Orange, Yogurt and grapes = 172 cal

Lunch 2:00 pm ish (30 min break)
Crock-Pot Fajitas= 392 cal

Lunch snack 5 pm ish
Banana, spoon of peanut butter = 295 Cal

8:00 pm arrive at delivery

Dinner 8:30 pm ish
Crock-Pot Fajitas= 392 cal

Grab 6 hrs sleep deal with delivery at 3:00 am go back to sleep on dock. Finished unloading at 8:00am

Wed
Wake up at 5 am exercise, breakfast, prepare lunch/dinner

Breakfast 6:00 am ish
Bowl of Rasin Bran, banana 337 cal

Delivery finished, call dispatch they give me a load that picks up at 3 pm 100 miles away (1.75 hrs) and delivers at 4 am 468 miles away (9hrs) I remain off my clock until 1 pm then head to delivery.

Breakfast snack 9:00 am ish
Watermelon, grapes, yogurt= 156 cal

Lunch 1:00pm ish
Beef stew = 380 cal

Arrive at pickup 2:30 pm and get a dock door at 4:00 pm. Finish loading at 5:30 pm. Head to delivery.

Lunch snack 3:00 pm ish
Larabar= 210 cal

Dinner 7:00 pm ish
Beef stew= 380 cal

Dinner snack 12:00 am ish
Breakfast essentials= 240 cal

Arrive at delivery 3:45 am start break deal with delivery

And so on and so on. Sometimes I run out of food, sometimes I don't have time to do exercises, sometimes my clock runs me so ragged I just want to sleep. It's a hard life, and losing weight while doing it is one of the hardest things I've ever tried. I lose focus, when I take hometime it drops me put of my routine and I don't maintain diet OR exercise. (A problem I'm trying to fix) I'm VERY routine oriented, If taken out of the environment...I falter. Which just means I need to develop a routine form hometime. (Possibly a gym membership where I can really hit strength training and toning exercises) I live in the Harrison OH area if anyone wants to be gym pals lol. Admittedly I know very little about what I'm doing. I just know I'm doing it.

Currently I have NO food on the truck and haven't had time to get to a Walmart. For some reason, this ALSO drops me put of my routine. Need to go grocery shopping

Sorry for the long rant. Hope it gives some insight into the life of a trucker and the obstacles I'm contending with. I appreciate your advice and time thank you.

P.s. I am doing Calorie pulsing every week to keep metabolism guessing and a gallon of water a day.
 
Thanks for that, Eric - I've read it once, but I'll be back to read it again to get a stronger insight into what you're contending with. I did have some idea, though not from experience, how hard a life being a truckie is - in Australia many truckies are known to resort to taking too many prescription and illegal drugs just to manage the fatigue and the pressure. :(
So, serious salute to you for being as healthy as you are, and for tackling the problem of how to get healthier still in a very challenging situation. I'll try hard to think through to find any useful contribution I can make. Solidarity to you!
 
Hey Eric, thanks for the post. I have known a few truck drivers, but never really understood what their schedules were like. It sounds like a really stressful job, your sleep patterns have to suffer. You are doing a great job with the dieting, and under some pretty tough conditions.

Keep up the good work!
 
Hi, Eric. It would be so hard to "diet" with a schedule as crazy as that. Kudos to you for doing as well as you do. Truckies keep our country going. What a tough life!
 
i am on the road for a few weeks and i am starting to see what you are up against. yesterday i stopped at a little grocery store in Clovis, NM and while their food selection wasn't that poor, there was little that i could do with it. i wound up picking up a bag of baby carrots. about the only good portable food i saw.

restaurants are not much better... fried foods and very likely "sugar added" foods (don't think chefs know what will bring people back...!) are pervasive. bringing along a cooler has been my best friend. when i can find something healthy at least i can make it last a few days.

Eric, one thing i can comment on... i intermittent fast. on a daily basis, when i stop ingesting calories for > 12-14 hours, i know my body has no choice than to start turning fat into blood sugar. when you do not give your digestive system this break, depending on your mix of macronutrients (fat, protein & carbs), your insulin level will never decrease to a level where you can burn fat other than times of panic or exercise (the release of epinephrine & nor-epinephrine).

the only two diets i can see this working for are Intermittent Fasting (completely depleting your digestive system for a time) or Keto... Keto uses a formula to achieve a mix of macronutrients that will keep your insulin level low.
 
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