Hello fom mike the trucker

[mikeybgoode]

Hi everyone.
Im really excited to start my new lifestyle on raw foods, I am a otr trucker and am very concerned what to do out here to stay focused and keep on my plan. at first im hoping to go at least 70% and work my way to 90% raw. its a big task as i dont have the ability to prepare foods in a full kitchen im very limited:cool: so Id sure appreciate any advice. its very boring as you can imagine driving for 10-13 hours a day and having the tendency to want crunchy things to munch on. and the choices in the truck stops stink! i have a 12 volt cooler and can keep veggies for a couple days usually, no blender, no dehydrator :( anyone have recipe ideas for the road? im currently 250 lbs @ 5' 11 and hope to reach 200 maybee less:D
thanks for looking and have a great day!!
Mike
btw whats SAD mean? :confused: same as dead?

[Springtime]

Welcome, best of luck to you! You will find loads of great advice on here!

(psst...SAD means Standard American Diet)

Peace

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW............Welcome to MY World.

[Bookish Lass]

I like Mike's definition of SAD better ;)

[HolyGuacamole]

I like Mike's definition of SAD better ;)

Sounds about right to me, too!

Mike, I would say just load up on your favorites - stock your cooler with whatever you love to munch on.
If you browse around, you will find a zillion recipes, some of which will suit your tastes and needs, I'm sure.

Welcome to RFT!

[Colorawdo girl]

Mike...sad same as dead for sure. hahaha.

Really raw bars are a good thing to have. Filling yet raw.

Always fruits whole and fresh.

Can make smoothies at home base and they keep for a few days. Have three days worth at least.

I see trucks and wonder about that truck stop "food". I would go in to do what I needed to do and not even look at all their wares. Walk out and feel victorious as I go to my truck and pull out my living food and love it!!!

Good for you. I am a roadie wanna be...hahahaha My roadiefreespiritedwanderlust not gone yet.

[Ilse W.]

My son was an otr driver for 3 years and I know how difficult eating healthy food can be. For a start, stay away from the truck stop restaurants, unless they have a salad bar. Try to locate the food stores along your route. The RVers have "The Next Exit" books which tell you everything available within 2 miles of interstate exits. That's very helpful in locating grocery stores. I know that parking can be a problem, but you should be able to stop somewhere close by the store long enough to go get a couple of days' worth of fresh food. In your situation simple is probably best. Stick to fruits that store well without refrigeration, along with "easy" vegetables like celery stalks and radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers, all things that are easily cleaned and cut up and stored in zip-lock bags for a couple of days. Little carrots are also easy enough to eat while driving. I suggest always having a bag of almonds or walnuts handy, if you need something that crunches. You can also mix up your own trail mix with just the things you like in it, just don't overdo it. Instead of munching on food all the time, why not chew gum? What's also important is getting your daily exercise. I know it's hard at the end of the day to get yourself moving, especially when you had a hard time finding a place to pull in for the night in the first place. You should make an effort, though. It's an important part of getting healthy, and since your job is not only sedentary but also extremely stressful, it's doubly necessary to get moving. This lifestyle takes a little extra advance planning, but even for a trucker it's absolutely doable. I also recommend listening to some inspirational stuff. Do you have an ipod that you can download podcasts on? There is tons of stuff available from all sorts of people who know tons about healthy raw living and related subjects. Keep yourself motivated. We'll help you!:D:D:D

[ruffsongraw]

Mike,
go to a natural food grocer on a day off and stock up on raw pre-made (ka-ching) stuff that is crunchy. i just did a trip frm NM to Wisc and really ate a lot of raw granola while i drove. i got it at Natural Foods.

also, i REALLY ate a lot of Goji berries which REALLY kill my appetite when i didnt want to stop. i really missed a "sit-down" meal of huge salad, so that was hard & will do things diff if i do it again. i would recommend making time for that so you arent limited to JUST stuff you can nibble on while driving. that bothered me.

Walmart is startgin to have more organic and more pre-made (ka-ching again) little plastic bins of mixed fruit if you get desparate.

it wont be hard once you establish a routine of what to take & good places to go and meanwhile just dont even go inside places that will have bad food and tempting smells. keep yourself STUFFED with raw food so hunger doesnt cause you to stray.

read Alyssa's book!!!

welcome & goodluck!!

jen

[mikeybgoode]

thanks to everyone for your inspirational words, I will do this and cant wait to share my success stories!

Mike

[Frugal Raw]

Welcome!! I wish you the best of rawesome health!!

[JCB44]

Welcome to the site. Mike if you have any down time, you may be abe to dehydrate some things and stock up for the long haul. As mentioned earlier plan ahead look for resturants that have salad bars. You can take plenty of crunchy finger foods carrots,celery, apples, peppers (if you like them),jicama, there is plenty of choices. It may be possibe to make raw friends along your routes and stop in for raw pot lucks, - you bring the salads or something. Raw resturants are starting to pop up in a lot of places, you may be able to google them and find some for your travels

[Susan123]

Welcome to the raw world!! :D

It may be easier to eat raw food on the road without all the challenges of cooked food around in ones kitchen. You have to order/buy cooked foods instead of just going to the pantry or fridge!! Having a BIG cooler with goodies at hand would be best!

Also- Larabars are the BOMB in my opinion for something that seems like cooked desert, but is still (90%) raw!!