It can be easy to let your health fall out of focus as you spend time on the road. Strict attention to getting your shipment to its destination quickly and safely is great for your job, but it can end up damaging your body. Paying attention to remaining in good health will not only benefit you in the long run, but it will also give you immediate benefits.
Sleep is an easy consideration that will have large-scale effects on your day-to-day health as you drive your truck. Exercise can seem difficult to sneak into a trip, but it is possible.
Another main consideration to keep in mind in regards to your health is actually fairly easy to manipulate: Your diet.
Paying attention to the food you consume while you are on the road can have a wide variety of benefits to your everyday life. Nashville trucking jobs place a great importance on performing the job well. And while this is really important, it’s also important to take care of yourself.
Here are some benefits you can expect to experience when you work to eat a balanced diet even while on the road.
Improves Mental Health
Your food is your fuel. It can be easy to equate our meals as simply a means of addressing hunger. This is only a small part of food’s role in our body chemistry. Quite literally, your food is turned into the energy that propels your brain.
As stated by the Harvard Medical School:
“What you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood.”
There are plenty of reasons to get into a bad headspace when you are on the road — unsafe drivers, loneliness, traffic jams. And nobody enjoys their job when they spend a significant amount of time angry, sad, or a combination of the two.
You may not be able to control the other drivers on the road, but you can control what foods you choose to eat. Providing yourself with a proper diet sets the groundwork for a better mood.
Visit M&W Transportation to learn more about Nashville trucking jobs.
Keeps You Alert
Many people find themselves tired after eating a meal. This is because the food they have chosen to eat is taking a lot of their body’s energy to process and digest. Pulling over for a burger and fries might sound like a good idea when you’re hungry, but it can make the next stretch of driving difficult.
Meals consisting of proteins and carbohydrates have been shown to produce sleepiness. Likewise, larger meals are associated with a tendency to be tired. These meals create a rise in the body’s blood sugar which results in a dip of energy.
Smaller meals consisting of healthy foods like fruits, vegetables or whole grains will provide the fuel your body needs without becoming a drain on your natural processes.
Feel Better
The most immediate benefit you will see from eating healthy food is that you’ll simply feel better. The sluggishness and bloated feeling after a large, greasy meal won’t be there. Instead, you’ll feel light and energized. This will help you better navigate not only the road, but your general outlook on the day.
An intentional diet will help you stave off weight gain and may even help facilitate weight loss. So not only will you feel better about your day, you’ll feel better about yourself.
Tips to Eat Well
Seek Whole Foods
It’s very easy to snag some processed food at the gas station and head back out on the road. However, you should try to find whole foods whenever possible. Fruits and vegetables can be picked up from a grocery store and kept in the cab of your truck or even in a small cooler and can provide healthy alternatives.
Avoid Snacks
Eating between meals adds a lot of unnecessary calories to your day. It can be very easy to grow bored on the road and pass the time with some chips, but this will only make you feel worse as soon as you are done chewing them up. If you must snack, hit up your stockpile of fruits and vegetables. Containers of raw nuts can also be kept on hand to provide a more nutritious option.
Avoid Sugary Drinks
This is an easy one. No one really needs to drink soda. Sure, it’s delicious, but the negative health effects quickly outweigh this illusory benefit. Trade out the soda and even the fruit juice for a bottle of water. Keep yourself hydrated and avoid filling yourself with unnecessary sugar.
Eat Smaller Meals
Portion size is another consideration that sounds easy but can be difficult to practice. We don’t often know how full we are until after we give ourselves a moment to rest. Avoid overloading yourself at meals and your body won’t have to work so hard to digest the food.