Highway to Health – Week 2: Tons of Gratitude

This is a guest blog post from Michelle Cartmel, health and wellness coach for Highway to Health. f you’re not registered for the program, register for free and receive the free daily health updates!

Hey Health Warriors,

In honor of Driver Appreciation Week, the focus of Highway to Health this week is TONS OF GRATITUDE and we can’t think of a better way to express our gratitude to you than with healthy giveaways and heart-healthy advice. As we’ve said before, the goal of Highway to Health is to empower you to live your best life, and remind you how important it is to practice self-care.  What does that mean? Quite simply, it means prioritizing all aspects of your health, from diet to exercise, skin care and sleep.

When we were at GATS, we asked a few of our fellow drivers who stopped by the Convoy booth some questions related to self-care on the road. We took their responses (some of which you can see below) into serious consideration and incorporated our learnings into this week’s tips on our Facebook Group posts.

Highway to Health Q&A at GATS Booth:

Do you have a healthy go/to while you’re on the road? What is it? What is the biggest health challenge for you as a driver? Getting good nutrition, getting enough exercise, etc? 

The sweets are the most difficult – Sweet beverages are readily available everywhere and gets many drivers in trouble. Not uncommon for carriers to drink only soda on the road. – Scott, Kemosabe, Inc. On the road, TA salad bar is about it for healthy food. Other truck stops like Love’s do not have any healthy choices. He pre preps meals before during home time and has fridge in truck where he keeps them. If you don’t plan ahead, you are stuck with burgers and fried chicken everywhere you go. Arby’s and Wendy’s are the best options for healthy food on the road (yikes!), because they actually show calorie counts. Need healthy restaurants to get into truck stops to change the status quo. – Jason, S&A Express

Do you ever workout near your truck? If not, why? If so, what do you do? 

Yes–pushups, sit-ups, running. – John, non-Convoy carrier.

You work long hours and then you have to work out in the evening. I do it anyway, but its always a pain to take that time. Sam, non-Convoy carrier.  I walk a lot while at the truck stop, use the gym when they have one. A big advantage to getting dedicated freight is it allows you to join gym. The driver will know where he will be and when, making it possible to pick one side of the trip and invest in it – Memberships are cheap. Big selling point they have clean showers for free and is a big deal. – Jason, S&A Express

We really appreciate everyone stopping by our booth at GATS, plus we’d also like to take this opportunity to honor one of our health warriors, Bob Baumgardner, who has a health story that will move and inspire you.  From having open heart surgery to becoming a vegan, Bob is proof that you CAN indeed practice good health while you’re on the road. Full story to come this week.

Again, we’re so grateful that you have joined us on this health journey. Make sure to log in all week, as we’re going to focus on a different category of self-care each day, and the giveaways are going to be GREAT!

Cheers to your health! Michelle