Whole30 for Truck Drivers

[Sugarbear216]

My Wife asked me to do this program with her today. I think it would be great to try it and see if it's all that we're hearing it is. But I have a question to ask and hope I can get some answers here. I'm a Truck Driver and I'm only home 2-3 days a wk. So when I'm on the road, all my meals are at restaurants and Truck Stops.

So can this program be done by a Truck Driver that's on the road and away from home all the time?

I want to support my Wife and do this with her, I just don't see how. Any advice will be helpful.

Thank you

[GFChris]

Can you bring a cooler along with you in the truck?  You might find this article helpful.

There has been some past discussion about doing a Whole30 as a delivery driver.  You may find more tidbits there:

http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/14927-need-ideas-for-january-w30-with-hubby/

[Tom Denham]

Getting enough vegetables at truck stops and diners may be impossible. I like Waffle House when on the road, but steaks, eggs, and hash browns can only take you so far. 

 

I wonder if you could take canned spinach, beets, artichoke hearts, green beans, etc with you and talk a waitress into getting the cook to open the can and heat the veggies to go with the meat that you order at the truck stop. 

[Sugarbear216]

Thank you Chris. Those were very helpful.

[Sugarbear216]

Thanks Tom. I'll look into that also.

[SpinSpin]

Hi Sugarbear -- My hubby was an over the road driver for the first part of our marriage and he is now a local delivery driver but his route is a mass route, so he is still in the big semis. He had a cooler/little fridge in his sleeper when he was over the road -- it ran off the cigarette lighter using a converter -- do you have something like that available to you? If you do, you could boil up a few days worth of eggs and keep them in there, along with other items that could be kept cold like meatballs, veggies or other meats. When he was over the road, he would be home for 36 hours from Saturday afternoon about till Sunday evening or so, and I would see him a few hours on Wednesdays. If you schedule is like that, and you have a cooler available, you might be able to make it work, since there is approx 4 days -- give or take -- that the food would have to last. He would also take the big bags of baby carrots from Costco and other cut up veg, like broccoli, cauliflower and cucumbers. He would eat the less sturdy things first and then the hardier ones. Course -- there were plenty of bagels, fast food, pizza and who knows what else on the road. He did have a bbq/oven thing that ran off the converter as well that meals could be cooked in and he had cooked tri tip In it from time to time. That might be an idea too -- you could grab meat on the road, toss it in there and eat at your stop or when you shut down. 

 

Now that he is local, he still doesn't have a regular meal time, so I pack things for him to eat and go -- maybe some of these would work for you? Meatballs, meatloaf cut into bite size chunks, egg casseroles also cut into chunks -- think a crustless quiche -- hard boiled eggs, chunks of grilled chicken, pork or beef, plain meat patties also cut up, compliant sausages or hot dogs, olives or nuts for fats, raw or cold roasted veggies -- leftover sweet potatoes are a huge favorite here as are roasted broccoli, cauliflower, white potatoes, brussels sprouts, carrots, turnips, beets... you name it -- if it can be roasted... You could also do apples, celery sticks or carrot sticks with almond butter as part of a meal plan too, just don't let the fruit push the veggies off your plate or go too crazy with the almond butter. 

 

What about canned fish or canned veggies? Do you have space to store some in your cab?

 

I will run your post by him when he gets home and see if he has any other ideas for you that I haven't thought of!  Hopes that helps you! 

[Sugarbear216]

Thank you very much SpinSpin. This is very helpful. I haven't started the job yet, but hope to by next wk. Once I see what I have to work with as far as the truck goes, I'll be able to see what part of y'all's ideas I can put to use.

Thanks again.

[SpinSpin]

Talked with hubby about the traveling oven, and the one he used looked like the old style metal lunchbox where the thermos was in the lid and it clamped shut. His advice was to always use an oven bag inside of it, leave it open and the ends of the bag hanging out of the oven. That way, the oven is preserved and there isn't any cleaning at all. He said that he would pick up a tri tip at Harris Ranch in Coolalinga CA and toss it in the bag with some water and herbs, close it up and the meat would be ready by the time he reached Patterson (straight up I-5) about 3 hours later. He also said that just about every market is semi compliant, you just need to walk around the front of the store  . 

 

He also mentioned that the stoves were available at nearly every truck stop. 

 

Hubby said too to feel free to ask away or have your wife ask away about meals and things that I made for him while he was over the road that worked well for him