Trucking on empty

(Tim Cee) #1

I just realized being in cheatosis for six months spiked my hypertension. I’m BMI 33. I’ve done more 24-36 hr fasts than I can count over the last 3 years and a few multi-day fasts up to five days without issue a couple years ago. If I do a few five day water fasts, am I going to crash the truck? Most of the food available to me on the road is either crusted in salt or sugar and highly processed. It would be so convenient just to take a break from eating while I’m on the road five days per week. I’m a food addict so bringing cash to expand my food choices isn’t an option.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

I can’t advise you on fasting per se, but it would surely be a good idea to have some non-perishable non-carb food handy if you find yourself needing to break your fast, no?

Any chance you could pack along some pepperoni, cheese, and pork rinds? The cheese should be fine without refrigeration, but if your truck has a refrigerator, that would be even better, and other, more-perishable options would then be possible, too.

(Tim Cee) #3

Thanks. I have no fridge. The problem is my hypertension is back and the doctor is telling me, “no salt, no coffee, no beer.” I can get free peanuts, hotdogs, and pork skins with fuel rewards points. That’s what I was doing before. The cheatosis was happening on the weak end with family night and candy. The above processed foods are dirty keto and FULL of salt. Just to make the doc happy I will test out the low salt diet, although I’ve never seen it work for any friend. This week I’m taking five unsalted burger patties to eat OMAD. The doctor claims fasting would endanger the public. My instinct is, this is metaphorically the aerospace engineer determining that bumble bees can’t fly.

#5

I’m not a doctor and not giving medical advice, but low salt worries me. I’d keep some salt handy in case you get dizzy or weak.

Read up about salt, magnesium and potassium in relation to keto and hypertension just to be informed, if you haven’t already.

Fasting does usually help with hypertension, but low salt can make it worse… but that is only in my humble, non medical opinion. Please read up. :grinning:

(Tim Cee) #6

I will keep salt handy. I’ve heard similar. Right now the doc is watching and I have to report my BP in two weeks so I’m feigning compliance for the moment but staying on keto. I’m sure he’s blaming salt for what the sugar did.

#7

Yes, he probably is blaming the salt. Just don’t harm yourself with letting your sodium go too low.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

Does he realise just how much salt you have to cut out in order to see a drop of just a few points of mercury?

Honestly! Most hypertension is not salt-sensitive, anyway. It’s more usually caused by elevated insulin stiffening the arterial walls and interfering with the production of nitric oxide (NO), which the body uses to lower blood pressure. In any case, a couple of large studies came out a few years ago, and they independently showed that daily sodium intake in the range of 4-6 grams (which is 10-15 grams of table salt, or 2-3 U.S. teaspoons) is the healthiest range for everyone, even people with salt-sensitive hypertension. Outside that range is when the health problems start.

Staying off the carbs as much as you can will be much more beneficial for your blood pressure.

(Doug) #9

Tim, if you’re pretty well fat-adapted and don’t feel bad while fasting, I’d say it’s certainly worth a try.

I retired last year, but drove trucks 25% - 40% of the time in the course of my job. Fasting was great - no thoughts about food necessary, less need to go to the bathroom. If anything, I think it makes for the most stable blood sugar we can get, no feeling sleepy after eating, etc.

Salt’s really an individual thing. I agree with @PaulL - most high blood pressure isn’t directly due to salt (and it’s only around 25% of the population that is really sensitive to salt, there). Some people feel better taking salt while fasting, others go a long time without none at all.

(Bob M) #10

I agree with Doug, and just try it. I often use fasting when traveling, as for me, my entire system shuts off when fasting. I rarely have to go to the bathroom.

The only issues would be (1) if you can concentrate. Most times, I get better concentration. Sometimes not, however. (2) Refeeding is an issue (at least for me). When I refeed, I make sure I’m near a toilet. If you refeed while traveling, that might be tough.

#11

now you know you have an issue to handle.

thing is I would not punish myself by not eating to correct some issue that has arisen for you now from your ‘cheatosis’

forget hotdogs and peanuts and pork rinds.
‘focus real food’ please LOL I know they are convenient but if you focus on real meals, get into a 2mad meal per day while on the road then you are going to create an on-the-road sustainable keto lifestyle.

buy bacon, egg and cheese options without the biscuits at any place
buy sausage egg and cheese and ditch the buns or order without it

buy a very large salad with grilled chicken or such and eat as a lunch meal. you can get those at any fast food joint plus you can order extra grilled chicken patty for more meat if wanted

get a small cooler for your truck. Stop and buy some tuna or a pepperoni stick or any convenience meals offered, like buy a whole rotisserie chicken to eat for the day.

While none of this is easy…who are we kidding about being easy when we drive and work on the road etc…but it can be done. Every trip I take weeks at a time away on vacay, which is alot for us cause we are closer to full on retirement now…I find all ways to eat my lifestyle plan and while it can take a few minutes more to plan and work out, it can easily be done truly.

It boils down to how much extra few minutes are you willing to do FOR YOU to eat your best keto plan while out and about? Only you can truly say how much and how committed you are to taking care of you :sunny:

I found it annoying but I put the time on me to make my eating plan work out and about at all times. I just said that I wanted changes and I made sure I did what it took to make then work.

Hope you find the best solution to fit you the best and easiest out there :slight_smile:

(Tim Cee) #12

Thank you everyone. I left yesterday planning to eat one cheeseburger patty unsalted per day. I had a tire blow out and while I waited for the tire service I got board and ate all five. So now I’m fasting. I absolutely cannot carry money to buy real food on the road. I’ve tried this option several times and the result is always I end up back in an addictive eating pattern. So, based on my experience and with ya’lls suggestions. Next week I will pack a generous haul of real keto food and try to make it last OMAD for five days and see how that goes. It’s going to be pre-cooked meat and eggs in an ice box as I have no cooking tools in the truck. I’ll bring salt in case I need it. On the positive, BP is moving down from 154/95 on the 23rd to 137/86 so far. I can get the occasional serving of raw vegetables free at the truck stop with fuel rewards to supplement fiber.

(Laurie) #13

Not a trucker. But on a recent cross-country (and back) road trip, I bought 4 large cooked burger patties daily at whatever fast food place was handy. That was usually enough to keep me going. I filled in occasional gaps with canned sardines I kept in the car.

Okay, you don’t want to buy food on the road. On another road trip, I packed a variety of protein foods in a cooler, and ate them in order of perishability. For example, fresh meat first, then boiled eggs, then processed meats, then canned meat/fish. I didn’t spend any money on food during those 5 days. I did buy coffee though.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

Pork rinds are no more expensive than carb-laden snacks, and sometimes cheaper. If you stock up on those in advance, then you can nosh on them when you want to eat for the sake of eating, without having to worry about what they are doing to your insulin. You can safely binge on them, if necessary, and I bet you’ll get full with them a lot sooner than you would with potato chips or some other carb snack.

(Tim Cee) #15

Paul, I get 4cents coupon per gallon with which I used to buy pork skins, hotdogs, or the most horrible boiled eggs. I can’t use that 4 cents at any other gas station besides where I get diesel. It’s how I create an artificial barrier to carb binging. It works but I’d rather eat real food—which they don’t sell.

(Tim Cee) #16

Clarification: I make enough money to eat real food. I just don’t trust myself to avoid the SAD. Therefore I don’t carry money.

(Jane) #17

Well, you must pay for your diesel with a credit card. You can’t use a credit card to pay for food? I don’t carry much cash anymore but it never stopped me from buying food.

Not criticising - just trying to understand your logic and solution to deal with impulse buying of SAD food.

I wish you the best.

(Tim Cee) #18

The truck the diesel and the fuel card are my employers. The question is whether it’s safe to fast.

#19

Hey Tim - I’ve been reading your posts with interest, and the one thing that strikes me is that you’re probably hungry. I totally understand why you’re setting a barrier to stop the carb creep - but I think it might be sending you into a worse cycle.

I might be way off the mark here, but your posts seem to blame yourself for falling into addictive foods - but my guess would be that you’re super hungry and searching for nutritious food, and once you get to a certain level of hunger, your brain takes over and just buys anything to fill the gap.

I think this is trickier to resolve on the road than at home - not quite sure what the service stations are like where you are, but is there fast food available? In a pinch, a large number of meat patties (no buns, just burgers) might be enough to stave off your hunger? The suggestions Laurie and Fangs have made are the ones I would follow, if at all possible.

I 100% get why you’re trying to do OMAD or fasting, but there’s a real difference between ‘I have an eating window because I’m not hungry outside the window’ and ‘I am forcing an eating window because of the circumstances I find myself in’. I don’t think you ate the burgers because you were bored - it reads to me that you were hungry, and legitimately so.

If you’re hungry, you might be fighting yourself - and accidentally setting yourself up to fail. I know it would be scary to take away a logical barrier that you’ve set for yourself, but maybe try making a promise to yourself that the money you carry is only for burgers/eggs/bacon - no buns - but the deal is that you’ll buy that type of food whenever you’re hungry. I reckon you have enough mental strength to stave off those carb creep cravings, especially if you’re well fed.

Hope some of this helps. Best of luck, friend.

#20

yup. as a hiker I bring tins of sardines too. wow they are a wonderful snack when tired on the trail. everyone says EWWW and I suck them up in a flash. Great post on what to do for yourself to make it work!! I do the same at all times. I make my lifestyle fit me any way I can!

#21

Wonderful post! Alot of great points in there for sure and I sure agree with all you said to Tim!!

@Tim_Cee
your fasting does not have to happen.

See you require a good keto eating plan on the road. Key for you.

Of course setting that into motion can be hard for sure.

Eating is how we change. Not fasting. Eating is what nutritious food your body wants to heal inside. To change into a normal eating human being…getting off the carby junk sugar loaded chem crap out there.

To do that you have to eat actually. This is what changes you. To fast means you deny and punish and are hungry when eating is the actual cure/resolve to this whole issue.

So eat well. I am thrilled you ate 5 burgers!! 1 isn’t enough for anyone. If you eat ALL you need of the good foods then you are doing wonderful actually.

Allow that in your mind. It is always OK to eat on plan keto foods! All you need as you adapt over and change into a keto lifestyle eating plan and this is never a wrong thing truly.

Your appetite will flip and change around as your body heals. You will have days you eat a ton and days you naturally will want to eat less…this is all normal.

Just take your time :slight_smile: and work thru it all eating all you can, the best you can when needed. This is truly the best way forward!

and SUPER CONGRATS on your BP already being effected by your eating changes! More power to you as you go forward! You got this!!