Truck & Driver UK – August 2019

(^74) Summer 2019 Truck & Driver
Healthier eating
I’m aware that, until now, all my
food suggestions in these pages
have been geared towards those
who live in their trucks for at least
part of the week and which
require cooking. This month, I
want to focus more on the many
of you who go home every day
and simply need or want to eat
healthier during their working
hours, which isn’t always easy.
If you rely on service areas
and the like to provide your daily
sustenance, you’ll know how
hard it is to eat well. Generally
you’re presented with chocolate,
crisps and pastries of various
descriptions, full of fat, or if salads
and fruit salads are available
they are ridiculously expensive.
So, what’s the answer? Simple

• make your own.
  There are some very easy,
  cheap and quick substitutions
  you can make straight away. For
  instance, a bag of carrot batons
  makes a great snack to munch
  on as you trundle down the road.
  Likewise, the more obvious fruit,
  such as apples, satsumas, pears
  and – especially if in need of an
  energy boost – bananas.
  It’s also much more cost-
  effective to make your own fruit
  salads rather than buy them
  ready-made. Spending £5-£6 on
  fruit such as strawberries,
  raspberries, blueberries etc in a
  supermarket will buy you enough
  to make four or even five fruit

EQUIPMENT YOU’LL NEED

You can prepare most meals with a very basic set of

implements, as follows:

Basics Small gas cooker with spare gas bottle;

frying pan with lid; small saucepan; plate; bowl; knife,

fork & spoon; plastic cooking utensils; kettle.

Advanced Whisk; box grater; measuring jug; wok;

scissors; chopping board.

A

s we all know, this

job can be

ridiculously

unhealthy thanks to

its sedentary nature

and the awful foods available

while out on the road. By simply

cooking and preparing your

food in the cab, I want to show

that you needn’t be restricted

to service areas and their

unhealthy, overpriced food.

In the real world, the last

thing any of us wants to do at

the end of a 15-hour day is

exercise! So it’s just as well

that your health is 80% what

you eat. With adjustments to

your diet I’ll show you how to

not only get back

that 32-inch waist

but maintain it.

Diets don’t work,

they never have and

they never will. You

need to change

habits permanently

and with some

willpower this can be

done, often by starting

with small steps such

as giving up sugar in

your tea and/or coffee.

So, cooking in your cab!

“Noooo!!” I hear people

scream, “I’m not cooking in my

cab as it smells/takes too long/

is too much effort” (delete as

appropriate). None of these

statements need be true – and

even if the smell lingers in the

cab for a while, it’s a small

price to pay for the benefit of

your health!

Once set up and into the

swing of it, you can have a full

meal ready in the time it takes

to walk to a truckstop and

order food. I’ll also be giving

you little tips on how to make

the most amount of food for

the least amount of effort.

Food

to go

Welcome to our

series on eating

good food on the

road. As it’s summer,

this month Luke

looks at salads

With Luke Vernon

Chicken and avocado salad

Great snack: carrot batons

Roasted chicken thighs

Dressings: plenty of choice!