Jeff Clark

Jeff is a professional, over-the-road driver

Running and weight control

Weight control has always been a struggle for me. Even as a high school cross country runner it was a struggle. The problem was not lack of exercise. It was a lack of self- control around food. After a long day of school followed by a cross-country workout, I would come home and eat three hot dogs.  Coach would ask me how I maintained my belly while training. Easy: I ate too much.

      In 1988 when I started trucking I was about 185 pounds. My weight got up to 235 pounds in 2005. Right now I tip the scale at 209. At one point in 2007, I had it down to 199.  I had a routine and a relatively steady route that let me get to the Y every other day. Then the company that I was working for lost a major account. Soon after they closed the Green Bay terminal and I was left without a routine. My weight rose to 222.

      People like Jack Kelsh amaze me. Jack has lost about 180 pounds, and he has kept it off. Meanwhile I struggle. Even running 25-30 miles a week, I can’t seem to lose the weight. There is no big secret to losing weight. It’s simple. Take in fewer calories than you burn. Yet if you want to get a book published, make it a diet book. A bestseller, no problem, make it a diet cookbook. I would almost guess that Runner’s World magazine has as many articles about weight loss as it does about running.

     I started a new plan two weeks ago, and I have lost five pounds so far. The trick is to eat light and smart. The plan is to eat often. That’s easy. The plan is also to increase my running to about 40 miles per week, with three quality runs and two fun runs. This week I will push up over 30 miles. It is never a good idea to add additional miles too quickly. This will lead to injury.

      The plan is simple: eat every two hours while drinking a half-liter of water. That means that I will have to stop the truck about every two hours because of the water. When I stop, I grab another something to eat, like a piece of fruit or some carrot sticks. Eating a cheeseburger every two hours will not help you lose weight. I have tried it. Stop and eat. Drink milk. It suppresses your appetite. Take 20 minutes to eat a salad. If your dispatchers are pushing you so hard that you cannot take 20 minutes to eat, it’s time to fire them. We are not slaves.

      Weight control is like exercise. If you give up, you fail. Keep trying to find something that works. There will be successes and failures. Just don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.